The Role of Agriculture in the Development Process: Recent Experiences from Ghana

Economic policies have had important implications for the role of agriculture in the socio-economic development of Ghana because of agricultures dominance of the economy. The performance of the agricultural sector has generally directed the overall economic performance since independence. The policy of market deregulation in Ghana, including agricultural markets, has not achieved the expected results due to many constraints, the key of which are institutional failures and the slow response of the private sector to take up the agricultural input markets. These have been compounded by the rain-fed agriculture that is predominant in Ghana, such that bad rainfall years have been characterized by low harvests of staple food crops and high food prices, and vice versa. This has resulted in high price volatility during the post liberalization years. In addition, under developed rural financial markets make it such that farmers are unable to invest much in new technologies and agricultural land development, thereby increasing pressure on farmlands as population increases. The paper highlights the key role of agriculture, including environmental, poverty alleviation, food security, buffer, social viability, and cultural perceptions. The failure of policy to adequately address the myriad of problems confronting agriculture has been in part because of institutional failure, and in part due to bottlenecks in the distribution system. Future agricultural research and policies should therefore target developing rural institutions, in particular, agricultural institutions, to respond adequately to new technologies and improvements in agricultural production, processing and distribution.International Development,

Policy Initiatives and Agricultural Performance in Post-independent Ghana

The central role agriculture plays in the development of Ghana’s economy has been recognized by several authors, particularly because Ghana’s economy is basically agrarian. Nevertheless, the contributions agriculture can make to economic development depend on the policy environment within which agriculture thrives. Several policies, both general and specific to agriculture, which have been pursued under various governments have either promoted or mitigated against the performance of agriculture in Ghana. This paper reviews the various policies under which Ghana's agricultural sector has operated since independence, and provides a synthesis of the major existing policies and recent changes and how these have affected the agricultural sector. The analysis shows that the socialist model of the 1960s contrasted sharply with the liberalized market approach of the 1980s and 1990s, particularly under structural adjustment. These differing policy orientations have had significant effects on agricultural performance in Ghana, and the roles of agriculture at different periods. For instance, the policy effects of agricultural activities on the environment, such as the promotion of export commodities, the exploitation of timber and forest resources, mining, and indiscriminate sale and use of agro-chemicals in Ghana have been negative. On the other hand, promotion of cash and export crops through government policy incentives have improved rural incomes for farmers that cultivate such crops, and helped to reduce poverty among this group. In general, the policy effects on agriculture in Ghana have been mixed

Benefit-Cost Analysis and Socio-Economic Considerations of Trypanosomiasis Control and Treatment in Northern Ghana

The paper estimates the cost of tsetse control and treatment of trypanosomiasis and the benefits involved, using benefit-cost analysis. It also estimates the extent to which socio-economic characteristics of farmers affect the use of tsetse control techniques, using a maximum Likelihood-Binary Logit model. The results show that farmers will benefit if they invest in control and treatment of the disease. We find that the farmer accepting the challenge that the tsetse fly is a threat to cattle production, the number of dependants the farmer has, and the farmer agreeing that the bite of the tsetse fly causes the nagana disease are significant factors that affect adoption of control practices including the use of prescribed drugs. Our findings suggest that there is potential for farmers’ response and participation in tsetse control activities in Northern Ghana. What seems to be lacking is the relevant information that farmers need to encourage them to participate. We recommend therefore that more extension services be provided livestock farmers to help them derive maximum benefit from disease control practiceAgricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Financial Economics, Food Security and Poverty, International Relations/Trade, Land Economics/Use, Livestock Production/Industries, Production Economics, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

EFFECTS OF MORE OPEN TRADE ON CATTLE PRODUCTION, BEEF CONSUMPTION, AND WELFARE IN THE CENTRAL CORRIDOR OF WEST AFRICA

The magnitude and direction of trade flows in cattle and beef, and how cattle production and beef consumption adjust in response to more open trade in the Central Corridor (an acronym for the sub-region that includes Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Burkina Faso) have been estimated. A mathematical programming approach was used to model trade in cattle and beef in the West African Central Corridor. Quadratic programming which maximizes the net social surplus in the Samuelson sense under a competitive market framework when farmers are risk averse was applied. Estimates of consumer surplus, producer profits, and government revenue changes were used as welfare indicators. The different scenarios analyzed indicate that there would be an increase in trade in cattle and beef consumption in the sub-region, as well as an overall welfare gain.International Relations/Trade,

Responding to Economic Shocks in Ghana: The Agricultural Sector as a Social Safety Net

The objective of this paper is to document, assess and characterize the role Ghana's agriculture has played as a safety net when the urban labor market suffered economic shocks. The study explores how agriculture influences non-agricultural dependent households. Specific attention is given to the implicit value of the informal insurance role that rural households play in supporting family members who lose jobs acquired after migrating to urban areas. The paper analyses Ghanaian agriculture's social security role in the late 1980s and 1990s. This well documented period in Ghanaian economic literature, coincides with both natural and macro policy shocks and the policy measures taken to cope with the shocks.Ghana, labor, migration, rural development, safety nets, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Food Security and Poverty, Labor and Human Capital,

Has Imported Rice Crowded-out Domestic Rice Production in Ghana? What has Been the Role of Policy?

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country. On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice productionGhana, market integration Policy, Rice, Production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

INVESTMENT ANALYSIS OF ALTERNATIVE FRUIT TREE SPRAYERS IN MICHIGAN ORCHARDS

Changing orchard sprayer technology and rising pesticide costs to fruit growers raise the need to analyze the profitability of alternative sprayer investments. This study analyzes investments in four orchard sprayers for use in Michigan apple production: an air blast sprayer, a tower boom sprayer, a tower boom sprayer equipped with electronic sensors that activate spray nozzles when foliage is detected, and an air curtain sprayer that targets spray with a layer of forced air. Assuming equal pest control efficacy, the study calculates the annualized net present cost per acre of owning and operating each sprayer for ten years using a baseline discount rate of 10 percent over 200 acres of semi-dwarf apple trees. The analysis found the annualized net present cost per acre, from least to greatest, to be $287 for the air curtain sprayer,$312 for the tower sprayer with electronic sensors, $345 for the plain tower sprayer, and$391 for the conventional air blast sprayer. Sensitivity analysis revealed that the ranking of these cost results was sensitive to farm size, but not to percentage of funds borrowed, discount rate, loan interest rate, or pesticide costs within the ranges investigated. The air curtain sprayer was lowest cost for orchards of 25 acres or more; the conventional air blast sprayer was lowest cost for 10-acre orchards.Crop Production/Industries,

Household health and cocoa production: a baseline survey of smallholder farming households in Western Region, Ghana

This repository item contains a single issue of the Health and Development Discussion Papers, an informal working paper series that began publishing in 2002 by the Boston University Center for Global Health and Development. It is intended to help the Center and individual authors to disseminate work that is being prepared for journal publication or that is not appropriate for journal publication but might still have value to readers

Household Health and Cocoa Production: A Baseline Survey of Smallholder Farming Households in Western Region, Ghana

Background Chronic illness and premature mortality from malaria, water-borne diseases, and respiratory illnesses have long been known to diminish the welfare of individuals and households in developing countries. Previous research has also shown that chronic diseases among farming populations suppress labor productivity and agricultural output. As the illness and death toll from HIV/AIDS continues to climb in most of sub-Saharan Africa, concern has arisen that the loss of household labor it causes will reduce crop yields, impoverish farming households, intensify malnutrition, and suppress growth in the agricultural sector. If chronic morbidity and premature mortality among individuals in farming households have substantial impacts on household production, and if a large number of households are affected, it is possible that an increase in morbidity and mortality from HIV/AIDS or other diseases could affect national aggregate output and exports. If, on the other hand, the impact at the household farm level is modest, or if relatively few households are affected, there is likely to be little effect on aggregate production across an entire country. Which of these outcomes is more likely in West Africa is unknown. Little rigorous, quantitative research has been published on the impacts of AIDS on smallholder farm production, particularly in West Africa. The handful of studies that have been conducted have looked mainly at small populations in areas of very high HIV prevalence in southern and eastern Africa. Conclusions about how HIV/AIDS, and other causes of chronic morbidity and mortality, are affecting agriculture across the continent cannot be drawn from these studies. In view of the importance of agriculture, and particularly smallholder agriculture, in the economies of most African countries and the scarcity of resources for health interventions, it is valuable to identify, describe, and quantify the impact of chronic morbidity and mortality on smallholder production of important crops in West Africa. One such crop is cocoa. In Ghana, cocoa is a crop of national importance that is produced almost exclusively by smallholder households. In 2003, Ghana was the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa. Cocoa accounted for a quarter of Ghana’s export revenues that year and generated 15 percent of employment. The success and growth of the cocoa industry is thus vital to the country’s overall social and economic development. Study Objectives and Methods In February and March 2005, the Center for International Health and Development of Boston University (CIHD) and the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness (DAEA) of the University of Ghana, with financial support from the Africa Bureau of the U.S. Agency for International Development and from Mars, Inc., which is a major purchaser of West African cocoa, conducted a survey of a random sample of cocoa farming households in the Western Region of Ghana. The survey documented the extent of chronic morbidity and mortality in cocoa growing households in the Western Region of Ghana, the country’s largest cocoa growing region, and analyzed the impact of morbidity and mortality on cocoa production. It aimed to answer three specific research questions. (1) What is the baseline status of the study population in terms of household size and composition, acute and chronic morbidity, recent mortality, and cocoa production? (2) What is the relationship between household size and cocoa production, and how can this relationship be used to understand the impact of adult mortality and chronic morbidity on the production of cocoa at the household level? The study population was the approximately 42,000 cocoa farming households in the southern part of Ghana’s Western Region. A random sample of households was selected from a roster of eligible households developed from existing administrative information. Under the supervision of the University of Ghana field team, enumerators were graduate students of the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness or employees of the Cocoa Services Division. A total of 632 eligible farmers participated in the survey. Of these, 610 provided complete responses to all questions needed to complete the multivariate statistical analysis reported here

GHANA: EXCHANGE RATE REFORMS AND THE REAL EXCHANGE RATE

The dual purpose of the exchange rate (the price of a unit of foreign currency) as a means of allocating scarce foreign currency among competing uses and an important determinant of income distribution through its influence on the returns to those who produce or consume treadables, makes it a prime target as a policy tool, as has been experienced in Ghana. This paper addresses issues of exchange rate management in Ghana in both the pre- and post-independence periods, and how these have affected both micro and macro economic variables. It provides an overview of exchange rate reforms in Ghana over the period since Ghana attained independence from Britain in 1957; and investigates the factors that are most important in determining the real exchange rate in Ghana. The paper finds current transfers and real money supply to be very important in determining Ghana's real exchange rate, inter alia. In terms of policy, it finds that nominal exchange rate reform by itself alone is not a panacea for addressing distortions in an economy and promoting economic growth