Ghana’s Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) has unveiled a comprehensive growth blueprint for the country’s tree crops sector, aiming to boost export performance and generate significant employment by 2030. The plan, presented at the Ghana Tree Crops Investment Summit and Exhibition 2026 in Accra, targets six priority commodities: cashew, oil palm, shea, coconut, rubber, and mango, projecting each could generate an average of US$2 billion annually. If fully realized, these crops could collectively contribute US$12 billion per year to Ghana’s economy.
The TCDA’s projections align with the government’s broader agricultural diversification strategy, which seeks to reduce dependence on traditional exports like cocoa, gold, and crude oil while strengthening rural economies. Achieving the $12 billion target relies on scaling up production, processing capacity, and global market linkages, addressing long-standing underdevelopment in Ghana’s tree crop value chains compared with international competitors.
CEO Dr. Andy Osei Okrah emphasized that the sector aims for 20–30% growth in export earnings, coupled with a hectare expansion initiative and the creation of up to 500,000 new jobs by 2030. These targets are designed to harness agribusiness for inclusive growth, particularly benefiting youth and rural communities, and to support government policy objectives on employment and economic diversification.
To support these ambitions, the TCDA has introduced regulatory and development measures, including pricing frameworks to protect mango and cashew producers and reforms to standardize quality and traceability for exports. These interventions aim to strengthen value chain governance, enhance market competitiveness, and facilitate industrialization through processing and value addition.
While the $12 billion benchmark is conditional on continued investment and structural improvements, it represents a strategic expansion of Ghana’s non-traditional export base and underscores the country’s commitment to leveraging agribusiness as a driver of economic growth.
