ABSTRACT
Agriculture has traditionally been the major backbone of the Ghanaian economy, whether from the point of view of contribution to GDP, exports, employment or simply social welfare. The World Bank is probably the most vociferous of the institutions who squarely put the blame for the decline in annual agricultural growth on the high rate of agricultural taxation in Ghana. Ghana’s attempt at formal state policy for agriculture has a long history. The most significant attempt at policy reform in the colonial period was the Watson Commission Report, set up to investigate the causes of urban riots in 1948. The project was primarily geared at strengthening the capacity of the public sector to support research and extension services, irrigation and policy planning, and monitoring, evaluation and co-ordination, and to make the investment necessary to expand agricultural production. Both the historical and present day contributions of the cocoa sub-sector calls for attention hence necessity of examining this sub-sector outside of broad agriculture.
