The Director of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Soil Research Institute, Dr. Collins Tay, has raised concerns over the lack of direct government funding for agricultural research, warning that the situation threatens Ghana’s ability to develop evidence-based solutions to boost food production and ensure long-term food security.

Speaking on Joy FM’s Super Morning Show as part of the Joy Agribusiness Month, Dr. Tay disclosed that while government continues to pay salaries of researchers under the CSIR, it provides no funding for actual research activities undertaken by the institute.

“We have zero funding of our research. Government pays our salaries, yes, and we are grateful for that, but when it comes to actual research, going into the field, collecting samples, analysing soils, running projects, there is no government money for that. Everything we do in terms of research is donor-funded,” he said.

According to Dr. Tay, the Soil Research Institute plays a critical role in providing soil fertility information, land suitability assessments, and agricultural mapping services that guide crop production decisions across Ghana. The institute has also developed the Ghana Soil Information System, a digital platform designed to help farmers and agribusinesses identify suitable crops and fertiliser requirements based on specific soil conditions.

“All the projects I am running now at the institute are donor-funded projects. There is no government-funded project as I speak to you. Not even one Ghana cedi for research activities,” he added.

However, he warned that the growing dependence on donor-funded projects could have long-term implications for Ghana’s control over strategic agricultural data.

Dr. Tay explained that unlike previous arrangements where research institutions retained ownership of data generated through donor-funded projects, some current funding agreements now require the transfer of raw data to external partners.

“In some of the agreements we sign now, after we do the work and generate the data, the funders want the raw data. So it means that even though the research is done here, the ownership and control of that data can end up outside the country. And that is a serious issue for us as scientists,” he explained.

He cautioned that continued reliance on external financing could eventually place critical national soil information in the hands of foreign institutions, limiting Ghanaian scientists’ ability to independently conduct future research and develop local solutions.

 “We are spending a lot of money importing fertilisers and subsidising them for farmers, but we are not investing in the research that tells us which fertiliser is needed where. So you find situations where fertiliser is applied blindly, and it does not give the expected results,” he noted.

He warned that failure to address the funding gap could have long-term consequences for national development and food security.

“If we are not careful, in the next 10 or 15 years, all our soil data systems will be in the hands of external partners. And then when we need to do new research, we will be told the data already exists somewhere else. That is a dangerous situation for national development,” he said.

As Ghana seeks to modernise its agricultural sector and reduce food imports, experts maintain that sustained investment in research institutions will be essential to developing locally driven solutions capable of increasing productivity and enhancing competitiveness across agricultural value chains.