Financing agriculture is key to Ghana’s development - ISSER Director

Government has been urged to focus its attention on financing major projects in the agricultural sector as this is key for economic growth in the country.

Speaking at the launch of ISSER’s 2016 review of the state of the Ghanaian economy, Director of the institute, Professor Felix Ankomah Asante emphasized the key role agriculture plays in the growth of every economy. According to him, a majority of Ghana’s populace is involved directly or indirectly in agriculture and hence progress in the economy will be stifled if the right resources are not channeled into developing the sector.

“Financing Agriculture is so key in this country, its key not because of its contribution to GDP, it’s key because most of the population is in agriculture and if you cannot help those in agriculture, there’ll be problems in the country in terms of trying to reduce poverty”.

“We know that the rural population is into agriculture and most of the poverty is also a rural phenomenon and that’s why it’s important not just because it contributes to GDP but because we want to turn the economy around”.

Prof. Ankomah also highlighted the significance of industrialization as a growth factor in Ghana’s economy. Both sectors he indicated will lead to substantial and evidential development in the country.

Giving a blow-by-blow overview of the country’s performance with regards to the economy, Prof. Ankomah among other things indicated that the economy within 2015 and 2016, experienced a decline in its GDP ratio as the 3.8% GDP in 2015 was reduced to 3.7% in 2016, a reflection of the downward trend the country has experienced since 2011. Additionally, he noted that the country’s “non-oil GDP growth since 2014 has outpaced the overall GDP growth, with the gap widening in 2016”.

The launch of the 26th edition of the annual review of the state of the Ghanaian economy by the Institute of Statistical and Economic Research (ISSER) came off on October 11, 2017, in Accra. ISSER’s report has over the years played a huge role in providing empirical-based knowledge on the economy.