The exponential increase in the population of Ghana and the need to meet the population’s food security needs while creating job opportunities have necessitated the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative by the Government of Ghana (GoG). Using the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analytical tool, we SWOT of the PFJ initiative. We further complemented the study with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) tool to rank the various criteria (factors) identified under the SWOT analysis. The study identified favorable environmental conditions as the highest strength, which recorded 59.3%, followed by agricultural lands availability (21.8%). Inadequate of financial services was identified as the highest weakness (55.8%), followed by over-reliance on climatic conditions (25.9%). High export potential relative to agricultural products in the country was identified as the highest opportunity, which recorded a weight of 50.3%. The One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative came up as the second highest opportunity. Negative ramification of climate change was identified as the main threat to Ghana’s agricultural sector (57.9%), followed by the importation of basic food products (25%).

This study used panel simultaneous equations models with a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator to examine the three-way linkages between ecological footprint (EFP), renewable energy consumption (REC), and income in the Group of Seven (G7) countries over the period 1990–2018. The outcomes of this study demonstrate a two-way association between gross domestic product (GDP) and renewable energy. The findings confirm the presence of a bidirectional link between outcome and ecological footprint, as well as between EFP and renewable energy. The results of this study demonstrate that improving human capital positively and significantly effects income, environmental quality, and REC. Ecological footprint is not significantly impacted by economic and social globalization, whereas the impact of financial globalization is negative and significant. Trade openness is positively and significantly connected with REC and income, which could contribute to reducing environmental deterioration. In conclusion, we make policy recommendations that are based on the findings of the study.

The recent COP27 has propelled nations towards achieving reduced environmental degradation. Governments are, therefore, required to develop effective policy tools to improve their environmental sustainability plans. In line with this, an empirical study is required to explore the all-inclusive effect of ecological sustainability policy on ecological footprint (EFP) among the world’s top renewable energy consumption countries from 1994 to 2018. Recent studies on environmental degradation have focused on renewable energy while neglecting the role of environmental tax. Thus, the current study fills this gap by exploring the role of environmental tax on ecological footprint. Furthermore, the study evaluates the direct and indirect impact of environmental tax and renewable energy on different levels of EFP using the method of moment quantile regression (MMQR). The DOLS, FMOLS, and panel GMM techniques are also applied to check the robustness of the MMQR results. The empirical results indicate that environmental tax and renewable energy directly and significantly reduce the EFP; however, these impacts are insignificant in countries with lower levels of environmental pollution. Furthermore, the findings indicate that environmental tax plays a leading role in changing the energy structure towards environmentally friendly energies. The results also show that economic globalization and human capital impact ecological footprint negatively. Finally, the results suggest that GDP and nonrenewable energy aggravates ecological footprint. The study results propose insights for policymakers to mitigate environmental degradation by boosting environmental tax to deter polluters and investing more in renewable energy development.

Achieving economic development is one of the most important economic goals of every country. Identifying the determinants of economic growth, is a useful tool for adopting appropriate economic policies. This study, therefore, empirically examines the impact of trade openness, foreign direct investment, and financial development on economic growth, across 62 countries over the period 1995–2016. These countries are divided into two groups: low-income and high-income countries. We employ the pooled mean group (PMG), mean group (MG), and dynamic fixed effect (DFE) estimation techniques on the cross-country panel data. The findings show a positive long run association between trade openness, foreign direct investment (FDI), financial development, labor, government expenditure, and economic growth in low-income countries, with a positive and negative short run effect from capital and government expenditures, respectively. For high-income countries, a positive long run association between trade openness, FDI, capital, and economic growth exist. The short run estimates indicate a positive effect on trade openness and capital as well as a negative effect on government expenditure. Our study shows that the adoption of policies that improves access to skilled labor and international trade, affect the attainment of a sustainable economic development.