Public-expenditure analysis of the food and agriculture sector in Ghana 2016–2023

FAO;

Public-expenditure analysis of the food and agriculture sector in Ghana 2016–2023

Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme

Copyright licence

Year of publication 2025

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 75 p.

Author FAO;

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Booklet

Category Policy analysis

Full item page

To cite or share https://doi.org/10.4060/cd8082en

Synopsis (short abstract) This report analyses Ghana’s public expenditure on food and agriculture from 2016 to 2023 using the FAO Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme indicators. These indicators track both the level and composition of expenditure, thus enabling the assessment of trends over time, and examination of alignment with national agricultural priorities as well as regional and international commitments. Public expenditure on agriculture (PEA) increased at an average annual rate of 33 percent in nominal terms, reflecting continued government engagement in the sector. However, in real terms and as a share of total public expenditure, PEA remained low by regional standards and declined over the review period. The composition of expenditure shows mixed performance. Input subsidies accounted for a substantial share of agriculture-specific spending; however, their share declined in recent years. Agricultural training absorbed a significant portion of expenditure, reflecting investment in colleges, farm institutes, and university departments. Other areas, including extension services, agro-processing, and storage, received relatively limited funding. Investment in infrastructure, such as feeder roads and irrigation, increased, but high costs and implementation challenges constrained their impact. Consumer transfers within the broader food and agriculture expenditure also declined in recent years due to limited fiscal space. At subsector level, crops received the largest share of public expenditure, followed by forestry, then fisheries, and finally livestock. The analysis identifies opportunities to improve allocative efficiency and realign resources across policy areas and subsectors to better achieve national priorities and fulfil regional commitments.

Cite this content as:

FAO. 2025. Public-expenditure analysis of the food and agriculture sector in Ghana 2016–2023. Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme. Rome.

https://doi.org/10.4060/cd8082en

Language English

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

Document

Other document

Initiatives for the Monitoring and Analysis of Agricultural Public Expenditure in Africa. A comparative Review and Analysis 2015

Also available in:

No results found.

The present document reviews and assesses the recent and ongoing initiatives dedicated to monitoring and analysing Public Expenditure in support of Agriculture (PEA) in Africa. This document fills a gap and responds to the need of policy-makers and policy analysts in Africa for a detailed and analytical review of what exists in terms of PEA monitoring and analysis in Africa. The objective of the present review is thus to: (i) shed light on PEA monitoring and analysis initiatives in Africa: not o nly their method and definition of agriculture, but also their nature, objectives, scope, current status, and most importantly their relevance for African policy-makers and policy analysts; and (ii) inform policy-makers and development stakeholders on the various tools that exist to monitor and analyse PEA in Africa.
Book (stand-alone)

Technical book

Public expenditure on food and agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa
Trends, challenges and priorities
2021

Also available in:

No results found.

Monitoring and analysing food and agriculture policies and their effects is crucial to support decision makers in developing countries to shape better policies that drive agricultural and food systems transformation. This report is a technical analysis of government spending data on food and agriculture during 2004–2018 in 13 sub-Saharan African countries – Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. It analyses the level of public expenditure, including budget execution, source of funding and decentralized spending, as well as the composition of expenditure, including on producer or consumer support, research and development, infrastructure and more to reveal the trends and challenges that countries are facing. It also delves into the relationship between the composition of public expenditure and agricultural performance. As a way forward for future policymaking, the report offers a set of recommendations to strengthen policy monitoring systems and data generation for effective public investments in food and agriculture. The report is produced by the Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme at FAO in collaboration with MAFAP country partners.
Book (series)

Working paper

Public expenditure analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector – A case study of Uganda 2021

Also available in:

No results found.

This paper presents a methodology for public expenditure review and analysis for climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agricultural sector. It outlines the basic methodological concepts, including the classification of public expenditures in the context of their links to climate change adaptation and mitigation. It also illustrates how such analysis can usefully contribute to policy decision making to better achieve the climate change adaptation and mitigation goals using the case study of Uganda. The proposed classification allows for analysing the level and the composition of public expenditures that influence adaptation capacity of the sector to climate change, and actions that increase or decrease greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in agriculture. This, in turn, allows for assessing whether the sector is stimulated in a way that allows achieving a country’s climate change adaptation and mitigation objectives and form a basis for further evaluation of the effectiveness of individual measures in reaching these objectives.