The significance of cocoa exports in the economic development of Ghana.

Nicol, Eva F. (1965) The significance of cocoa exports in the economic development of Ghana. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

Cocoa plays a dominant role in the economy of Ghana and as a result is usually referred to as the backbone of the economy. It accounts for over two-thirds of the country’s exports and is the most important source of her foreign exchange. With a population of seven million, Ghana is the world’s largest single cocoa producer supplying about one-third of total world output. The crop contributes a bulk of the value of her agricultural exports and the economic prosperity of the whole nation is directly geared to the level of cocoa prices. -- Ghana provides an example of an underdeveloped country which is exclusively dependent on one primary export commodity. Although she has made tremendous economic progress (relative to other countries in West Africa) since independence in 1957, like all less developed countries she is still clamouring for more. But the post-war period has brought large increases in cocoa production not only in Ghana but in other producing countries as well. In spite of the fact that world consumption has increased, stocks have accumulated and the current price level is low. -- The main objectives of this research are: (1) to analyse the overall impact of cocoa in Ghana from 1900 to 1963; (2) to test the applicability of certain hypotheses such as that there is very little relationship between cocoa production in Ghana and the prices received by producers; that cocoa exports are closely related to production; that prices in the world market affect the demand for cocoa; (3) to analyse the problems that this single-commodity economy has to contend with and (4) to suggest methods by which these problems could be overcome. -- Chapter I is rather unique in the thesis. It deals with some of the theoretical views that have been expressed since the classical economists on the relationship between export trade and economic development. The purpose of that chapter is to lay a foundation for the practical analysis in the succeeding chapters of cocoa - an agricultural export commodity - on the economic development of a country. Chapter II deals with the historical analysis from 1900 to 1963. The next chapter is the core of the whole text; various contributions of cocoa - loans, grants, education, investment, employment, government revenue - are sketched. Chapter IV deals with the problems from the international and national aspects. Finally, Chapter V attempts to solve these problems from three angles - the international, regional and national levels. -- The writer has drawn from the works of others but most of the analyses are original. Data was mainly obtained from United Nations publications, Reports and other publications of the Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board, Cocoa Statistics by Bill and Dufus Limited of London, Africa Digest and Statistical Reports from the United States Foreign Agricultural Service. But being so far away from Ghana, the extent to which information could be obtained from the government concerned has been small. This has strongly inhibited the use of more statistical tables and figures especially in Chapter III. However, this setback was partially overcome by concentrating on those years for which data is available.

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