The Ghana Chamber of Agribusiness is calling for urgent reforms in the country’s telecommunications pricing structure, urging service providers to introduce affordable and zero-rated communication services for over seven million players in the agricultural value chain.

According to the Chamber, the biggest challenge facing Ghana’s agricultural sector is not low productivity or poor soil conditions, but inadequate and costly communication systems that hinder coordination among stakeholders.

It noted that farmers, processors, aggregators, transporters, and cooperatives depend heavily on daily communication, yet high costs for calls, messaging, and data continue to create inefficiencies.

“We have built roads and invested in inputs, but we are ignoring the most critical modern tool—affordable communication,” the Chamber said.

As part of its proposals, the Chamber is advocating zero-rated calls and messaging between farmers and their associations, discounted telecom packages for agribusiness networks, and subsidised data access for agricultural platforms.

It believes such measures would enhance coordination across the value chain, reduce post-harvest losses, strengthen cooperatives, and ensure a more reliable supply of raw materials for agro-processing industries.

The Chamber also highlighted the potential for improved communication to expand market access for farmers, reduce exploitation by middlemen, and stimulate growth in rural economies.

It further argued that telecom operators would benefit from the initiative through a broader customer base, increased mobile money transactions, and long-term growth driven by a more connected agricultural sector.

“This is not a revenue sacrifice; it is an opportunity for market expansion,” the Chamber emphasised.

The group is therefore urging government and regulators to treat agricultural connectivity as critical economic infrastructure, on par with roads, energy, and irrigation systems.

It warned that failure to address communication barriers could continue to weaken supply chains, constrain industrial growth, and slow Ghana’s agricultural transformation agenda.