Development Partners explore opportunities in Circular Economy for Ghana’s agriculture sector 

A consultation workshop on “Strengthening Ghana’s Circular Economy Innovation Ecosystem for Climate-Resilient Agriculture” to aid the country’s food security efforts has been held in Accra. 

It aimed at exploring how circular economy solutions could strengthen climate resilience, boost productivity, and drive green growth in Ghana’s agricultural sector. 

It was organised by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), with support of Multifunctional Landscapes and Food Frontiers and Security Sciences Programmes, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT through the CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform (A4IP), Circular Bioeconomy Innovation Hub, (CBEIH), and the African Development Bank (AfDB). 

It brought together leading researchers, innovators, policymakers, farmer cooperatives, SMEs, agribusiness associations, and investors to assess the challenges and market needs in Ghana’s agriculture landscape and evaluate existing partnerships to gauge readiness for a collaboratively developed Innovation Challenge. 

Professor Kehinde Olufunso Ogunjobi, Country Representative, Ghana covering West and Central Africa – IWMI, said the participants would among others, proffer solutions that would help position farmers in Ghana to attract meaningful investments. 

The outcomes would therefore guide the creation of the circular economy for a Ghana “Innovation Challenge” programme, which would identify, support, and scale science-driven circular solutions that strengthen agricultural productivity and safeguard resources and the environments.   

Madam Dzifa Agbefu, Innovation Hub Coordinator, IWMI, said the workshop was expected to help the participants understand the challenges in the sector, identify gaps to be filled, and explore the national priorities in terms of circular economy and agri-systems, as well as the partnership building efforts. 

“We are doing all of these to be able to understand the sector, where we are now, and the future we are perceiving for circular economy and its application in agri-food system. 

“The conversations would evolve around real-life experiences by diverse practitioners, which would inform the design of a circular economy for Ghana’s innovation challenge in 2026, she said. 

Madam Agbefu said the innovation challenge that would be launched next year, would be looking at the applications of circular economy in agri-food system and would involve youth-led innovation activities which would allow the youth to apply and attract investment for the implementation of their innovations. 

It would be a 13 to 15-month programme involving the provision of technical competencies for viable innovations in the nation’s ecosystem, that are refined and scalable for investment trade. 

Institutions that are interested would also be partnered so they could design an innovation programme that would respond to the needs of the cut-outs, including their financial needs and the commercially viable programmes. 

According to Madam Agbefu, currently, the gaps identified included the lack of enabling environments that could allow innovations to thrive, the non-availability of a policy that is able to provide the incentives to allow the sector to de-risk to attract financial investments, the environment that provides the necessary regulatory support in the form of certification for the mandated state authorities, and an enabling environments that allowed such innovations to be setup. 

“Our focus is looking at our circular economy and its applications in the agri-food systems to provide the needs of the agricultural sector…to effect change in the waste management sector and in the WASH space to explore the circular economy there and to ensure food security. 

She explained that the organic waste being generated in the agricultural sector was enormous and impacts climate change, “and so by turning it into useful resources in the sector, we are helping to reduce global emissions.” 

Dr. Gianpiero Menza, Senior Manager, Partnerships and Innovative Finance,  

Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, said with about 51 per cent of Ghana’s population working in the agriculture sector and about 57 per cent of its population having access to the internet, the nation was well-placed of becoming an agric-tech country, serving as a role model to its peers. 

Mrs Eyerusalem Fasika, Country Manager, AfDB, said the collaboration would help raise Ghana’s circular economy as a model in Africa, saying that it was essential that Africa use its demographic divided to attract strategic investment for its economic advancement, creating jobs for its youth through the circular economy.  

Dr Bertha Darteh, a Consultant and Lead for Water, Sanitation and Environment, Ghana Institute of Engineering, said such circular economy solutions and innovations would ensure the resilience of farmers in the face of climate change impact. 

It would also help equip the farmers in having a more sustainable livelihoods.  

She mentioned agricultural wastes as including maize cobs, rise husks and straws, among others which run into millions of tonnes and could serve as raw materials for the circular economy.  

Mr Jacob Paarachuga Anankware, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Environmnetal Protection Authority, said he was happy particularly that the workshop would enable Ghana to turn its waste into wealth, and expressed government’s commitment to the programme. 

“The circular economy is not merely an environmental consideration, it is a comprehensive climate solutions that simultaneously address mitigation, adaptation and the sustainable developments while creating pathways for free jobs and many economic opportunities,” he said.  

Source: GNA  

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