World Bank launches Business of Agriculture Report

The 2017 report on “Enabling Business of Agriculture (EBA)”, produced by the World Bank Group, has been launched in Accra.

Dr Farbod Youssefi, who co-leads EBA in an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the report, explained that the report sought to provide evidence and informed understanding of the agribusiness environment, in order to help governments establish appropriate regulatory systems, which are efficient and ensures the safety and quality of agricultural goods and services.

He said creating an enabling environment for agriculture was a prerequisite to unleash the sector’s potential to boost growth, reduce poverty and inequality, provide jobs and boost food security.

He was of the view that government policies and regulations play a key role in shaping the business environment for agriculture, affecting costs, risks and barriers to competition for various players in the value chains.

Touching on the country’s performance across the eight topics, Dr Youssefi said Ghana’s seed score was ranked 48 from amongst the 62 countries studied, fertilizer ranked 34, machinery ranked 38, finance ranked 16, markets ranked 54, transport ranked 59, water ranked 30 and ICT ranked 22.

The report presents data that measures legal barriers for businesses operating in agriculture in 62 economies and across 12 topic areas.

It provides quantitative indicators for eight topics on regulations for seed, fertilizer, machinery, finance, markets, transport, water, and ICT.

Other themes such as gender and environmental sustainability were included in the report analysis to ensure that regulatory systems encourage inclusive and sustainable practices.

Additionally, scoring was piloted for the land topic for 38 countries, including Ghana, in which data were collected.

The report aims to foster a more conducive environment for the agribusiness by providing key data on regulatory frameworks that are globally comparable and actionable, and as well strengthens the information base that can be used for policy dialogue and reform.