Ghana: Cost effective options for inclusive and sustainable development

Emerta A. Aragie, Karl Pauw, Shiyun Jiang, James Thurlow and Eleanor Jones

No 9, Agrifood System Diagnostics Country Series from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Abstract: In this policy brief, we present findings of a systematic evaluation and ranking of investment options for Ghana’s agrifood system based on their cost-effectiveness in achieving multiple development outcomes, including agrifood gross domestic product (GDP) growth, agrifood job creation, poverty reduction, declining undernourishment, and lowering diet deprivation. Additionally, the study assesses their environmental footprints, focusing on water consumption, land use, and emissions. In Ghana, extension in agronomy and post-harvest food loss reduction are the most cost-effective ways to improve social outcomes, including notably reducing poverty and undernourishment levels. Meanwhile, advisory services in livestock and support to small and medium enterprise (SME) processors are highly ranked in accelerating agrifood GDP and employment. Moreover, extension services for agronomy and climate, and investments in mechanization are also highly ranked. However, many of these cost-effective investments come with relatively high environmental footprints, which highlights potential tradeoffs. The study further reveals shifts in the cost-effectiveness ranking of investment options over time and moderately so in the presence of extreme production shocks.

Keywords: agrifood systems; development; investment; economic aspects; environmental impact (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026-02-26
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/181872

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fpr:afsdcs:181872

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Agrifood System Diagnostics Country Series from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().