Returns to Agricultural Public Spending in Ghana: Cocoa versus Noncocoa Subsector

Abstract

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Trends and composition of government expenditures on agriculture in Ghana, 1960-2015

“…However, because the bulk of government expenditure on high-impact functions such as research and development is also recurrent expense for the salaries and benefits of researchers in the national agricultural research system, the study by Benin et al (2012) masks the potential higher returns to recurrent research expenses compared to those on administration, management, and broader policy functions that do not yield high impact returns. Another study, Benin (2016), finds that government expenditures on the noncocoa subsector yield a higher return than Cocobod expenditures on the cocoa subsector.…”

“…It is difficult to see how the situation can be reversed without radically strengthening and improving the quality of GAE. , 1960-2015 Source: Authors' calculations and illustration based on Benin (2016), GSS 2017, and World Bank (2017). Notes: GDP = gross domestic product.…”

“…This analysis uses data from various sources. Public expenditure data are from the compilation by Benin (2016), updated with data on more recent years from annual reports on the financial accounts and statements of the government (CAGD 2018). Data on GDP and deflators are from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS 2017) and the World Bank's World Development Indicators (World Bank 2017).…”

“…Composition of government total expenditure (GTE) inGhana, 1980Ghana, -2015 Source: Authors' calculation and illustration based onBenin (2016) andCAGD (2018).Notes: GTE = government total expenditure; R&D = research and development.…”

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation

“…Our analysis draws on two recent studies. One study is by Benin (2016) who uses national-level data to estimate the marginal return to total public spending in agriculture over 1970-2012, and also the marginal returns for spending within the cocoa and noncocoa subsectors. We update this study using a revised model and data over 1961-2012.…”