Farmers across the country may have to wait until next year before they could have a guaranteed price and ready market for their produce.

This is because the Ghana Commodity Exchange Project expected to facilitate this would not be operational until next year.

It was revealed during the launch of the process towards establishing the project which would enable ffarmers send their produce to a central point in exchange for cash.

Activities on the exchange could be compared with that of the Stock Exchange except that farm produce will be used instead of shares. President John Mahama said at the launch, the initiative would propel Ghana to become an export led economy.

“The key objective of the exchange is the creation of an orderly transparent and efficient marketing system for Ghana’s key agricultural commodities to promote agricultural investment and enhance productivity. This would encourage market access and ensure fair returns for smallholder farmers. It will also result in improved quality of agricultural products due to the sorting and grading system for products. I look forward to it positioning Ghana as a West African regional hub for commodity trading activities” he said.

Trade and Industry Minister, Dr. Ekow Spio Garbrah also impressed on financial institutions the need to provide credit support in the initiative.

“About 76% of all the investment of the banks in the country goes into treasury bills. The country cannot be developed on that basis when there is agriculture, industry and SMEs that we must invest in. The necessary institutions would have to be set up to develop new incentives and disincentives to compel the financial institutions to put the necessary percentage of their loan portfolios in the agro sector as well as in industry” .

Minister of Food And Agriculture, Fifi Kwetey was also upbeat about the impact of the project on the activities of farmers.

Government has allocated 6 million Ghana cedis for establishing the exchange. Eight warehouses have been built across the country to ensure the success of the project.