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A new study by The African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) shows how Ghana can raise the standard of living of rural farmers, meet the nation’s food needs, and transform the economy through new approaches to farming, processing, and marketing cassava, cocoa, poultry, and rice.

The report, Promoting Sustainable Rural Transformation, was launched today in Accra by Hon. (Dr.) Yakubu Alhassan, Deputy Minister for Agriculture.

In 2000, 80 percent of the chicken consumed in Ghana was produced in Ghana. By 2010, only 10 percent. As the country pushes for consumption of made-in-Ghana products, this report shows the constraints to production and how to overcome them. To boost poultry production, for instance, the report highlights that used fridges can be modified to hatch eggs.

“Agriculture remains the natural pathway for Ghana’s transformation,” the Deputy Minister emphasized in his opening. The study brings insights into how to make that happen, especially through agroprocessing.

Presenting the report to stakeholders, Dr. Julius Gatune, a senior Policy Advisor at ACET and the principal author of the report, said, “Take cassava. Most of the local production is geared towards varieties that make good fufu. As a Kenyan expatriate, I too have come to appreciate the value of fufu, but local industries are in desperate need of varieties that make good beer and starch too. That’s an opportunity for expansion of production.”