Agriculture

As the country’s largest employer, the agriculture sector accounts for 28.3% of GDP and produces cereals, grains, fruits, vegetables, shea nuts, starchy staple crops and cotton, among other plants. Cultivated in six of the country’s 10 regions, cocoa is Ghana’s top agricultural export, rising to a value of $1.42bn in 2009. Indeed, having produced a record 1m tonnes in 2011, Ghana is the world’s second-largest cocoa producer, behind only its neighbour, Cote d’Ivoire. Recent years have brought greater numbers of private-sector players, including a number of foreign investors, who are investing in crops like palm oil and facilitating the logistics in creating local processing facilities and enabling value-added activities. This section includes an interview with Anthony Fofie, CEO, Ghana Cocoa Board.