“Prioritize agric sector to help achieve GDP growth target of 5.8% “-Economist to Govt

Ghanaian Economist, Dr. Patrick Asuming has called on the government to prioritize the agricultural sector to help achieve the country’s overall real GDP growth target of 5.8 percent for the 2022 fiscal year.

In an interview with CITI TV, he mentioned that the sector is crucial to helping the government achieve the target thus it needs to be given the utmost attention.

According to him, “If the challenges that we faced last year with regard to food production are not addressed, then there will be problems. We still have issues with the fertilizer shortage which doesn’t look like it’s going to be solved soon.”

He stressed that the agricultural sector is largely dependent on some essential elements to survive despite the investments made in the sector.

“In spite of all the investments we’ve made in the sector, our agriculture is still heavily dependent on the weather. So, if the rain patterns differ from expectations again, that could also be another source of trouble. Food inflation has been racing in the last few months. If these are not addressed, it’ll be a potential negative factor for the growth of 2022,” he said.