Agricultural Economist Dr. Peter Boamah Otokunor, has advocated for Ghana to focus on crop specialisation.

He argues that concentrating on specific crops will help stabilise the exchange rate between the dollar and the cedi, thereby fostering national economic growth.

Dr. Otokunor emphasised the commitment of his party, the National Democratic Congress, to agriculture, stating the readiness of the party to reduce reliance on imports. In an interview with Joy News on Thursday, he explained, “There is an association of input dealers whose business depends on importing commodities. The government needs to engage with them to remodel tariffs and subsidies, allowing the establishment of manufacturing plants in Ghana. This will enable local production and alleviate pressure on our exchange rate.”

He continued, “I've seen Kantanka producing locally manufactured pesticides and weedicides. By industrialising and increasing production in Ghana, we can control prices. With the current exchange rate crisis, continuing to import agro-fertilizers, weedicides, and pesticides will make agriculture unsustainable.”

Dr. Boamah Otokunor explained that his when his government comes into power, this are the major things they will be doing so that it will change the country’s growth “When we are able to do that we believe that we will be able to increase productivity in our grains for example do product specialization , and that is one key aspect of the policy.

Dr. Otokunor outlined that his government would prioritize these initiatives to boost the country's growth.  “By increasing productivity in grains through product specialisation, we can make significant progress. We must focus on specific crops like maize, soybeans, rice, and millet. Concentrating resources on these crops can significantly improve livelihoods.”

He shared a personal anecdote, "For the past month, I've been unable to find 100 bags of soybeans for my farm. This is a challenge, despite the middle belt and northern regions being ideal for soybean cultivation.

Additionally, Dr Otokunor addressed the issue of egg imports, questioning “Why should Ghana import eggs? The high cost of poultry feed is the main reason. If this continues, we may soon be paying GH₵80 to 90 cedis per crate of eggs.”

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