GHANA AGRICULTURAL MARKETS RESEARCH
Overview
The goal of our research is to understand how improved markets for agricultural commodities can transform the agricultural value chain from farmers and their farming systems on the one hand, to firms and their purchasing and planning systems on the other. We focus on the rural economy in sub-Saharan Africa, using Ghana as our principal study area. Our belief in the power of sustained, organized, or centralized markets comes from many sources, but primarily through the history of the ingenuity of Ghanaian farmers themselves. Our research measures the importance of having sustained output markets and will examine how market innovations can kick-start agricultural transformations.
Featured Farmer Stories
Kojo Sarpong
Mr Sarpong is the former director of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (Sekyere Kumawu District). He started his early works and collaborations with CTED in 2013 when he met Professor Yaw Nyarko in Kumawu. After his retirement in 2017*, he has been working with CTED as a Deployment Consultant in all our field projects, and has contributed largely to the success we have attained in that field. His close relations with the farmers and traders within the area has also helped CTED immensely to integrate seamlessly with the farming community.
Grace Okyere
Grace Okyere is a yam farmer in the Sekyere Kumawu District. She is one of the most popular and recognized female farmers in the area. She is part of a core group of farmers that have been working closely with CTED during the testing and deployment of our various apps. Her enormous feedback and great contributions has helped our team develop apps tailor based to the farmer’s needs.
Yaw Brogya
Yaw Brogya lived in New York for most of his life. He was a banker at the Bank of New York, and came back to Ghana after his retirement to start farming. He is now the owner of a large pineapple farm and a pig farm. He has won awards as best farmer in his category. He works closely with CTED in organizing educational farm tours for our students, interns and guests. His bubbly character and vast knowledge on farming always makes his farm tour very interesting and impactful.
Emmanuel Nyamekye
Emmanuel Nyamekye entered farming after his retirement. He has won many awards including the best cocoa farmer in the Sekyere Kumawu District. He owns a cocoa, plantain and cassava farm. He has been an integral member of CTED’s core group of farmers. Most of our app testing and feedback have him at the forefront. His lively and outspoken character always makes him a joy to be around during trainings. His contributions have helped us build better apps, and make the necessary iterations to our apps to suit the farmers.
FEATURED BROKERS
Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana (CBAG)
(CBAG) is a network of commodity market stakeholders empowering the market value chain to harness stakeholder potentials and prospects in order to access global trade opportunities while contributing to sustainable development. CBAG aims to become a major player at the forefront of commodity value chain development through advocacy, research, and capacity building while promoting sustainable trade initiatives from the district to the national level. www.cbagnetwork.com
Yaw Ohemeng Kyei
Faustina Darko
Omane Ossei-Poku
Jeffery Ntorinkansah
Yaw is the CEO of Lynch Buffett, a commodity trading company and the current president and founding member of the Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana (CBAG) and West Africa (CBAWA). Aside his work as a broker, Yaw is also a food processor who deals in locally produced rice, oil and other processed grains. Yaw’s company Lynch Buffett is a commodity trading company that also produces palm kernel cake, soybean meal, fish meal, rice bran, fufu flour, kokonte flour, coconut oil and table salt. The company is a member of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), the Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI) and the Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana (CBAG) and West Africa (CBAWA).
Faustina Darko and her husband established Evergreen Investment Plus Ltd. in August 2016, where she has served as the managing director since June 2018. She holds an M.Sc. in International Development from the Wageningen University (Netherlands). Faustina is interested in improving the livelihoods of people in rural communities, especially smallholder farmers. When not trading commodities, she also works for an NGO that addresses maternal health issues in Ghana. Faustina’s company Evergreen Investment Plus Ltd. is a commodity brokerage established in 2016. Its main aim is to trade in quality agricultural commodities like soya bean, maize, rice, cashew nut and sorghum, both in local and international markets. Currently, Evergreen Investment Plus is a broker and member of the Ghana Commodity Exchange.
As the founder and manager of Comex Africa Ltd., Omane Ossei-Poku has transformed the company into an emerging commodity brokerage firm in Ghana. Omane earned an MPhil. in Management Information Systems (MIS) at the University of Ghana Business School with a research focus on “Social Commerce in Emerging Economies.” In addition to his work as a broker, Omane runs a successful digital marketing business. He is also the co-founder of an NGO that seeks to bridge Africa’s digital gender divide by equipping female students with digital skills. With passion for Ghana’s agricultural development, Omane has ventured into the commodity brokerage space. He is a founding director and secretary general for the Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana (CBAG). Omane’s company Comex Ghana trades in a variety of commodities on behalf of many Ghanaian farmers with the goal to see to a market system that is fair to farmers by giving them value for the hard labor they put in the cultivation of their commodities. Comex Ghana strives to be the leading commodities brokerage in Ghana by ramping up its capacity to trade in large volumes to satisfy market needs.
Jeffery Ntorinkansah is the managing partner of Trenil Ghana. He has considerable experience in logistics management and commodity trading within the West African region. Jeffery is also the country coordinator for a community action-based organization that champions sustainable development. He enjoys public speaking and is an active speaker and panelist in many local and international platforms. Jeffery’s company Trenil Ghana is a project value chain development firm that is part of a global network of companies working in resource exploration, value chain management and consulting for logistics and commodity trading. In Ghana, the company deals with the supply of agro-products from West Africa. Trenil aims to contribute to the development of emerging markets through the provision of quality project support and logistics services. Jeffery is vice president of the Commodity Brokers Association of Ghana (CBAG), a trade network organization that works to deepen access to market opportunities for commodity value chain actors. He is a founding member of the Commodity Brokers Association of West Africa (CBAWA).
COMMODITIES RESEARCH TIMELINE
2020
2019
In October, the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo, visited Nyarko at the NYU CTED Research Center in the rural farming village of Kumawu in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. President Akufo-Addo’s visit to CTED provided an opportunity for him to learn more about Nyarko’s research, test some of the apps designed by CTED’s team of Ghanaian developers, and hear about the ongoing work with the Ghana Commodities Exchange (GCX).
With support from the International Growth Centre (IGC) at the London School of Economics, Nyarko and CTED hosted a workshop on “Markets for Agricultural Output in Rural Sub-Saharan Africa.” The workshop brought together stakeholders from government, the Ghana Commodities Exchange, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank Group, NYU CTED, the International Growth Center, and some of the smallholder farmers Nyarko works with in Kumawu. The workshop examined the impact of a commodity exchange in Ghana.
Continued national survey titled “Research on Agricultural Markets in Ghana” with Co-PI Chris Udry (Northwestern), conducting deployments in 100 communities in all regions of Ghana, to evaluate the impact of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
2018
Received a grant from an anonymous donor to undertake a national survey entitled “Research on Agricultural Markets in Ghana” with Co-PI Chris Udry (Northwestern) to evaluate the impact of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
Supported the UAE-Ghana Official Trade and Investment Missionheld in Accra. CTED’s Advisory Council member, H.E. Abdullah Al Saleh, the UAE Under-Secretary of Foreign Trade and Industry (UAE Ministry of Economy), delivered the keynote address that acknowledged my advocacy work developing ties between the two countries and links to the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
2017
Led a capacity-building training for four members of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) in New York. The participants had one-on-one meetings with NYU faculty and leading financial institutions such as the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and the Museum of American Finance. This meeting laid the groundwork for the launch of the GCX the following year.
Received a grant from the International Growth Centre (IGC) at the London School of Economics to work on the “Formal Evaluation of the Ghana Commodity Exchange.”
Hosted a weeklong capacity-building program at NYU Abu Dhabi and in Dubai. This program was themed “Economics and the Transformation of Africa: Commodities Exchanges” brought leaders from the long-established Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) and the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) who shared their best practices, insights, and lessons from the field.
Hosted a “Business and Economic Roundtable” with H.E. Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the Vice President of Ghana. This meeting was held in Dubai to bring together UAE and Ghana government officials, business leaders, and investors to interface and learn about the establishment of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
The Government of Ghana includes the "Establishment of an Agriculture Commodities Exchange” in the Budget Statement and Economic Policy for the 2018 Financial Year. This was presented to Parliament on November 15, 2017, by Minister of Finance, Hon. Ken Ofori-Atta.
Appointed the chair of the Technical Oversight Committee of the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX).
2016
Published paper entitled “Commodity Exchanges in Africa: Transforming African Agriculture and Finance” that examined the potential benefits of the commodity exchange. This was supported by the International Growth Centre (IGC) at the London School of Economics.
2015
Published “Agricultural Markets: The Formation of the Ghana Commodity Exchange” with the support of the International Growth Centre (IGC) at the London School of Economics.
2014
Convened members of the Ethiopian and Ghanaian Commodity Exchanges to meet with the Abu Dhabi Exchange and the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC) for a “Commodity Markets Seminar” to encourage knowledge sharing between the different groups and conversations around best practices for establishing new markets. Provided technical training seminars to ECX and GCX participants with CTED Ph.D. students and staff.
2013
Began collaborations for CTED staff, researchers, and students with the Dubai Multi Commodities Center (DMCC). DMCC was established in 2002 as a strategic initiative of the Government of Dubai, with a mandate to provide the physical, market, and financial infrastructure required to set up and operate a thriving commodities marketplace.
2012
Hosted Dr. Eleni Gabre-Madhin, Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), for a presentation on “The Making of a Market: How the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange Came to Be.
