Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation Past Performance and Future Prospects

Many African countries have experienced unprecedented rates of economic growth in recent years, yet their economic transformations display features that could constrain their future growth prospects. Patterns of urbanization without industrialization, rapid growth of low productivity jobs in the informal economy, and a neglected agricultural sector with increased need for important foods are all areas for concern as Africa continues to develop.

Using Ghana as a case study, Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation: Past Performance and Future Prospects integrates economic and political analysis to explore the challenges and opportunities of Africa's transformation. It examines Ghana's overall economic performance since it went through a major Structural Adjustment Program in the early 1980s, and provides an in-depth empirical analysis of the broader economy and the agricultural sector over the last four decades. It explains why Ghana has not transformed its economy more substantially, why its agriculture sector has not played a greater role beyond cocoa production, and what must be done in the future to achieve a successful transformation. In addressing these puzzles Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation considers what the rest of the world can learn from Ghana's experience.

Xinshen Diao, Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow, Development Strategy and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA,Peter Hazell, Independent Researcher,Shashidhara Kolavalli, Senior Research Fellow, Development Strategy and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA,Danielle Resnick, Senior Research Fellow, Development Strategy and Governance Division, International Food Policy Research Institute, USA

Dr. Xinshen Diao is the Deputy Director and Senior Research Fellow at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). In recent years, Xinshen has focused on growth and poverty reduction analysis in Africa both at country level in Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Tanzania and at the regional level. She has published more than 100 articles in various peer-reviewed economic journals, IFPRI books and monographs, and external book chapters. Xinshen has received the University of Minnesota's 2018 Distinguished Leadership Award for Internationals that recognizes her outstanding achievements and scholarly work which have played a critical role in improving the lives of the world's most underprivileged people. She also won the 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award from the Department of Applied Economics of the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Peter Hazell has devoted most of his career to research and advisory work on policy issues related to agricultural development. Initially training as an agriculturalist in England, he completed his Ph. D. in agricultural economics at Cornell University in 1970. From 1972 to 2005 he held various research and management positions at the World Bank and the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). After returning to the UK he became a Visiting Professor at Imperial College London and a Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. Peter is currently an independent consultant living in Santa Barbara, California.

Dr. Shashidhara Kolavalli is a Senior Research Fellow in the Development Strategy and Governance Division at the International Food Policy Research Institute. An agricultural economist, Ahmedabad has previously seved as a Resource Economist at the International Crop Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. He joined IFPRI in 2006 after consulting independently for a few years, working mostly for the World Bank. He led the Ghana Strategy Support Program for more than ten years. He has worked on participatory approaches to management of natural resources, poverty reduction and country strategies, and reforms of marketing institutions. His current interests are agricultural and economic transformation, governance, and capacity.


Dr. Danielle Resnick is a Senior Research Fellow and Governance Theme Leader at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). She previously worked as a Research Fellow at the United Nations University-World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki, Finland. She focuses on the political economy of development, urban service delivery, democratization and political participation, and foreign aid effectiveness. In addition to a number of books, her research has been featured or forthcoming in peer-reviewed journals that include Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Democratization, Party Politics, Political Geography, Studies in Comparative and International Development, and World Development. She has conducted fieldwork in Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Nigeria, Senegal, and Zambia.

1. Introduction, Xinshen Diao, Peter Hazell, Shashi Kolavalli, and Danielle Resnick
2. Ghana's Economy-wide Transformation: Past Patterns and Future Prospects, Xinshen Diao and Peter Hazell
3. Strong Democracy, Weak State: The Political Economy of Ghana's Stalled Structural Transformation, Danielle Resnick
4. Ghana's Agricultural Transformation: Past Patterns and Sources of Change, Peter Hazell, Xinshen Diao and Eduardo Magalhaes
5. Urbanization and Its Impact on Ghana's Rural Transformation, Xinshen Diao, Eduardo Magalhaes, and Jed Silver
6. Agricultural Transformation in the Savannah: Perspectives from the Village, Michael Johnson, Nazaire Houssou, Shashi Kolavalli, and Peter Hazell
7. Public Expenditure on Agriculture and Its Impact, Samuel Benin
8. Developing Agricultural Value Chains, Shashidhara Kolavalli
9. Unleashing the Power of Mechanization, Xinshen Diao, Frances Cossar, Nazaire Houssou, and Shashidhara Kolavalli
10. Future Prospects, Xinshen Diao, Peter Hazell, Shashi Kolavalli, and Danielle Resnick