18 June 2018
An in-depth look at the sector’s economic role in the past, present and future with Agricultural Economist and General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union, Edward Kareweh.
It is an undeniable fact that agriculture plays a vital role in any economy as increased agricultural productivity tends to boost overall growth by way of job creation, foreign exchange etc. – due to its extensive value chain.
According to the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), one way of visualizing the contribution of agriculture to development is by measuring forward linkages with other sectors of the economy. Forward linkages mean economic activity generated beyond the farm as products move along the supply chain to final consumers.
In the case of Jamaica, for every dollar generated on the farm, 55 cents goes directly to primary consumption, in a sense, missing opportunities along the supply chain to add more value. Only 16 cents per dollar goes to the processed food sector, 12 cents to hotels and restaurants while 9 cents per dollar is exported.
A similar exercise, IICA says can be done with backward linkages or the valued added generated in sectors that served as the source of inputs and services for agriculture (chemicals, transportation, financial sector etc.). For a developing country like Ghana looking to transform its economy on the back of an umbrella policy dubbed “Ghana Beyond Aid”, agriculture has been singled out as key.
It begs the question, how best could agriculture drive this especially against the backdrop of the continuous decline in its contribution to GDP in recent years? For some answers the Vaultz Magazine engaged Agricultural Economist, Edward Kareweh who doubles as the General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC), Ghana.
