Ghana targets $2bn palm oil import cut with new RedGold policy

Ghana is advancing plans for a bold agricultural policy aimed at slashing its $2 billion annual palm oil import bill.

This would be achieved by significantly scaling up domestic production and diversifying into high-value tree crops.

The plan outlined in the 2025–2028 Medium-Term Expenditure Framework, includes the rollout of a National Palm Oil Industry Policy, which will support the distribution of 1.5 million oil palm seedlings to farmers.

It is also to promote large-scale out-grower plantation schemes and provide incentives to expand local processing capacity.

The initiative, dubbed the “RedGold” oil palm programme, is expected to catalyse private sector investment, create thousands of jobs across rural Ghana and aligns with the country’s import substitution and agro-industrial transformation agenda.

Despite annual consumption of over 250,000 metric tons, Ghana’s domestic palm oil production currently stands at a mere 50,000 metric tons – a development which creates a major structural gap in the edible oils market.

The new policy seeks to address this imbalance by developing a fully integrated palm oil value chain—from farm to refinery.

The palm oil strategy falls under the broader Ghana Tree Crops Diversification Project (GTCDP), which aims to boost the commercial cultivation of cashew, coconut, rubber, mango and shea, alongside oil palm, to enhance farmer incomes and generate foreign exchange.

In 2025, the government, through the Ghana Tree Crops Development Programme (GTRDP), will procure and supply 5,070,000 seedlings; comprising 2,000,000 cashew, 1,650,000 rubber, and 1,420,000 coconut—for nationwide distribution.

An additional two million seedlings will be provided, including 500,000 shea and 1,500,000 mango, targeting 500,000 farmers across the country.