Title Page

ABSTRACT

Contents

CHAPTER ONE. Introduction 12

1.2. Problem Statement 15

1.3. Objectives of the Study 17

1.4. Justification of the Study 17

1.5. Research Procedure 18

1.6. Expected Results 19

CHAPTER TWO. LITERATURE REVIEW 20

2.1. Overview of Agriculture in Ghana 20

2.2. Challenges faced the Agricultural Sector in Ghana 22

2.3. Agricultural Ecosystems 25

2.4. Global Challenges to the Agricultural Ecosystem 25

2.5. Sustainable Agriculture 27

2.5.1. Sustainable Agricultural Development 32

2.5.2. Sustainable Agricultural Policies 33

2.6. Analysis of the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) as a Decision Support Methodology 36

2.6.1. The Stages Involved in the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) 38

CHAPTER THREE. RESEARCH APPROACH, CONTEXT AND METHODS 45

3.1. Introduction 45

3.2. Profile of the Study Area 45

3.2.1. Location and Size 45

3.2.2. Relief Features of Ghana 47

3.2.3. Overview of Agriculture in Ghana 48

3.3. Some Countries and their Agricultural Policies 50

3.3.1. China 51

3.3.2. The United States of America (USA) 55

3.3.3. Kenya 58

3.3.4. Brazil 62

3.3.5. South Korea 67

3.3.6. Australia 71

3.3.7. Netherlands 75

3.3.8. Sustainable Agricultural Development Strategies in Ghana 82

3.4. Research Methodology 93

3.4.1. Research Questions 93

3.4.2. Identification of the Policy Elements 93

3.4.3. Research Design 95

3.4.4. Types and Source of Data 96

3.4.5. Sampling Procedure 96

3.4.6. Data Collection Method 97

3.4.7. Methods of Data Analysis and Reporting 98

CHAPTER FOUR. ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS 99

4.1. Introduction 99

4.2. Background Characteristics of the Respondents 99

4.3. Analysis of the Analytic Hierarchy Process Survey Table 101

4.4. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparisons 106

4.4.1. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Main Criteria 106

4.5.2. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Sub-Criteria 109

4.5.3. Synthesizing Judgments 119

4.6. Discussion 123

CHAPTER FIVE. SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 125

5.1. Introduction 125

5.2. Summary of Research Findings 125

5.2.1. Background Characteristics of the Respondents 126

5.2.2. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Main Criteria 126

5.2.3. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Sub-Criteria 127

5.2.4. Synthesizing of Judgments 128

CONCLUSION 128

RECOMMENDATIONS 133

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 134

Reference 135

국문초록 144

APPENDIX 145

Table 3.1. Characteristics of Ghana's Agro-Ecological zones 50

Table 3.2. Some Countries and their Agricultural Policies 90

Table 4.1. Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents 100

Table 4.2. Policy Candidates 105

Table 4.3. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Main Criteria by all the Respondents 107

Table 4.4. Group Comparisons of Pairwise Comparison of the Main Criteria 108

Table 4.5. Assessment Responses of all the Respondents on the Sub-Criteria 110

Table 4.6. Comparison of Government and Experts' Responses on the Sub-Criteria 113

Table 4.7. Comparison of Government and Industry Players' Responses on the Sub-Criteria 115

Table 4.8. Comparison of Experts and Industry Players' Responses on the Sub-Criteria 117

Table 4.9. Ranking of the Policy Elements by All the Respondents 119

Table 4.10. Ranking of Policy Items by Industry Players 121

Table 4.11. Ranking of Policy Items by Government Officials 121

Table 4.12. Ranking of Policy Items by Expert 122

Figure 3.1. Administrative Map of Ghana 46

Figure 3.2. Ecological Zones in Ghana 49

Figure 3.3. The AHP Hierarchy of the Selected Policies 95

Figure 4.1. Variables of AHP hierarchy 103

Figure 4.2. Assessment of the Pairwise Comparison of the Main Criteria by all the Respondents 107

Figure 4.3. Group Comparisons of the Pairwise Comparisons of the Main Criteria 109

Figure 4.4. Assessment Responses of all the Respondents on the Sub-Criteria 111

Figure 4.5. Comparison of Government and Experts' Responses on the Sub-Criteria 114

Figure 4.6. Comparison of Government and Industry Players' Responses on the Sub-Criteria 116

Figure 4.7. Comparison of Experts and Industry Players' Responses on the Level 2 Criteria 118