New forests: Leveraging Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for Enhancement of the Ghanaian Forest Products Sector

Understanding the context: Forestry and PPPs in Ghana Forestry, a key sector of the Ghanaian economy, contributes 2-6% of the national GDP and provides livelihood support to 15% (3.6million) of the Ghanian population. Extensive agriculture, mining, logging and fuelwood exploitation have contributed significantly to depletion of forest cover in Ghana. The annual deforestation rate is estimated at about 2% (FAO, 2010), one of the highest in the world. By 2009, direct fiscal aid amounting to USD 643 million had been invested by development partners in support of sustainable forest management in Ghana (Beeko, et al., 2014). Raw material supply to the timber industry, the fourth foreign exchange earner in the country, has declined; with most forest products milling firms operating under capacity, and others gone out of business (Birinkorang et al., 2014)