Resource information
Agriculture plays an important role in
the economies of most countries in Africa. However, few
African countries have been able to capitalize on the
sector's considerable potential to contribute to
economic development through commercialization. Few have
created an enabling environment for agricultural finance in
which lenders and other agents are encouraged to develop
innovative financial products that are well tailored to meet
the needs of local producers. Few African countries have
purposefully set out to encourage the use of modern farm
machinery. Some, however, have invested in road
infrastructure and transport facilities to reduce
transaction costs and improve producers' access to
markets. The countries that have undertaken initiatives to
expand producers' access to agricultural technologies
such as certified or hybrid seeds and fertilizers have
generally been the most effective at increasing agricultural
productivity. The research described in this volume used a
set of agribusiness indicators to collect data that capture
the performance of the agriculture sector in the Republic of
Ghana, using a list of preliminary indicators covering the
following areas: (i) access to and availability of certified
seed; (ii) availability of and access to fertilizer; (iii)
access to farm machinery, particularly tractor hire services
for land preparation; (iv) access to agricultural and
agro-enterprise finance; (v) cost and efficiency of
transport; (vi) measures of policy certainty and the
orientation of the enabling environment as perceived by the
private sector; and (vii) various policy, trade, and fiscal
measures. Ghana was the first country in which these
indicators were tested for ease and consistency. The
indicators were then finalized and used for data collection
in two other African countries (Ethiopia and Mozambique).
