Since its inception, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has disclosed that over 30 million tree crop seedlings have been given to farmers under the Tree Crop Development Authority Programme (TCDA).
To regulate the tree crops in Ghana, like cocoa is regulated, the Tree Crop Authority was initiated. Since the inception of this initiative, it has integrated the tree crop module of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ), thus the Planting For Export and Rural Development (PERD), into its operations. The 30 million seedlings delivered to farmers of the six tree crops selected, namely mango, oil palm, cashew, shea, coconut, and rubber, align with the Authority’s short-term goals of providing planting materials to farmers.
The Minister of Agriculture, Hon Afriyie Akoto, speaking with the Vaultz News, recently said after eight years, the PERD Programme would link agriculture to the industry through the provision of a solid raw material base for industrialization, to develop Ghana’s rural economies, and assist in the structural transformation of the national economy.
An annual report by MoFA revealed that most emerging economies had encouraged monoculture systems, and that’s why the government has introduced the TCDA to oversee the production and development of six selected crops.
All these would propel growth, create employment, particularly for the youth, and create wealth,” the Minister said.
The Authority is set to operate like the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), putting in policies and programmes to guide research, production, pricing, and marketing of the six pioneer tree crop.
The TCDA comprises a 29-member Board of Directors chaired by Stephen Sekyere-Abankwa, with a highly proactive management team consisting of William Quaittoo, the Chief Executive Officer of the TCDA, and two deputies – Yaw Osei Oteng, in charge of finance and administration, and Foster Boateng, in charge of Operations.
Some Ghanaians are of the view that if the potential benefits of these six selected tree crops are harnessed, then Ghana could soon increase her agricultural export earnings exponentially.
Ghana’s Tree Crop Development Authority’s mandate
The Tree Crops Development Authority(TCDA) is a body established by an Act of Parliament, the Tree Crops Development Authority Act 2019 (Act 1010,2019). TCDA is corporate with perpetual succession to regulate and develop in a sustainable environment; production, processing, and trading of six tree crops: Cashew, Shea, Mango, Coconut, rubber, and oil palm in Ghana.
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