[{"bbox": [96, 153, 1134, 313], "category": "Text", "text": "remain stubbornly low, largely due to low productivity levels resulting from low access to inputs and other factors of production, limited mechanization, high post-harvest losses, poor market access including lack of market information systems, and in recent years the increasing threat of climate variability and droughts. Even though the country has progressed as net food exporter (driven by cocoa, yam and other products), the country's imports of rice (about 500K MT annually) and wheat are major concerns for agriculture development as they stifle local production and also a major cause of imbalance of trade in the country. Key features are as follows:"}, {"bbox": [134, 321, 1134, 533], "category": "List-item", "text": "(i) Ghana faces productivity challenges including optimal yield against potential yield for major crops according to MoFA⁵ as at 2020: for rice, actual 4.5 t/ha vs. a potential of 6.0 t/ha; for maize, actual 3.3 t/ha vs. a potential of 5.5 t/ha; for soybean, actual 1.6 t/ha vs. a potential of 3.0 t/ha, and for cocoa actual 717 kg/ha vs a potential 1,110 kg/ha in low-input systems and 2,650 kg/ha in high input systems⁶. The food and agriculture production systems are vulnerable (as they are un-mechanised and rain-fed) to the climate change, due to changes in precipitation patterns, extreme weather events, and reductions in water availability, which result in additional reduced agricultural productivity, especially in the North of the country."}, {"bbox": [134, 534, 1134, 614], "category": "List-item", "text": "(ii) Fertiliser use stands at 15 kg/ha of arable land vs. a potential of 50k/ha. Actually Ghana has a fertiliser subsidy program, however 93% of the budget allocation targets cocoa farmers only. Ghana does not produce inorganic fertiliser and all fertilisers are imported."}, {"bbox": [134, 614, 1134, 693], "category": "List-item", "text": "(iii) Inorganic fertiliser use has been consistently low, accounting for an average of 3.58% with the highest at 8.5% in 2017⁷. However, the use of organic fertiliser has been declining as a percentage of total use mainly due to increasing importation of inorganic fertiliser."}, {"bbox": [134, 693, 1134, 746], "category": "List-item", "text": "(iv) There is a high cost of credit to the tune of about 25% due to high inflation rates which restricts credit access especially for SHFs."}, {"bbox": [134, 746, 1025, 773], "category": "List-item", "text": "(v) Only 6% of the lending amount go to agriculture due to high price volatility in particular."}, {"bbox": [96, 798, 1134, 1038], "category": "Text", "text": "**The five Northern regions** (Northern, North-East, Upper East, Upper West, Savannah) have close to 40% of the Ghana's land mass and have the potential to serve as the breadbasket of the nation, provide income and create sustainable jobs through agricultural transformation and modernisation. These regions are today the leading producers of maize and rice, accounting for more than 48% and 36% respectively, providing marketable surplus of more than 70% for maize and 55% for rice. However, considered \"crop rich and cash poor\", Northern Ghana epitomizes the situation of underdeveloped regions in otherwise fast-moving national economies. The rate of development there has fallen far behind the pace of Central and Southern Ghana. Large-scale direct investment systems have not sustained it. Private sector activities have long remained limited to spot-purchase aggregation. Despite accounting for about half the total of land surface of Ghana, it is the least developed part of the country."}, {"bbox": [96, 1064, 1134, 1118], "category": "Text", "text": "The rural economy of the underdeveloped Northern regions is complex and the potential of the region is bedevilled by challenges including:"}, {"bbox": [134, 1126, 519, 1153], "category": "List-item", "text": "(i) a high overall rural poverty level;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1154, 607, 1181], "category": "List-item", "text": "(ii) systemic malnutrition and seasonal hunger;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1181, 1031, 1207], "category": "List-item", "text": "(iii) an extensive production system with low overall agricultural productivity and low output;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1207, 1058, 1233], "category": "List-item", "text": "(iv) low soil fertility and mounting pressure on natural resources, including from climate change;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1233, 1134, 1313], "category": "List-item", "text": "(v) a sub-optimal use of water resources and dependence on erratic rains: despite efforts to increase irrigation schemes, the regional agriculture remains strongly dependent on rain-fed cultivation making it highly vulnerable to climate change effects;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1313, 1134, 1366], "category": "List-item", "text": "(vi) limited availability of agro-inputs: low use of certified improved seeds (less than 5%), and varieties adapted to climate change, chemicals and fertilisers, low availability of organic fertilisers;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1366, 1134, 1418], "category": "List-item", "text": "(vii) limited technical know-how by farmers on good agronomic practices thereby making them non-competitive;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1418, 777, 1445], "category": "List-item", "text": "(viii) limited access to services including mechanization, insurance;"}, {"bbox": [134, 1445, 738, 1470], "category": "List-item", "text": "(ix) almost no formal credit or suitable financial mechanisms;"}, {"bbox": [86, 1543, 790, 1563], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁵ Press briefing by Hon. Dr. Owusu Afryie Akoto, Minister For Food And Agriculture, 29th August 2021"}, {"bbox": [86, 1563, 1143, 1603], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁶ Source: Asasnta P and al. The cocoa yield gap in Ghana: A quantification and an analysis of factors that could narrow the gap in Agrocimtiram Systems, vol 201, August 2022. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X22001093"}, {"bbox": [86, 1603, 709, 1623], "category": "Footnote", "text": "⁷ Fertiliser Statistics Overview Ghana 2015 – 2019 (Africa (2020 Edition) Africafertilizer.org"}, {"bbox": [1038, 1681, 1144, 1706], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 5 of 26"}]