The Deputy Minister of Agriculture has attributed the decline in the agriculture sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to ‘growth’ in the manufacturing sub-sector.

Dr. Alhassan Ahmed Yakubu disclosed this during a panel discussion at the maiden edition of the Joybusiness Busy Talks held on Tuesday in Accra.

Experts have argued that the agriculture sector has been performing poorly in recent times.

According to him, agricultural produce were being used to feed the manufacturing sub-sector, hence the ‘expansion’ of the manufacturing sector, which is being largely stifled by high taxes, utility tariffs and prolonged power crisis.

“Our cassava used to only be used for Fufu and Gari but cassava is now being used to produce beer. Maize was only consumed either as a boiled corn or Banku or say Kenkey is now being used to produce beer,” he claimed.

Challenge

But the Deputy Minister’s assertion was debunked by the Chief Economist at the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET), Dr. Baah-Boateng, who argued vehemently that manufacturing was also on the decline.

Many participants also expressed shock at the deputy minister’s statements, wondering whether he was really abreast with happenings in the agric sector.

The event, held under the theme: “Transforming Ghana: Agribusiness To The Rescue?” sought to assess what needed to be done to boost the agriculture industry and the agro-business subsector of Ghana’s economy, which had been in disarray for a couple of years.

The minister’s assertion, however, exposed government’s deception with respect to the actual performance of the agricultural subsector which constantly appears to be doing well on ‘paper’ but not in reality.

Owing to the development, the country, in recent times, has resorted to the importation of basic food items like plantain and onions from neighboring countries such as Cote d’Ivoire in order to meet growing domestic demand.

Factual reports

The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in 2015 estimated that the agriculture sector would grow at an average of 3.3 percent between 2016 and 2018, indicating that the sector’s future remained far from bright, as services and industry looked to narrow agriculture’s contribution to GDP.

The contribution of the sector is likely to drop this year since government cut its 2016 expenditure in the sector by GH¢40 million last year despite the growth in the sector stalling to 0.04 percent in 2015 when government had targeted 3.6 percent growth.

Government’s budgeted expenditure on the agricultural sector was GHC395.19 million in 2015.

For 2016 GHC355.14 million was budgeted, indicating a 10.1 percent decrease.

Between 2009 and September 2015, the agriculture sector’s contribution dropped from 31.8 percent to 19 percent, registering a seven-year slump.

Post-Harvest Losses

One of the key problems highlighted during the panel discussion was the issue of post-harvest losses.

The issue of agric financing by the Central Bank and commercial banks and the adoption of modern technologies by farmers were also raised at the forum.

According to Dr. Charles Tortoe of the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Ghana loses $400 million to post-harvest losses annually, while the food import bill hit $1.5 billion in 2015 alone.

He said that the high rate of post-harvest losses must be addressed in the country.