The Impact of Trade Agreement on Agricultural Trade Flow in West Africa

Abstract

This paper analysed the impact of trade agreements on agricultural trade flow in West Africa. The study used 25 major trading partners of Ghana for 25 years between 1995 and 2019. Using the Gravity econometric model, this study finds that being a member of the trade agreement (FTA) is positively related to the aggregate flow of trade in agriculture. Trade agreements are found to increase trade flow with trading in agricultural products; especially trading partners in ECOWAS, if members agree on free trade in such products. The result shows that Ghana’s bilateral exports significantly increase with an increase in domestic and partner wages, and with distance, they decrease significantly. FTA was found to be a positive and significant determinant of Ghana’s bilateral trade in the long and the short run as well. Therefore, when there is a free trade agreement between countries, they tend to trade more among themselves than countries without the trade agreement.