Environmental Degradation Effect of Agricultural and Industrial Growth in Ghana

Empirical examination into the existence of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) have focused principally on aggregate economic growth and environmental degradation with little knowledge on its potential existence in the individual sectors of the economy particularly the extreme cases of agricultural and industrial sectors. Such evidence could usefully shape policy instruments aimed at ensuring environmental sustainability amidst the quest to promote growth in these sectors. The paper therefore examines the effect of agricultural growth, industrial growth on environmental degradation in Ghana. Relying on data from the World Development Indicators for the period 1971-2008 and employing the Johansen cointegration technique, a long run EKC hypothesis is confirmed in the agricultural sector as well as the industrial sector.