President John Dramani Mahama has renewed calls for agricultural loans in Ghana to attract single-digit interest rates, insisting that affordable credit is critical to boosting food production and safeguarding farmers from heavy indebtedness.
Speaking at the 41st National Farmers’ Day Celebration in Ho on Friday, December 5, President Mahama described high lending rates as one of the major constraints confronting farmers across the country. He noted that many farmers end up “working for the banks instead of working for themselves” due to the burden of expensive loan repayments.
According to him, farmers who access credit at prohibitive interest rates often lose a significant portion of their profits to servicing loans, leaving them with little capital to reinvest in their farms, adopt modern technologies, or improve the livelihoods of their families.
“We must provide credit at single-digit rates so our farmers can grow to feed Ghana,” he stated. “Farmers should not be taking loans only to end up using all their profits to repay the banks.”
President Mahama stressed that access to affordable financing would not only raise productivity but also strengthen national food security and make agriculture more attractive to young people.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to supporting farmers through targeted policies aimed at reducing production costs, expanding irrigation and mechanisation, improving market access, and modernising the entire agricultural value chain.
