Francis Abebrese is focused on the growth potential of Ghana’s agricultural sector. His research is identifying reasons behind low productivity as well as lessons learned, key issues, and policy recommendations for increasing public expenditure and boosting production. He describes the current situation and shares his vision for what’s possible in this edition of Wilson Center NOW.

Guest
Francis Abebrese is an economist by profession and is currently an Economic and Research Analyst at the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) where he serves as the Research Coordinator for ACET’s flagship program—the African Transformation Report. The Report focuses on transforming Africa’s Agriculture. He is also a Southern Vocies Network for Peacebuilding Scholar with the Wilson Center’s Africa Program. Abebrese as a Development Economist with a research background in trade, agriculture, welfare analysis, health, public financial management, industrial policy, and the environment. Before joining ACET, he worked with Golden Star Resources Limited, a gold mining company in the Western Region of Ghana to develop and implement alternative livelihood programs in the mine’s catchment areas. He has also worked on a number of research projects, including the Export Supply Response Capacity Constraints Study in Ghana commissioned by the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

Host
John Milewski is the executive producer and managing editor of Wilson Center NOW and also serves as director of Wilson Center ON DEMAND digital programming. Previously he served as host and producer of Dialogue at the Wilson Center and Close Up on C-SPAN. He also teaches a course on politics and media for Penn State’s Washington Program.