Agricultural Development, Contract Farming and Ghana's Oil Palm Industry

ABSTRACT

This article traces the development of the oil palm industry in Ghana and its contribution to agricultural development. Drawing on the example of the Ghana Oil Palm Development Corporation (GOPDC) and its outgrower scheme, it argues that the shift from state-sponsored to market-led development has had important ramifications for agricultural development. From its origin as a state-owned firm, GOPDC has gradually transformed itself into a market-driven firm as Ghana took on the broader principles of neoliberalism in the 1990s. The privatised GOPDC, while still addressing some of the challenges inherited from the past, has developed a strong relationship with its outgrowers and, as a result, has become more successful in economic terms. While privatisation and liberalisation are not without problems, the positive effects of this increasingly successful oil palm outgrower scheme have, in general, benefited not only the scheme's outgrowers, but also the 12 communities in which they live.