It is surprising when the economy of Ghana has seen no significant development despite the policy strategies and investments proposed and made respectively to the various sectors especially in the agriculture sector. Despite the fact that agriculture has contributed enormously to the development efforts of this country, it goes without saying that the economy is still experiencing toing and froing leaving the country susceptible to inimical changes in the midst of globalisation. The country continues to press forward for an improved economy and existing steps to achieve the ‘middle income status by 2015’ amidst the challenges existing now which revolve around the wrongful attitude exhibited to the development quest of the country where it is seemingly impossible to incorporate changes into the efforts towards development.
The statement made by His Excellency Vice President John Mahama on April 1, 2009 during discussions at the Castle, Osu with the management of the MCC leaves much to be desired and raises an upwell of concern. The Vice President said ‘We’ll use agriculture to stabilize the economy. He reiterated the determination of the government to build a stable economy using agriculture as a basis for building a stable economy (Ghanaian Times, Friday April 3, 2009). This is indeed recognition of the relevance of the agriculture sector which remains the backbone of the economy of Ghana. There is no doubt, that the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) would enhance integration and nexus of the various sectors of the economy with the development of infrastructure to complement the activities in the agriculture sector. This will set to curb the setbacks inherent in the agriculture sector. It, however, stands to reason that the longstanding overdependence on agriculture still lingers in the mind of policy makers and politicians in their attempt to improve the standard of living of the people and consequently combat the menace of poverty.
Is Agriculture the Solution? It is important to establish the fact that the economy going with a swing is never dependent on agriculture. Ghana would have achieved a middle income status or developed if agriculture has the capacity to drive an economy towards stabilisation. The country continues to be a net importer of food and agriculture products amidst the significant improvements made in the agriculture sector as in the strategies for agriculture development in the Ghana Vision 2020, Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I), Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II) and Food and Agriculture Sector Development Programme (FASDEP). Can the problem be shifted to the attitude of Ghanaians (consumer preference to foreign goods) or the inability of the agriculture sector to produce enough for the people?
By far, which country in this world has been able to stabilize its economy using agriculture? This is, however, not to write off the contribution of agriculture to the development efforts of the country but to establish the fact that sharp fluctuating world market prices renders the agriculture sector incapable. Farmers, especially crop farmers remain the most vulnerable working group in the primary sector mainly as a result of small market to absorb their bumper harvest in a season forcing them to sell at lower prices. The Four Asian Tigers, the countries Ghana should tread their development path never stabilized their economy using agriculture. Taiwan as a country is known of its “Economic Miracle†as regards its quick and rapid development and its development has been described as the path beyond the ordinary structure some developed countries incorporated in their development bid. Taiwan can now boast of its stable and growing economy when it made a major shift from the dependence of agriculture to an incredible technological advancement. It is recorded that once an agrarian economy, agriculture now only constitutes 2% of the GDP, down from 35% in 1952. The country is now one, if not the first, of the leading hub in such technologies as integrated circuits, laptop computers, modems and data communications which are highly competitive in world trade. Taiwan is categorized as an advanced economy by the IMF and high-income economy by the World Bank. It’s absolutely clear that it is not pragmatic to stabilize and as such build an economy using agriculture. It would be to the utmost benefits of the present generation and our posterity when the industrialisation drive which was started vigorously by our past president Dr. Kwame Nkrumah is given the necessary boost and used as catalyst to development.
Getting Development Policies Right The history behind development policies in Ghana is nothing to write home about. The frequent and blatant change in development policies by successive governments has been linked to the present misfortune of the economy where life is almost unbearable for the ordinary Ghanaian. This major shift of Taiwan’s economic policy means a lot to Ghana if the country is to experience any significant and meaningful growth and development. It’s high time the country shifted its policies and strategies from the overdependence on agriculture to one capable of causing a great leap forward for Ghana. Industrialisation drive can be the major boost for the economy and as such the industrial sector be used to stabilize the economy. It is highly possible for the country to experience dangling economy if agriculture is to be used to lay strong foundation for economic growth. The change in policies should be geared towards industrialised export-driven economy which has been an important tool to the development of some countries in North America, Western Europe and Eastern Asia. Is it a myth for Ghana to experience development with the existing structure and nature of policies? The incessant struggle against poverty has often proved futile by virtue of the fact that strategic policies are built on the agricultural sector. It would be an economic disaster if larger proportion of oil revenues that would accrue to the country (if production starts) is channeled to the agriculture sector with the notion that it employs the larger number of the labour force in the country.
Conclusion It is not economically prudent for the stabilization of the economy to be hinged on agriculture and as such a wrong path for Ghana’s development. Agriculture, however, needs rigorous improvement to complement the development of the other sectors especially the industrial sector. Ghana’s conservative approach to development would indeed serve no practical usefulness in the quest for development but rather adopting a new pragmatic approach to overhaul the present state of the economy. It is, therefore, incumbent on the government to draw the bottom line of which policy direction the country should go; not depending much on agriculture for growth and making technological advancement possible in Ghana. Forewarned is forearmed. God bless Ghana.
The author, Stephen Yeboah, is in Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. Email: stephenyeboah110@yahoo.com
