On Monday, February 17, 2025, President John Dramani Mahama appointed Dr. Andy Osei Okrah as the Chief Executive Officer of the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA).
Tasked with regulating and modernising Ghana’s agricultural portfolio, Dr. Okrah has elevated six key tree crops—cashew, coconut, oil palm, rubber, mango, and shea—from wild-harvested commodities into formalised, sustainable commercial industries.
Prior to this role, Dr. Okrah served as the Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister during President John Dramani Mahama’s first administration and as the Director of Human Resources at the Forestry Commission.
Through his leadership at the TCDA, he has aggressively advanced these six strategic economic crops, driving job creation and value addition across the global supply chain.
Transformative Strategic Initiatives
Dr. Okrah’s transformative approach is defined by several strategic programmes:
Tree Crops Diversification Project
He has worked actively with the World Bank and government officials to accelerate this landmark initiative, which aims to diversify Ghana’s agricultural portfolio, create jobs, and improve farmers’ livelihoods.
Commodity Platforms & Floor Prices
Dr. Okrah spearheaded the launch of the National Shea Commodity Platform (NSCP) in Tamale. He is heavily involved in implementing floor price mechanisms across all six primary tree crops to protect farmers from market instability.
UNDP Partnership
During the NSCP launch, he praised the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for its crucial role in Ghana’s shea landscape initiatives. He highlighted their collaboration on the Ghana Shea Landscape Emission Reductions Project (GSLERP), a major Green Climate Fund-backed programme to restore degraded savannahs and empower local communities.
Regulatory Reforms and Enforcement
Dr. Okrah frequently tours various Ghanaian regions—such as the Central and Savannah regions—to strengthen institutional collaboration, educate communities against the indiscriminate felling of valuable trees like shea, and promote responsible environmental stewardship.
To strengthen sector regulation, he facilitated a two-week intensive training programme for the first cohort of TCDA compliance and enforcement officers.
This 85-member task force works closely with Customs, Immigration, the Police, National Security, District Assemblies, and other state institutions to enforce standards and ensure traceability.
Furthermore, measures were implemented requiring all tree crop planting materials to be sourced exclusively from certified suppliers, and a minimum pricing formula was introduced to protect rural women and local actors.
Investment and International Partnerships
Dr. Okrah actively courts international and local investors, collaborating with major financial institutions to secure funding to overcome challenges such as low productivity and limited market access.
Under his guidance, the TCDA secured a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Russia’s Golden Forest Limited to invest in processing infrastructure, scientific research, and shea parkland restoration.
Driven by these policies, Ghana’s oil palm sector has recently attracted strategic international investors.
The TCDA hosted a high-level Thai delegation to discuss major investments aimed at closing Ghana’s roughly 150,000-metric-tonne palm oil deficit.
The delegation proposed establishing a 12,000-hectare oil palm plantation alongside a modern processing mill.
This initiative perfectly aligns with Ghana’s broader goal of attracting Thai capital—backed by a $500 million financing mechanism—to establish 100,000 hectares of new plantations by 2032.
A few days ago, to drive the growth of tree crops, Dr. Andy Osei Okrah welcomed a delegation from the Oxford Economic Policy Network (EPN), accompanied by representatives from the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat, for a strategic engagement on Ghana’s tree crops sector.
The meeting provided an opportunity for Dr. Andy Osei Okrah to present TCDA’s mandate, ongoing interventions, and the vast investment opportunities across the tree crops value chain.
Discussions centred on the cashew sector and strategic initiatives to increase value addition, particularly through the commercial utilisation of the cashew apple, which remains largely underutilised despite its significant economic potential.
In the meeting, the CEO underscored the importance of value addition across the tree crop value chains, which aligns with the Government’s Agriculture for Economic Transformation (AET) agenda to drive industrialisation, create jobs, and boost exports.
The engagement also explored opportunities within the shea sector, with a focus on moving beyond the export of raw shea products to increased local processing and value addition.
On the rubber sector, Dr. Andy Osei Okrah outlined the Government’s vision to significantly expand production by 2030 through the reclamation of degraded lands, distribution of quality seedlings, and capacity building for value chain actors to strengthen Ghana’s position in the global rubber market.
The delegation commended TCDA’s proactive regulatory interventions, including the registration and licensing of value chain actors, minimum producer pricing mechanisms, and enforcement measures aimed at enhancing transparency and the overall competitiveness of Ghana’s tree crops sector.
Through the instrumentality of Dr. Okrah, the TCDA has directed all development partners, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, individuals, and other stakeholders involved in the distribution of tree crop seedlings to source planting materials exclusively from TCDA-certified suppliers.
The directive, issued under the Tree Crops Development Authority Act, 2019 (Act 1010), applies to six regulated tree crops—cashew, coconut, oil palm, mango, rubber, and shea—and takes effect on July 3, 2026.
According to the Authority, the move is aimed at improving quality assurance, traceability, and productivity across Ghana’s tree crop sector by ensuring that only certified planting materials are distributed to farmers.
The TCDA explained that the directive is backed by Regulation 46 of the Tree Crops Regulations, 2023 (L.I. 2471), which empowers the Authority to ensure that planting materials are obtained from verifiable and approved sources.
Under the new requirements, all organisations and individuals distributing tree crop seedlings must procure planting materials only from TCDA-approved stocks. They must also maintain records showing the source and approval status of the seedlings and make such records available to the Authority upon request.
Additionally, distributors are required to ensure that seedlings meet TCDA standards and present them for inspection, verification, and certification before distribution.
The Authority warned that no person or entity will be permitted to distribute, supply, or circulate uncertified or unapproved tree crop planting materials without TCDA approval once the directive comes into force.
It further stated that failure to comply with the directive will attract sanctions under the Tree Crops Regulations, 2023 (L.I. 2471).
The TCDA also urged farmers and other beneficiaries to verify that seedlings supplied to them come only from accredited and certified sources approved by the Authority.
According to the regulator, the measure will help guarantee quality planting materials, enhance traceability, promote sustainability, and improve productivity in Ghana’s tree crop industry.
