Agriculture

As the world’s second-largest producer of cocoa – behind only its neighbour Côte d’Ivoire – Ghana’s agricultural output and overall economy are dependent on production of the crop, which represents 57% of the sector’s export earnings and over 20% of total export earnings, and employs more than 800,000 farmers.

The palm oil industry is coming full circle in West Africa. The commodity was first produced in the region as early as the 16th century and commercial trade began in 1820. In the mid-19th century traders transported planting materials from Ghana to Asia, where the climate proved highly conducive for growth. The industry boomed in this new location, leaving Africa behind...

While there is plenty of fertile land available for agriculture in Ghana – an estimated 6.1m ha of its 13.6m ha of agricultural land is not cultivated at present – land acquisition remains a challenging process.

As the foundation of Ghana’s economy, agriculture employs more than half of the population and is a key focus for the country’s inclusive economic development agenda. Yet as the industrial and services sectors have strengthened in recent years, agriculture’s contribution to overall GDP has steadily declined, falling from 32% in 2009 to 22% in 2013. The government’s...

Developing the downstream timber industry is a central element of Gabon’s strategy to achieve economic diversification and long-term growth through domestic processing of its natural resources. With 85% of the country under tropical forest cover, the timber sector benefits from an extensive raw materials supply. It is also a major employer, and absorbs more of the...

The ratification of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (Programme Détaillé pour le Développement Agricole en Afrique, PDDAA) by Gabon in May 2013 is a step towards increasing output in one of the government’s priority sectors. Introduced in 2003 by the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, the PDDAA is an African...