A lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr. Priscilla Twumasi Baffour, has called for the development of value chains in the agriculture sector to address Ghana’s rising unemployment rate.

This she believes will reduce the importation of food stuffs and create jobs.

She made these comments on the Super Morning Show on Joy FM on the back of Ghana Statistical Service’s release which stated that unemployment increased year-on-year by about 14% in the third quarter of 2023.

 “We keep talking about how important it is to build a strong value chain around the agriculture sector, and there is still a lot of work to be done because when we import a lot of the food that we consume, we are generating employment for others.”

The economist alluded that the expansion of the sector should be hinged on value addition and the creation of a robust production sector that will process raw produce. This according to her will expand the job net. 

“When people import large quantities of rice containers, canned tomatoes, and all other products, those jobs are shifted around the distribution. But the majority of the jobs that should be created during the production process are lost because the production is not done domestically”, she noted.

Unemployment in Ghana

According to the Ghana Statistical Service, the average unemployment rate in Ghana for the first three quarters of 2023 rose to 14.7%, a 10% increase from the 2022 figure of 13.7%.

Female unemployment continues to be higher at 17% as against 10.9% for males.  The sharp increase in the unemployment rate of females between the fourth quarter of 2022 and the first quarter of 2023 caused a wider unemployment gender gap in 2023, compared