Does agricultural development affect environmental quality? The case of carbon dioxide emission in Ghana

Purpose: Agricultural development still constitutes an integral part of Ghana's drive towards job creation, industrial development and economic growth with various growth policies placing the agricultural sector at the core. While there are likely environmental effects of agricultural activities, evidence in Ghana remains scanty. The study focused on examining, empirically, the effects of the development of the agricultural sector on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: The paper employed the Stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) framework to test for the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for agriculture and carbon dioxide emission as well as the effect that the changing structure of Ghana's agricultural development has on carbon dioxide emission for the 1971–2018 period. Regression analysis, variance decomposition and causality analysis were performed. Findings: The regression results revealed a U-shaped relationship between agricultural development and carbon emission, implying a rejection of the EKC hypothesis between the two variables. In addition, the Structural Adjustment Programme was found to positively moderate the effect agriculture has on carbon emission. Practical implications: The study recommends the need for policy-makers to facilitate the large-scale adoption and use of modern technology and environmentally friendly agricultural methods. Originality/value: The study is among the few works to assess the EKC hypothesis between agriculture and carbon dioxide emission in Africa. The direct and indirect effect of structural adjustment programme on carbon emission is estimated.