Ghana’s Tree Crops Development Authority has taken its campaign for export permits on raw shea, cashew and rubber to Wa, 17 months after the rule took effect.
The Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) used a stakeholder forum in the Upper West Regional capital to explain its “no permit, no export” policy to farmers, aggregators, exporters, processors and officials. Under Regulation 50 of the Tree Crops Regulations, 2023 (L.I. 2471), registered exporters must obtain written approval before shipping any of the three commodities unprocessed. The requirement has applied since 2 May 2025.
The rule is meant to keep raw materials in the country for local factories. TCDA Chief Executive Dr Andy Osei Okrah told the forum that unchecked exports of raw rubber were starving domestic processors of supply and could lead to factory closures and job losses. He urged exporters to declare their plans so the Authority could assess local needs before issuing permits. “Our goal is not to penalise, but to educate, regulate, and coordinate,” he said.
Okrah has previously put a figure on the problem. When the rule took effect in May 2025, he said Ghana lost more than GH¢22.5 million in the 2023/24 season to unchecked raw rubber exports, and that the country’s six main rubber factories employed more than 1,400 people.
Enforcement has been the weak point. In July 2025, Okrah told GhanaWeb that not a single exporter had applied for a permit to ship raw rubber since the rule began. This was despite complaints from outgrowers that trucks were carrying raw rubber to Tema. He said the Authority planned to introduce conveyance certificates for trucks carrying rubber to improve tracking. No figures on permits issued were given at the Wa forum.
The Upper West has become a major producer of shea, cashew and mango, according to Huudu Abu, the Regional Director of Agriculture. He said keeping raw materials for local factories before export would help create jobs and reduce poverty. Okrah called on district assemblies to support the cultivation of at least 1,000 hectares of the relevant crops.
Esther Naabir, Executive Director of the Agape Shea Butter Cooperative, welcomed the tighter rules but pointed to quality problems at harvest. She said some pickers bury shea nuts to make them look parboiled, which can damage them before processing.
Emmanuel Akosa of the TCDA Compliance Department said licensing every actor in the value chain would let the Authority trace produce from the farm gate to export. International buyers, he said, increasingly want proof that commodities are sourced sustainably and without deforestation.
