Zeitschrift für Agrarwissenschaft und Lebensmittelforschung
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Effects of Opportunity International Savings and Loans Credit Facility on Maize Production and Health: Evidence of Techiman Municipality in Ghana

Aphu Elvis Selase, Lu Xinhai and Adator Stephanie Worlanyo

Currently, Ghana’s agriculture is dominated by subsistence (smallholder production units) with weak linkages to industry and the service centre. The agricultural sector is characterized by low productivity, low income and uncompetitive production, processing and distribution. Given the structure of the Ghanaian economy, higher growth in the agricultural sector is needed to fuel growth in other sectors. The size of the sector indicates that, agriculture could be the engine for a more rapid growth and poverty reduction. This assertion could hold if the right policies are formulated and implemented with the right institutional frameworks. A large proportion of the population in Ghana are rural based and depends on agriculture for sustenance, in as much as the health of the citizens are concerned. Enhanced and stable growth of the agriculture sector is important as it plays a vital role not only in generating purchasing power among the rural population by creating on-farm and off-farm employment opportunities but also through its contribution to price stability. In Ghana, although the share of agriculture in real GDP is declining, it continues to be an important sector as it employs about 57% of the labour force in Ghana.