GHANA
Ghana’ s political foes bet on Agriculture
21 percent of the Ghanaian population has moved out of agriculture to other more productive economic sectors over the 18-year period between 1992 and 2010
Ghana’ s general elections on December are a high stakes game for the incumbent John Dramani Mahama and the opposition leader, Nana Addo. Mahama wants a second a term to cement his legacy in Ghana politics as only the third man, after Jerry Rawlings and John Kuffor, to successfully contest two elections.
For Addo, the election is to avoid the distinction of becoming a perennial bridesmaid, and the first man to lose three consecutive elections after previous losses to John Atta Mills and Mahama in 2008 and 2012.
With barely two months to the presidential and parliamentary elections in the West African state, promises are being flung in all directions in a last-minute attempt to entice its 15 million voters. This article will focus on one key promise by each candidate, all which focus on the key ag ¬ riculture sector. Mahama has promised to sup ¬ ply a minimum of 10 tractors to every district in the country to boost agriculture. Every district shall host a farming mechanisation centre with the tractors equipped with the full complement of implements such as harvesters. These cost between $ 6,000- $ 10,000 per unit. It will cost the central government about GH ¢ 50.5 million to supply a minimum of 10 tractors to every one of the 216 districts in the country. This excludes the cost of other components such as cultivators, plows, harvesters and threshers. Such an outlay constitutes about
A REPORT BY THE WORLD BANK GROUP SHOWED THAT ABOUT 21 PERCENT OF THE GHANAIAN POPULATION HAS MOVED OUT OF AGRICULTURE TO OTHER MORE PRODUCTIVE ECONOMIC SECTORS OVER THE 18-YEAR PERIOD BETWEEN 1992 AND 2010
14 percent of the amount allocated to the agriculture sector in the 2016 national budget of GH ¢ 355.14 million.
About GH ¢ 302.46 million of this allocation, representing 85.17 percent, is to be spent on the Fertilizer Subsidy programme and the Agricultural Mechanisation Service Centres, among others. Given the enormous demands of the sector, experts have questioned the feasibility of what has become known as the‘ tractor promise’. It understandable that Mahama would make such a promise given the need to strengthen the agriculture sector to reduce the food import bill of the country. The country imports about $ 500 million worth of rice per year, and about $ 1 bil-
46 Business Times Africa | 2016