News:
November 19, 2021
The Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) programme would shore up revenue from three crop sector by over 14 billion dollars, with each tree crop estimated to raise at least 2 billion dollars like cocoa.
Government is fully committed to making this a reality and has demonstrated in no uncertain terms, its determination, with the establishment of the Tree Crop Authority as the regulatory body for ensuring maximum returns on the huge investments by government and the private sector, Dr Akoto Afriyie told Parliament.
Responding to the Member of Parliament for Asene/Akroso/Manso, George Kwame Aboagye’s question on the achievements or progress made since the implementation of the planting for Export and Rural 
Development programme, he said “Mr. Speaker, the Planting for Export and Rural Development (PERD) Programme, is a market oriented rural based agricultural value chain intervention, driven mainly by the private sector. Th programme is designed to diversify the Ghanaian export portfolio and accelerate rural development. Seven crops are being promoted under the programme. These are coffee, coconut, rubber, oil palm, cashew, mango and shea.”
Following the launch of the PERD programme in April 2019, after feasibility studies were undertaken in 2018, approximately 294 million certified planting materials (coffee, coconut, rubber, oil palm, cashew, mango and shea) have been supplied to 220,257 smallholder farmers and 35 commercial farmers under the PERD Diversified Integrated Project. The beneficiaries of the seedlings are located in 115 districts across the 16 regions.
He further said, with the introduction of the PERD programme, a new chapter has been opened to unlock the huge potential of the Ghana Tree Crop sector. Our goal is to develop each of the crops to the level of cocoa, Ghana’s leading export crop, which rakes in over 2 billion dollars revenue annually.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com