The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, has expressed concern over the growing exportation of Soya Bean produced locally to other countries. According to the sector minister, the situation defeats the purpose for which soya bean production is being subsidized by the Government under the Planting for Food and Jobs Programme.
Data suggests that there has been a tremendous increase in the export of soya bean from Ghana which is creating shortages of the commodity for use by the livestock and poultry industry coupled with price hikes, making it expensive for local processing.
Soya bean exports
Available Annual International Trade Statistics show that the value of exports of Soya beans, whether or not broken, from Ghana totalled $10.85 million in 2019, representing a year-on-year growth of 320% compared to 2018. In nominal terms, exports of Soya beans went up by $ 8.27 million from an amounted of $2.58 million recorded in 2018.
According to the data, exports of Soya beans, whether or not broken, accounted for 0.064% of total merchandise exports from Ghana estimated at $16.7 billion in 2019. The share of Soya Bean exports in total exports from Ghana increased by 0.049% compared to 2018.
Meanwhile, India was the largest export destination of Soya beans from Ghana as of the end of 2019. Exports of soya bean to India amounted to $8.26 million in 2019, accounting for a share of 76% of Ghana’s export of the commodity. Other export destinations include Turkey with a share of 18.8%, and the United Arab Emirates with a share of 4.93%. Ghana also exports soya bean to Burkina Faso, USA, and Canada.
Planting for Food and Jobs
The Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture initiated and commenced the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) programme in 2017 with the aim of substantially increasing yields and production of various food crops including soya beans.
The production of soya bean, which is currently being subsidized by the Government, is aimed at ensuring its availability for processing and use as animal feed by the domestic livestock and poultry industry at a cheaper cost to boost local livestock and poultry production.
Also, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, under the One District One Factory (1D1F) Initiative, has supported a number of poultry feed processing companies which has led to significant increase in local production hence high demand for soya bean as one of the main raw material inputs.
Regulation of Soya Bean exports
As a result, Mr. Alan Kyerematen has commissioned a seven-member Soya Bean Export Permit Committee in furtherance of Export and Import – Restrictions on Exportation of Soya Bean, Regulation 2020 (L.I 2432) which came into effect in December 2020 to regulate export of the commodity.
In his remark at a brief ceremony held in Accra to commission the committee, Alan Kyerematen noted that the Minister for Food and Agriculture requested that the Ministry of Trade and Industry initiates a process to regulate the export of soya bean after it realized an unhealthy trend of high exports at the expense of local demands.
The export legislation required that a Committee be set up to implement the regulations in the legislation. Alan Kyerematen expressed hopes that the committee will be diligent in its responsibilities in order to ensure an effective regulation of the Soya Bean exports.
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