Policy Notes & Briefs

Africa RISING in Ghana: Impact brief

The Africa RISING project in Ghana was implemented in 25 communities across the Upper East, Upper West, and Northern regions. The project supported the promotion of early maturing maize varieties and maize-cowpea intercropping, optimal crop spacing for increased groundnut yield, and maize-leaf stripping for livestock feed. It also aimed to foster the adoption of improved feeding for livestock to boost manure production, reduce animal mortality, and increase animal reproduction rates. Alongside these interventions, Africa RISING promoted effective natural resource management (leaf stripping, manure production, and use of nitrogen fertilizer). Mechanization for postharvest handling was also supported, especially the use of fuel-powered maize-shelling machines.

AI-assisted dietary assessment and personalized “nudges” in urban Ghana: Preparing for scale-up

Diet-related risk factors cause 11 million deaths annually, making them the largest single factor included in the Global Burden of Disease analyses (Afshin et al. 2019). Recent trends associated with urbanization and the “nutrition transition”—which is characterized by shifts to unhealthy diets and increased consumption of energy dense and nutrient poor processed foods and decreased physical activity—have led to increases in rates of overweight and obesity (Popkin et al. 2020). Regular data collection to document population-level dietary intake is essential for effective, evidence-based nutrition actions (Hargreaves et al. 2022). However, collecting and analyzing dietary data is complex and expensive (Bell et al. 2017). Dietary assessments typically involve the use of the multi-pass 24-hour recall (24HR) method, which has been validated in adults reporting their intake and/or that of their young children (Gibson and Ferguson 2008), and to some degree in adolescents. The costs associated with conducting a 24HR are approximately $500 per recall (Adams et al. 2022). Mobile phone-based tools have potential to lower the cost of diet assessment; however, evidence is lacking on the validity and feasibility of conducting phone-based assessments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) (Bell et al. 2017).

Implications of the Russia-Ukraine war on agrifood systems in Ghana and policy responses for building a resilient food system

This policy brief discusses the immediate impact of the Russia-Ukraine war on the economy of Ghana with a specific focus on the agricultural and oil sectors. The study employs content analysis of various sources, including articles, published papers, and reports, and utilizes data from AfricaFertilizer.org, Ghana's Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the World Food Programme (WFP) to explore these impacts and policy measures. The study finds that despite being a net crude oil exporter, Ghana's reliance on imports of petrol and diesel makes it susceptible to international price fluctuations, leading to rising pump prices and inflation. The war has also impacted Ghana's agricultural sector, particularly with regard to the import of chemical fertilizers for agricultural production. Furthermore, the study highlights the influence of the conflict on wheat exports and its consequences on Ghana's domestic wheat demand. Escalating palm oil, wheat, and fertilizer prices have further compounded the situation, with international price shocks affecting local food markets and contributing to high food inflation in Ghana. The document's scope extends to examining the policy responses implemented by the country's government to address the challenges posed by the conflict. Finally, the study concludes with key recommendations for enhancing the resilience of the food systems in Ghana.

Ghana’s agrifood system structure and drivers of transformation

Ghana experienced rapid economic growth with an annual GDP growth rate of 6.6 percent between 2009 and 2019 (GSS 2023). Restrictive COVID-19 policy measures in 2020 caused a slowdown in growth (Amewu et al. 2020), with the rate falling to just 0.5 percent in that year (World Bank 2023a). Economic growth rebounded to 5.4 percent in 2021, but this growth was fueled by excessive government borrowing to finance an ambitious public infrastructure campaign and ushered in a severe financial crisis in Ghana. By 2022, the fiscal deficit had reached almost 10 percent of GDP and the total debt-to-GDP ratio had skyrocketed to 90 percent, resulting in rampant inflation (32 percent year-on year), a doubling of interest rates (from 14 to 28 percent), and a sharp currency depreciation (40 percent) (World Bank 2023b; Naadi 2023). Economic growth slowed to 3.2 percent in 2022 and is projected to decline further to 1.6 percent in 2023 (World Bank 2023a). Although President Akuffo-Addo blamed “malevolent forces” (Financial Times 2023)—including the global commodity market shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which by some accounts had only a minimal effect on Ghana’s economy (Arndt et al. 2023; Diao and Thurlow 2023)—the economic situation eventually forced the government to agree to an IMF bailout of US$3 billion in 2023. This will be in force for three years.

Financial feasibility of developing solar groundwater irrigation in Ghana

Ghana is home to 32 million people, 13 million of whom live in rural areas and work mostly in agriculture. Although substantial progress has been made, food insecurity still affects a large share of the population; during 2019–2021 more than one third of the population experienced moderate or severe food insecurity, and in 2020 14% of children below the age of five were stunted.

Measuring changes in Ghana’s agri-food system

Transformation of the agri-food system (AFS) is a leading pathway to achieve the USG Global Food Security Strategy Objective 1 of “Inclusive agriculture-led growth”. The AFS encompasses the primary agricultural sector, as well as all upstream and downstream agriculture-related activities. An expansion of the AFS’s off-farm components is central to the process of agricultural transformation and is strongly associated with economic development. The Percent change in value-added in the agri-food system (AgGDP+) and Employment in the agri-food system (AgEMP+) indicators are useful to track this process.

AI-assisted dietary assessment and personalised “nudges” in urban youth: Feasibility and effectiveness of a mobile phone-based intervention to improve diets in Ghana

Diet-related risks cause 20% of global deaths (~11 million) per year (Afshin et al., 2019). Increased urbanization in low- and middle-income countries accompanied by a nutrition transition, involving increased consumption of unhealthy, processed foods and reductions in physical activity, has exacerbated diet-related risks, leading to increases in rates of overweight and obesity (Popkin et al., 2020). Diets in urban settings are also affected by the reduced time for food preparation, convenience and affordability of unhealthy foods.

We developed an artificial-intelligence-based phone application called Food Recognition Assistance and Nudging Insights (FRANI) to tackle these problems. FRANI was previously validated against observed weighed records, the gold standard for diet assessment, and shown to be as accurate as a trained dietician undertaking a standard, multi-pass 24-hr recall (Folson et al., 2023). FRANI was developed to also provide gamified nudges and personalized feedback designed to promote healthy food choices. The objectives of this study were to measure the acceptability, adherence, and likeability of FRANI, as well as its effects on the food choices of female youth in Accra, Ghana.

How does access to agricultural markets relate to yield, food security, and poverty in northern Ghana?

Ghana: Impacts of the Ukraine and global crises on poverty and food security

Global food, fuel, and fertilizer prices have risen rapidly in recent months, driven in large part by the fallout from the ongoing war in Ukraine and the sanctions imposed on Russia. Other factors, such as export bans, have also contributed to rising prices. Palm oil and wheat prices increased by 56 and 100 percent in real terms, respectively, between June 2021 and April 2022, with most of the in-crease occurring since February (Figure 1). Wide variation exists across products, with real maize prices increasing by only 11 percent, and rice prices declining by 13 percent. The price of crude oil and natural gas has also risen substantially, while the weighted average price of fertilizer has doubled. With these changes in global prices, many developing countries and their development partners are concerned about the implications for economic stability, food security, and poverty.

Survey design and rural labor measurement: Lessons from three studies

Effective policies and programs aiming to reduce poverty require a clear understanding of how people earn their livelihoods. While great gains have been made in the quantity and availability of data, capturing individuals’ labor supply and types of job activities is still challenging. Measuring employment is especially difficult in settings where productive activities are informal, leading to irregular intensity of engagement, and seasonal, where the majority of effort and earning is concentrated in specific periods of the year. These characteristics tend to be especially relevant in rural labor markets in low-income countries where agriculture and agriculture-linked employment are preeminent. In a set of three studies, IFPRI researchers Kate Ambler and Sylvan Herskowitz, in collaboration with Mywish Maredia of Michigan State University, explore the ways in which survey design can affect the quality of resulting labor data in rural populations. The papers examine the effects of household roster order, question type, and recall windows on resulting data. Survey design decisions matter and, if not careful, can induce unintended noise, or more troublingly, bias in resulting data.

Exploring small scale irrigation-nutrition linkages

The evidence on the potential for agricultural interventions to contribute to improved nutrition has grown considerably over the past decade (Ruel et al., 2018). Numerous studies have explored both positive and negative effects of agriculture on nutrition and health (Ruel and Alderman, 2013; Herforth and Harris, 2014; Masset et al., 2012; Hoddinott, 2012). However, as an important and growing component of agriculture, smallscale irrigation has not yet been given the attention it deserves. The Innovation Laboratory for Small Scale Irrigation (ILSSI) set out, among others, to fill the evidence gap on irrigation-nutrition linkages. Domènech (2015) describes several potential pathways through which irrigation can influence food security, nutrition, and health outcomes, including 1) a production pathway, 2) an income pathway, 3) a water supply pathway, and 4) a women’s empowerment pathway. To illustrate these pathways, we adapted the agriculturenutrition framework of Herforth and Harris (2014) to include irrigation (Figure 1), while also noting a fifth, negative pathway that links irrigation to water pollution and disease via the application of fertilizers and pesticides and via supporting vector-borne diseases, such as malaria or schistosomiasis, respectively (Passarelli et al., 2018).

Will promotion of agricultural mechanization help prevent child labour?

The FAO-IFPRI study, of which this brief is a summary, focuses on the use of tractors because they are among the most versatile farm mechanization tools and are universal power sources for all other driven implements and equipment in agriculture, with significant potential to replace animal draught power and human power, including children’s muscle power. Tractor use is typically also the first type of machine-powered equipment in use at lower levels of agricultural development, the context where most child labour is found. Mechanization is mostly assumed to reduce child labour, as it is expected to be labour saving in general. Yet, this is not always the case, as it has also been observed that the use of tractors and other machinery could increase children’s engagement in farm activities. This may be the case if, for instance, their use allows farms to cultivate larger areas, or if it leads to shifting chores of work from hired labor to family workers, e.g. for weeding edges of farmland not reachable by machinery. Evidence has been scant thus far, but the few available studies have mostly lent greater support to the hypothesis that mechanization reduces children’s productive engagement. Most available studies have focused on specific cases and based on scant data. The new FAO-IFPRI study provides a rigorous quantitative assessment for seven developing countries in Asia (India, Nepal and Viet Nam) and sub-Saharan Africa (Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania) based on comparable farm household survey data.

Ghana: Availability of data on nutrition intervention coverage

This profile provides an assessment of a country’s potential to report on national-level coverage1 for a set of 16 nutrition interventions and recommends key actions to strengthen coverage measurement. Intervention coverage data is essential for tracking implementation and impact of strategies and investments to reduce malnutrition.

Assessing the impact of COVID-19 on rural women and men in northern Ghana

While the lockdown in Ghana due to COVID-19 was not as stringent or long as in other countries (at least up to June 2021), it has severely affected rural household incomes, including remittances. Almost three-quarters of households surveyed reported income loss due to the pandemic in Aug/Sep 2020. Use of savings, borrowing and asset sales were common. Women often relied on men’s savings as a coping strategy; government transfers were insignificant. Addressing COVID-19 in rural areas is hindered by a domestic water supply crisis. Approximately half of respondents reported being worried about water availability, changing their activities due to lack of water, not having enough drinking water, and not washing hands when necessary.

Assessing the risk of COVID-19 in Ghana

As COVID-19 vaccines are becoming available, governments will need to assess the number and location of the most vulnerable people within their populations. However, problematically, tracking data for most low- and middle-income countries are only available at the national level. To support the COVID-19 relief effort, the Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration Initiative (GCAN) was commissioned to develop a subnational dataset of key COVID-19 risk indicators and potential risk hotspots.

Assessing the risk of COVID-19 in Feed the Future countries

In anticipation of the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine—the distribution of which will be a complex and sensitive issue—governments will need to assess the number and location of the most vulnerable people within their populations. Problematically, however, tracking data for most low- and middle-income countries are only available at the national level. The most widely used dataset by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering (Dong, Du, and Gardner 2020), for example, does not include subnational data for Feed the Future’s 12 target countries in Africa south of the Sahara (SSA) and South Asia: Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Uganda. For this reason, the Gender, Climate Change, and Nutrition Integration Initiative (GCAN) was commissioned to correlate Demographic and Health Survey data from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) with geospatial data in order to develop a subnational dataset of key COVID-19 risk indicators based on which potential risk hotspots were identified. This summarizes the study’s analysis in the 12 Feed the Future countries and across subnational administrative units within each country.

Ghana's onion market

Onion is a common vegetable crop used globally as seasoning and for medicinal purposes (van der Meer 1997; Cheema et al. 2003). The bulb is also used widely in Ghana in the preparation of stews and soups, accounting for around one-fifth of vegetable expenditure by households (van Asselt et al. 2018). Despite being widely consumed, onion production in Ghana falls well short of demand with imports coming in from neighboring Niger and Burkina Faso even during the peak local production season. Although trade statistics are notoriously weak, some estimates suggest as much as 80 to 90 percent of onion in the local market is imported. The two main varieties cultivated in Ghana are Bawku Red and Galmi. Major production challenges include varietal issues, the seasonal nature of production, and high post-harvest losses. The importance of onion and the significant potential for growth in the subsector has long since been recognized, and the crop was one of the first to be prioritized under Ghana’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program.

Ghana's soya bean market

Soya bean is an important legume that is both a valuable source of feed for livestock and fish and a good source of protein in human diets. The bean contains around 30 percent cholesterol free oil, 40 percent protein, and essential vitamins (El Agroudy et al. 2011). The soya bean industry provides numerous opportunities for value chain actors from seed and grain production through to processing and marketing. As such, growth and modernization of the soya bean sector has potential to improve livelihoods and reduce poverty. While industrial processing and utilization of soya bean has expanded in Ghana, domestic production has not kept up with demand, resulting in significant growth in imports. Currently around half of soya beans or soya bean products is imported (Eshun et al. 2018; Gage et al. 2012). Average soya bean crop yields are low, ranging from 0.7 to 1.7 metric tons per hectare depending on variety, the environment, and management practices used (SRID 2017).

Supporting Ghana's agricultural mechanization program to better meet the needs of smallholder farmers

With support from PIM and USAID, researchers from IFPRI and CIMMYT together with Ghana government officials conducted a qualitative assessment of the Ghana Agricultural Mechanization Service Enterprise Centers (AMSECs) program. The recommendations from the study were used to improve the program’s inclusiveness and efficiency.

The politics and governance of informal food retail in urban Africa

Rapid urbanization in Africa south of the Sahara continues to highlight the importance of informal retailers as a source of both food and employment for the urban poor. The most recent Africa Agriculture Status Report emphasizes that, due to demographic and socioeconomic transformation in the region, the center of gravity of Africa’s food system is shifting to urban areas (AGRA, 2020). Informal retailers—including those who vend in open-air wet markets and hawk on pavements and streets—provide a critical link between agricultural producers and consumers. While the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted the vulnerability of this constituency (Resnick et al., 2020), informal traders have long been victims of other public health, economic, and climate shocks (Battersby & Watson, 2019). To build the resilience of informal traders and enhance their contributions to urban food security, fundamental governance issues need to be addressed. This brief synthesizes research on informal traders conducted under the “Economywide Factors Affecting Agricultural Growth and Rural Transformation” flagship of the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by IFPRI. The research spanned Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia and involved comparative analysis across capital cities based on media events data, surveys with traders, and interviews with urban bureaucrats. In this way, traders’ experiences could be complemented with policymakers’ insights about bottlenecks and opportunities for reform

Lessons learned on scaling Aflasafe® through commercialization in Sub-Saharan Africa

Aflatoxin contamination of several crops is common in tropical and subtropical regions. Maize and groundnut, staples for billions of people, are among the most susceptible to contamination, primarily caused by the fungus Aspergillus flavus. Globally, an estimated 25 percent of aflatoxin-prone crops are contaminated with aflatoxins and/or other mycotoxins. Depending on the dose and exposure period, these toxins can cause severe health detriments in humans and animals. Farmers producing contaminated crops cannot sell to premium markets, including export markets.

Ghana country brief: Understanding the differences between child stunting and anemia reduction and identifying outstanding challenges

In the past decade, Ghana has seen a significant reduction in stunting among children under five years of age. However, anemia only declined marginally over the same period, with the result that the rate of child anemia continues to be a severe public health emergency. These changes occurred within a socioeconomic context considered favorable for nutrition outcomes, marked by expansion and diversification of the economy, and investments in key infrastructure, healthcare, education, and water and sanitation. The Stories of Change in Nutrition study in Ghana aimed to better understand the changes in stunting and anemia between 2009 and 2018, as well as the potential drivers of these changes. Such findings can be used to inform agendasetting, implementation of existing policies, and future planning at national and subnational levels in Ghana. This study’s findings are important because both stunting and anemia are linked to significant adverse health and well-being impacts, particularly in low-income settings [1], and are listed among the global targets for nutrition for 2025 agreed by national ministers of health (including Ghana’s) at the World Health Assembly.

Lessons learned brief for Ghana and Tanzania: External evaluation of mobile phone technology-based nutrition and agriculture advisory services

mNutrition was a five-year global initiative supported by the Department for International Development (DFID) between 2013 and 2018, organised by GSMA and implemented by in-country mobile network operators (MNOs) and other providers. The evaluation was carried out by a consortium of researchers from Gamos, the Institute of Development Studies, and the International Food Policy Research Institute. This briefing summarises key evaluation findings and presents lessons learned on three key topics: 1. The design and implementation of mobile phone-based information services to promote behaviour change; 2. Building a commercially viable business model for mobile phone-based information services; and 3. Evaluating mobile phone-based information services.

Ghana's chili market

Chili pepper (Capsicum spp.) is an important spice and condiment used in many Ghanaian dishes. Alongside tomato and onion, chili ranks as one of Ghana’s three most important vegetable crops in terms of hectarage and crop value with significant potential for generating income, creating jobs, and contributing to foreign exchange through exports (Gonzalez et al. 2014). As is the case with other vegetable crops, chili production in Ghana is more profitable than producing traditional staple crops, such as maize and rice (Van Asselt et al. 2018). However, supply is highly seasonal as most production is rainfed. Chili yields in Ghana are also well below their potential. The government of Ghana has recognized this underexploited potential by designating chili as a priority crop under the Planting for Food Jobs (PFJ) initiative.

Ghana's tomato market

Tomatoes are a key component in the diets of Ghanaian households. Approximately 440,000 tons of tomato are consumed annually, equivalent to 40 percent of household vegetable expenditure (Van Asselt et al. 2018). Despite government support for the sector, national production has not increased much in the last decade, resulting in domestic supply falling far short of demand. While UN Comtrade (2019) trade statistics for 2007 to 2017 indicate that the country imported only around 8,000 tons of tomato annually, mainly from neighboring Burkina Faso, Van Asselt et al. (2018) put this figure at closer to 100,000 tons or one-quarter of domestic supply. Evidently, large quantities of tomato enter the country informally, making it difficult to estimate actual supply and demand patterns and devise appropriate marketing policies. The perishability of tomato is a major challenge and imparts significant risk on producers and traders. As such, post-harvest handling, transport, storage, and processing losses have been estimated at between 20 and 65 percent of production (Vowotor et al. 2012).

Ghana's rice market

Rice is an important staple in Ghana and is cultivated across all agroecological zones. Paddy rice output grew at around 10 percent per annum between 2008 and 2019, with an especially sharp increase of 25 percent in 2019. However, domestic production continues to fall short of demand with the import share of rice consumed remaining above 50 percent (MoFA 2018). This reflects a growing preference for rice among Ghanaian households, especially as consumers become wealthier and more urbanized. The large dependence on rice imports heightens concerns around foreign exchange imbalances and vulnerability to international rice price shocks. Hence, the National Rice Development Strategy of 2009 and the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) campaign launched in 2017 not only prioritize rice but set ambitious expansion targets for domestic rice production (MOFA 2017a). Policy objectives include substituting rice imports and producing a higher-quality product that is more acceptable to Ghanaian consumers and can compete with imported rice.

Ghana's maize market

Maize is a widely consumed and cultivated staple crop in Ghana. It accounts for more than one-quarter of calories consumed, about double that of the second crop, cassava (GSS 2018). About three-quarters of maize consumption is from own production, suggesting maize has limited appeal as a cash crop (Gage et al. 2012). This is set to change as Ghana’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative, launched in 2017, prioritizes maize seed and fertilizer distribution and encourages market participation by smallholders (MoFA 2019). Already average maize output over the period 2017 to 2019 has been 40 percent higher than the average output achieved between 2013 and 2016 (MoFA 2020a). Government attributes this dramatic production response to PFJ. It is uncertain whether the maize market in Ghana can absorb increased this increased maize output without significant impacts on market prices or the profitability of maize cultivation.

Leveling the playing field through school meals

An analysis of learning outcomes from the evaluation of a national school feeding program in Ghana reveals that disadvantaged students benefited most from free school meals. Overall, students with access to school meals had higher academic and cognitive test scores on average compared with students without access to the program, but the program led to much greater gains for certain disadvantaged groups including girls, students from poor households, and students from the Northern regions of Ghana. This evidence suggests that providing free school meals is an effective way to increase opportunities for disadvantaged youth by leveling the playing field through improved educational achievement. However, key structural changes could maximize potential learning impacts resulting from the program. Improvements in program implementation through monitoring the quality and quantity of food served are needed to overcome program implementation challenges identified by the evaluation. Beyond the feeding program itself, investments to improve the quality of education are expected to further improve learning outcomes, especially when school meals incentivize increased school attendance.

Technologies and strategies for aflatoxin control in Ghana: A synthesis of emerging evidence

Aflatoxin is a poisonous substance produced by a fungus, Aspergillus flavus, that occurs naturally in soils of cultivated and non-cultivated areas. The fungus commonly produces the toxin in maize, groundnut, and other staple grains and vegetables, and is especially prevalent in Africa. When animals consume feed contaminated with aflatoxin, milk and (at very low levels) meat, fish and eggs, can also be contam-inated. This note brings together recent research from the CGIAR and others on technologies for aflatoxin control in Africa and provides recommendations for catalyzing their adoption.

Engaging nutrition stakeholders in Poyentanga: A case study on local-level multisector coordination

Multisectoral coordination and action are recognized as necessary conditions to effec-tively address the multiple drivers of malnutrition. There has been a strong effort in the past decade to establish multisector coordination at the national level among member states of the Scaling Up Nutrition Movement. However, the practice of subnational and commu-nity-level nutrition coordination is still emerging, and literature on the factors related to the formation and success of such coordination bodies is limited (for example, Harris et al. 2017). Understanding contextual factors is particularly important for supporting local-level ena-bling environments, where traditional customs may hold influence over political and social structures. A multisector nutrition committee was formed in Poyentanga, a subdistrict of Wa West District in the impoverished Upper West region of Ghana, where acute child malnutrition is driven by seasonal food insecurity. The committee was launched in November 2018 as a plat-form to coordinate local stakeholders to address the challenges of persistent malnutrition in the communities of Poyentanga. This case study examines the enabling environment for local-level engagement and action on nutrition to understand the context and the key factors that led to the formation of the Poyentanga nutrition committee. The basic policy framework and institutional structures were already in place for multi-sector coordination on nutrition before the committee was established. The National Nutrition Policy specifies the formation of a multisectoral coordination mechanism for nutrition services and programmes at national and subnational levels, and responsibility for resource allocation for the delivery of necessary services sits with the District Assemblies. Yet a strong focus on the treatment of acute malnutrition in Wa West District had left the administration of curative nu-trition services largely to the health sector, with little attention given to preventative ap-proaches or engagement from other sectors. Once attention was drawn to the prevalence and consequences of malnutrition, stakeholders from across sectors demonstrated high commit-ment to addressing the problem.

Determinants of agricultural machinery adoption intensities in Ghana

Increased capital use in agriculture, including mechanization, is con-sidered an integral process of agricultural transformation. Despite some recent emergence of medium-to-large scale farmers in SSA, as well as labor-movement out of agricultural sector (particularly youths), smallholders without substantial mechanization have re-mained the majority in the agricultural sector in countries like Gha-na. Globally, mechanization has often been associated with large-scale farming given the complementarity between machine and land. The experiences in Asia in the last few decades, however, suggest that mechanization may grow even among smallholders before they transition into larger-scale farmers. These experiences have prompted the need to understand better how mechanization may be adopted by smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity between mechanization and land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise returns to more intensive farm power use, are im-portant drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders at both extensive and intensive margins. We do so using the three rounds of repeated cross-sectional, nationally rep-resentative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys (GLSS) 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana collected by IFPRI and Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (IFPRI-SARI data), and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant-breeding locations.

Public agricultural spending and growth in Ghana: Spending more, smarter

In 2014, African heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) through the adoption of the Malabo Declaration (AU 2014). The declaration included commitments to reduce hunger and poverty, boost intra-regional trade, enhance resilience to climate variability, and, in line with the Maputo Declaration a decade earlier, to continue allocating to agriculture at least 10 percent of government expenditure. Despite this long-standing spending commitment, Ghana’s agricultural budget share has remained well below 10 percent during the last decade. Depending on accounting principles followed, estimates range from 1 to 2 percent (CAGD 2016), 2 to 4 percent (FAO 2014) or 6 to 8 percent (MoFA 2017a). Given strong evidence that agricultural spending in developing countries yields significant returns (Mogues et al. 2015), Ghana’s relatively weak agricultural performance during the period from 2007 to 2017 may be linked to low levels of spending. At 4.3 percent per annum, agricultural GDP growth has only been half that realized in the non-agricultural sectors (MoF 2018). This weak agricultural growth has also not benefited the poor. Rural poverty has increased in recent years, especially in northern Ghana (GSS 2018). While budgetary allocations to agriculture matter, the quality of spending is as important (Akroyd and Smith 2007). In this regard, concerns have been raised about the decline in allocations to agricultural research, knowledge transfer, and infrastructure in favor of spending on routine operations (FAO 2014; World Bank 2017). Ideally, sector budgets should maintain a healthy balance between investments in a sector’s capacity to grow, e.g., infrastructure or farmers’ knowledge, and expenditures that are fully consumed in the same period, e.g., operational expenses or subsidies (Benin & Tiburcio 2018; Mogues et al. 2015). Following Ghana’s unfavorable assessment in the African Agricultural Transformation Scorecard (AATS), which was launched by the African Union (AU) in 2018, and in light of policy developments, budgetary trends, and socioeconomic outcomes, Ghana’s development partners called for an increase in funding allocated to the agriculture sector at the national Joint Sector Review for Agriculture in June 2019. They further called for improvements in the effectiveness of agricultural spending, with the distortionary effects of large-scale subsidy programs highlighted as a specific concern. A recent study led by IFPRI’s Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) and FAO’s Monitoring and Analyzing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) project considers these issues further (Aragie et al. 2019). Specifically, using an economywide model of the Ghanaian economy, the research-ers examined how changes in the level and composition of public agricultural expenditure affect socioeconomic outcomes in the short and medium term in Ghana. This note highlights selected key study findings.

Trends and composition of government expenditures on agriculture in Ghana, 1960-2015

When African leaders launched the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP) in Maputo in 2003, they committed to spend 10 percent of their national expenditure budget on the agricultural sector. This commitment, popularly known as the Maputo Declaration, was designed in pursuit of a 6 percent agricultural growth rate each year. The African Union (AU) developed a guidance note on the measure to use to track progress in the commitment on government agriculture expenditure (GAE). The measure is based on the classification of the functions of government (COFOG), and the definition of GAE as the expenses of the government sector on agriculture—crops, livestock, forestry, and fishing and hunting (AU-NEPAD 2015). Specifically, the measure is the share of GAE in government total expenditure (GTE), which is GAE*100/GTE. Two recent agricultural public expenditure reviews (agPERs) conducted in Ghana show expenditure shares that are overestimated for measuring progress toward the Maputo 10 percent target, ranging from 6.5 to 21.2 percent in 2001–2011 (MOFA 2013) and from 5.8 to 7.5 percent in 2012–2015 (MOFA 2017). This is because the studies used concepts like “COFOG-plus” or “enhanced-COFOG” to include expenditures that are not meant to be included according to the AU guidance note. One example of this discrepancy is that the studies included government expenditures on feeder roads in GAE, although feeder roads promote socioeconomic development of entire rural communities and not just the agricultural sector. Also, expenditures of the Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod) were included in GAE, even though Cocobod, although responsible for the management and development of the cocoa subsector, is not part of the government sector. It is a public corporation that engages in market-based production activities financed entirely by the cocoa subsector that it serves, and there is no transfer from taxpayers through the Cocobod to the entire agricultural sector.2 Along with these inconsistencies with the official AU guidance note, the estimates and analyses in the two agPER studies mask the relatively low government expenditure in the noncocoa subsector, and may undermine efforts to boost provision of public goods and services in this subsector, which accounts for about 90 percent of Ghana’s agricultural gross domestic product (GDP). The cocoa subsector accounts for the remaining 10 percent of agricultural GDP.

Ghana's 10 percent agriculture expenditure saga: Why reported expenditure shares are not what they seem

This note first discusses the differences between the general government sector and the public corporations sector, and then presents the rationale for when to add and separate expenditures in the two sectors in the accounting of government expenditures. It then presents revised estimates for Ghana on the share of GAE in GTE from 2001 to 2015, which exclude expenditures of Cocobod and expenditures on nonagricultural functions from GAE, in accordance with the official AU guidance note.2 The formula for this is given by GAE*100/GTE. It proposes another formula for obtaining parallel estimates if the Cocobod expenditures are included in the calcu-lations, as attempted in the agPER studies. This revised formula adds the expenditures of all of Ghana’s public boards and corporations (PBCs) to GTE in the denominator to make it comparable to adding expenditures of Cocobod to GAE in the numerator. The new formula therefore would be (GAE+PBCAE) *100/(GTE+PBCTE), where PBCAE denotes PBCs’ agriculture expenditure and PBCTE denotes PBCs’ total expenditure. The data used are from the two agPERs (MOFA 2013; 2017) and annual reports on the accounts and statements of the government (CAGD 2018), public boards, corporations, and other statutory institutions (AG 2018), and the Co-cobod (Ghana Cocoa Board 2018).

Country data profile: Ghana

The purpose of this data profile is: 1) To summarize all available primary data sources and secondary data aggregation platforms for key nutrition indicators representative at the national level in Ghana. 2) To assess the identified data sources for each indicator across four dimensions: (i) validity and comparability, (ii) timeliness, (iii) accessibility, and (iv) representativeness. 3) To identify data gaps in the national data system to effectively track progress on nutrition and/or inform policy and program decisions for improving nutrition in Ghana.

Ghana: Agricultural R&D Indicators Factsheet

This country factsheet presents key agricultural R&D indicators in a highly accessible visual display. The publication also features a more in-depth analysis of some of the key challenges that the country’s agricultural R&D system is facing, and the policy options to address these challenges.

Factsheet on capacities in agricultural higher education: University of Cape Coast, Ghana School of Agriculture

Credible quantitative and qualitative information on existing capacities in agricultural higher education agencies in Africa are crucial for strategic planning, policy formulation, setting priorities and benchmarks, measuring progress toward benchmarks, and identifying capacity gaps. Decisionmakers require a solid understanding of existing staffing and student capacities in the higher education sector, as well as in the wider agricultural innovation systems in Africa south of the Sahara. Access to such information supports effective policymaking to address capacity issues in higher education, agricultural research, extension, and other areas. Such information remains extremely limited, however. To fill this need, the International Food Policy Research Institute’s Agricultural Science and Technology Indicators (ASTI/IFPRI) and the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Agriculture (RUFORUM) initiated a partnership to pilot the collection of this type of data for RUFORUM’s member universities. This factsheet presents the available data results for Africa University, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources. An online version of the data is available via the Portal on Agricultural Capacity in RUFORUM Universities: www.asti.cgiar.org/RUFORUM.

Where to focus post-harvest loss efforts? A review of recent evidence, with application to Ghana

In this note, we summa-rize new evidence from a recent IFPRI study that documents the relative importance of losses in value chains for staple foods in six countries, review the evidence on which crops are most affected by losses, and outline ways to mitigate PHL.

A spatial analysis of youth livelihoods and rural transformation in Ghana

Ghana’s population is becoming younger and increasingly urbanized – by 2010, over half the population lived in urban settlements of more than 5,000 people – raising concerns among policy makers regarding the location and types of jobs required to employ the youth. The slow creation of for-mal urban jobs has particularly strong implications for young people entering the labor force: they are more educated than the older generation, with greater aspirations for non-farm employment and urban lifestyles (Anyidoho, Leavy, and Asenso-Okyere 2012). Without rapid industrialization to create more formal manufacturing and other non-agricultural jobs, youth in Ghana who leave the agricultural sector are increasingly likely to resort to informal services in both rural and urban areas. While much youth-related research has focused on changes in youth employment and livelihoods through rural-urban migration, a re-cent IFPRI Discussion Paper focuses on youth in the rural non-farm economy (Diao et al. 2017).

Agricultural mechanization in Africa: Insights from Ghana’s experience

This brief explores recent developments in Ghana that lend insight into the drivers of mechanization and the appropriate role of government policy in supporting this transition.

How are Africa RISING interventions affecting production diversity and dietary quality? Evidence from north of Ghana

Food processing in Ghana: Trends, constraints, and opportunities

As a rapidly-urbanizing, lower middle-income country, Ghana is experiencing diet changes that are spurring a growing demand for processed foods. Recent surveys show significant presence of processed goods in retail shops, including milled rice, processed fruits and vegetables, and frozen meats, but only about a fifth of these products are processed locally. The main reason processing has failed to take off is not lack of policy: Ghana has always been interested in processing of tomatoes, has established a presidential initiative for processing cassava, and aims to process half of the cocoa produced locally. Rather, the main constraint to a vibrant processing sector is the low production and productivity, high cost, and poor quality of local raw materials. This brief describes these key constraints for growing a thriving domestic food processing sector and high-lights some opportunities for growth.

Meeting Ghanaian farmers' demand for a full range of mechanization services

Rising labor costs associated with increased rural-to-urban migration have compelled Ghanaian farmers to increase the use of tractors and other agricultural machines to conduct farming operations in the country (Diao et al. 2014). The adoption of these mechanical technologies is consistent with the tendency among Ghanaian farmers to save labor, rather than embrace practices that create additional labor needs (Houssou et al. 2016). Tractor use is concentrated on plowing and other tillage operations primarily (Houssou et al. 2013), but the supply of tractor services is inadequate. Earlier research estimated that plowing services represent 90 percent of the revenues of tractor service providers (Houssou et al. 2013). Both public and private supply of plowing services may have contributed to an expan-sion of the area under cultivation in Ghana, thereby exacerbat-ing labor bottlenecks in post-tillage field operations for many farmers.

Agricultural intensification, technology adoption, and institutions in Ghana

Agricultural intensification has only taken off to a very limited extent in Ghana. Adoption of land productivity-enhancing technology is low, even in areas with proximity to urban markets. Rather, farmers have increasingly been adopting labor-saving technologies such as herbicides and mechanization, for which vibrant private supply channels are emerging. Further efforts to strengthen the private mechanization supply chain would help meet the rising demand for tractor services. Furthermore, mechanization could also help free up agricultural labor to perform other more labor intensive tasks.

Agricultural mechanization and south-south knowledge exchange: What can Ghanaian and Nigerian policymakers learn from Bangladesh’s experience?

Past agricultural mechanization efforts in Ghana and Nigeria have focused more on the styles of machinery used in western countries or Latin America, where average farm sizes are much larger. While West African countries, particularly Ghana, are still relatively land abundant compared to Bangladesh, seeking the right balance across various models is important for achieving mechanization growth across diverse types of farms. Learning from the experience of agricultural mechanization in Bangladesh offer useful inspirations toward how widespread mechanization growth can happen for smallholders in Ghana and Nigeria.

2015 Nutrition country profile: Ghana

The 193 individual country profiles capture the status and progress of all UN Member States, and the 80+ indicators include a wealth of information on child, adolescent and adult anthropometry and nutritional status, in addition to intervention coverage, food supply, economics, and demography. This tool is particularly useful for nutrition champions at the country-level, as it presents a wide range of evidence needed to assess country progress in improving nutrition and nutrition-related outcomes.

Synopsis, Is there fiscal space for CAADP in Ghana?

In 2009, Ghana was one of the first African countries to accept the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) target of committing ten percent of government expenditure to agriculture. Despite this commitment, Ghana remains far short of that goal. In recent years, spending on agriculture has increased, but only to about 3.5 percent of total expenditures (Benin 2014; ReSAKSS 2015). To attain the CAADP target, Ghana needs to spend an additional 6.5 percent of total expenditures, or about 2 percent of GDP, on agriculture. Yet Ghana also finds itself needing to reduce an historically large and persistent budget deficit of about ten percent of GDP. In such difficult fiscal times, is it possible for Ghana to meet its CAADP commitment?

Animal traction in Ghana

After the ten percent: Moving agriculture in Ghana

Climate adaptation and agriculture: Solutions to successful national adaptation plans

The purpose of this brief is to share insights on agriculture and NAPs with national-level decision makers in developing countries and Least Developed Countries (LDCs), multilateral agencies, UNFCCC negotiators and donors. This brief explores how countries are overcoming the biggest challenges in developing NAPs, outlines examples of successful cross-sector adaptation planning, explores influence and leverage necessary for successful NAP processes, and offers specific recommendations.

A rapid initial assessment of the distribution and consumption of iron-folic acid tablets through antenatal care in Ghana

Gender, shocks, and resilience

Can the private sector lead agricultural mechanization in Ghana?

Increasing agricultural mechanization has long been of interest to many African countries. Constrained by the limited area that can be cultivated through the use of the hand hoe and its association with perceptions of primitiveness and drudgery, agricultural mechanization and large-scale farming have long been a part of the vision of modernizing agriculture in many African countries, including Ghana.

Substituting for rice imports in Ghana

As rice imports surge ahead of production in Ghana, increasing rice production and yields has become a priority. Annual per capita consumption of rice in Ghana grew from 17.5 kg during 1999–2001 to 24 kg during 2010–2011. President Mahama, concerned with rising importation costs, suggested that rice should be produced locally (Asare‐Boadu & Syme 2014). As only 5 percent of global production is traded, local production would also protect consumers from price shocks in the world rice market (World Bank 2013). While substantial investments in national rice production have been made, local production is still not able to keep up with growing demand for rice in Ghana.

Maize Productivity in Ghana

Maize is an important food crop in Ghana, accounting for more than 50 percent of the country’s total cereal production. The Ghana Grains Development Project (1979–1997) and the Food Crops Development Project (2000–2008) made major investments to improve maize yield. Despite these efforts, the average maize yield in Ghana remains one of the lowest in the world, much lower than the average for Africa south of the Sahara.

2014 Nutrition country profile: Ghana

Policy priorities to support Ghana’s commercial seed sector development

Mechanization in Ghana: Searching for sustainable service supply models

Blue Skies: How one firm overcame binding constraints

Political economy and donor responses to CAADP

Economic growth and agricultural diversification matters for food and nutrition security in Ghana

Land policy and governance reforms and agricultural transformation

Is specialization in agricultural mechanization a viable business model: the case of Ghana

New directions for revitalizing the national agricultural research system in the context of growing private sector R&D

Understanding the real budget process: The case of Ghana

Food processing and agricultural productivity challenges: The case of tomatoes in Ghana

Curb your enthusiasm: Agricultural growth in sub-Saharan Africa

The evidence of improved performance of the agricultural sector in Sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA) in recent years has indeed been quite striking. For the first time, agricultural gross domestic product (AgGDP) per capita has maintained a real growth rate of 2.4 percent per year, while real AgGDP growth rates have exceeded 6 percent, a growth rate last seen in the 1970s. Similarly, performance of the overall economy, with average growth rates of 5.3 percent per year, has also been remarkable. In this context, Ghana has shown one of the best performing agricultural sectors in the region with AgGDP growing at more than six percent per capita in recent years.

Economic transformation in Africa: Where will the path Lead?

This brief focuses on growth patterns, structural change and agglomeration to assess the progress of economic transformation in Ghana. While Ghana has been seen as a successful story in Africa because of its sustainable growth performance and impressive poverty reduction over the last two decades, Ghana’s economy has actually exhibited less transformation than might be expected for a country that has recently achieved low‐middle income status.

Price setting in the cocoa sector

Green revolution in Ghana: Looking for the key under the lamp post

With renewed interest in technical change and productivity growth in the African agricultural sector, interest is growing in the lessons of Asia’s Green Revolution and in the implementation of input promotion and subsidies to promote agricultural growth. While there are several valid reasons for seeking a model for African agricultural productivity growth from the Asian Green Revolution, the abundance of natural resources in Africa compared to Asia means that the Asian lessons might have limited application across Africa.

The comprehensive Africa agriculture development programme as a collective institution

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) was designed to promote the transformation of agriculture in SSA. Under this program, African countries have committed to seek development through agriculture led growth by targeting at least 6 percent growth and by allocating about 10 percent of government budget to the sector. In return, the donor community has implicitly committed to increase their support to agriculture using the CAADP mechanism, while at the same time coordinating their activities in this sector and aligning them with the CAADP priorities set by the African countries themselves.

Dynamics of transformation insights from rice farming in Kpong Irrigation System (KIS)

Are African governments serious about agriculture?

The objective of this brief is to analyze available data on public agriculture expenditure in Africa—with a particular focus on Ghana—to assess the commitment of African governments to the agriculture sector, which they themselves have formally identified as the lead sector for achieving growth, raising incomes, reducing poverty, and increasing food and nutrition security.

Ghana’s research system

Impact of food price increase on household welfare in Ghana

Performance of farmer-based organizations in Ghana

The traits of Ghanaian commercial farmers

The role of foreign investment in Ethiopia’s leather value chain: Lessons for Ghana

Political economy determinants of public investment decision-making in agriculture: Lessons from and for Africa

New developments in financial risk management tools for farmers

Evaluation of four special initiatives of the ministry of food and agriculture

Reflections on influencing country policies and strategies: The toy story

Methods of capacity needs assessment: A discussion note

Animal traction in Ghana

Economic transformation in Africa

One of the earliest and most central insights from the literature on economic development is that development entails structural change. The countries that manage to pull out of poverty and get richer are those that are able to diversify away from agriculture and other traditional products. As labor and other resources move from agriculture into modern economic activities, overall productivity rises and incomes expand. The speed with which this transformation takes place is one of the key factors that differentiate successful countries from unsuccessful ones.

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Is specialization in agricultural mechanization a viable business model?

The Government of Ghana (GoG) since 2007 has been providing subsidized agricultural machines to individual farmers and private enterprises established as specialized Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSECs) to offer tractor-hire services to small-scale farmers across the country. Current demand in the country is primarily focused on land preparation services, especially plowing. This paper assesses whether AMSEC enterprises are a viable business model attractive to private investors. Using firm investment theory and field-based data on costs, revenues, and tractor efficiency, this research examines the profitability of specialized agricultural mechanization service provision with a focus on land preparation. Findings suggest that the AMSEC model is not a viable business model, even with the current level of subsidy. Low operational scale is the most important constraint to the profitability of investment in specialized agricultural mechanization service provision. With such a low operational scale, it is essential to consider various options for introducing low-cost, small tractors suited to the current farming scale in the country. Also, a used tractor model is one of the options available for policymakers in the country. Tractor-hire services can play an important role in transforming smallholder agriculture, but with heavy subsidies on big and costly tractors, the subsidy policy can distort supply chain development. As a result, many better-suited and lower-cost machines are unlikely to be introduced into local markets.

Ghana's commercial seed sector: New incentives or continued complacency?

This paper examines the current status and recent changes in Ghana’s commercial seed system for field crops. It includes a review of present performance and an examination of the factors that might influence the course of seed system develop-ment in the near future. The paper is timely because a number of changes in policies, regulations, responsibilities, and commercial interests mean that this could be a period of significant transition for Ghana’s seed sector, perhaps marking an end to the stagnation and complacency that have characterized the sector for the past several decades.

Patterns of adoption of improved rice technologies in Ghana

This study aims to provide up-to-date analysis using rarely collected nationwide data on the patterns of adoption of improved technologies for rice in Ghana.

Animal traction in Ghana

The recent interest of the government of Ghana in agricultural mechanization has largely focused on the provision of tractors and imported machinery to the farming population. Animal traction has not received much attention from the country’s policymakers. The strong demand for mechanization services (Houssou et al., 2012; Benin et al., 2012) and inadequate number of tractors to meet the demand in the country call for more effective use of other power sources for the agriculture sector. Using a survey of farmers who use draft animals and focus group discussions with farmers and key informants in the sector, this research examines the use of animal traction and analyses the major constraints to its widespread use in Northern Ghana.

Biological controls for aflatoxin reduction

Aflatoxin exposure is frequent and widespread in most African countries where the key staples, maize and groundnut, are particularly vulnerable to aflatoxin contamination. Aflatoxin-producing fungi are ubiquitous in Africa where they occupy soil and colonize diverse organic matter while producing spores that associate with crops leading to aflatoxin formation. Aflatoxins need to be managed throughout this region. A biological control technique that greatly reduces aflatoxin contamination of susceptible crops has been developed by USDA-ARS and is used commercially in the U.S. Over the past decade, USDA-ARS with the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, has sought to adapt the biological control technology for use in Africa. This effort has resulted in several highly effective aflatoxin management products specifically targeted to regions in need in countries across sub-Saharan Africa. The first generation African biological control products are currently in evaluation trials in farmer’s fields in East, West and Southern Africa environments. Aspergillus flavus occurs in nature in complex communities composed of both aflatoxin-producers and isolates that do not produce aflatoxins (atoxigenic strains). Application of carefully selected atoxigenic strains at appropriate stages in crop development shifts the community composition within the production area from one dominated by aflatoxin producers to one in which beneficial atoxigenic strains dominate. This results in decreased crop aflatoxin contamination. Changes in the A. flavus community structures induced by atoxigenic strain applications occur without increases to the overall amount of A. flavus in the environment and without increases in the amount of the crop infected. Prior to large-scale use in a target country, biocontrol products must be registered with that country’s national biopesticide regulatory agency through a complex process. Registration is based on efficacy, safety, quality and social/economic value of a product. Due to high potential of the technology to reduce aflatoxins, further efforts are required for widespread adoption of biocontrol by creating a flexible and enabling system for biopesticide regulation in tandem with other policy and institutional support. Currently there are atoxigenic strain biocontrol products under farmer’s field evaluations in several African countries extending from West Africa to East and Southern Africa. These products need to be moved into wide use to reduce aflatoxin exposure to the human populations across Africa.

Climate change, agriculture, and food-crop production in Ghana

Despite the recent transition to an industry and service sec- tors-led economy, agriculture still plays a fundamental role in Ghana. The sector comprises approximately 30 percent of the country’s GDP to date and employs approximately 50 percent of the population (10). The agricultural sector is believed to have the potential to grow at rates as high as six percent (2), but climate change could potentially inhibit such progress in the long run, given that the sector is particularly vulnerable to this ongoing phenomenon.

Strategies and priorities for African agriculture: Economywide perspectives from country studies

The 2000s were Africa’s “decade of growth.” Countries in Africa south of the Sahara reached milestones in the 21st century’s first decade that once seemed impossible, achieving improved governance, macroeconomic stability, and sustained economic growth that exceeded the region’s performance in previous decades. Among the economic sectors that improved was agriculture, which grew 3.4 percent per year over 2001-2010, outpacing Africa’s population growth rate, which was 2.5 percent, for the first time in the last three decades. Nevertheless, the agricultural sector’s growth has lagged behind national economic growth in Africa.

Improving regional fertilizer markets in West Africa

In 2000, the member states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) signaled their commitment to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger and poverty by 2015 (MDG1). To achieve that goal, agriculture in the region needed to grow by 6.8 percent annually. From 2000 to 2009, however, West African agriculture grew at half the desired rate—3.7 percent—due to many biophysical and socioeconomic constraints, including heavy reliance on rainfed production systems, traditional practices of soil fertility maintenance, and limited access to markets. Consequently, crop yields in West Africa are significantly lower than global averages, and their rate of increase has barely kept up with population growth. Cereal production in West Africa increased by 4.4 percent per annum from 1980 to 2009, an annual growth rate only marginally above the population growth rate. About two-thirds of this growth was accounted for by expanding cultivated area; one-third represented yield growth.

Agricultural research in Ghana: An IFPRI-STEPRI report

West African agriculture and climate change: A comprehensive analysis - Ghana

This summary note is an excerpt from the chapter on Ghana that will appear in the peer-reviewed IFPRI monograph, West African Agriculture and Climate Change: A Comprehensive Analysis

Ghana: Recent developments in agricultural research

After a period of relative stagnation in the 1990s, agricultural research and development (R&D) spending in Ghana increased dramatically after 2002. In 2008, Ghana spent 352 billion cedis or 95 million PPP dollars on agricultural R&D (both in 2005 constant prices) compared with 151 billion cedis or 41 million dollars in 2002. Unless otherwise stated, all investment data in this note are expressed in purchasing power parity (PPP) prices. PPPs reflect the purchasing power of currencies more effectively than do standard exchange rates because they compare the prices of a broader range of local—as opposed to internationally traded—goods and services. Agricultural R&D capacity has also increased since 2002, leading to a total of 537 full-time equivalent (FTE) research staff employed in 2008. However, not all of the 27 agricultural R&D agencies identified in Ghana increased consistently in size; variation existed among the agencies. Some agencies had uneven growth while others saw declines in total number of researchers from 2001-08.

Managing oil revenue in Ghana: Controlling spending is the key

With an average growth rate of 5 percent and a reduction of poverty by one-half over the past two decades, Ghana is a recent success story and a rising star in African development. Yet the country remains dependent on relatively few external sources of income and its external debt has started to rise again (IMF 20081). The recent discovery of offshore oil is seen by many as an important new source of income, and an opportunity to overcome persisting structural weaknesses in exports and the economy as a whole, and raise Ghana's prospects of becoming a frontrunner in African development.

Do formula-based intergovernmental transfer mechanisms eliminate politically motivated targeting? Evidence from Ghana

Theories of fiscal federalism imply that determining intergovernmental transfers based on the political incentives results in inefficient allocation of resources across geographic regions. Such practices also can result in tensions between classes, and ethnic and religious groups, which are concentrated in distinct geographical areas. Nevertheless, empirical evidence consistently confirms that the practice of allocating government resources based on political relationships continues to be pervasive around the world. This brief summarizes the results of an IFPRI study in Ghana assessing the effectiveness of formulas as a strategy to limit political motivation behind resource sharing.

Potential impact of HPAI on Ghana: a multi-market model analysis

Assessment of the impact of the Ghana Strategy Support Program, 2005-2008

The Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) aims to build the capacity of agricultural stakeholders in Ghana to develop and implement agricultural and rural devel-opment policy reforms. This summary outlines findings from an IFPRI-commissioned assessment of the GSSP's performance from 2005 to 2008, which examined such factors as awareness of and comprehension of the pro-gram and its goals among intended beneficiaries, policy changes and other outcomes resulting from the program, and lessons learned.