Harnessing Natural Resource Wealth for Development: The case of Ghana

Ghana’s economy depends largely on foreign aid and has performed well in recent years in terms of GDP growth after the launch of the economic recovery programme in 1983. In spite of this there has been minimal impact on poverty reduction with rural folks bearing the major brunt of poverty. Ghana on the other hand is endowed with rich natural resources that can prudently be managed to ensure sustainable economic growth, high standards of living and a prosperous new Ghana. The scary thing however, about windfall wealth is that they can be a blessing creating economic prosperity or a curse spawning war, corruption and deindustrialization. The recent discovery of oil and current discussion by government on the concept to adopt in managing oil revenues have also added to the hopes of many Ghanaians for a better life as they wait patiently on ‘Petro-dollars’ to help improve the performance of the economy. Irrespective of which strategy government adopts, engineering a new Ghanaian economy demands policies that uses natural resource revenues to diversify and produce a robust self reliant economy capable of sustaining itself against external shock necessary to avoid the resource curse or Dutch-Disease. Keywords: National Resources, Diversification, Value Addition, Development, Ghan

Macroeconomic Variables and Stock Market Returns: Full Information Maximum Likelihood Estimation

This study examines the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns using monthly data over period January 1992 to December, 2008. Macroeconomic variables used in this study are consumer price index (as a proxy for inflation), crude oil price, exchange rate and 91 day Treasury bill rate (as a proxy for interest rate). Full Information Maximum Likelihood Estimation procedure was used in establishing the relationship between macroeconomic variables and stock market returns in Ghana. The empirical results reveal that there is a significant relationship between stock market returns and three macroeconomic variables; consumer price index (inflation rate), exchange rate and Treasury bill rate seem to affect stock market returns. Consumer price index (Inflation rate) had a positive significant effect, while exchange rate and Treasury bill rate had negative significant influence on stock market returns. On the other hand, crude oil prices do not appear to have any significant effect on stock returns. The results may provide some insight to corporate managers, investors and policy makers. Key words: stock market returns, inflation rate, crude oil price, exchange rate, interest rate, Ghan

Analysis of Foodstuff Price Volatility in Ghana: Implications for Food Security

In recent years, price volatility is becoming increasingly relevant to producers and consumers in the saturated food markets amidst stiff completion and globalisation. The analysis of price volatility is necessary to develop bidding strategies or negotiation skills in order to maximize profit. The generalised autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) regression model is used to forecast foodstuff prices in Ghana over the period 1970 to 2006. The data used are monthly wholesale prices for maize, millet, and rice obtained from the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture. The empirical results reveal that foodstuff prices exhibit high volatility with continual increasing prices over the study period. The results of the out-sample forecast reveal that maize, millet and rice prices would increase by 23%, 11% and 10% respectively in the next month. The study recommends the provision of adequate storage facilities, and farmers’ market centres in the districts to stabilize food prices. The increases in food prices have implications for food and nutrition situation of the poor in Ghana

Willingness of marine artisanal fishermen to integrate aquaculture in enterprise mix: Evidence from Ghana

Marine resources are depleting, making the dependence of economies on fish from such sources no longer the best option. Aquaculture has been suggested as an alternative livelihood. This study assesses the willingness of marine artisanal fishermen in the coastal region of Ghana to adopt aquaculture. The Effutu municipality in the central region of Ghana was purposely selected for the study. A multi stage cluster sampling procedure was used to randomly select150 artisanal fishermen from two communities in the coastal area of the district. Data was collected using semi structured questionnaire. The study employed the Binary Logit model to assess the influence of technical, socioeconomic and institutional factors on the decision to integrate the aquaculture enterprise into household enterprises of fishermen. The results of the study showed that about62 percent of the marine fishermen were willing to adopt and integrate aquaculture into their enterprise mix. The Logit estimation results reveal that fishermen who lacked savings, had difficulty in accessing credit, did not belong to fishermen's association, and were new in marine fishing were more likely to be convinced about integrating aquaculture. There is potential for marine fishers to explore and use aquaculture to enhance their wealth. The study recommends that targeting marine fishers who are youthful and inexperienced for training and capacity building is the best policy option for stakeholders who are interested in aquaculture development. Key Words: Marine artisanal fishermen, aquaculture, enterprise mix, Binary Logit Model, Ghan

Application of Livelihood Vulnerability Index in Assessing Vulnerability to Climate Change and Variability in Northern Ghana

Climate change is impacting on climate dependent activities such as agriculture in Africa and Ghana. The extent of the impact of climate change in agriculture depends on the level of vulnerability or exposure of farmers to these impacts. This study estimates the level of vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate change and variability in northern Ghana using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index highlighting access to, and utilization of water resources. The approach estimates vulnerabilities in terms of exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacity. The data is based on a survey of 320 farm households, complemented with secondary data on rainfall and temperature. Results of the study shows that Northern Region is the most exposed region to climate change and variability. Upper West Region is the most sensitive to climate change and variability especially with regards to water stress; and the Upper East Region has the least adaptive capacity. Northern Region is the most vulnerable in terms of the overall livelihood vulnerability index, followed by the Upper East and Upper West regions. Key Words: Livelihood, Vulnerability, Climate change, Climate variability, Northern Ghan

Does Scale Matter in Profitability of Small Scale Broiler Agribusiness Production in Ghana? A Translog Profit Function Model

This paper examined whether scale matter in profitability of small-scale commercial broiler agribusinessproduction in Ghana, using the translog profit function model. Structured questionnaire was used to collectprimary data on input and output prices and quantities from four hundred and forty-one (441) small-scalecommercial broiler agribusinesses for the 2010 production year through a multiple-stage random samplingtechnique. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data collected for thestudy. Findings of the study show that by incurring an average variable cost of GH¢8.48 per broiler and sellingeach at GH¢14.80, small-scale broiler agribusinesses make a profit of GH¢5.59 per bird. Results of the translogprofit function model indicate that feed and day-old chick prices are the two main factors that negatively andsignificantly affect profit in small-scale commercial broiler agribusiness production. Stock size of small-scalebroiler agribusinesses was also found to positively and significantly affect profit in broiler production. Thisimplies that profit of small-scale broiler agribusinesses increases with scale, hence scale matters in profitabilityof broiler production. Policy actions directed towards broiler producers to increase their production scale in orderto reduce cost and increase profit should be encouraged.Keywords: Scale, Profitability, Broiler, Agribusiness, Production, Translog, Ghan

Effect of gold mining on total factor productivity of farmers: Evidence from Ghana

Gold mining comes with several benefits to developing countries, manifested mainly in the form of employment and revenue, but simultaneously impacts negatively on the immediate environment. It affects the economic structure including agriculture and its productivity. Hence, this study investigated the effect of gold mining on total factor productivity of farmers in Ghana using 110 cocoa farmers from Asutifi North and Asutifi South districts of the Brong Ahafo Region, categorised into mining and non-mining areas respectively. About 83 % of the farmers in the mining areas were affected by gold mining through channels such as land disputes, relocation of farm/residence, high cost of labour, illegal small-scale mining and dust settlement on crops. Also, about 64 % of cocoa farmers in the mining areas lost their farm lands (between 0.4 and 3.64 ha as a result of gold mining. The Tornqvist Total Factor Productivity (TFP) indices for cocoa farmers in the non-mining areas (mean TFP of 1.404) were also statistically higher than those in the mining areas (mean TFP of 0.371). The study concluded that gold mining activities adversely affect productivity of farmers in the catchment areas. The study recommends, among others, that a policy of land-for-land should be in place and effectively implemented to ensure that mining companies in order to enhance and ensure continuity of livelihoods must fully replace lands lost through mining activities

Willingness to pay for excreta pellet fertilizer: Empirical evidence from Ghana

This study examined farmers’ willingness to pay for excreta pellet fertilizer in Ghana. Primary data was obtained from 461 farmers in 10 districts in the Western and Greater Accra regions of Ghana through randomized questionnaire administration. The contingent valuation method was used in eliciting the farmers’ willingness to pay decisions (WTP) and maximum amount they are willing to pay. The Tobit regression model results revealed that being a household head, unit cost of current fertilizer used, and farm size positively influenced the willingness to pay amount whereas previous use of organic fertilizer influenced the willingness to pay amount negatively.</p