Ghana – Seizing New Agribusiness Opportunities*

Ghana has a two-speed agricultural sector: export-oriented agriculture is growing strongly, while food crop production is lagging behind. Ghana needs to sustain and scale up both traditional and non-traditional agricultural export sectors. The country needs to devise credible strategies to boost productivity in food to meet rising local demand and develop a viable local agro-industry. Ghana is one of Africa’s success stories: in the past 20 years the economy has been growing at an average of 5 per cent. Lately, a major growth driver has been the high demand for gold from emerging economies. In 2006, gold overtook cocoa for the first time as Ghana’s most important export. Yet the agricultural sector continues to dominate the economy, employing over 55 per cent of the workforce and accounting for 40 per cent of GDP. The agricultural sector has performed quite well in the recent past with growth averaging 5.5 per cent over the past five years. However, closer examination shows it is growing at two speeds. While agriculture for export, such as cocoa and horticulture, is flourishing, food crop production remains dominated by subsistence farming