ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the process of growth of a rural economy in Ghana over a period of fourteen years from 1954–67 based on an empirical study. It attempts to assess the factors which disturbed the static equilibrium of the rural economy and enabled it to move to a higher level of economic activity. In general, the social and economic characteristics of the area are probably typical of much of the present rural economy of Ghana. Until the completion of the Volta dam in 1963 the economy of the riparian communities was very dependent on the annual floods of the river which occurred between July and September. Improvements in roads and markets gave greater contact with other areas and subjected the rural economy to influences of urban life. When the developed after 1964 it was immediately exploited by many people from the riparian communities of the Lower Volta who moved temporarily upstream for fishing.
