Ghana is located in West Africa in the Gulf of Guinea, with Burkina Faso in the North, Ivory Coast in the West and Togo in the East. A well-administered country by regional standards, Ghana is often seen as a model for political and economic reform in Africa. The World Bank's "Doing Business" index ranks Ghana 67, the best performer in West Africa by a significant margin.
Rich in natural resources, this is one of the continent's fastest growing economies (6 - 7% annually), and newest oil producer. Agriculture remains a very important economic sector, contributing to a third of the GDP and employing more than half the active population. Ghana, the world's second largest cocoa producer after the Ivory Coast, offers a large area of arable lands and a variety of agroecological zones to grow diverse food commodities.
The main staple food crops are cassava and other tubers, plantain, rice and maize. Sorghum is a key food crop in the drier Northern Ghana, where its household consumption as well as use for animal feed and the beer industry (where it replaces barley) have been increasing. Agricultural production varies depending on soil and annual rainfall.
About 90% of the farms are of less than 2 hectares, practicing intercropped farming with low mechanization. About a third of the population live below the poverty line. Agricultural development will therefore be two to four times more efficient in reducing hunger and poverty; hence increasing the productivity of small farms is of great importance for Ghana.