Defining rural youth as the 14-25 age group (literate or illiterate and employed or unemployed) and as residents of localities with less than 5,000 people, this paper addresses Ghanaian rural youth and its relationship to: the total population; youth policy and organizations; rural-urban differences; and societal improvements. Major points of discussion include: (1) Ghana's young and growing population (in 1970, 63.9% of Ghana's population was under 25 years of age, a phenomenon that is creating serious economic and employment problems); (2) Ghana's youth policy (while there is no comprehensive youth policy, the urban oriented National Youth Council constitutes the central controlling body for youth affairs in Ghana and includes over 20 national organizations); (3) rural-urban differentials (while Ghana is predominantly rural with 71.1% of the population living in rural areas on 80% of the land, the distribution of doctors, dentists, and other social services favor urban areas and the death rate is higher and the life expectancy rate lower in rural areas); (4) problems of rural youth (organization, education, employment, and migration); (5) conclusions (Ghana's rural youth have been: neglected by the youth organizations; subjected to the insecurity of poverty, disease, and poor living conditions; victimized by inferior educational measures; and alienated by urban oriented decisions and decision makers). (JC)