Natural Resource Rent, Food Systems and Sustainability in Ghana: Does Financial Innovation Matter?

This chapter examines Ghana’s food systems, emphasising the drivers of their current structure and impacts on sustainability, focusing on financial innovation. It highlights the dual challenge of addressing climate change effects through crop insurance and climate risk financing tools while managing threats posed by natural resource rents, such as illegal mining. Using a quantitative approach and data from sources including the World Bank, IMF/ALFRED, and Global Footprint Network, the chapter evaluates Ghana’s food systems using metrics such as the food production index, agriculture’s GDP contribution, food trade shares, and a composite index derived through Principal Component Analysis. Financial innovation is analysed through indicators such as mobile money usage, broad money supply, domestic credit to the private sector, and insurance and financial services linked to agricultural exports. The findings reveal that financial inclusion supports resilient and sustainable food systems, fostering economic growth and environmental conservation. However, natural resource rent and associated activities erode these advancements, posing significant long-term sustainability and food security risks. To establish a resilient food system, Ghana must balance economic development with environmental sustainability by addressing financial inclusion, urbanisation, and environmental degradation challenges, ensuring long-term food security, and achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs).