Report on Status review in Ghana

DRAFT WORKING DOCUMENT

January 2001

Executive Summary

Background to the Study

The context of current country-level frameworks

National strategies for sustainable development in Ghana

Key stakeholders and processes in strategy work  

Integrating institutions and initiatives in strategy work

Political commitment to strategy processes

Key lessons learned

Annex A. Participants in First Stakeholder Workshop

Annex C. Historical Strategic Processes

Annex D. Sectoral Coordinating Groups for the Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF)

Executive Summary

1. Background to the Study

1.1       Background to the review process

Agenda 21 (UNCED, 1992) called for the preparation of national strategies for sustainable development (nssds). The OECD DAC in its “Shaping the 21st Century” document (1996), set a target of 2005 for nssds to be in the process of implementation. In 1997, the UN General Assembly Special Session set a target date of 2002 for all countries to have introduced such strategies.  Shaping the 21st Century commits DAC members to support developing countries in the formulation and implementation of nssds through a partnership approach.

Despite these international targets, there is a lack of clarity on what an nssds actually is (there is no internally agreed definition, nor any official guidance on how to prepare an nssd). The donor community has done little work to understand the issue or to determine how best to assist developing countries with nssds. In the past, many strategic planning initiatives have had limited practical impact because they have focused on the production of a document as an end-product, and such documents have often been left without implementation. Instead, the focus of an nssd should be on improving the integration of social and environmental objectives into key economic development processes.

A clarification note was endorsed by the DAC High Level Meeting in May 1999  which defined an nssd as  “a strategic and participatory process of analysis, debate, capacity strengthening, planning and action towards sustainable development.” However, an nssd should not be a completely new planning process to be conducted from the beginning. Rather, it is recognised that in an individual country there will be a range of initiatives that may have been taken in response to commitments entered into at the Rio Earth Summit (UNCED) or as part of commitments to international treaties and conventions and that these may be regarded in that country, individually or collectively, as the nssd. But the challenge is: to gain clarification on what initiative(s) make up the nssd; and then to identify what improvements need to be made to these initiatives – or developed between them such as umbrella frameworks, systems for participation and national sustainable development for a – so that they meet the (above) definition of an nssd.

The DAC Working Party on Development Cooperation and the Environment (WP/ENV) has mandated a Task Force, co-led by the European Commission (EC) and the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), to produce guidance on best practice for assisting developing countries with the formulation and implementation of nssd processes. A scoping workshop in November 1998 brought together Task Force and developing country representatives to discuss the broad directions for this work. The workshop recommended a systematic in-country consultation with developing country partners in order to elaborate good practice for donors.

The February 1999 meeting of the DAC WP/ENV endorsed the recommendation to initiate a project to undertake informal consultations, or ‘dialogues’, in a number of developing countries and regions, involving donors and a range of stakeholders. The dialogues will review experience with nssds and examine how donors can best assist developing countries in such processes.  As well as contributing to the production of generic guidance for donors, the country/regional dialogues aim to make a concrete contribution to nssd processes and donor coordination in the participating countries.

In support of the DAC Task Force’s work on nssds, this project will involve full dialogues in five developing countries (Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Nepal and Thailand).  It will also seek to draw lessons from existing processes to audit or learn from nssd experience (Ghana, Namibia and Pakistan).

This process will lead to the preparation of DAC policy guidance on nssds and a detailed sourcebook with country case materials.

The Task Force has contracted the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) to coordinate and administer the project to implement these dialogues and review activities, and to prepare policy guidance and a sourcebook for publication by the OECD.  In Ghana, the review process is being facilitated as a partnership between IIED and the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

1.2.      Objectives of the review

The broad objective of the study is to gain an understanding of the process in Ghana to help identify successful and unsuccessful elements of the process of developing and implementing NSSD in Ghana.  In addition to contributing to the identification of international best practices in NSSD design and implementation, this should provide a useful input into the on-going process of developing the Second Step Policy Framework (2001-2005) for Ghana’s Vision 2020.

1.3.      Study tasks

The aims of the status review of the process of developing and implementing NSSDs in Ghana constitute the tasks to be undertaken for the review.  These assignments are to:

• Determine the historical, political and economic context of major strategic planning processes

• Determine the current status of past and present strategy work

• Identify key stakeholders and their participation and responsibilities in strategic planning and implementation

• Identify key institutions and policy processes – responsibilities, relationships and integration

• Determine the extent and effect of political commitment and shared vision regarding the strategy processes

• Identify lessons learned from strategy work in Ghana.

  1.4.      Methodology

1.4.1    Study Focus

The focus of the study is on the processes of designing and implementing various strategies for sustainable development in Ghana.  The study does not involve a review of the content of individual strategies or plans.  Thus, the emphasis will be on determining the extent to which effective mechanisms for strategy development and for facilitating stakeholder participation were utilized in designing and implementing individual development strategies.

1.4.2    Main issues for review

Key issues for analysis during the review cover the main analytical themes in the categories listed in the May 2000 IIED Guide to Key Issues in National Strategies for Sustainable Development and Methods for Analysing Strategy Processes: A Prompt for status reviews and dialogues (The Guide).  These categories are: context, actors, integrating institutions and initiatives, processes and impacts.  Details of the issues under each category are presented in the Guide but those selected for review in the study were those determined to be relevant to the Ghanaian situation.  In addition, due to time constraints, only important issues judged to be pertinent to the analysis were included in the review.

1.4.3    Steps in undertaking the assignment

In terms of the broad approach to the study, the study was conducted in three phases.  The first involved the review of key issues in implementing NSSD in Ghana.  A stakeholders’ workshop was organized during the second phase to discuss and review findings, conclusions and recommendations from the first phase.  The third phase involves finalizing the report of the study including integrating suggestions from the stakeholders workshop.

The study is being conducted in five phases.  The Team: 

(a)    reviewed key issues in implementing NSSD in Ghana

(b)   held a stakeholder workshop to review preliminary findings, with participation from the national planning commission, ministries and departments, academics, national council on women and development, the parliament, donors, development projects and IIED

(c)    prepared the Country Progress Report for the Thailand Mid-Term Review Workshop, including integrating suggestions from the stakeholder workshop

(d)   prepared a draft Country Report incorporating comments from the Thailand Workshop

(e)    would discuss the draft Report, and comments from the Mid-Term Review workshop at a second focus-group seminar to involve mainly beneficiaries.

(f)     would finalize and publish the Country Report, including integrating comments from all sources and activities.

The full list and institutional affiliation of the participants in the first stakeholder review workshop is presented in Annex A. 

The context of country-level frameworks

It is instructive to place the development frameworks discussed in this review in the context within which they were developed and are being implemented.

2.1       General context

2.1.1    Historical context

Ghana has had a very long history and tradition of planning for national development: Ghana was reputed to have completed the first development plan in the world, the Guggisberg Plan, in 1919.  This was more of a public investment programme than a comprehensive development plan but it provided the framework for the first efforts to develop the Gold Coast up to 1926.  This very first plan was developed by the colonial administration without any participation by the people and was implemented largely by the administrative service.

After that period, very little real development took place until the independence movement provided the impetus for further development of the country.  Beginning from the immediate pre-independence era, the economic and social development of Ghana has been guided by several planning processes.  These include:

• the First Ten Year Development Plan (which was condensed into a Five-year Plan 1951-1956)

• the Consolidation Development Plan 1957-1959

• the Second Development Plan 1959-1964

• the Seven-Year Development Plan 1963/64-1969/70

• the Two-Year Development Plan 1968-69-1969/70

• the One-Year Development Plan July 1970-June 1971

• the Five Year Development Plan 1975/76-1979/80

• the Economic Recovery Program 1984-1986

• the National Development Policy Framework: Long-Term Development Objectives (Ghana-Vision 2020)

At the national level, the major planning processes that have impacted most on national development to date are:

·        The 7-Year Development Plan (1963/64-1969/70)

·        The Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) (1983-1987)

·        Ghana -Vision 2020 (1996)

Currently, the development efforts and direction of Ghana are being implemented within the framework of the Ghana-Vision 2020.  Major development programming approaches to achieving the goals of the Ghana Vision-2020 at the national level have involved the following initiated in the years shown in parenthesis:

·        The National Economic Forum (1997)

·        Public sector reforms under CSPIP, PURFMAP, MTEF, and NIRP (1994)

·        World Bank sponsored Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF, 1999)

·        United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF, 1997)

·        Japanese promoted Integrated Human Development Programme (IHDP)

Key cross-cutting strategic approaches developed to ensure sustainability of the national strategy for development cover:

·        Decentralization (1988)

·        Poverty Reduction (1995)

·        Natural Resource Management (1995)

·        Gender

All strategic development frameworks in Ghana are national.  However, regions and districts prepare their development strategies and plans under the decentralized planning system within planning guidelines derived from the Vision-2020 overall policy and strategic framework.  The closest to sub-national strategies were the integrated regional planning frameworks of the 1970s and 1980s.  However, those approaches were not strategic, were only partially integrated while their preparation did not follow the commonly-accepted norms for designing strategies for sustainable development.

The country had been under a quasi-military regime (PNDC) since 1982 that oversaw the implementation of the ERP, which involved large doses of economic liberalization.  However, the political atmosphere was still not liberalized until 1992 when there was a transition to multi-party democratic governance.  In practice, the main opposition party boycotted Parliament during the first period of civilian government (1992-1996).  The participation of all parties in the second period (1996-2000) saw the intensification of true multi-party democracy that has been consolidated by the recent change of government.  Overall, the last decade has witnessed the emergence of democratic institutions, such as a free and liberalized press and organs for addressing serious frauds, and, lapses in human rights and administrative justice, all of which are necessary for the institutionalization of good governance.  Thus, political liberalization finally caught up with economic liberalization a decade later.

2.1.3    Socio-economic context

Ghana began the spiral of long-term economic decline in the 1960s due to low investment, low and falling efficiency of resource use and declining exports.  Between 1960 and 1982 real per capita income fell at an average annual rate of nearly 2 percent while annual inflation rose from 6.2 percent to 123 percent.  In response, the ERP was initiated to reverse the country’s downward trend and start a process of sustained growth. Since 1982, the focus has been on economic liberalization and stabilization, social development, long-term growth, poverty reduction, gender balance and regional integration.

In response, real GDP growth averaged 4 percent annually while inflation dropped to 20 percent during 1992-94.

However, the performance of the economy slipped from 1992 when large fiscal imbalances resulted in heightened inflation and currency depreciation.  Within this context, there was the need to consolidate economic gains, including improving the coordination of economic management, and to begin to address poverty issues in a systematic manner.

The development of Ghana Vision-2020 was in reaction to the need to ensure long-term growth to avoid the drastic drop in living conditions by addressing poverty in an integrated manner and improving the management of the economy to place the nation on a path of sustainable growth.

Currently, the economy is characterized by: (a) market-determined and private sector oriented policy framework, but private sector response to the economic framework and incentives has been low, (b) state divesting controlled enterprises and restructuring of public sector administration, (c) largely agrarian setup with low manufacturing value-addition, (d) low savings and investment (e) dependence on two commodities, (f) high debt, both external and domestic.

2.1.4    Development trends and key factors

The design of strategic frameworks for national development has been influenced by key trends and factors.  These include:

·        the pain and memory of past economic downturn

·        the resultant economic liberalization and market-based stance of economic policy which has yielded a fragile stabilization as the economy is still prone to destabilization by external economic factors

·        the transition to multi-party democratic governance

·        relative peace and stability

·        increasing population, unemployment, demand on social services and fall in living standards

·        poor natural resource management resulting in loss of forest cover and general environmental degradation

2.1.5    Administrative context

The administrative context for the development of national development strategy frameworks in the post-ERP era involved the establishment of: (a) organs for economic management, including the Economic Management Team, (b) an emerging consultative approach (culminating in the National Economic Forum), (c) a development planning system including a legal framework and a planning institution (the NDPC), (d) a decentralized planning system

Despite this economic management and development planning environment, major donors felt the need to design their own frameworks for development assistance planning, partly in response to ineffective donor coordination and integration of donor development programmes.  This situation partly accounted for the development of the CDF and CCA.

2.1.6    Regional context

The development of the current Second Medium-Term Policy framework and plan has taken due cognizance of regional factors.  Thus, the framework emphasizes economic growth and poverty reduction, popular participation in economic and political decision-making, and, good governance to consolidate the relative peace and stability that Ghana enjoys in relation to other strife-torn areas of the sub-region.  The framework also explicitly seeks to enhance the economic integration of the sub-region.

2.2       Institutional context: effectiveness of regulations and incentives

The effectiveness of regulations and incentives determines the nature and effect of 0the institutional context for the development of strategic initiatives.  Broadly, in consonance with the progressive consolidation of economic and political liberalization, the approach to internalizing economic and environmental costs, to facilitate best-practice investments, is by fiscal and regulatory frameworks, rather than bureaucratic control mechanisms.  For example, (a) the EPA has adopted the polluter-pays principle to internalize environmental costs, (b) investment allowances and incentives by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) help correct some market failures in the investment environment, and, (c) the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) attempts to level the playing field regarding utility costs.  However, the effectiveness of regulations and incentives is hampered by imperfections in the availability and access to information and data on economic and social parameters of national development.  This affects the efficacy of development planning strategy formulation.

Public awareness of sustainable development has been heightened, especially by the integration of environmental and social issues (such as HIV/AIDS and family planning) in development through enhanced activities of civil society groups, particularly NGOs.   The institutionalization of parliamentary and multi-party democracy, decentralized administration, and, increased public awareness campaigns by such constitutionally-mandated bodies as the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE) and the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), is facilitating the development of a consumer or civil-society driven society and incentives away from command and control to market-based mechanisms.

Given the large number of strategy processes and programming approaches to implementing Vision 2020 in effect and the time constraints of the study, the review would only briefly describe some of the key historical and current strategic frameworks.

3.1       Key historical processes

3.1.1    7-Year Development Plan

The 7-Year Development Plan was initiated in 1964 as first integrated and comprehensive economic plan in Ghana’s development administration history.  The main objectives were to accelerate economic growth, start a socialist transformation of the economy and remove all vestiges of colonial structure of the economy.  It was prepared by the Planning Commission with input from committees of civil service, academia and business.  Key stakeholders were the Conventions Peoples Party (CPP) and government, the state sector of the economy, cooperatives, civil service, the intelligentsia, private business sector.  Implementation of the plan was cut short by the military intervention of 1966.

         3.1.2    The Economic Recovery Programme

The next most significant historical programmatic effort in national development was the two-phased Economic Recovery Program involving stabilization and rehabilitation, and liberalization and growth that was initiated in 1983 with the support of the World Bank and the IMF.  The major objectives were to arrest the severe economic decline of the 1970s and improve the social and overall well being of Ghanaians, particularly the under-privileged, deprived and vulnerable.  The programme was prepared solely by government teams and collaborating officials of the World Bank and the IMF, with very little or no involvement of civil society groups. The ERP provided the impetus for a long-term growth approach to development that laid the basis for the development of the National Development Planning Framework that was the pre-cursor to the Ghana Vision 2020. 

These historical strategic processes are more fully described in Annex C.

3.2  Contemporary mechanisms

3.2.1    Ghana Vision-2020

I. Year initiated: The underlying long-term development policy framework preparation was initiated in 1991 and completed in 1994 but the Ghana Vision-2020 nomenclature was adopted in 1996.

II. Brief description: A national development policy framework covering long-term (25 years) development objectives covering five basic thematic areas of macroeocnomics, human development, rural development, urban development and enabling environment.  The achievement of these long-term objectives is expected to transform Ghana into a nation whose material well being and standard of living would conform to those of middle-income countries as at 1993/94.  The Ghana Vision-2020 provides a framework to guide sectoral agencies and the District Assemblies prepare policies and programmes for economic and social development that would enable Ghana achieve her long-term goals.  The long-term objectives are to be achieved by implementing policies through five-year medium-term rolling plans.

III. Key Objective: Ghana is to achieve a balanced economy and a middle-income country status and living standard by the year 2020.

IV. Status of preparation and implementation:  Preparation of the Vision has been completed.  The First Medium Term Development Plan 1996-2000 has been implemented.  The Second Medium Term Development Plan 2001-2005 is currently under preparation.

V. Key stakeholders:  The preparation of the Vision was dominated by central government agencies, especially the National Development Planning Commission and ministries, departments and agencies.  However, the preparation of the medium term development plans has involved a very wide array of stakeholders, including District Assemblies, the private sector, NGOs, academics, workers, and traditional authorities.

VI. Main preparation process: The preparation of the Vision was principally the work of the National Development Planning Commission.  The NDPC first sought to inject social and spatial considerations in to the economic policy framework underlying the structural adjustment programme in 1987.  This effort was followed by the production of a human centered development policy framework in 1991 by the Commission.  To integrate long-term perspectives into the ERP that would ensure that Ghana achieves continuos development at an accelerating pace through the promotion of a human-centered, comprehensive and integrated approach to development, the National Development Policy Framework (NDPF) was drafted by the NDPC during 1991-1994.  Sectoral ministries and agencies, and, district authorities provided comments on goals and hierarchy of goals and strategies of the NDPF.

VII. Key documents:

·National Development Planning Commission.  Making People Matter – A Human Development Strategy for Ghana.  Publication by NDPC (IDPG\SPD).  December 1, 1991.

· Republic of Ghana, National Development Policy Framework. Volume I: Long Term Development Objectives.  National Development Planning Commission.  February 1994.

·Republic of Ghana, National Development Policy Framework. Volume I: Long Term Development Objectives.  National Development Planning Commission.  Revised May 1994.

·Republic of Ghana, Ghana-Vision 2020 (First Step: 1996-2000), Presidential Report to Parliament on Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies.  December 1994.

VIII.Observations on outcomes and effectiveness:  The Vision has provided a guiding and overarching reference point for the formulation and implementation of various development strategies and programmes since 1996.  However, implementation of the First Medium Term Plan (1996-2000) has lagged while the core strategic underpinnings of the Vision are yet to be integrated into the development psyche of the nation as the people are not generally familiar with what it would take to achieve the Vision.

3.2.2 National Economic Forum

I. Year initiated: September 1997

II. Brief description: It was the first national consensus building exercise for all stakeholders to discuss economic and development policy measures for growth under the Ghana –Vision 2020.  It was attended by the President, Vice-President, Ministers and various other stakeholders, and was supported by the UNDP.

III.Key Objectives: The fundamental objective of the National Economic Forum was achieving a national consensus on policy measures for accelerated growth, within the framework of Ghana-Vision 2020.

IV.Status of preparation and implementation: The outcomes and consensus reached have been integrated into national economic and development policy making.

III.Key stakeholders: It was attended by the following numbers of participants, keyed to the Syndicate Groups they represented:

· Macroeconomic stability (142)

·Economic Growth: Agriculture (83)

· Economic Growth: Manufacturing (92)

·Employment and Human Development (99)

The Post-Forum Committee to prepare Action Plans and integrate recommendations had 52 members.

Overall, participation in the Forum was by several interest groups including:

1)      government,

2)      Council of State,

3)      parliament,

4)      judiciary,

5)      private sector,

6)      labour,

7)      NGOs,

8)      political parties,

9)      traditional authorities,

10)  donors,

11)  professional groups (such as the Ghana Bar Association, Ghana Medical Association),

12)  farmers,

13)  the military,

14)  universities,

15)  local authorities,

16)  the CSIR,

17)  consumers association of Ghana,

18)  constitutional bodies (such as the National Commission on Civic Education, CHRAJ),

19)  private press

V. Main preparation process: The NDPC invited several stakeholders, grouped into four syndicate groups to discuss issues of macroeconomic stability, agriculture, manufacturing and international competitiveness, and, employment aimed at generating strategic policy recommendations for reducing inflation and unemployment.  A Post-Forum Committee synthesized and harmonized the four Syndicate Group Reports into a comprehensive Forum Report and a set of Action Plans

VI. Linkages to Ghana-Vision 2020: The Forum was a mechanism for helping review and affirm economic and development policy measures required for accelerated growth as envisaged under the Ghana Vision 2020.

VII.      Key documents: Republic of Ghana – National Economic Forum at Accra International Conference Centre on 2-3 September 1997 on the Theme: Achieving National Consensus on Policy Measures for Accelerated Growth within the Framework of Ghana-Vision 2020. 

VIII. Observations on outcomes and effectiveness: The Forum provided the opportunity for various stakeholders to reach consensus on key economic issues and actions needed to underpin the achievement of the goals of the Ghana Vision 2020.  The Forum was well attended and the reports were well received by government.  However, implementation of several recommendations has lagged.  The new government would likely utilize the mechanism of the Forum

3.2.3    Comprehensive Development Framework

I.Year initiated: 1999

II. Brief description: A development programming approach that takes a comprehensive view of the entire development spectrum and provides a holistic framework for identifying and analyzing development needs, and programming development interventions from all partners in an integrated and consistent manner designed to strengthen development planning and coordination across all the development partners.

III. Key Objectives: The objectives of the CDF process were to engender:

§ improved inter-relationships, coherence and increased integration of sector polices and programmes

§a rapid shift by donors towards financing of development programmes, instead of individual projects

§reduced government effort and resources in managing different donor systems

§increased government ownership and management of Ghana’s development programme, and stronger partnership with donors, civil society and the private sector.

§a more comprehensive pattern of resource allocation that reduces inter-donor competition.  

IV.  Status of preparation and implementation: Preparation of the CDF was completed in 1999 for the Tenth Consultative Group meeting in Accra in November 1999. 

V. Key stakeholders: Government of Ghana, civil society represented by NGOs and other stakeholders under the ambit of SAPRI, and donors

VI. Main preparation process:  This is discussed in Section 4.

VII.Linkages to Ghana-Vision 2020:  The CDF provides the framework for development assistance required to achieve poverty reduction as envisaged under Ghana-Vision 2020.  The formulation of thematic areas covered by the CDF are framed differently but in essence cover the same ground as addressed by the eight thematic areas of the Second Step of the Ghana-Vision 2020.  However, the CDF serves more as a more immediate development programming tool while Ghana-Vision 2020 provides a more long-term vision of national growth.

VIII.Key documents: Government of Ghana- A First Draft Comprehensive Development Framework Towards Ghana Vision 2020.  Tenth Consultative Group (CG) Meeting.  November 23-21, 1999. Accra.  Ministry of Finance.

IX. Observations on outcomes and effectiveness:  The CDF has yielded favourable outcomes in terms of helping to better focus and redefine donor, especially World Bank, development assistance to Ghana.  The document provided the framework for the World Bank’s new Country Assistance Strategy for Ghana.  The involvement of civil society in the preparation of the document has enhanced their role in development programming.

3.2.4    Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS)

I. Year initiated: Developed in 1995/96, being updated in 2000-2001

II.Brief description: A home-grown strategic approach to poverty reduction through emphasis on economic growth, integrated rural development, improved access of the poor to basic economic and social services, expanded employment for urban poor, and, family planning.

III.Key Objectives: The overarching goal is reduction of poverty and general improvement in the welfare of all Ghanaians.  The objectives of the GPRS include: (a) reducing the incidence and depth of both rural and urban poverty, mainly through the acceleration of pro-poor growth, (b) improving the income earning capabilities and opportunities for the poor and vulnerable, (c) minimizing  gender and geographical disparities, (d) facilitating a healthier, better educated and more productive population.

IV.Status of preparation and implementation:  The development of the GPRS was completed and has generated projectized interventions.  A revision and update of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy process is under preparation.  The preparation of the GPRS is parallel to the preparation of the World Bank-sponsored Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP)

V. Key stakeholders: The update of the GPRS involves participation from several stakeholder groups, including the NDPC, sectoral ministries and agencies, local authorities, civil society organizations, professional bodies, academic think tanks, and trades unions.

VI.  Main preparation process: The government, with the support of the UNDP, produced a National Action Programme for Poverty Reduction in 1995.  This engendered the need for an institutional mechanism to coordinate development of initiatives, resulting in the formation of an Inter-Ministerial Committee served by an inter-agency and multi-sectoral Technical Committee on Poverty (TCOP) that produced the Policy Focus for Poverty Reduction in 1996.  Under the ambit of the NDPC’s Poverty Reduction Unit, a Ghana PRS Task Force (now composed of the TCOP members) is coordinating the process of updating the GPRS through the use of Core Teams to prepare frameworks and programmes covering focus areas of the strategy.

VII.Linkages to Ghana-Vision 2020:  The overall poverty reduction process of the Government is derived from and tied to the Ghana- Vision 2020.  The objectives of the 1995 poverty reduction strategy informed the goals and approach adopted for poverty alleviation in the Vision 2020.  The update of the GPRS and the preparation of the Ghana Vision 2020 - Second Step framework are linked in several ways:

(a)    the six priority areas of the GPRS are covered by the Vision 2020 framework explicitly,

(b)   the GPRS is linked to the existing planning process with the GPRS deriving its focus from the Vision 2020 Second Step policy framework,

(c)    the timetables for the two processes were synchronized,

(d)   the outputs of the Second Step process would be factored into the GPRS update,

(e)    planning guidelines for use by District Assemblies and sectoral agencies would reflect the focus on poverty reduction as emerging from both the Vision 2020 and the updated GPRS.

VIII.Key documents:

· Republic of Ghana, Reducing Poverty through Improved Agriculture.  Main Report Prepared by the Government of Ghana for the Tenth Meeting of the Consultative Group for Ghana. Accra  November 23-24, 1999.

· The World Bank, Republic of Ghana – Development Strategy for Poverty Reduction.  Report No. 20186-GH.  March 8, 2000.

· Republic of Ghana,  Policy Focus for Poverty Reduction.  Technical Committee on Poverty (TCOP), Technical Secretariat, NDPC.  Accra.  September 1996.

·World Bank, Ghana – Poverty Past, Present and Future.  Report No. 14504-GH.  Population and Human Resources Division, Africa Region.  June 29, 1995.

·Government of Ghana, National Action Programme for Poverty Reduction.  Ministry of local Government and Rural Development, with assistance of UNDP.  February 1995.

IX. Observations on outcomes and effectiveness:  The GPRS has spawned three major interventions: (a) the National Poverty Reduction Programme with support from the UNDP, (b) The Social Investment Fund aimed at enhancing access of the poor to basic services and local-level capacity-strengthening with support from the UNDP, African Development Bank, (c) Community-based Poverty Reduction Approaches initiative.  Effectiveness of these projectized interventions is hampered by several factors including lack of micro-credit and implementation capacity weaknesses at the local level. Other initiatives that have taken on board the poverty reduction objective include the Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) and the Agricultural Services Sector Investment Programme (AgSSIP).

3.2.5    Common Country Assessment (CCA)

II.         Year initiated: 1997

III.       Brief description: A participatory process for reviewing and analyzing progress in national development goals and programmes and as foundation for programming and advocating development assistance under the UN system. Under the United Nations Development Assistance Framework (UNDAF), the UN Mission has since 1997 undertaken the Common Country Assessment (CCA) of the national development situation to provide standard reference for the government and UN system organizations in terms of the status human development, analysis of progress and problems in meeting common development targets, and, basis for development programming. 

IX.              Key Objectives:

·Provide an integrated and cross-sectoral assessment of the status, problems and challenges in achieving human development goals.

· Provide an instrument for programming and advocacy of development assistance from the UN system in-country through the UNDAF mechanism.

· Provide common framework for monitoring the efficacy of UN development assistance

· Provide a tool for improving development planning and coordination between the government, development partners, civil society and the private sector.

V.        Status of preparation and implementation: The first CCA was prepared in 1997 and used as an input into the preparation of Ghana’s first UNDAF for the period 1998-2000. The 1999 CCA formed the basis for the formulation of Ghana’s UNDAF 2001-2005 which prescribes the country programmes of the UN agencies.

VI.       Key stakeholders: The Government of Ghana, all UN system agencies, other development partners, representatives of civil society organizations and the private sector.

VII.      Main preparation process: The preparation of the Assessment was managed by Ghana UN Country Team, under the leadership of The Resident Coordinator, with the government playing a leading role.  The report was prepared by six thematic groups as indicated below:

VIII.     Linkages to Ghana-Vision 2020: By helping to engender common understanding and consensus of Ghana’s development needs across themes, sectors and donors, the CCA was to support the formulation of the Second Step of the Ghana Vision 2020.

VII.            Key documents: Ghana – Common Country Assessment.  United Nations, Joint Consultative Group on Policy.  March 1997.

Ghana Common Country Assessment 1999.  Accra.  August 18, 2000

X.        Observations on outcomes and effectiveness: The CCA has been effective in joint programming of UN development resources by the government and the UN system. The 1999 CCA was complementary to the CDF as it provided a cross-cutting assessment of human development, in contrast to the CDF process that was underpinned by sector and thematic group work.  However, the CCA has not received publicity as a development planning document and is not referred to outside the UN system.  Consequently, it was not widely used in preparing the Second Step Policy Framework of Ghana Vision 2020 partly due to its low visibility and because its areas of thematic classification did not closely match those of the Second Step formulation.

3.2.6.   Renewable Natural Resources Sector Strategy (1996-2000)

I.          Year initiated: 1995, completed in 1996.

II.         Brief description: An integrated strategic approach to the management of renewable natural resources (RNR) that ensures that various programmes aimed at enhancing the contribution of sustainable natural resource management to the accelerated social and economic development of Ghana are well-coordinated.  This is to improve the efficiency, impact and sustainability of sector programmes.  The strategy consists of a set of prioritized interventions that could be implemented within the current development environment and those that required significant reforms to overcome structural constraints in the sector.

III.       Key Objectives: The overall objective is that RNR is sustainably managed for the benefit of present and future society.  Specific aims are to:

·        establish effective institutional and legislative arrangements for the effective and efficient management of renewable natural resources

·        enhance regeneration of RNR, including biodiversity

·        increase the level of values-added to RNR products

·        make regulations in the RNR sector more enforceable

·        adopt appropriate technical options for resource utilization and management

·        reduce economic over-dependence on RNR

IV.       Status of preparation and implementation: The preparation of the strategy was completed. However, implementation has not been effective.

V.        Key stakeholders: Different stakeholders participated in the development of the strategy, but their scope could not make their involvement very participatory. A full presentation of stakeholder participation in the formulation of the RNRSS is presented in Section 5 of this report.

VI.       Main preparation process:  The government fashioned a process of consultations, consensus building and planning to ensure sustainable development of RNR through the Consultative Group on Renewable Natural Resources beginning with a Consensus Building workshop in September 1995.  This was followed by a Goal Oriented Project Planning (GOPP) workshop in November 1995, a series of consultations, and, a Strategy Formulation workshop in March 1996 that resulted in the draft RNRSS.  The draft Strategy was reviewed at a Stakeholder Forum in July 1996.

VII.      Linkages to Ghana-Vision 2020:  The strategy was developed in parallel to the First Medium Term Plan of the Ghana Vision 2020.  However, the strategic framework for RNR management was in line with the First Step.

VIII.     Key documents:

·        Government of the Republic of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission.  Report on Goal Oriented Project Planning Workshop to Formulate a Strategic Programme for the Renewable Natural Resource Sector in Ghana.  November 8-11, 1995.

·        Government of the Republic of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission.  Workshop Report on Strategy Formulation for the Renewable Natural Resource Sector in Ghana.  March 28, 1996.

·        Government of the Republic of Ghana, National Development Planning Commission.  Report Stakeholder Forum on the Draft Renewable Natural Resources Strategy (1996-2000).  September 12-13, 1996.

·        Participatory Approaches Learning Study of the Process of Formulating Renewable Natural Resources Sector in Ghana.  Prepared by George Botchie, George Ortsin, F. D. Tay, G. Laryea-Adjei for International NGO Training and Research Centre (INTRAC), Oxford and UK Department for International Department under the supervision of NDPC, Accra.

IX.       Observations on outcomes and effectiveness: It is not clear whether the government ever approved the RNRSS since the proposed institutional structure for managing the strategy, including the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee to issue policy guidelines and the expansion of the District Environmental Management Committees (DEMCs) to embrace other aspects of RNR management, was not set up.  Furthermore, most of the projectized interventions in the sector during the period arose from sub-sectoral strategic plans, such as the National Biodiversity Strategy (1998), Forest and Wildlife Policy (1994), the Forestry Development Master Plan (1996-2000), and, the Forest Protection Strategy (1995).  However, these initiatives and subsequent ones, such as the Environmental Sanitation Policy (May 1999) of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development, National Land Policy (June 1999) of the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, and the Strategic Plan (1999-2003) of the Environmental Protection Agency were in congruence with the objectives and components of the Renewable Natural Resources Sector Strategy.

3.3       Identifying national strategies for sustainable development in Ghana

The DAC High Level Meeting in May 1999 defined a national strategy for sustainable development (nssd) as “ a strategic and participatory process of analysis, debate, capacity strengthening, planning and action towards sustainable development”.  The imperative is the integration of social and environmental concerns into economic development objectives.

However, the OECD-DAC-developing country dialogues have engendered a modification of that definition as follows: “a participatory  and continuously improving system, which harnesses processes of analysis, debate, capacity-strengthening, planning, innovation and investment for sustainable development”.

Given the dynamics of development administration various development instruments seek to address diverse development imperatives.  Hence, there are several strategies that seek to fulfill various development needs.

As a first step in identifying a national strategy for sustainable development in Ghana, it is essential to determine the extent to which various development administration processes meet conditions for sustainability and strategic orientation.  This requires determining the parameters that make a planning process achieve sustainable development.

Consensus is only now emerging on the parameters of strategic frameworks for sustainable national development.  The draft OECD/DAC Policy guidance for country-level strategies for sustainable development recognizes the following elements as necessary for a strategy process to achieve sustainable development:

(a)                Goals and Principles: A coherent vision, commitment, policies and strategies to integrate economic, social and environmental objectives

(b)               Mechanisms:  The following set of mechanisms are required to implement the process of strategy development:

·        Intelligence gathering

·        Research and analysis

·        Strategic environmental, economic and social assessment

·        Participation

·        Communication

·        Experimentation and innovation

·        Planning and decision-making

·        Finance

·        Monitoring and accountability

Assessed against the above parameters, there are several areas of weaknesses of the Ghana Vision 2020.  These include the following:

• There is no overall and integrative model that integrates macroeconomic, sectoral, spatial/physical, and, financial aspects of planning.
• It does not specify and agree on trade-offs in integrating the various pillars of the framework, such as environment, social and economic issues.
• There was no scenario analysis to form the basis for strategy formulation and there has been no analysis of external linkages.  Hence, the exercise is less than strategic.
• The framework does not provide ways of dealing with constant change on the path to achieving the goals of the vision.
• Long-term policy objective priorities are not necessarily reflected in public resource allocation and incentive structures.

Despite these defects, compared with the CDF, CCA, and the RNRS, the Vision 2020 meets most of the criteria above.  The Vision framework:

·        is most comprehensive development programming exercise;

·        is a more of a strategic mechanism than most of the other;

·        defines the programmatic strategies required to achieve long-term goals;

·        takes the long-term view;

·        has provisions for strategic steps to achieve the vision (First Step, Second Step, etc);

·        has provisions for periodic review;

·        covers all the sectors needed to make a vision sustainable (economic, social, NRM, governance, gender, etc);

·        utilizes a participatory process of preparation.

In effect, the Vision 2020 is akin to an umbrella process that provides a broad vision of long term development goals, the big picture within which complementary strategies (such as GPRS and RNRS) can be identified as tools towards achieving the broad picture of the Vision, and the overall setting for the evolution of the institutional framework within which sector strategies and programmes are developed and integrated.  It provides a guide for the way forward and to the various strategic approaches required to reach overall national development goals.

The discussion will center on the key actors and processes for formulating and implementing four key strategy programmes to exemplify the process of developing nssd in Ghana.  These are: (a) Ghana Vision 2020, (b) the CDF, (c) the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, (d) the Renewable Natural Resource Strategy.

4.1       Formulating Vision 2020: methodology, process and participation

Table 1 shows the process followed to prepare the Medium-Term Development Plan (1996-2000).  Steps 1-7 were concerned with the preparation of the NDPF.  As already explained, the NDPF was designed to provide a long-term perspective to the preparation of the plan.  Thus, although it was not the intention of the NDPC to prepare a vision document, the long-term orientation of the NDPF enabled the Government to refer to it as Vision 2020.  Following this decision, the Government directed the NDPC to initiate the process of preparing the medium-term plan that would constitute the first step in the implementation of Vision 2020.

Table 1:   Strategy Formulation Process – Vision 2020 & Medium-Term Development Plan (1996-2000)

The methodology for preparing Vision 2020 is similar to the approach used in preparing conventional medium term plans.  The NDPC established cross-sectoral planning groups to identify development constraints, and to coordinate ideas and proposals from Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).  These were then harmonized and published.  The main participants in the preparation process were the NDPC and the MDAs.

Table 1 shows that the NDPC initiated the process of setting the development goals for the NDPF.  The Commission proposed a set of goals and objectives and then sought the comments on the goals from MDAs and District Assemblies.  This general pattern whereby the NDPC took the initiative to prepare a draft and then submitted it to comments by other stakeholders was a general feature of the participatory process that was adopted to formulate the NDPF.  It should however be noted that the formulation of the NDPF was mainly dominated by central government agencies, including the NDPC itself and MDAs.

The preparation of the First Medium-Term Development Plan involved wide participation by various stakeholders.  After the Five-Year Policy Framework (The First Step) was approved by Parliament in 1995 the preparation of the Medium-Term Plan commenced with the NDPC distributing Guidelines for the preparation of sector and district medium-term plans.  These guidelines were sent to all sector Ministries, Departments/Agencies and all District Assemblies and Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs).

The Perspective National Medium-Term Plan was completed at the beginning of 1997.  This required the coordination and harmonization of three sets of plans:

·        5-Year district development plans by all 110 District/Municipal/Metropolitan Assemblies;

·        Sector plans by all sector Ministries, Departments and agencies;

·        10 Regionally harmonized plans out of the district plans;

In addition to the planning agencies of the District Assemblies, RCCs, MDAs and NDPC, the synthesis of the plan involved academic and research institutions, TUC, workers and farmers associations, the business community and civil society organizations including NGOs and CBOs.  Many of these institutions and stakeholders were grouped in six Cross Sectoral Planning Groups.  The Plan also benefited from critical comments from distinguished Ghanaians and professionals working in Ghana and overseas, international donor community and from members of the Governing Body of NDPC.

4.2       The Comprehensive Development Framework (CDF) process in Ghana

The original framework for coordinating development assistance by all development partners and for reviewing government’s development agenda was the Consultative Group (CG) meeting mechanism.  This review, programming and monitoring activity grew from the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) and provided the stage for the government to present its programmes, report achievements and problems, and, seek development assistance from the multi-donor forum.  The forum was held outside Ghana.

As part of the transition from the ERP era, the regular CG process was replaced by a biennal Country Programme Review meetings held in Ghana (at Akuse) that focused only on World Bank-supported programmes.  Other donors who co-financed these Bank-supported projects were excluded from participating in these meetings.

To coordinate donor activities more effectively through frequent and more regular interaction between the government and all its development partners, to share information and resolve development policy and programme design and implementation issues in an integrated manner, the Akuse meetings were replaced during the first quarter of 1999 with the Mini-CG process.  This quarterly meeting of government and all development partners broadened the scope of consultation and shortened the time interval for those meetings from two years to three months.  The government chairs the Mini-CG.

The Mini-CG process laid the basis for the preparation of Ghana’s CDF through the setting up of a network of Sectoral Coordinating Groups (SCGs) to act as fopcal poins for the development of the comprehensive framework.  The SCGs comprised the sector MDA as lead national agency and development partners as focal support.  The concept of focal support replaced that of ‘lead donor’ under the previous donor coordination mechanism.  The list of fourteen SCGs is presented in Annex D.

The SCGs prepared Issues Papers on their respective sectors covering: (a) situation analysis, problems and challenges, (b) development strategy and programmes being utilized to address issues by various stakeholders, (c) key indicators for monitoring progress.  These papers formed the basis for the preparation of Ghana’s CDF by a joint government-donor team, albeit with major input from the World Bank.

The objectives of the CDF are :

§         A more coherent set of inter-related sector polices

§         A rapid move by donors away from the financing of individual projects towards the financial of programmes

§         A reduction in the "bureaucracy of development", and the huge burden on Government of administering different donor systems.

§         A much greater degree of ownership and management of the development programme by Ghana, and a genuine partnership with donors, civil society and the private sector.

§         A pattern of financing that is more comprehensive, covering gaps that exist now and reducing competition between donors in other areas.

The CDF formed the basis for Ghana’s request for assistance and donors’ commitments at the 10^th multi-donor CG and the first to be held in Accra in December 1999.  The CDF is considered to be a first draft that will continue to be refined and updated as ‘a living document’.

4.3       The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS)

            A.        Process

The government has been concerned about the poverty impacts of its economic programmes of the 1980 and made initial attempts to address these concerns through the mechanism of the Programme of Actions to Mitigate the Social Costs of Adjustment (PAMSCAD) initiated in the late 1980s.  To provide an empirical base for assessing impacts on living standards, the Ghana Living standards Survey (GLSS) was initiated in 1987.  By 1995, information from three rounds of the GLSS and