Soya Bean Price Falls from GH¢800 to GH¢350 After Export Ban – Otokunor

The price of a bag of soya beans has fallen from GH¢800 in 2024 to GH¢350 following the government's decision to restrict exports of the commodity, Director of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness Dr Peter Boamah Otokunor has said.

He said the policy had helped stabilise prices and improve access to an essential input for Ghana's livestock industry, which had been affected by the export of raw soya beans at the expense of local processing.

Speaking in an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Channel One TV's Face to Face on Tuesday, November 10, Dr Otokunor said the government had taken the decision to retain more of the commodity locally and support the development of value-added industries.

"The biggest challenge of the livestock industry had been soya bean. And we were just exporting the grain. So the government had to take a bold decision that, look, we are going to cease the exportation of soya bean," he said.

"When we took the decision to ban, it has stabilised the price of soya bean. Like in 2024, I was buying a bag of soya bean for 800 Ghana cedis. Now I'm buying a bag of soya bean for 350 Ghana cedis," he added.

The Value Chain Argument

Dr Otokunor explained that soya beans could be processed into products such as oil and soya meal, which are important to the local economy.

"When we export the raw soya bean, you have exported all this value. The oil comes back to you very expensive. Then the milk comes back to you very expensive," he stated.

He said retaining more of the commodity locally would encourage investment in processing and allow Ghana to capture more of the value generated from its agricultural produce.

The export restriction on soya beans, announced in 2025, was part of a broader government strategy to curb raw commodity exports and promote domestic value addition. The policy has been welcomed by poultry and livestock farmers who had long complained that soya bean shortages and high prices were driving up feed costs. Ghana's poultry industry alone requires an estimated 400,000 metric tonnes of soya bean annually, but local production has historically fallen short of demand.

Rice and the Smallholder Challenge

On rice production, Dr Otokunor urged farmers not to be discouraged by short-term market challenges, saying the government's sustainable food service measures were expected to create ready markets for their produce and support the expansion of farms.

He noted that about 95 per cent of Ghanaian farmers were smallholders, stressing the need to build their capacity and equip them to transition into commercial production.

He also identified investment in post-harvest infrastructure as critical to managing supply, reducing losses and ensuring farmers had access to markets.

"If you have systems to handle the post-harvest, it means that you'll be able to smooth your supply. And you wouldn't have some of these challenges," he said.

According to him, countries from which Ghana imports agricultural products have established post-harvest systems that enable them to meet domestic demand while exporting surplus produce.

Dr Otokunor said Ghana had the potential to produce enough food for local consumption and export to neighbouring markets, which he said were looking for commodities such as soya beans, rice and maize.

His comments come amid ongoing debate over the government's rice import quota policy, which would require importers to purchase 50 percent of their intended volume from local farmers before receiving permits. Finance Minister Dr Cassiel Ato Forson has defended the measure as necessary to secure markets for Ghanaian producers, citing the GH¢3.5 billion spent annually on feeding Senior High School students under the Free SHS programme.