The contribution of agriculture, the backbone of Ghana’s economy, to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has dropped by an alarming 12.8% in just seven years.
It dropped from 31.8% in 2009 to a mere 19% as of September 2015, a period of seven years.
The contribution of agriculture to GDP in the other years is: 2010 – 29.8%, 2011 -25.3%, 2012 – 22.9%, 2013 – 22.4%, 2014-21.5%.
It dropped from 31.8% in 2009 to 29.8% in 2010, representing 2% GDP contribution lost.
In 2011, agriculture’s contribution dropped by 4.5% to 25.3% while 2012 recorded a 2.4% drop to 22.9%.
The year 2013 recorded a 0.5% drop in the contribution of agriculture from 22.9% in 2012 to 22.4% in 2013.
The contribution of the agric sector to GDP growth recorded further decline of 0.9% in 2014, and as of September 2015, the sector had lost another 0.4% of its contribution to GDP.
The contribution of the agriculture sector is likely to drop further in 2016 as government has cut its 2016 expenditure on the sector by GH¢40 million despite growth in the sector stalling to 0.04% this year, when government had targeted 3.6% growth.
This year, government’s budgeted expenditure on the agricultural sector is GH¢395.19 million while for 2016, GH¢355.14 million has been budgeted, indicating a 10.1% decrease.
By the end of September 2015, GH¢91.54 million had been spent out of the GH¢395.19 million budgeted.
Out of the GH¢91.54 million spent, about GH¢082.57 million of this actual sector expenditure, representing 90.21%, was spent on poverty-focused expenditures.
In 2015, 90,000mt of fertilizer, out of a target of 180,000mt, was procured and distributed to farmers countrywide under the Fertiliser Subsidy Programme.
For 2016, a total of GH¢355.14 million has been allocated for this sector.
About GH¢302.46 million of this allocation, representing 85.17%, is to be spent on the Fertiliser Subsidy Programme and the Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres, among others.
The Ghana Statistical Service estimates that the sector will grow at an average of 3.3% between 2016 to 2018, indicating that the sector’s future remains far from bright as services and industry look to narrow agriculture’s contribution to GDP.
Source: myjoyonline