The John Dramani Mahama government has launched the School Farm Initiative, a program aimed at transforming Ghana’s Senior High Schools into vibrant hubs of food production, experiential learning, and agricultural innovation.
According to the Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness, Dr. Peter Otokunor, the initiative will help reduce the government’s cost burden in providing adequate, healthy, and nutritious food for students. The initiative targets over 15,000 acres across 700+ schools to produce livestock and cultivate strategic food crops.
“In 2024 alone, the Government of Ghana spent over GH¢2.8 billion on feeding about 1.37 million students in second-cycle institutions,” he noted.
The program is projected to save between 30 to 50 percent of the annual expenditure on feeding, equivalent to GH¢840 million to GH¢1.4 billion each year.
“A child who learns to grow food will never go hungry. A school that cultivates its own food will never lack. And a nation that equips its youth with agricultural knowledge and skills will always be food secure,” the Director emphasized.
The initiative will provide opportunities for about 1,400–2,100 unemployed Agric College graduates and create between 5,000–10,000 indirect jobs from input supply, agro-processing, logistics, and marketing.
Thousands of students will also graduate each year with hands-on skills in modern farming and agribusiness.
The School Farm Initiative will be officially launched by President John Dramani Mahama at Kpedze Senior High School in the Ho West District of the Volta Region in the coming weeks.
