Improvement in Crop Production in Ghana: Is it due to Area Expansion or Increased Productivity?

Abstract

Agriculture continues to be the mainstay of the economy of Ghana contributing more than a third of the country’s Gross Domestic Product. As such, successive governments in Ghana and their development partners continue to formulate and implement policies, programmes and projects in the sector in order to spur productivity. As a result, some improvements in agricultural production in the country have been recorded in recent years. This paper examines whether or not these improvements are due to expansion in cultivated land area or increased productivity. Time series data covering the period between 1999 and 2009 from Ghana’s Ministry of Food and Agriculture were used for the study. Two main estimations were carried out. The first was a set of estimations of the growth rates of output, area cultivated, and productivity of selected staple crops produced and consumed across the country. The second was an estimation of the relationship between area under cultivation and output of the selected staple crops. The results revealed that improvements in the production of most staple crops in Ghana in recent years are largely due to area expansion rather than improvements in productivity. The results further showed that though output is generally increasing, productivity is decreasing. The conclusion is that improvements in agricultural production, particularly staple crops recorded in Ghana in recent times are due to area expansion rather than productivity increases. This has negative implications for the country’s drive towards self-sufficiency in food production and the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals. It is recommended that policy interventions that aim at improving agricultural production in the country should focus on enhancing productivity rather than area expansion.

Key Words: Agriculture, Ghana, Growth Rates, Staple Crops, Productivity