[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-109211-en":3,"doc-seo-109211-105":31,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":93},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":30},109211,34359740700684,"Finn","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/1f400023980c374ae676?_k=1777273430885731487",8,"Research & Report","Ghana Public Finance Review - Building the Foundations for a Resilient and Equitable Fiscal Policy - Spending Better for Agriculture in Ghana","Public spending on agriculture in Ghana is assessed for scale and quality, with a focus on how expenditure can support poverty reduction, food security, and sustainable development. Agriculture’s role in employment and value added is analyzed alongside its potential from diverse agroecology, irrigation capacity, and livestock production. The review examines landholding structure, crop and commodity shares, and linkages that stimulate growth, then proposes recommendations to maximize agriculture’s impact under climate and external shocks.","Spending Better for Agriculture in Ghana  \nPublic Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized Public Disclosure Authorized  \nG Review   Foundations forhana Pub lic Finance Building the a Resilient and Equitable Fiscal Policy  \n7/  \n7/ Spending Better for Agriculture in Ghana  \n7.1/ Agriculture’s role in employment,  \noutput, and exports  \nMany Ghanaians rely on agriculture for their livelihood, making the sector’s performance key to poverty reduction, food security, and sustainable development. In this context, public expenditure on agriculture can play a critical role to foster sustainable economic transformation, as well as to strengthen sectoral resilience to external shocks, climate change, and other challenges that may threaten food security and rural livelihoods. This chapter assesses the scale and quality of recent public expenditure on agriculture in Ghana and offers recommendations to maximize its impact.  \nAgriculture is a key source of employment and income for rural Ghanaians.  \nOwing to its diverse agroecology, Ghana has significant agricultural potential. Annual precipitation ranges from 800 mm in the coastal savannah to 2,200 mm in the rain forest (MoFA 2022) . The country possesses substantial irrigation potential, with estimates of irrigable land spanning 360,000 to 1.9 million hectares (IWMI 2022) . Permanent meadows and pastures covered roughly 5.2 million hectares in 2021 (FAO 2023), supporting the livestock sector.  \nSmallholder farmers are prevalent in the agricultural landscape. Almost 57 percent of the parcels of land under cultivation are small (less than 2 acres), 25.6 percent are of medium scale (2–5 acres), and 17.7 percent are large (more than 5 acres) (GSS 2020) . Smallholder farmers mainly grow staples such as maize, rice, cassava, plantains, groundnuts, pulses, and various horticultural crops. Mid-sized, family-run plantations are the main producers of cocoa. On a larger scale, commercial farms and plantations focus on rubber, oil palm, banana, pineapple, and coconut (IFAD 2019) . Moreover, Ghana maintainsa diverse livestock sector, which includes cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, poultry, grasscutters, rabbits, guinea pigs, and African giant snails (USAID 2023) .  \nGhana Public Finance Review | Volume 2 / Detailed Analysis  206  \n\n| Table 7.1. Cocoa, maize, and cassava account for half of the area harvested (average, 2017–2021) |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Source: FAOSTAT. | Commodity | Share of area harvested (%) |\n|  | Cocoa beans | 22 |\n|  | Maize | 15 |\n|  | Cassava | 13 |\n|  | Yams | 6 |\n|  | Plantains and cooking bananas | 5 |\n|  | Oil palm fruit | 5 |\n|  | Groundnuts | 4 |\n|  | Rice | 4 |\n|  | Sorghum | 4 |\n|  | Other pulses | 3 |\n|  |  |  |\n\nCredits: Zeal Creatives on Pexels  \n7/ Spending Better for Agriculture in Ghana 207  \nAgriculture’s share of employment in Ghana exceeds its share of gross  \ndomestic product (GDP). Through 2012–2021, agriculture’s contribution to  \nGhana’s GDP averaged 21 percent, compared with 30 percent for industry  \nand 43 percent for services ( Figure 7.1, Panel a) .120 During this time, its share  \nof employment averaged 41 percent, versus 17 percent for industry and 42  \npercent for services ( Figure 7.1, Panel b) . Notably, cocoa farming accounted  \nfor 11 percent of agricultural GDP, on average, between 2013 and 2021  \n(MoFA 2022) . Although the contributions of primary agriculture to GDP and employment declined moderately from 2012 to 2021, sectoral productivity improved significantly, with real value added per worker rising by 72 percent from 2012 to 2019.121 Overall, 37 percent of men and 29 percent of women are employed in agriculture, with much higher shares in rural areas (66 percent and 58 percent, respectively) (MoFA 2022) .  \n\n| Agriculture is a major employer in Ghana, despite its comparatively smaller contribution to GDP |  |  |  |  |  |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Figure 7.1. Sectoral shares of GDP and","cbCaiaxkWRWaLFyS","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaiaxkWRWaLFyS","pdf",583887,5,1,29,"English","en",105,"# Agriculture’s role in employment, output, and exports\n## Share of area harvested and key commodities\n## Agriculture’s contribution to employment and GDP\n## Productivity and sector linkages","[{\"question\":\"Why does agriculture spending matter for Ghana’s development goals?\",\"answer\":\"Agriculture underpins rural livelihoods and food security. Targeted public expenditure can support sustainable economic transformation while strengthening resilience to shocks and climate change.\"},{\"question\":\"What evidence is used to show agriculture’s importance in employment and output?\",\"answer\":\"The text compares agriculture’s GDP and employment shares over 2012–2021, reports productivity changes, and highlights higher employment concentration in rural areas.\"},{\"question\":\"Which commodities are highlighted as major contributors to harvested area?\",\"answer\":\"Cocoa beans, maize, and cassava account for roughly half of the harvested area across 2017–2021, with other staples and crops listed by their shares.\"}]","Ghana Public Finance Review - Building the Foundations for a Resilient and Equitable Fiscal Policy - Spending Better for Agriculture in Ghana | PDF",1784477864,73,{"code":4,"msg":32,"data":33},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":34,"title":13,"keywords":35,"description":14,"schema_data":36,"social_meta":88,"head_meta":90,"extra_data":92,"updated_unix":29},"ghana-public-finance-review-building-the-foundations-for-a-resilient-and-equitable-fiscal-policy-spending-better-for-agriculture-in-ghana","",{"@graph":37,"@context":87},[38,55,70],{"@type":39,"itemListElement":40},"BreadcrumbList",[41,45,49,52],{"item":42,"name":43,"@type":44,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":46,"name":47,"@type":44,"position":48},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":50,"name":12,"@type":44,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":53,"name":13,"@type":44,"position":54},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/ghana-public-finance-review-building-the-foundations-for-a-resilient-and-equitable-fiscal-policy-spending-better-for-agriculture-in-ghana/109211/",4,{"url":53,"name":13,"@type":56,"author":57,"headline":13,"publisher":59,"fileFormat":62,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":63,"datePublished":64,"encodingFormat":62,"isAccessibleForFree":65,"interactionStatistic":66},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":58},"Person",{"url":42,"name":60,"@type":61},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-29","2026-07-19",true,{"@type":67,"interactionType":68,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":69},"ViewAction",{"@type":71,"mainEntity":72},"FAQPage",[73,79,83],{"name":74,"@type":75,"acceptedAnswer":76},"Why does agriculture spending matter for Ghana’s development goals?","Question",{"text":77,"@type":78},"Agriculture underpins rural livelihoods and food security. Targeted public expenditure can support sustainable economic transformation while strengthening resilience to shocks and climate change.","Answer",{"name":80,"@type":75,"acceptedAnswer":81},"What evidence is used to show agriculture’s importance in employment and output?",{"text":82,"@type":78},"The text compares agriculture’s GDP and employment shares over 2012–2021, reports productivity changes, and highlights higher employment concentration in rural areas.",{"name":84,"@type":75,"acceptedAnswer":85},"Which commodities are highlighted as major contributors to harvested area?",{"text":86,"@type":78},"Cocoa beans, maize, and cassava account for roughly half of the harvested area across 2017–2021, with other staples and crops listed by their shares.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":53,"og:type":89,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":60,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":91,"canonical":53},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":94},[95,99,103,107,111,116,121,124,129,132,136],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":96,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":48,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":54,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":113,"show_sort_weight":114,"slug":115},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":118,"show_sort_weight":119,"slug":120},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":47,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]