President-elect John Mahama has revealed that his government will rename the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to help focus government’s policy in the area on value addition and commerce.

The move, according to Mr. Mahama will help the ministry concentrate on agribusiness to address challenges of food security.

Giving more details on this policy change on news network, Global South World, he stressed the need for the use of technology to expand the agriculture sector.

"We have not exploited our potential in agribusiness. We always encourage farmers to farm and provide them with subsidized fertilizers and all that. Once the farmer is left to himself, there’s no body to buy the produce or add value to it."

"To address this, we will change the orientation of the Ministry of Agriculture. It will now be called the Ministry of Food and Agribusiness, because we want to emphasize on the agro-processing end of the agricultural value chain. People will be encouraged to set up factories to buy the excess cassava that we have”, he said.

He added that the incoming National Democratic Congress government will support young entrepreneurs in agriculture to boost their operations.

"People will be encouraged to set up factories to buy the excess cassava that we have. Produce cassava starch, cassava flour. That's an era we are going to look at. Currently, we export raw cashews and yet it is possible to process those cashews ourselves, brand them as Ghanaian cashews and export them."

"These cashews are bought raw, taken to India, processed and shipped to Europe and America. We can short-circuit that and create a direct value chain between Ghana and the Markets outside”, he recommended

He argued that agribusiness plays a crucial role in Ghana’s economic growth, addressing food insecurity, improving agricultural productivity, and promoting rural community development.