Guinness Ghana, GIZ Invest GHS31.6 Million to Boost Sorghum Production in Ghana

Guinness Ghana PLC and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to invest GHS 31.6 million in modernizing Ghana’s sorghum value chain; one of the most significant private-sector commitments to local agricultural sourcing in northern Ghana to date.

The partnership will directly benefit 30,000 smallholder sorghum farmers and 40 aggregators — alongside input providers, mechanisation services and logistics operators, across the Northern, Savannah, Upper West, Upper East and North-East Regions.

It is designed to raise productivity and grain quality, strengthen climate resilience, and build a transparent, sustainable supply of the sorghum used in Guinness Ghana’s flagship nonalcoholic beverage, Malta Guinness.

The agreement marks the latest chapter in a local-sourcing journey that Guinness Ghana began in 2012. Over more than a decade, the company has steadily increased the share of raw materials sourced within Ghana under its Local Raw Material (LRM) agenda, an approach that has created jobs, substituted imports and given farming communities a dependable market for their harvest.

Under the agreement, farmers will receive certified, high-quality sorghum seed, a critical input that smallholders too often struggle to access. The programme will also deploy digital tools — including weather stations, drones and traceability systems; to support climate monitoring, improve transparency and meet the sustainability standards increasingly demanded across modern supply chains.

A comprehensive capacity-building component will equip farmers and aggregators with training in quality management, post-harvest handling and loss reduction, financial literacy and access to finance, and regenerative agriculture and dynamic agroforestry.

With climate variability increasingly affecting harvests in the north, the initiative places particular emphasis on practices that restore soil health, integrate trees into farming systems and diversify household incomes. “Local sourcing has been central to how we build our business in Ghana.

Since we began our Local Raw Material journey in 2012, we have worked to bring more of our supply chain home; creating jobs, building skills and giving Ghanaian farmers a reliable market for their grain.

This partnership with GIZ takes that commitment further, ensuring the sorghum behind Malta Guinness is grown sustainably, traced transparently and produced by farmers equipped to thrive in a changing climate,” said Frederic Feraille, Managing Director, Guinness Ghana PLC.

“Inclusive economic growth depends on connecting smallholder farmers to reliable markets and giving them the tools to compete. Through our partnership with Guinness Ghana, we are investing in northern Ghana’s farmers, in climate-smart agriculture and in the local supply chains that create lasting jobs.

This is exactly the kind of collaboration between business and development cooperation that delivers value for Ghana, Germany and Europe,” said Wilhelm Hugo - Cluster Coordinator, NIED Cluster.

This partnership demonstrates our shared commitment to sustainable agricultural development and inclusive economic growth.  By combining private sector investment with development cooperation, we aim to strengthen the sorghum value chain, improve livelihoods, and create meaningful opportunities for women and young people across northern Ghana."