Page+5+Devki+Economic+Impact Ghana

__**Economic Impact of Poverty, Starvation, and Malnutrition in Ghana**__



This is a picture of a cocoa farmer in Ghana. Ghana is the second top producer of cocoa in the world, helping it to combat more and more poverty each year.

====Ghana is a country where poverty, malnutrition, and startvation were pressing problems. However, in the last 15 years, Ghana has been rising out of these conflicts. According to the Ghana Living Standard Survey, the rate of poverty has dropped from 39.5% to 28.5% from 1999 to 2006. It has cut down on hunger by 75% from 1990 to 2004. Child malnutrition has been reduced by almost 50% as well. All of this is making a big impact on Ghana's economic status. Ghana's poverty forced the government to invest in agriculture. The goal was to better improve techniques and technology available to the farmers, as well as provide more ways to get to the market. This intention has created many more opportunities for the Ghanaians to make a profit and feed hungry mouths. Cocoa production has also increased, greatly contributing to the economy through exporting. In fact, due to this decrease in poverty, the economy has been rising an average of 4.8 % per year in the last two decades. New jobs are being created everyday, with two-thirds of the workforce not a part of farming being actively involved in the informal economy. Ghana is showing more and more progress towards actually achieving the Millenium Goals.====