Agricultural Commodity Exchange and Agribusiness Development in Ghana: Lessons from African Agricultural Exchanges and the Way Forward
2025
APPIAH-KONADU, P. | APETORGBOR*, V.K. | TWEREFOU, D.K. | ABOKYI, E.
Agricultural commodity exchanges have emerged as a critical way to support the livelihoods of farmers by providing larger markets for agricultural produce, improving transparency, market efficiency and farmers’ access to credit facilities. However, its success in Africa has been mixed, often fraught with many challenges. With the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) still in its nascent stage, this study investigates the necessary conditions for a successful agricultural commodity exchange, with the purpose of developing a functional commodity exchange in Ghana. Based on a review of the literature, the study finds that successful agricultural commodity exchanges exhibit, inter alia, a strong regulatory environment, transparent information sharing, access to finance and strong infrastructure. The current operational framework of the GCX, evaluated against this framework of necessary conditions and the experience of other commodity exchanges in Africa, shows that the challenges of the GCX include policy inconsistencies, low volumes of traded commodities and a poor state of infrastructure. The study, among others, proposes that government policies, especially those for the agricultural sector, ought to transcend partisan politics if the GCX is to thrive and achieve its purpose.
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