TCDA set to launch five-year strategy and implementation plan

 The Tree Crops Develop­ment Authority (TCDA), under the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, is set to launch an ambitious five-year strategic and implementation plan geared towards the development of a competitive and sustainable tree crops industry in Ghana.

Inaugurated in September 2020 by President Nana Addo Dank­wa Akufo-Addo, the Tree Crops Development Authority has been described as one of the major steps by government to diversify the country’s agricultural export portfolio through the creation of a robust cash crop sector.

The authority has a mandate for regulating and creating a conducive environment for the development of tree and industrial crops such as cashew, oil palm, rubber, shea, coconut and mango.

The Minister for Food and Agri­culture, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, will be the Special Guest of Hon­our at the programme scheduled to take place in Accra on Wednesday.

The launch of the Five-Year Strategy and Implementation Plan (2022-2027) will therefore “serve as a major step towards the establish­ment of an investment framework to guide the mobilisation of both public and private investments toward the development of a com­petitive and sustainable tree crops industry in Ghana” as envisaged by the Minister, Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto.

The Chief Executive Officer of the TCDA. William Agyapong Quaittoo, in a statement issued in Accra yesterday said he was hopeful that with the launch of the strategy, the initiatives and activities of the Authority would continue to support and strengthen the re­spective value chain associations of’ the six mandate tree crops, namely cashew, coconut, mango, oil-palm, rubber, and shea.

“The Authority is grateful to all its partners and stakeholders, es­pecially the International Financial Corporation (IFC) for the techni­cal assistance provided to TCDA through the Investment Climate Programme funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Af­fairs (SECO) for the development of the Five-Year Strategy and Im­plementation Plan (2022–2027),” he said.

“IFC is proud to support this important five-year plan, which po­sitions TCDA to attract investment into areas with immense potential to help Ghana boost the growth of higher-value agricultural exports and create more and better jobs,” said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC’s Regional Manager based in Ghana.