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Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD, 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.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD, 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.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP; Theme 6; Subtheme 6.2; GRP32, DSGD

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GRP32; GSSP, DSGD, 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.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP, DSGD, Ghana has made considerable progress over the last 20 years in sustaining economic growth and reducing poverty. The Government of Ghana has declared its new development goal of reaching middle-income status by 2015. Achieving this goal will require Ghana to double its per capita income over the next decade. In this paper we explore the growth experiences of other developing countries that have successfully transformed their economies from situations similar to Ghana’s today. Based on the past experiences of these fast growing countries, and using a dynamic general equilibrium model developed for Ghana, we evaluate sources of accelerated growth and their contributions to overall growth and transformation... The authors conclude that, for Ghana to reach middle-income status it will require careful coordination between increasingly complex macroeconomic, industrial and financial market policies, which also require the improvement of institutional capacity of the government to implement such complex policies.

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP, DSGD, "An economywide, multimarket model is constructed for Ghana and the effects of agricultural soil erosion on crop yields are explicitly modeled at the subnational regional level for eight main staple crops. The model is used to evaluate the aggregate economic costs of soil erosion by taking into account economywide linkages between production and consumption, across sectors and agricultural subsectors... Sustainable land management (SLM) is the key to reducing agricultural soil loss. The present findings indicate that through the adoption of conventional SLM practices, the declining trend in land productivity can be reversed, and that use of a combination of conventional and modern SLM practices would generate an aggregate economic benefit of US$6.4 billion over the period 2006–2015. SLM practices would therefore significantly reduce poverty in Ghana, particularly in the three northern regions." -- from Authors' Abstract

Non-PR, IFPRI1; GSSP, DSGD, "This paper sets out to identify avenues for pro-poor growth in Ghana, focussing on agricultural opportunities, particularly in northern Ghana. Using an economywide, multimarket model and based on time series production data between 1991 and 2000 and Ghana Living Standards Survey data of 1991/92 and 1998/99, this paper analyzes the possible poverty reduction trends up to 2015 by assuming different patterns of growth. The results show that agriculture-led growth has a larger poverty reducing effect than nonagriculture-led growth." -- from Author's Abstract