POVERTY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

IN GHANA

BY

ALBERT KPOOR
 LECTURE ONE: THE CONCEPTS OF POVERTY AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

This session gives a general overview of poverty and rural development as a discipline. It begins

by explaining the four conceptualizations of poverty, and gives a general definition of poverty.

Additionally, it explains development as a concept and discusses characteristics that are

considered as rural. The session concludes by offering a definition of rural development.

Poverty

Poverty as a concept is not easy to define as it can be defined in many different ways. Generally,

poverty can be conceptualized in four different ways: narrow versus broad conceptions of

poverty; absolute and relative poverty; objective and subjective poverty; and individual/agency

related and structural related poverty (Hulme, 2014).

Narrow Versus Broad Conception of Poverty

The narrow view of poverty can be easily measured and understood while the broader view

focuses on the multifaceted nature of poverty and the conditions that cause, perpetuate, or lessen

poverty. The narrow view of poverty deals with the income-based or consumption-based

definitions of poverty. Income-based definitions of poverty use the income of an individual or

household over a period of time as the key indicator of their well-being during that period.

Income as an indicator of poverty is important as it determines what an individual or household

can consume at any moment. Income provides the means by which an individual or household
can access food, clothing and shelter. Furthermore, income allows a household to pay the school

fees of its members, as well as buy medicines or pay the hospital bills of its members when they

are ill. Thus, income is a very important indicator of poverty. It is for this reason that

internationally, poor people or people living in poverty are defined as those who live on less than

US$ 1.90 per day (in purchasing power parity or PPP terms) (World Bank, 2015) or consume

less than 2,300 calories per day per adult. Ghana also uses the income-based definition of

poverty to assess poverty in the country. Ghana uses two poverty lines; an upper one below

which an individual is considered to be unable to meet all their food and non-food needs, and a

lower poverty line below which an individual is considered unable to even meet their food needs.

The upper poverty line is set at 1,314 GHS per adult per year for 2013, and households below it

are considered as living in poverty. The lower poverty line is set at 792 GHS per adult per year,

and households below it are considered as living in extreme poverty (Cooke, Hague, and McKay,

2016).

The broad approach or multidimensional notion of poverty on the contrary, views poverty as a

set of material and non-material deprivations. Poverty is viewed in terms people’s ability and

freedom to be who they want to be and do what they want to do (Sen, 2001) such as live a long

and healthy life, be a respected member of a community, raise a family, or achieve satisfaction in

sports or cultural activities. Thus, from this approach, people experience poverty when they are

deprived of basic capabilities such as the ability to evade starvation, become educated, appear in

public without shame, or participate in social activities. The multidimensional perspective thus

measures poverty using the Human Development Index (HDI) which combines the three
indicators of human capabilities, that is, life expectancy, educational attainment, and average

income (Hulme, 2014).

Some scholars argue that the narrow approach is simplified and can be applied across countries,

and as such, allow the global comparisons of the poverty situation of households, regions, and

countries while other scholars assert that the broad approach constructs a comprehensive

depiction of households’ day to day living conditions that includes their capabilities (education,

skills and health), social networks, access to services, and their financial circumstances (May et

al., 2009). It is important to note however that both perspectives reveal deprivations in human

conditions.

Absolute and Relative poverty

The absolute poverty perspective explains that poverty occurs when people cannot satisfy their

minimum basic physical needs because of lack of income. This method like the narrow approach

is also simple and measurable and centers on important human needs such as access to food. For

instance, when people do not have enough food to eat, it will negatively affect their health which

would in turn lead to their demise or death. The absolute perspective measures the incidence,

depth, and severity of poverty.

Relative poverty as a perspective explains that human beings are social actors, and thus poverty

must be defined relative to others in a society. It emphasizes the view that human beings in

different settings have particular needs and therefore assessing their well-being must be based on
the basic things that allow them to function in their society. For instance, a person who lives in

the temperate region of the world necessarily needs warm clothing while an individual who

resides in a tropical region of the world does not need warm clothing but rather light clothing to

live in his/her society. Thus, according to this perspective, poverty must be defined in relative

terms. Furthermore, relational poverty does not capture just income inequality but also unequal

power relations between different groups in a society.

Objective and Subjective Poverty

The objective approach explains and measures poverty in terms of a tangible criterion such as the

monetary value of what an individual or household consumes in a day (dollar-a-day). From this

perspective, who is poor and non-poor is based on a consumption threshold determined by policy

makers or researchers. Such definitions and measures are rigorously conceptualized and

specified, permitting comparisons to be made over time and space. However, this perspective has

been criticized on the grounds that the poverty threshold is determined by policy makers or

researchers and therefore it involves implicit and explicit value judgements and thus its

objectivity is questionable. Indeed, the narrow view of poverty discussed above, which deals

with the income-based or consumption-based definitions of poverty can be said to also be an

objective view of poverty.

The subjective view of poverty argues that poverty is defined by people in terms of their own

and other peoples’ living conditions and experiences in their community or society. This view of

poverty is subjective, as people, not the external analyst or policy maker or outsider, determine
what constitutes poverty and the minimum levels of goods, services, or well-being. The

advantage of this perspective is that people who experience poverty are the ones who determine

how poverty is defined and measured. It recognizes the right of poor people and communities to

create and disseminate social knowledge, which also helps to empower them. The short-coming

with this approach is that people living in different communities and societies may use different

criteria for defining poverty which may change over time, and as a consequence make subjective

comparisons of poverty complex and difficult.

Individual/Agency and Structural Poverty

The individualistic perspective of poverty focuses on individuals (persons) who exhibit traits that

make them poor. According to this view, negative personal characteristics that make individuals

or a group of people poor include laziness, lassitude, work-shirking, drunkenness,

promiscuousness, or immorality, among others. These defective traits make these individuals

poor and therefore they choose to be poor and do not need social assistance. On the other hand,

there are also individuals who have certain personal features beyond their control that make them

poor such as disabled persons, accident victims, the elderly, the infirm, and orphans. These

individuals due to their plight ought to receive social support.

The structuralist view of poverty argues that various types of inequality in society create poverty.

This perspective focuses on collectivities such as classes, races, genders, and ethnic groups and

how social, economic, and political relations of inequality lead to the poverty of particular

entities. Thus, the structuralist perspective demonstrates how more powerful groups in society
are able to impose their preferences on less powerful groups through the exercise of economic,

social, and political power. From the structuralist perspective, the unequal access to resources –

land, labour, skills, education, health, income, loans, and social networks among others – through

societal norms and institutions create poverty. For structuralists, poverty is not the consequence

of indolence, lassitude, immorality, or character deficiencies. Rather, it is uneven social relations

that allow the poor to be economically exploited, socially subordinated, and politically

marginalized.

The various perspectives of poverty – narrow, broad, absolute, relative, objective, subjective,

individual, and structural – discussed above connote human disadvantages and deprivations.

Thus, Hulme, Moore and Shepard (2001) define poverty as deprivations related to income,

health, education, isolation, ‘voice’ and security. Also, according to the United Nations Human

Development Report of 1998, poverty is a complex phenomenon that generally refers to

inadequacy of resources and deprivation of choices that would enable people to enjoy decent

living conditions (UNDP, 1998).

Conceptualizing Rural Development

The term development is often used interchangeable with the term growth however; the two

concepts are different (Green and Zinder, 2013). Growth typically refers to increased levels of

population, employment, income or gross domestic product (GDP). The problem with viewing

development as growth is that it tends to explain development in terms of improvement in

material well-being and thus tapers towards a largely economic interpretation of development.
As a consequence of this short-coming (Sen, 1999) argues that development should be broadened

to include the freedoms that people enjoy. He identified five different types of freedom that

should encompass any definition of development. These freedoms are: political freedoms;

economic facilities; social opportunities; transparency guarantees; and protective security.

Political freedoms are basically civil liberties. Economic facilities refer to resources that

households utilize to produce, consume or exchange goods in the marketplace. Social

opportunities are the societal norms and actions that facilitate enhancement in quality of life,

such as education and health care. Transparency guarantees refers to the level of trust that exists

among individuals in their households and communities as well as between individuals and their

government. Lastly, protective security encompasses institutional arrangements that create a

social safety net to ensure that people do not experience severe and extreme poverty that could

lead to hunger and death (Sen 1999). Green and Zinder (2013:5) thus define development as

involving “institutional change that enables individuals to improve their quality of life”.

Defining “Rural”

While most people have a general idea of the concept “rural” it is difficult to give its precise

definition (Nelson, 1955). Rural areas exhibit particular features that set them apart from urban

centres and as such rural areas are broadly defined basically as areas that exhibit comparatively a

homogeneous population as well as low population density compared to urban areas, areas where

agriculture and related activities usually characterize the landscape and economy, and places

where transport and communications usually cover relatively large distances making travel and

service provision relatively difficult and expensive.

The features of rural areas such as low population densities make it costly for governments to

provide schools and health care facilities and programmes. The challenge of poor transport and

communications also make it costly for rural populations to market their commodities. These

challenges negatively affect the livelihoods of rural populations. Indeed, it is as a result of these

problems that rural areas of the world are found to be poorer as compared to urban areas. In the

vast majority of developing and transitional countries, rural poverty (whether measured by

income/consumption data or other indicators) has been and remains at higher levels than in urban

areas. According to the International Fund for Agricultural Development’s (IFAD) 2011 Rural

Poverty Report, of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty (defined as those living on

less than US$1.25/day) in 2005 worldwide, approximately 1 billion – around 70 per cent – lived

in rural areas (IFAD, 2010). The report further notes that in sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, over

three-quarters (75%) of the poor live in rural areas.

Rural development emerged as a distinct focus of policy and research in the 1960s and gained

full impetus in the 1970s, due to the low quality of life experienced by rural communities

compared to urban ones (Green and Zinder, 2013). This disparity between rural and urban areas

still dominates rural development theory, policy, and practice. Thus, various scholars’ definition

of rural development focuses on processes and actions that will improve the quality of life of

rural populations. Ekong (2003) defines rural development as a process by which a set of

technical, social, cultural and institutional measures are implemented with and for the inhabitants

of rural areas with the aim of improving their socio-economic conditions, to achieve harmony

and balance at the state, national and the regional levels. Chambers (1993) defines rural

development as a strategy to enable a specific group of people, poor rural women and men, to
gain for themselves and their children more of what they want and need. It involves helping the

poorest among those who seek a livelihood in the rural areas to demand and control more of the

benefits of rural development. The group includes small scale farmers, tenants, and the landless.

IFAD (2010: 23) also defines rural development as “the process of improving the opportunities

and well-being of rural people. It is a process of change in the characteristics of rural societies. In

addition to agricultural development, it involves human development and social and environment

objectives, as opposed to just economic ones. Therefore, rural development encompasses health,

education and other social services.”

From the above definitions, rural development is a multi-dimensional or multi-sectoral or holistic

approach to improve the quality of life of rural populations. As such, it focuses on issues such as

the rural economy (agriculture and non-farm activities), rural infrastructure, rural finance, rural

health and education, rural natural resources (land, water, minerals, etc.)

References

Chambers, R. (1993). Challenging the professions: Frontiers for rural development. London:

Intermediate Technology Publications.

Ekong, E. (2003). Poverty and rural development in Nigeria: An introduction to rural sociology.

Uyo. Nigeria: Dove Educational Publishers 2003, pp340-371.

Hulme, D. (2014). Poverty in Development Thought: Symptom or Cause.Ch. 5 in: Currie-Alder,

B., Kanbur, R., Malone, D. M., & Medhora, R. (Eds.). (2014). International development: Ideas,

experience, and prospects. Oxford University Press.

Hulme, D., Moore, K., and Shepherd, A. (2001). Chronic poverty: Meanings and analytical

frameworks. CPCR Working Paper No. 2. Manchester and Birmingham, Chronic Poverty

Research Centre. (CPRC website http://www.chronicpoverty.org)

Cooke, E., Hague, S. and McKay, A. (2016). The Ghana poverty and inequality report: Using

the 6th Ghana living standards survey. Accra: UNICEF.

IFAD. (2010). Rural poverty report 2011: New realities, new challenges, new opportunities for

tomorrow’s generation. Rome: Quintily.

UNDP. (1998). Human Development Report 1998. New York. Oxford University.
 LECTURE TWO: THEORIES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT – PART ONE

Introduction

Rural areas are not as developed as urban areas in most parts of the world and have peculiar

challenges. There is therefore the need to understand why rural areas experience development

challenges and what ought to be done in order to address their challenges to engender

development. Theories help to explain phenomena in the world and as such theories explain

living conditions in rural areas. This session thus examines theory as a concept, and three

development theories – modernization theory, dependency theory, and neoliberalism - that shed

light on how rural areas can be developed. The session also examines the short-comings of these

theories.

Theory as a Concept

A theory is a systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life

(Babbie, 2008). In other words, theories are statements of how and why particular facts about the

social world are related. Thus, theories of rural development concern systematic explanations

based on observations in terms of the processes by which the well-being of rural populations can

be achieved.

Modernization Theory

Sociologists and political scientists from America in the 1960s developed the concept of

modernization. Modernization theory explains that there is one path of development that all

societies would traverse and that the advanced countries have reached the highest point of
development and developing countries have just began theirs. It further explains that countries in

Africa, Asia and Latin America are traditional. For instance, the value systems of traditionally

oriented people are based on the past and so lacked the cultural ability to look to the future and

adjust to new expectations and circumstances. They were dominated by life chances,

circumstances and the environment. Furthermore, kinship is the primary means through which

the activities and relationships of political, social, and economic revolve. Status is thus often

ascribed and not achieved. Also, members of traditional society have emotional, superstitious

and fatalistic approach to life: what will be, will be; devils and witches are at work; we have to

pray; God is in control; etc. etc. These views make traditional people resign themselves to fate

and do not envisage a world where an individual can work hard to overcome most of the worldly

challenges and problems of human conditions. Modernization theorists therefore argue that

developing societies have to undergo an all-embracing social change similar to the type of

change that occurred in Western societies (Inkeles and Smith, 1974; Parsons, 1971). Third

World polities, economies, value systems and personalities would undergo modernization similar

to those of modern societies (Smelser, 1964). Modernization is therefore an Europeanization or

Americanization process that brings about unmatched economic prosperity and democratic

stability (Tipps, 1976).

Modernization theory made several key propositions about rural development (Green and Zinder,

2013). First, it assumed that development follows a linear path and is basically progressive. In

other words, there is a single path of development that rural regions must follow in order to

achieve development. Also, the theory assumed that as rural areas developed they would

resemble urban areas in terms of attitudes, values and behaviour.

Second, the theory considered development to be gradual and facilitated by internal, rather than

external, factors. According to the theory, external organizations and institutions have a minimal

role in inducing development. This view is contrary to the views of scholars of rural

development who emphasize the role of improved technology and communication as a critical

element of modernization in rural areas (Rogers, 1995).

Lastly, modernization theory argues that as rural regions develop, social stratification would lose

its importance which would in turn ensure that opportunities for social and economic mobility

will improve for rural dwellers. Furthermore, the resultant socio-economic alterations in rural

societies will bring about increased democracy and civil rights.

Rural development practitioners applied the tenets of modernization theory in rural development

in the 1950s to 1960s where ‘modern’ agriculture (emphasizing small-farm growth) is seen to be

the precursor of growth and development (Ellis and Briggs, 2001). Furthermore, during the

1950s-1960s, donors invested in agricultural research and its related services in the Third World

in order to increase the production of staple crops. These efforts resulted in the ‘Green

Revolution,’ which was highly successful in Asia, although it largely benefitted richer farmers

and favourable environments (Carney, 1999). Development policy has been, and remains,

heavily influenced by this approach.

Short-comings of modernization theory

 Modernization theory came under heavy criticism at the end of the 60s. The following are

the criticisms of the theory:

 Development is not necessarily unidirectional

 Modernization theory focused on one type of development – Western development –

which is ethnocentric

 Third World countries do not have a homogeneous set of traditional values; their value

systems are highly heterogeneous.

 Traditional and modern values are not always separate and can co-exist in a society. For

example, China and Japan despite advances in economic development continues to

operate on traditional values.

Dependency Theory

The foundations of the theory of dependency emerged in the 1950s from the research of the

Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). ECLAC’s proposals

formed the basis of dependency theory at the beginning of the 1950s. The key authors of

dependency theory include Andre Gunder Frank, Raul Prebisch, Theotonio Dos Santos, Enrique

Cardozo, Edelberto Torres-Rivas, and Samir Amin (Prebisch, 1950). Dependency theorists

heavily criticized modernization theory on the basis that it did not take into consideration the

external structural constraints to development due to the nature of the relationship between

developed and developing countries. According to dependency scholars, underdevelopment in

the Third World is the result of an international system of political and economic structures

which favoured particularly capitalist Western countries or regions (the core) against others (the
periphery). Dependency scholars propose key arguments to explain the underdevelopment of the

Third World. First, they argue that the development of the core nations derive from within these

nations or are self contained, whereas the development of Third World nations are based on and

derive from outside (international capitalist system) which subordinates these countries to the

core. Second, the peripheral countries achieve maximum economic development when their links

to the core are weakest. For instance, Frank (1967) asserts that industrialization developed in

Latin America during the 1930s, when the core nations focused on their internal economic

challenges during the Great Depression, and also when the Western powers were engaged in the

Second World War. Third, Frank (1967) further argues that when the core after dealing with its

internal and external crises reestablished trade and investments links with peripheral nations, it

fully incorporated the peripheral nations once again into the system and industrialization stalled

in these regions. Frank further argues that the core nations’ establishment of trade links with the

periphery countries negatively affects the balance of payments, inflation and political stability of

the latter. Finally, the theory demonstrates that regions that are highly underdeveloped and still

operate traditional feudal or agrarian systems are those that in the past had the closest ties to core

(Frank, 1967).

In relation to rural development, dependency theorists argue that rural areas are underdeveloped

because urban areas have developed at the expense of rural areas (Green and Zinder, 2013).

Rural areas are usually the source of resource extraction and low-cost labor for the larger society.

Furthermore, fewer rural dwellers own key businesses and institutions that often limit the

potential for development in these areas. Dependency theorists believe that rural areas must

reduce their dependency on external organizations and institutions in order to develop.

Development in rural communities will occur when they break their dependency relationships

with urban institutions and organizations (Green and Zinder, 2013).

Short-comings

The criticisms leveled against the dependency school are:

 The dependency paradigm does not provide comprehensive empirical evidence to support

its conclusions.

 The theory uses highly abstract levels of analysis

 The dependency perspective views ties with transnational businesses and institutions as

being harmful to countries, when in fact these links can be used as a means of

transference of technology.

The key challenge of dependency theory is that unlike modernization theory, it was not

completely incorporated into practical policy recommendations that could be followed by

governments and international agencies and during the 1980s and 1990s academic interest in it

waned.

Neo-liberalism

Neo-liberalism argued that the free market rather than government intervention will engender

development. This position fundamentally altered the idea of state-led intervention, and was

greatly influential in policy-making during the 1980s and 1990s. One of the justifications for

charting this view of development was informed by the fact that state institutions in developing

countries were corrupt and therefore not able to implement the development agenda of these
countries. However, it was also to a large extent ideologically inspired by unified global

capitalism that pushed for pro-market and small-government philosophy.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank played a major role in promoting

neo-liberal policies in Third World countries as a consequence of the 1980s debt crisis in which

many developing countries could not pay their international debts and found it difficult to

finance key imports. The IMF and World Bank offered to provide finance which was based on

the condition that these struggling countries would implement broad economic reforms referred

to as Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). These reforms encompassed market

liberalization, privatization, and reduced government spending and reductions in public sector

services, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and removal of legal obstacles to private sector

activity among others. These reforms were viewed as a requirement to restore the confidence of

international lenders and put these financially struggling nations back on the path of sustainable

economic growth. Neo-liberalism pursued by the IMF and World Bank through SAP has come to

be viewed as the “the Washington Consensus.”

In relation to rural areas, neo-liberal rural development approach focused on market

liberalisation–reform of the agricultural sector. The idea was oriented towards efficiency of

enterprises, liberalisation and privatization in the agricultural sector of rural economies. The key

feature of the neo-liberal approach is that it enhanced the empowerment of rural dwellers to have

control over their priorities in order to bring about change (Sizali, 2012). Also, it recognized

indigenous technical knowledge and pursued an actor-oriented view of developing rural policies,

which included the participation of rural actors.

Short-comings

In spite of these positive developments, the private sector’s involvement in the supply of

agricultural inputs, marketing, and farmer organization failed in rural areas (Wiggins, 2006).

In Sub-Saharan Africa because of government expenditure cuts, public support for infrastructure,

education, social services, as well as for research and extension, suffered and rural areas, with

their high proportion of poor people, were particularly hard hit (Heidhues et al., 2004).

Structural adjustment and liberalisation programmes were supposed to simultaneously reduce

government expenditure and fiscal deficits, maximize government efficiency, promote more

efficient private companies, and improve the supply of capital (by opening up financial markets).

However, growth rates did not increase as expected and indeed declined in some cases. In many

parts of the developing world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, the outcome of market

liberalisation was a failure. It has been argues that neo-liberal policies did not succeed in Africa

because the implementation of the policies was poor - only stop-and-go and halfhearted in most

countries - and there has been a lack of ownership and political will to implement these policies,

despite the financial support and conditions connected to that support by their promoters, mainly

the WB and the IMF (Heidhues & Obare, 2011). It is also argued, that market liberalisation

failed to meet its objectives because governments intervened and continue to do so in some

important markets (agricultural input and staple food markets) which induce risks for private

investors and discourage private investment in these markets.

There is now increasing acknowledgement by economists that the state may have withdrawn too

far and that, without complementary state interventions, free markets are unlikely to lead to
economic growth and development. Indeed, the remarkable growth of China and other emerging

economies demonstrate both the power of markets in stimulating growth, as well as the role of

the state in guiding growth in many of these countries.

References

Babbie, E. (2008). The basics of social research (4th Edition). Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.

Frank, G. (1967). Capitalism and underdevelopment in Latin America. New York: Monthly

Review Press.

Heidhues, F. & Obare, G. (2011). Lessons from Structural Adjustment Programmes and their

effects in Africa. Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture 50 (1): 55-64.

Heidhues, F., Atsain, A., Nyangito, H., Padilla, M., Ghersi, G., & Le Vallée. J.C. (2004).

Development strategies and food and nutrition security in Africa: An assessment. 2020

Discussion Paper No. 38. Washington, D.C: IFPRI.

Inkeles, A. & Smith, D. (1974). Becoming modern: Individual change in six developing

countries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Parsons, Talcott. (1971). The system of modern societies. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Prebisch, R. (1950). The economic development of Latin America and its principal problems.

New York: United Nations.

Smelser, N. (1964). Toward a theory of modernization. New York: Basic Books, pp. 268-274.

Tipps, D. (1976). Modenization theory and the comparative study of societies: A critical

perspective. New York: Free Press.

 LECTURE THREE: THEORIES OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT – PART TWO

Introduction

This session is a continuation of session two. Two development theories are examined –

globalization and the livelihoods approach. Globalization’s positive and negative impact on rural

livelihoods and development is examined while the livelihoods approach’ focus on assets or

capitals of rural dwellers to engender development are looked at as well as its strengths and

weaknesses.

Globalization and Development

According to Nayyar (2004), globalization is used in a positive sense to describe a process of

increasing integration into the world economy and also used in a normative sense to prescribe a

strategy of development based on rapid integration into the world economy. He notes however,

that that it can be precisely defined as “a process associated with increasing economic openness,

growing economic interdependence and deepening economic integration into the world

economy”. According to Nayyar, economic openness is not just about trade, investment and

financial flows but also it includes flows of services, technology, information and ideas across

national boundaries. Interdepedence in this usage implies a situation where the benefits of

linking and the costs of delinking are about the same for both partners however, where such

benefits and costs are unequal between partners, it implies a situation of dependence. Economic

integration is, in part, an integration of markets (for goods, services, technology, financial assets
and even money) on the demand side, and, in part, an integration of production (horizontal and

vertical) on the supply side.

Globalization has engendered key changes in the world economy. Since the 1970s, globalization

has expanded world trade, intra-firm trade, world exports, international investment flows, foreign

direct investments (FDIs), international finance and banking, and global foreign exchange

transactions.

Globalization has been triggered by trade liberalization since the 1950s, improvement in

transportation and communications technology. For instance, computer technology a component

of ICT has created information technology, which is remarkable in both reach and speed. These

technological developments have pushed aside geographical barriers.

The development experience of the world economy from the early 1970s till date, which could

be termed the “age of globalization”, provides cause for concern because economic inequalities

have increased as the income gap between rich and poor countries, between rich and poor people

within countries, as also between the rich and the poor in the world’s population, has widened.

The incidence of poverty increased in most countries of Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

during the 1980s and in much of Eastern Europe during the 1990s. Furthermore, inequality in

wages and incomes has increased almost everywhere in the world. It would seem that, in some

important respects, the world economy fared better in the “golden age of capitalism” than it has

in the age of globalization. Global competition has driven large international firms to consolidate

market power through mergers and acquisitions, which has made market structures more
oligopolistic than competitive. The competition between countries for export markets and foreign

investment has intensified, in what is termed “a race to the bottom”, leading to an unequal

distribution of gains from trade and investment. Thus, globalization has created opportunities for

some people and some countries but it has also introduced new risks, if not threats, for many

others. It has been associated with a deepening of poverty and an accentuation of inequalities.

The distribution of benefits and costs is unequal. There are some winners – more in the

industrialized world than in the developing world.

In relation to rural development, globalization was expected to still benefit smallholder farmers

through the increased demands for food which may be stimulated by economic expansion

elsewhere in the domestic economy, and the resulting increased employment and other

opportunities outside farming. Indeed, it has demonstrated the most potent means of reducing

insecurity of food and livelihoods in East Asia (Killick, 2001). It has also been advantageous for

some rural farmers engaged in commercial farming and export crop production areas. However,

according to Killick (2001), it has been disadvantageous for small holder farmers or subsistence

farmers in many ways. First, greater specialisation and increased competition associated with

globalisation does not sit well with the facts of smallholder agriculture as small-scale farmers are

ill-placed to withstand intensified competition. Many of them particularly in Africa and southern

Asia – lack access to the technologies and market information that would enable them to comply

with the stringent quality specifications which increasingly apply in agricultural trade, or to

respond to subtle shifts in external demand. Secondly, they usually lack the knowledge and

modern skills necessary to take advantage of emerging possibilities. Third, they rarely have

access to the credit and other financial services necessary to compete in the modern world.
Fourth, the poor quality of the rural transport infrastructure creates high transport costs in rural

Africa which reduce the tradability of much agricultural output, effectively turning parts of the

rural economy into systems that are only ‘semi-open’, even though they might otherwise be

expected to gain heavily through participation in trade high transport and input costs reduce their

ability to compete. Fifth, lack of access to market information – access to knowledge about

market conditions and opportunities leads to large price differences for identical products within

quite confined localities particularly in Africa. Sixth, a high proportion of the rural small-holder

farmers live in less favoured agroecological areas which are remote and thus in effect raises

transaction costs, reduces farm-gate prices and returns to labour and capital, and weakens

incentives to participate in the global or monetized economy. Lastly, many rural women are

hampered from benefiting from the changes arising from globalization because they have less

access than men to education and training, less time to devote to productive activities, and less

command over important resources such as land, credit and capital. Furthermore, in some

developing countries the sexual division of labour precludes women from income derived from

cash crops. Also, women have less incentive, with regard to control over income, to respond to

economic signals.

The Sustainable Livelihoods Approach

In the late 1990’s there was a major paradigm shift which changed from top-down to a bottom-

up approach. The instrument behind the bottom-up approach separates itself from the

conventional economic theories of growth and agricultural intensification for growth. The

practice of rural development is constantly improving based on past evaluations and lessons from

rural projects and programmes, and there is an increasing focus on the poor in rural areas.
The livelihoods approach unlike earlier traditional rural development approaches that focused on

particular sectors starts by understanding the portfolio of livelihood strategies of individuals,

households or villages. Robert Chambers a key proponent of the sustainable livelihood approach

argued that the way development professionals conceptualise development and poverty is very

different from how poor people themselves view it (Chambers, 1995). Chambers developed the

idea of “sustainability and livelihoods” with the intention of enhancing the efficiency of

development cooperation. His concepts constitute the basics for the SL approach, as it was

developed by the British Department for International Development (DfID). Starting from 1997,

DfID integrated the SL approach in its program for development. According to Chambers and

Conway (1992:5), “a livelihood comprises the capabilities, assets, (stores, resources, claims and

access) and activities required for a means of living: a livelihood is sustainable which can cope

with and recover from stress and shocks, maintain or enhance its capabilities and assets, and

provide sustainable livelihood opportunities for the next generation; and which contributes net

benefits to other livelihoods at the local and global levels and in the short and long term”. The

livelihoods approach has become increasingly popular in development thinking as a way of

conceptualizing the economic activities of the poor. Scoones (1998) states that the concept of

‘sustainable rural livelihoods’ is becoming increasingly central to the debate about rural

development, poverty reduction, and environmental management.

The sustainable livelihood framework further explains that a combination of factors determine

the livelihood strategies of households. These factors according to the framework are the

livelihood resources of households and institutional and organizational structures. The livelihood
resources of a household constitute natural capital, economic and financial capital, human

capital, social capital, and physical capital. Natural capital includes land, water, and air among

others. The economic and financial capital constitutes cash, savings, debt, remittances, supplies

of credit, and pensions. The human capital includes skills, knowledge, ability to work, and good

health of household members. The social capital of a household constitutes networks, affiliations

to associations and relationships of trust, while the physical capital of a household is made up of

household assets ownership, transport, shelter, water supply, energy, communication among

others. The framework indicates that individuals or households particularly in rural areas utilize

these capitals to assuage poverty.

The increasing popularity amongst development actors for the use of livelihoods approaches can

be explained by the strengths and objectives of the approach:

 The SL approach is more dynamic and holistic – it covers a broad range of strategies and

places emphasis on both the social and economic aspects of rural life.

 SL projects represent what is known about rural life and poverty and are therefore able to

better target interventions.

 It recognises the importance of multi-actors involved in the development process (from

the private sector to national ministries, community-based organisations to decentralized

governments) to form a wider range of partners.

 It is also known to place great emphasis on the importance of macro-level policy and

institutions to the livelihood options of the rural communities.

  It has a multi-faceted view of sustainability – the concept of sustainability goes beyond

tangible assets such as natural assets. Sustainability in this context refers to the reduced

vulnerability of rural communities to the overall sustainability of their livelihoods.

In spite of the strengths of the SL approach it has been found to have the following weaknesses:

 SL focuses on agricultural production, income diversification and infrastructure.

 The livelihoods approach may be unrealistic and impractical.

 The frame work is too complex.

 It thrives on the holistic approach and dynamism but overlooks the process from analysis

to action.

 Rural dynamics differ for each location therefore the approach has to be area-specific.

 How to identify the poor that you are trying to help and the way resources and other

livelihood opportunities are distributed locally is often influenced by informal structures

of social dominance and power within the communities themselves.

 Livelihood approaches may experience structural problems by trying to match the

development proposal of rural people (surpassing sectors) to the conditions and

objectives of the donor countries who usually lean towards certain sectors.

In spite of the weaknesses of the SL approach, it is a multi-disciplinary approach that focuses on

multiple entry points of support as well as the opportunities and constraints that individuals face

in their attempts to escape from poverty, thus it is an approach that differs markedly from the

traditional sector-targeted approach.

References

Carney, D. (1999). Approaches to Sustainable Livelihoods for the Rural Poor. Overseas

Development Institute (ODI) Poverty Briefing.

Chambers, R. (1995). Poverty and livelihoods: Whose reality counts? Environment and

Urbanization 7(1), 173-204.

Ellis, F. & Briggs, S (2001). Evolving Themes in Rural Development 1950s-2000s.

Development Policy Review, 2001: 437-448.

Killick, T. (2001). Globalization and the rural poor. Development Policy Review 19 (2): 155-180.

Nayyar, D. (2004). Globalization and Development. In Chang, H-J (Ed), Rethinking

Development Economics, pg. 61-83. London: Anthem Press.

Sazali, R.A.B. (2012). Rural Development and Sustainable Livelihoods: A New Perspective on

Rural-Based Food Processing in North Ghana. Korea Review of International studies 15(2), 3-

19.
 LECTURE FOUR: POVERTY INDICATORS AND THE DIMENSIONS OF RURAL

POVERTY

In lecture One/Two we examined the concept of poverty and concluded that poverty is about

deprivations of the human condition. We also discussed how poverty worldwide was a rural

phenomenon. In this lecture, we will examine the indicators and dimensions of rural poverty in

terms of how it manifests itself empirically using global, African, and Ghanaian data where

necessary. This lecture will also examine the causes of poverty as well as the strategies that can

be utilized to reduce poverty.

In lecture One/Two, we defined poverty as deprivations related to income, health, education,

isolation, ‘voice’ and security (Hulme, Moore and Shepard, 2001) and also as a complex

phenomenon that generally refers to inadequacy of resources and deprivation of choices that

would enable people to enjoy decent living conditions (UNDP, 1998). According to IFAD

(2010), despite the historic shift towards urbanization, poverty remains largely a rural problem,

and a majority of the world’s poor will live in rural areas for many decades to come.

The population of the developing world is still more rural than urban: some 3.1 billion people, or

55 per cent of the total population, live in rural areas (IFAD, 2010). It is thus imperative to

examine the living conditions of people who live in these areas. Rural poverty results from lack

of assets, limited economic opportunities and poor education and capabilities, as well as

disadvantages rooted in social and political inequalities. Based on the multi-dimensionality of

poverty, it has many indicators. These indicators are: Income, consumption, hunger, education,

housing quality, safe drinking water, sanitation, energy sources, and asset ownership.

Income and Consumption Poverty

Income poverty is defined as a situation where an individual fails to attain a minimum standard

of living and thereby fall below the poverty datum line or income poverty (Mtetwa, Dziro &

Takaza, 2013). Income is an important determinant of what an individual or household can

consume at any given time. Income provides the means to buy food and clothes, rent housing if

necessary, and get around. It allows the household to pay school fees for its children or buy

medicines (assuming the income is high enough). People with high incomes have money left

over to save and pursue leisure activities. The majority of the income poor globally are found in

rural areas. Alkire, Chatterjee, Conconi, Seth, and Vaz (2014) indicate that globally 71% of the

income poor live in rural areas. In Ghana for instance, urban households in the country have a

mean annual income of GH¢74,893.45, representing 69.2 percent of the total national income

while rural localities have GH¢33,406.63, representing 30.8 percent (GSS, 2014). This evidence

implies that the lack of income of rural dwellers would in turn limit their access to the basic

necessities of life such as access to food, clothing, shelter, medicines, among others.

Aside of income, consumption is also used to assess the standard of living of people and as such

the poor are classified as those who lack command over basic consumption needs, including food

and non-food components (GSS, 2014). Of the 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty

(defined as those living on less than US$1.25/day) in 2005, approximately 1 billion – around 70

per cent – lived in rural areas. In East Asia the rural share of total poverty has been reduced to
just over 50 per cent, and in Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Middle East and North

Africa, the most urbanized regions, a majority of the poor now live in urban areas. In South Asia,

South East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, by contrast, over three-quarters of the poor live in rural

areas, and the proportion is barely declining, despite urbanization. The evidence from Ghana also

indicates that in terms of consumption poverty the rural population comprised 50 percent of the

population of Ghana, yet it accounts for 78 percent of those in poverty (GSS, 2013b).

Hunger

Hunger is also another manifestation of poverty. It often stems from lack of income and drought.

Hunger is more endemic in rural areas. According to FAO, the numbers of undernourished

people have been on the increase since the mid-1990s. Following the food price and economic

crises, in 2009 the number of hungry people reached a billion for the first time in history. With

improved economic growth and a decline in food prices, the figure declined in 2010 to 925

million. South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa are the regions where hunger is most concentrated.

In South Asia, in particular, malnutrition has been remarkably stubborn.

Children are disproportionately among the malnourished, a fact that has severe consequences for

their future development and that of their households and societies. In all developing regions

children in rural areas are more likely to be hungry than children living in cities and towns. In

2008, the ratio was 1.4 underweight rural children for every 1 underweight urban child in South

Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; around 2.5:1 in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in the

Middle East; and in East Asia, where the ratio was most unbalanced, children in rural areas were

almost five times as likely to be underweight as children in urban areas.

Education

Education has been identified as the most important tool in providing people with the basic

knowledge, skills and the competencies to improve their quality of life at all levels of

development (GSS 2007). The deprivation status of households in terms of school attendance (no

household member in these households has completed primary education) reveals that the

deprivation is to a large extent a rural phenomenon (GSS, 2014). Furthermore, deprivation in

child school attendance also shows that household deprivation in child school attendance is

largely concentrated in rural areas, especially in the rural northern Ghana (GSS, 2014).

Health

The health status of people determines their quality of life, level of productivity and longevity,

and this is directly linked to the general state of development of a country (GSS 2007. According

to the World Health Organization (WHO), health is a state of complete physical, mental and

social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.

Access to health services is one of the key variables in determining people’s quality of life (GSS,

2014b). In Ghana, the GLSS 6 shows that rural dwellers have less access to health services

compared to urban dwellers (GSS, 2014a). For instance, the percentage of individuals who were

ill or injured and consulted a doctor is lower in rural (26.5%) than urban (43.9%) areas. Also, the

percentage of ill or injured individuals who did not consult any health personnel is higher in rural

(36.6%) than urban (30.4%) areas. The percentage of ill or injured individuals who consulted in a

hospital is lower in rural (20.5%) than urban (31.4%) areas. Furthermore, the percentage of ill or
injured individuals who did not consult in a hospital is higher in rural (36.6%) than urban

(30.4%) areas. These data suggest that rural dwellers in Ghana are deprived in access to health

services.

Another key determinant of health status is the maternal mortality and death of children under

five. The status of these two vulnerable groups, women and children, of a country or region gives

a good indication of the health of the general population and overall general state of development

(GSS, 2013). In Ghana, two-thirds of all under-5 deaths occur in rural areas. The large under-5

deaths in rural areas may be due to limited access to health facilities, poor quality drinking water

resulting in frequent diarrhea and other infectious diseases, and the general poverty levels of

rural households. Similar to under-5 deaths, slightly less than two-thirds of all maternal deaths

were recorded in rural households. Poor access to health facilities, limited skilled midwifery staff

within communities as well as negative cultural beliefs associated with maternal health partly

account for the high maternal mortality rates reported among rural households (GoG/NDPC

2010).

Quality of Housing

According to the UNFPA (2007), decent or good quality housing provides people a home;

security for their belongings; safety for their families; a place to strengthen their social relations

and networks; a place for local trading and service provision; and a means to access basic

services. Furthermore, decent housing is the first step to a better life, and particularly for women,

it is significant in terms of poverty, HIV/AIDS, migration and violence. For poor households,
many of the difficulties they face are linked to a greater or lesser extent to the quality, location

and security of housing (ISSER 2007; Owusu 2011).

Housing also includes not only the physical shelter but also access to basic public services such

as drinking water, sanitation, health and education, which are a critical determinant of standard

of living. However, in many developing countries, especially Sub-Saharan Africa, decent or

quality housing is in short supply. In rural Ghana, the challenge with housing is all about quality

since many housing units are built with poor local materials such as clay/mud and roofed with

thatch. Therefore, they are under constant pressure from the vagaries of the weather.

In Ghana, poor housing is defined in terms of household dwelling with earth, mud or dung floor

and the evidence shows that the use of earth/mud as construction material of floors of dwelling is

predominantly a rural phenomenon, particularly in the three northern regions (GSS, 2013). Also,

materials used to construct other parts of the dwelling in Ghana demonstrate that poor building

material, i.e. mud and earth, for the construction of the outer wall of dwelling is extensively used

in rural areas compared to urban ones suggesting the poor socioeconomic status of rural

dwellers.

Sleeping Room Availability and Overcrowding

The number of rooms can be analyzed against household size to give an indication of

overcrowding, which then demonstrates degree of housing inadequacy and the overall socio-

economic status or standard of living of the household. In Ghana, the proportion of households

deprived or overcrowded (defined as more than three persons per room) in both rural and urban
areas are fairly the same as 39.7 percent and 39.6 percent of households in rural and urban areas

are deprived in terms of number of persons per room respectively (GSS, 2013). Thus,

overcrowding is a challenge in both rural and urban areas of Ghana.

Safe Drinking Water

A key necessity of life and standard of living is access to clean drinking or potable water.

Drinking water includes piped water, public tap, borehole or pump, protected well, protected

spring or rainwater (GSS, 2013). A household is deprived in access to water if it obtains its

drinking water or accesses water from unprotected sources such as wells and springs (GSS,

2013). Households’ improved access to good drinking water is better in urban (81%) than rural

areas (71%). The key sources for rural households in Ghana are bore-hole/pump/tube well

(40.6%), rivers/streams (18.7%), pipe-born outside dwelling (10.7%) and public tap/standpipe

(11%). The relatively limited access to drinking water in rural areas implies that Ghana has a

long way to go in terms of achieving full access.

Sanitation - Toilet

In Ghana a significant proportion of households do not have any toilet facilities and therefore

defecate in bush, beach and open field – an act often described as “free range”. Household

deprivation in toilet facilities is defined as households with no toilet facilities and households

who share toilet facilities with other households (GSS, 2013). The proportion of households that

do not have any toilet facilities is more than three times higher in rural (32%) than urban (9.3%)

areas. Rural households without toilet facilities usually defecate in bushes or fields or at the

beach (GSS, 2013). Furthermore, in rural areas there is limited sharing of WC largely due to the
absence of piped-water within homes and communities. Instead there is widespread use of pit-

latrine (which are fairly easy to construct), and to some extent KVIP suggesting greater

deprivation in toilet facilities.

Sanitation - Disposal of rubbish and liquid waste

According to GLSS 6, (GSS, 2014b) in Ghana, over half of households in urban areas (52.3%)

dispose of their rubbish through a public dump site, with 29.8 percent having their refuse

collected. In rural areas, 52.5 percent of households dispose of their refuse by taking them to the

public dump site while only 3.8% have their refuse collected. Also, while only 4.5% of urban

households dispose of their refuse indiscriminately this proportion is as high as 23 percent in

rural areas. Furthermore, in the rural areas, 20.7 percent bury their rubbish. In relation to liquid

waste disposal, 36.2% of urban households discharge their liquid waste into drains while very

few households in rural areas (5.4) similarly do so. On the other hand, 92.7% of households in

rural areas discharge their liquid waste into open areas while fewer households in urban areas

(58.3%) engage in such a practice. This suggests poor sanitation conditions in rural areas.

Quality and Sources of Energy

Access of households to clean energy sources for cooking, lighting of home and other domestic

activities is an indicator of standard of living. This is because this has implications for in-house

pollution and the health and general welfare of household members, especially women and

children. Households are deprived in energy if if it’s main source of cooking fuel is wood,

charcoal, crop residue, saw dust or animal waste. Furthermore, a household is deprived if it is not
connected to the national electricity grid. This is because limited access to electricity impacts

negatively on households business as well as limits better health and education services.

Nationally, the two poor cooking fuel sources (wood and charcoal) are used in about 74 percent

of households. While on the average 13.8 percent of urban households use wood, the proportion

is very high for in rural areas (73.4%). In rural areas, the proportion of households that use gas as

the main source of cooking fuel is just 4.8 percent while it is 29% in urban households.

In terms of access to electricity, the 2010 PHC indicates that about 64 percent of households in

Ghana have access to or are connected directly to the national electricity grid. Of the about 3.5

million households with access to electricity in Ghana, almost 73 percent are in urban areas with

only 27 percent in rural areas. This evidence suggests that the majority of rural households in

Ghana are deprived in electricity.

Assets Ownership

Poverty can also be examined in terms of household ownership of key consumer durable goods

which can be seen as an alternative measure of poverty to the consumption-based measures of

welfare. Assets can be sold for cash to meet household needs and as such they are also very

important sources of financial capital. They constitute the available stocks of households that

permit the pursuit of livelihood strategies to meet household livelihood objectives (DFID, 1999).

In Ghana, the proportion of households that own assets such as sewing machines, radios, fans,

stoves, fridges, television sets, computers, and mobile phones are much higher in urban than
rural areas (GSS, 2014a). The fewer durable assets owned by rural households suggest that in

times of crises such as the illness of death of household breadwinner, drought or floods, rural

households will find it difficult to sell household assets to cope with any crisis.

Financial assets such as savings allow households to develop strategies to meet household needs

that can have an impact on the living standards of individuals, households, communities, and the

country at large (GSS, 2014). In Ghana, a higher proportion of urban (46.4%) than rural (21.5%)

households have savings accounts. This suggests that rural households have less access to

savings.

The evidence of multidimensional poverty demonstrates that rural households are deprived more

than their urban counterparts in income, consumption of goods, education, health, quality

housing, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, quality sources of energy, and durable and

liquid (savings) assets. The evidence from Ghana and elsewhere suggest that indeed rural areas

experience greater poverty.

Causes of Poverty in Rural Areas

The causes of poverty in rural areas are varied and include:

Occupation in Agriculture and related activities

Farming, pastoral, and collecting enterprises form the basis of rural economy. Some rural people

are engaged in petty trading, arts, craft, weaving, pottery, and primary industries; and only a few

tend to take these as sole occupations. Instead, they tend to combine these with farming and a
large number are full time farmers. For instance, according to the 2010 population and housing

census of Ghana, the population of agricultural households was 13,366,340 and accounted for

54.2 percent of the total population. The population was in 2,503,006 households out of the total

of 5,467,136 households in the country, and this translates into 45.8 percent of the total

households in the country (GSS, 2013). Rural areas accounted for 73.5 percent of the agricultural

households due to the fact that agriculture is essentially a rural activity (GSS, 2013). The prices

of agricultural produce are low and fluctuate on the world market thereby depriving rural

dwellers of income the world over. This is one of the key reasons why the majority of rural

dwellers have low incomes and consume less durable goods (Income poverty). For instance, a

World Bank report indicates that nearly two thirds of the extremely poor in the world earn a

living from agriculture (Olinto et al. 2013). Also, according to IFAD (2010), in sub-Saharan

Africa, Latin America and Asia, the poorer rural households derive the highest proportion of

their incomes from farming and agricultural labour.

Remoteness

Rural areas are usually remote areas or places far away from the seat of local or central

governments. The remoteness of rural areas as well as their low population densities often

discourages governments from providing basic infrastructure for these communities. Thus, they

also face political isolation. This is precisely the reason why in most parts of the world rural

areas lack access to education, health, and sanitation facilities, as well as quality housing and

quality sources of energy discussed above.

According to Bird, Hulme, Moore and Shepherd (2002) remoteness is also a key factor in

explaining concentrations of poverty in Africa as it limits access to markets, increases the price

of inputs and makes both economic and social services less accessible. Mtetwa, Dziro, and

Takaza (2013) also add that the poorest and the most food insecure households are located

furtherest from roads, markets, schools, and health services.

Exclusion

Related to remoteness of rural communities is exclusion. de Haan (2000) indicates that poverty is

also caused by general exclusion of the people from social and political participation. He notes

that exclusion reflects discrimination, which is a process that denies individuals from full

participation in material exchange or interaction as a consequence of the failure of governments

to provide socio-economic infrastructure in rural areas. The concept is also tied to exclusion

from the labour market, long-term unemployment and the destruction of the social links and

integration that usually accompany work.

Education

Education has been shown to have significant positive impacts on agricultural productivity,

employment, access to credit, use of government services, adult and child health and educational

outcomes. Thus the deprivation in education of rural dwellers has a multiplier negative effect on

their quality of life. Also, lack of vocational skills and entrepreneurial abilities create poverty in

rural areas.
Lack of Assets

Inadequate physical and financial assets also constrain rural dwellers to pursue their livelihoods.

Climatic Changes

According to IFAD (2010), climate variability and extremes have long been a major source of

disaster-related food insecurity, which also affects poor rural people. Climate change is

increasing the scale and incidence of extreme weather events such as droughts, floods and

cyclones, which have increased significantly during the 1990s and 2000s. Among the most

affected are poor rural people living on steep slopes, people in low-lying areas subject to floods,

or those in semi-arid areas subject to drought or windstorms.

Strategies to Reduce Rural Poverty

Improvement in Education and Skills Training Opportunities

Extensive evidence exists of the positive effects of education investment on poverty and growth.

In particular, educating women has proven very effective in combating poverty. Education not

only directly benefits the women, but impacts the nutritional and health status of their children.

Investing in functional literacy and informal training are also cost-effective means of building

human capital in rural areas and of giving people the opportunity to improve their livelihoods.
Improvement in Agriculture

Agriculture is the main occupation of rural dwellers. There is therefore the need to technically,

economically, and socially develop appropriate technologies informed by agricultural research in

to crops (yams, maize, rice, cowpeas, millet and sorghum, vegetables) to be disseminated to

particular poor farmers to improve their yields. In this direction, it is important for governments

to provide research grants to agricultural institutes of research or seek for foreign grants to

enable these institutes to carry out agricultural research.

Reduction in Marketing Costs of Rural Produce

Food-crop agricultural marketing is characterized by high marketing costs due to elevated

transport costs, low economies of scale, lack of information, high risk, too many intermediaries,

and excessive physical losses. Marketing costs are highest for farmers located in remote or less

accessible villages, where buyers can exert monopoly buying power. Good roads should be

constructed in rural areas so that farmers can get their produce to urban centres which will

largely remove marketing bottlenecks.

Provision of Rural Finance

A major constraint on improving the lot of the rural poor is lack of access to capital for financing

income-generating agricultural and off-farm opportunities, paying school fees, and dealing with

medical emergencies and important social obligations. Informal credit and savings schemes

should be extensively introduced in rural communities to provide finance to rural communities.

More rural banks should be opened in rural areas to provide no or very low interest loans to rural

dwellers.

Expansion of Rural Non-farm Activities

Rural household engage in a wide variety of non-farm activities linked to agriculture, such as

food-processing and marketing, blacksmith construction and repair of agricultural tools and

machinery. Markets should be found for these numerous economic activities so that it will

stimulate local employment and increase incomes in rural communities.

Provision of Rural Infrastructure

Insufficient rural infrastructure can greatly impede development. In the case of food marketing,

high transport costs related to bad roads are passed on to both consumers as higher food prices

and farmers as lower producer prices. Local government authorities should provide roads in rural

communities. Furthermore, local systems for road maintenance should be introduced so that

roads that are constructed will continually be in good conditions.

There are major disparities between urban and rural social indicators and availability of related

water, health and sanitation infrastructure. Pipe-borne water and wells should be constructed in

rural communities to provide clean and safe drinking water by local government authorities and

NGOs. Rural areas’ access to safe water immediately positively impacts on the health of rural

dwellers (IFAD) and thus potable water investment should be viewed as a major priority for rural

development. Additionally, health facilities should be provided in rural communities to cater to

the health needs of rural communities to improve their quality of life. Furthermore, adequate

toilet and sanitation should be provided in rural communities which would lead to improvements

in the health, hygiene, livelihoods, psychological wellbeing and social interaction of household

members (UN-Habitat 2010).

The provision and expansion of cheap and affordable electricity in rural communities will

engender rural economic activities and attract both national and foreign investments which will

further stimulate rural economic activities.

Social Protection Programmes

There is the need to design and introduce social protection programmes that will effectively

reduce income and food insecurity among rural populations as well as enhance the capacity of

the rural poor and the most vulnerable to invest in their future and the sustainable use of

resources.

References

Alkire, S., Chatterje, M., Conconi, A., Seth, S. and Vaz, A. (2014). Poverty in Rural and Urban

Areas: Direct Comparisons Using the Global MPI 2014. OPHI Briefing 24. Oxford: University

of Oxford.
Bird, K., Hulme, D., Moore, K., & Shepherd, A. (2002). Chronic Poverty and Remote Rural

Areas. Chronic Poverty Research Centre Working Paper No. 13. Manchester, UK: Chronic

Poverty Research Centre.

De Haan. (2000). Social Exclusion: Towards a Holistic Understanding of Deprivation. In

Koherdorfer-Lucius G. and Pleskovic B. (eds.) Inclusion Justice and Poverty Reduction Villa

Bosig Workshop Series 1999. German Foundation of International Development. Berlin.

Encyclopaedia Encarta.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2013). 2010 Population and housing census report: Non-monetary

poverty in Ghana. Accra: Author.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014a). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Poverty profile in

Ghana 2005-2013. Accra: Author.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014b). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Main report. Accra:

Author.

Mtetwa, E., Dziro, C., & Takaza, S. (2013). Poverty and Rural Development; Tapping From The

Grassroots. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention 2(5), 21-35.

Mtetwa, E., Dziro, C., & Takaza, S. (2013). Poverty and Rural Development: Tapping From The

Grassroots. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention 2(5), 21-35.
Olinto, P., Beegle, K., Sobrado, C. and Uematsu, H. (2013). The State of the Poor: Where are the

poor, where is extreme poverty harder to end and what is the current profile of the world’s poor.

Economic Premise Series No. 125, World Bank.

LECTURE FIVE & SIX - THE GHANAIAN STATE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT: A

HISTORICAL APPROACH

Ghana has had a very long history and tradition of planning for national development, dating

back to the Guggisberg plan of 1919 which aimed at developing the Gold Coast. Since that era,

and particularly after independence, the economic and social development of Ghana has been

guided by several development plans that also focused on rural development. These include

among others:

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

 the Economic Recovery Program (ERP) (1983-1987)

 the National Development Policy Framework: Long-Term Development

 Ghana: Vision 2020 – The First Step (1996-2000)

 Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy I (2003-2005)

 Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II 2006-2009)

 Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) (2010-2013)

Killick (2010) explains that a development plan is the preparation and implementation of a

planning document seeking to determine the pace and pattern of an economy’s development in

the medium-term, and the economic policies to secure these results.

According to Vordzorgbe and Caiquo (2001), at the national level, the major planning processes

that have impacted most on national development in Ghana to date are: the 7-Year Development

Plan (1963/64-1969/70), the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) (1983-1987) and the Ghana

-Vision 2020 (1996). These development plans are examined in this lecture as well as other
development plans since 1997 such as the Ghana: Vision 2020, Ghana Poverty Reduction

Strategy I, Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy and the Ghana Shared Growth and

Development Agenda (GSGDA) (2010-2013).

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

The 7-Year Development Plan was initiated in 1964 as first integrated and comprehensive

economic plan in Ghana’s development administration history by the Convention Peoples Party

(CPP) government headed by president Kwame Nkrumah. 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. Rural development issues addressed by the plan

include:

 Promoting voluntary association in co-operative societies of farmers to have access to

capital resources and technical assistance.

 Promote investments in agriculture so as to give the state control over essential supplies

and while at the same time laying the foundations for further growth of the economy.

 Raise the national income is through the modernisation (mechanization) of agriculture.

 Train skilled manpower to man agricultural enterprises.

 Promote direct investment of Ghanaians in extending their farms and making numerous

improvements in their towns and villages through individual and communal labour under

the guidance of local authorities.

 Provide loans to would-be private investors through the National Investment Bank and

the Ministry of Agriculture.

  Provision of small loans schemes - allocation of £4.5 million for farmers and £5.2 million

for fishermen under the agricultural development programme to be administered by the

Bank of Ghana for the benefit of small farmers and fishermen in the country.

 Raise rural incomes especially in the Northern and Upper Regions.

 Step up the production ·of agricultural raw materials for export and for domestic

industrial purposes.

 Promote research in livestock production.

 Creation of extension services and development services in agriculture in all parts of

Ghana.

 Improve the feeder road system in order to connect all farming and rural industrial areas

with trunk roads.

 Extension of water supplies to rural communities by providing boreholes, wells, and

reservoirs and artificial ponds in dry rural environments.

 Expand health centres in rural communities as well as provide mobile health facilities

 Train health personnel to make contribution to rural health work

 Central government assistance in rural housing by providing a roof loans scheme as well

as the development of a building materials industry which should be able to assure the

rural communities access to building materials at reasonable prices.

 Strengthen local authority administration to provide services in rural communities

The implementation of the plan was cut short by the military intervention of 1966.

Achievements of the Seven-Year Development Plan

Dinko (2017) highlights the achievements of the seven-year development plan to include:
  Investments in northern and coastal savannahs to increased sugarcane, vegetables, fish

and groundnuts production as an import substitution measure.

 Introduction of new technologies through mechanisation and extension services increased

crop yields and acreage under cultivation.

 State farms were established as centres of excellence for diffusing new technologies and

practices to smallholder private farmers.

 Social transformation through mass public education both in rural and urban areas was

initiated to create the ―new African personality.

 Free and compulsory university basic education was introduced while literacy

programme was ambitiously pursued with the aim of eradicating ignorance while

empowering a skilled and capable labour force.

 Rural areas had the role of providing raw materials for feeding industries in urban centres

and small scale industries mostly in rural parts of the countries.

Short-comings of the Seven-year Development Plan

According to Ninsin (1979) the short-coming of the seven-year development plan include:

 Promoting modern farming techniques failed partly because of the conservatism of the

rural capitalist who is apt to invest more in real estate and spend lavishly on luxury goods

than in the modernisation of his instruments of production.

 The CPP government had conservative agricultural policies and not revolutionary ones.

 The CPP government did not go beyond the enactment of the State lands Act of 1962 to

nationalise land in the country. Land nationalisation would have removed one of the most

severe obstacles to the efficient utilization of land for agricultural modernization.

  Lack of proper farm management and political leadership contributed to the failure of

agriculture to modernize

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

After more than a decade of unprecedented economic decline, Ghana launched the Economic

Recovery Programme (ERP) in 1983 together with a Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP),

which was agreed between the World Bank/ IMF and the Government of Ghana. The initial

phase of the ERP and the supporting SAP covering the period 1983-1987 focused on

stabilization and liberalization of the economy in order to establish a new macro-economic

policy environment for reversing the downward trend of the economy and pushing it back on the

path of growth.

Import substitution and protectionist policies in the 1960s and 1970s resulted in high inflation, a

weak currency and the high cost of agricultural inputs. Low prices of primary export products

further accelerated the decline of the agricultural and mining sectors which are the backbone of

rural economies. Thus, rural development issues addressed by the ERP include:

 The primary sector including mining and agriculture were to lead the recovery process.

 Ghana was to exploit its comparative advantage in cocoa and gold production.

 Diversification of the agricultural sector towards the production of goods with the highest

comparative advantage as opposed to goods with perceived declining economic value.

 Emphasis on the production of other cash crop crops such as rubber, pineapple and coffee

to the neglect of food crop production.

  Investment in roads, schools, and health infrastructure in mining and cash crop growing

areas.

Achievements of the ERP

 Poverty in rural-coastal and rural-forest localities fell during the first decade of structural

adjustment. Because the adjustment polices benefited the tradable sector, it is not

surprising to see a fall in poverty in the rural forest areas since they produce most of the

country’s exports – cocoa, timber, gold, and bauxite among others.

 The cocoa producers profited from increased producer prices of cocoa and from

liberalization of cocoa marketing.

 The initial opening up to foreign trade and the flood of foreign assistance to finance it led

to increased availability of capital goods and inputs such as fertilizer which increased use

of fertilizer by farmers.

 Migration out of the agricultural sector was reversed during adjustment. There was a

25.86 per cent net flow of migration into the farming sector in 1983 (Beaudry and Sowa

1994).

Failures of the ERP

 Poverty in Ghana, before the reforms, was a rural phenomenon and has continued to be

so after the reforms (Sowa, 2002)

 The introduction of fees had some disincentive effect on the use of health services in

rural areas. Use of medical services declined over the years due to the introduction of the

fees. After the introduction of the fees, outpatient attendance in some rural areas dropped

by nearly 50 percent (Sowa, 2002).

 Agricultural research funding became heavily dependent on foreign aid, and research

activities that were not among the priorities of the donors were neglected (Tabor,

Papafio and Haizel 1995). For instance, cocoa and maize, which account for less than 20

per cent of agricultural output, received up to 70 per cent of all research spending.

 The removal of subsidies on insecticides and fungicides almost tripled their real prices.

As government pulled out of procurement, supply and distribution of inputs, private

sector did not jump in to fill the gap, resulting in decreased availability.

 Major growth of logging since 1984 as a result of deregulation and increased price

incentives (Gibbon 1992). The impact of this has been serious depletion of reserves and

a high rate of deforestation.

 The need for parents to contribute to education fees in the form of books, and furniture

among others drove many children from rural schools especially in the northern part of

the country.
  Low government expenditure in social services such as health worsened malnutrition

among children the aged in rural areas.

 Even though the export sector expanded by the 1990s inequality between rural and urban

areas increased. The growth was not inclusive and the fundamental assumption of the

SAPs ignored the multidimensional complexity of development. Urban-based

institutional structures sapped the profits which may have proceeded from the expansion

of exports.

Ghana: Vision 2020 – The First Step (1996-2000)

The Ghana Vision - 2020 was adopted in 1996 that aimed at moving Ghana to a middle-income

status by the year 2020. It was a national development policy framework covering long-term (25

years) development objectives covering five basic thematic areas of macroeconomics, human

development, rural development, urban development and enabling environment. The

achievement of these long-term objectives was 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 provided a framework to guide sectoral agencies and the

District Assemblies to prepare policies and programmes for economic and social development

that would enable Ghana to achieve her long-term goals. The long term objectives were to be

achieved by implementing policies through five-year medium-term rolling plans.

The basic objectives of the medium-term programme concerning rural development included:

 Increase access to health services in rural areas.

 Increase enrolment rates at basic and secondary education levels, particularly among girls

and in rural areas.

 Reduce drop-out-out rates, particularly among girls and in rural areas.

 Access to reliable supplies of safe water for rural communities.

 Increase provision of appropriate sanitation systems and infrastructure, especially among

rural communities.

 Promote and increase access to relevant technology, credit and economic services,

especially in rural areas.

 Safeguard the rights of rural women to equal access to credit and business loans.

 Increase agricultural productivity and improve opportunities for off-farm employment.

 Agricultural extension services will be unified and strengthened to provide onfarm

assistance to farmers to help them to improve the technologies used in both production

and on-farm storage to diversify production through the introduction of new and

improved varieties.

 Extension services will also assist farmers to undertake agro-forestry and help rural

communities to plant trees for both fuel and fodder.

 Agricultural infrastructure—feeder roads, storage and marketing facilities— will be

further improved and given a larger share of public sector investment. The private sector

will also be encouraged to participate in infrastructure investment.

 Districts and communities will be assisted in identifying and developing areas suitable for

small-scale irrigation schemes – e.g. inland valley swamps.

 Effective measures will be put in place to ensure that exploitation of timber and other

forest resources is done on a sustainable basis; local communities will be involved in

multiple-resource forest management systems.

 Fishing operations will be more effectively monitored to promote the conservation of fish

stocks.

 Fishing infrastructure – harbours, jetties, landing grounds, connecting roads, cold storage

facilities and markets – will be improved and extended.

 Veterinary services will be improved and expanded and smallholders encouraged to

integrate livestock into their farming systems to provide greater diversity of both food

and sources of income.

 Systems of rural credit will be reviewed and overhauled to enable farmers and fishermen

to purchase inputs and equipment to improve their productivity.

 All existing state-owned enterprises in the agricultural sector, including cocoa marketing,

will be fully privatized by the year 2000.

 Reduce disparities between urban and rural areas.

 Achieve relative spatial equity in terms of opportunities and choice.

 Upgrade rural areas economically, socially and environmentally.

 Accelerate rural development.

 Increase and diversify rural employment opportunities.

 Strengthen rural economies by increased and sustainable production of both agricultural

and industrial products.

 Increase monetization, saving and investment among the rural population.

  Improve access to economic and social service, particularly for women and other

vulnerable members of the rural community.

 Reduce ecological and environmental degradation.

 Promote an efficient management system and environmentally sound development of all

water resources in the country.

Achievement of Vision 2020

The agricultural sector was consistently the largest contributor to Ghana’s national output

between 1996 and 2000.

Short-comings of Vision 2020

 Low growth in the crops and livestock sub-sector compared to previous years. Therefore,

the contribution of the agricultural sector to GDP dropped slightly from 36.5 percent in

1999 to 36 percent in 2000.

 The economy went into crisis in 1999, when world market price for cocoa plummeted by

nearly 40 percent. Gold prices also fell to their lowest level since the early 1990s

(US$253 per ounce), whilst prices for crude oil, which consumes most of the foreign

exchange, appreciated by almost 100 percent.

 Export receipts were lower than expected due to poor prices for cocoa and gold.

 low growth in the crops and livestock sub-sector

 81% of the rural population still depended on untreated water

 Limited coordination between the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC)

that was responsible for plan formulation and the Ministry of Finance.
  Budgetary allocations did not reflect the plan objectives.

 The plans were not costed and prepared in insufficient detail to provide effective

guidance by which MDA could prepare appropriate programmes and projects. In the

event annual budgets failed to reflect the policies incorporated in the plan, which was,

therefore, not fully implemented.

Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy I (2003-2005)

The GPRS I was a comprehensive planning document that aimed at aligning development of the

country’s social sectors with the overall strategy and policy framework. It is a revolving three-

year plan, covering initially the period 2003-05, each year being reviewed and assessed by an

annual progress report in cooperation with the World Bank/International Monetary Fund. The

main goal of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy is to ensure sustainable equitable growth,

accelerated poverty reduction and the protection of the vulnerable and excluded within a

decentralized, democratic environment. Rural development issues addressed by the plan include:

 Adult Literacy - facilitate the development of tele-education to enable the country reverse

the high illiteracy in rural areas through distance learning.

 Introduction of teacher rotation/redeployment system to supply remote rural areas with

qualified teachers serving for a minimum of two years in these areas.

 Provision of outreach services and clinics in deprived rural communities.

 Acceleration of rural water provision, with emphasis on guinea worm endemic

communities and regions that have least benefited from new investments in the past

decade.
 Increase the proportion of farmers with access to dugout water facilities in Northern

Ghana to 15%.

 Institute land administration reform.

 Promote incentives to attract entrepreneurs into agriculture and agro-processing.

 Increase extension agent/farmer ratio from 1/2500 to 1/1600.

 Increase the proportion of farmers with access to feeder roads to 40%.

 Increase the proportion of rural communities with access to electricity for domestic,

commercial and industrial uses from15% to 20%.

 Increase the Area of Land under Agriculture (ALA) under cultivation from 25% to 30%.

 Provision and improvement in irrigation.

 Providing farmers with adequate funding and other resources as well as access to

marketing outlets to break the existing well-organised monopolistic marketing channels.

 Development and multiplication of new improved varieties of seed and planting materials

of selected crops including: maize, rice, sorghum, millet, plantain, cassava, yam,

soybean, cowpea, tomato, pepper, exotic vegetables, cocoa, cashew, coconut, cotton,

pineapple, pawpaw, mango, citrus etc.

 Incentives and technological support to promote the development of improved breeds of

livestock and sustainable control of animal diseases.

 Formation of Farmer Based Organisations (FBOs)

 Provide Micro finance in Rural communities.

 Provision of protection of land rights and prevention of abuse of traditional and

institutional procedures, which place the poor, the illiterate and women at the most risk.
Achievements of GPRS I

 Rehabilitation and construction of basic school classrooms in rural areas

 Elimination of all district levies and the introduction of capitation grants in public

primary schools in deprived districts and rural areas.

 Improvement in low school enrolment in the rural and savannah areas and high drop-out

rates for the girl school-child.

 Ensured the timely delivery of core textbooks for primary schools, particularly in most

deprived rural areas.

 Increase in the coverage of Community Health Planning and Services (CHPS)

compounds in rural areas.

 The poor in rural communities were identified for exemptions from fees/health insurance

premia subsidy.

 The construction of new water points and the rehabilitation of malfunctioning water

systems in rural communities (significant increase the number of new bore holes

constructed from 622 in 2002 to 2098 in 2004).

 The proportion of rural population with access to safe water increased from 46.4% in

2003 to 51.7% in 2004, representing about 5% increase in coverage.

 The agricultural sector was the mainstay of the economy between 2003 and 2005,

contributing more than 35 percent of total national output each year.

 Dissemination of new high-productivity technologies in the cocoa sector.

 Improved yields and expansion of total output of the cocoa sub-sector.

 Maintainance, rehabilitation as well as construction of feeder roads to open up rural areas

to accelerate economic activity.

  Significant activities were undertaken to improve irrigation facilities including an

increase of dugouts from 713 in 2003 to about 999 out of the 1309 water facilities in

2004 (IMF, 2006).

 Farmer access to mechanized tillage increased from 8% in 2003 to 12% in 2004 (IMF,

2006).

 Marked improvements were also recorded in the areas of access to processing equipment

and the number of farmers with access to tractors (IMF, 2006).

Short-comings of GPRS I

 Workers in agriculture continued to be poorer.

 A significant proportion of rural areas (48.3%) continued to rely on unsafe sources of

water such as ponds, streams, and unprotected wells.

 stagnation of technologies in agriculture

 Persistent gender inequalities in access to and control over land and agricultural inputs,

including extension services.

 Access to adequate sanitation in the rural areas is also quite poor especially in the

deprived northern regions.

 Limited progress in environmental protection through re-aforestation.

Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II 2006-2009)

In formulating GPRS I, the incidence of poverty was analyzed and categorized on broad regional

basis and this resulted in limitations in targeting poverty reduction interventions. Against this

background, the government decided to embark on the design and implementation of a revised
medium-term development policy framework with the central objective of accelerating economic

growth to achieve middle-income status (with per capita income of at least US$1,000) within a

measurable planning period. This was to be achieved through structural transformation of the

economy by developing the private sector, diversifying the export base and increasing

agricultural productivity, within a decentralised, democratic environment.

Rural development issues addressed by the plan include:

 Bridge gender gaps in access to education in rural areas

 Provide outreach services and clinics in deprived rural areas

 Accelerate the implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme including the

exemption policy through guided introduction of District mutual health insurance

schemes, fix low acceptable levels of payment for the poor.

 Accelerate provision of safe water in rural areas

 Accelerate the provision of adequate sanitation in rural areas

 Accelerating the provision of irrigation infrastructure

 Enhancing access to credit and inputs for agriculture

 Promoting selective crop development

 Modernising livestock development

 Improving access to mechanised agriculture

 Increasing access to extension services

 Provision of infrastructure for aquaculture

 Restoration of degraded land and environment

 Improve agricultural marketing

  Enhance access to export markets

 Strengthen farmer-based organizations, with full participation of women farmers, to

enhance access to credit and other services.

 Facilitate the development of commercially viable export and domestic market oriented

enterprises in the rural areas

 improve rural infrastructural network, particularly road-rail linkages

 Promote citizen participation in local governance in rural communities

Achievements of GPRS II

 Reduction in malnourishment of children under five years

 Enrolment in basic schools improved especially in Upper East and Upper West rural

communities.

 Modest increase in JHS enrolment in rural communities.

 Infant mortality rate declined in rural communities.

 Increase in access to health services in rural areas (GSS, 2014).

 Increase in access to potable water in rural households (GSS, 2014).

 Marked increase in the proportion of rural households with access to adequate toilet

facilities (GSS, 2014).

Short-comings of GPRS II

 The services sector consistently outperformed the agricultural sector between 2006 and

2009. The agricultural sector recorded the second largest contribution throughout the

GPRS II period, generating 31.8 percent of total national output in both 2008 and 2009.
  Ghana’s agriculture still dominated by subsistence small holder production units with

weak linkages to industry and the services sector.

 Low level of technology and productivity in agriculture.

 Low income and un-competitiveness in agricultural production, processing and

distribution.

 Inadequate post-production infrastructure (i.e. storage, processing facilities, transport,

etc)

 Low uptake of research findings by stakeholders

 Limited availability of improved technological packages, especially planting materials

and certified seeds.

 Limited participation of beneficiaries in extension programme planning and

implementation.

 Limited access to guaranteed markets for farmers and producers, especially women.

 Dominance of cocoa and poor performance of crops and livestock as well as fisheries

Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA) (2010-2013)

Although substantial progress was made towards macroeconomic stability and the achievement

of poverty reduction goals under the GPRS II, structural challenges once again emerged.

Considering the challenges and setbacks of the immediate past, and faced with the prospect of

becoming an oil-producing country with its attendant risks and opportunities, the GSGDA was
formulated to address the challenges that had emerged at the end of 2008, as well as guide the

management of the economy between 2010 and 2013.

Rural development issues addressed by the plan include:

 Accelerate agriculture mechanization.

 Improve access to relevant agricultural technology.

 Build capacity of Farmer-Based Organisations (FBOs) and Community-Based

Organisations (CBOs) to facilitate delivery of extension services to their members.

 Create District Centres for Agricultural Advisory Services (DAAS) to provide advice on

productivity enhancing technologies such as drought-resistant seeds and improved breeds

for smallholder farmers

 Investing in small scale irrigation projects in rural areas.

 Increase agricultural competitiveness and enhanced Integration into domestic and

international markets.

 Reduce production and distribution risks/ bottlenecks in agriculture and industry.

 Improve irrigation

 Improve agricultural financing by the establishment of an Agricultural Development

Fund to enhance the liquidities of all financial institutions and strengthen their capacities

to provide the short, medium and long-term financing facilities for agriculture and

incidental infrastructure.

 Improve accessibility and sustainable management of land.

 Promotion and development of selected staples (cereals, tubers, beans and pulses) and

horticultural crops including fruits (mangoes, pineapples and bananas) and vegetables
 (okra and pepper) in the relevant agro-ecological zones with comparative and competitive

advantage.

 Promote livestock and poultry development.

 Promote fisheries development.

 Re-instate labour-based methods of road construction and maintenance to improve rural

roads and maximize employment opportunities.

 Improve rural housing - review and implement existing rural housing policy; foster the

growth of settlements which can support the rural economy and transformation; promote

self-help building schemes organized along trade associations; and provide technical

assistance to communities to support basic house-building skills training programmes.

 Improve rural development management: improve the supply of a critical mass of social

services and infrastructure to meet the basic needs of the people and attract investment

for the growth and development of the rural areas; promote alternative livelihood

programmes to develop skills among rural dwellers; establish rural service centres to

promote agriculture and agro-based industries; and increase mining output without

compromising the environmental quality of mining communities.

 Improve access to safe drinking water in rural areas.

 Provide more basic schools in rural areas.

 Bridge the Gender Gap in Access to Education

 Bridge equity gaps in access to health care and nutrition services between rural and urban

areas.

 Reduce poverty among food crop farmers and other vulnerable groups.
 Achievements of GSGDA

 Poverty declined in rural forest, rural savannah and rural coastal areas (GSS,2014).

 Increase in household ownership of durable assets in rural areas (GSS, 2014)

 Reduction in the urban-rural gap in the number of households using potable water from

2005/06 to 2012/3.

 Increase in basic school attendance rates in rural areas due to the introduction of the

Capitation Grant, Free School Feeding and Free School Uniforms in primary school

(GSS, 2014).

 Increase in attendance rate of JHS students in rural areas (GSS, 2014).

 Increase in attendance rate of SHS students in rural areas (GSS, 2014).

 Rural areas witnessed sharp increases in access to electricity (GSS, 2014).

 Increase in access to health services in rural areas (GSS, 2014).

Short-comings of GSGDA

 In 2012/13, the rural population comprised 50 percent of the population of Ghana, yet it

accounts for 78 percent of those in poverty.

 Agricultural out-put declined.

 In rural areas, by 2012/13, just over one quarter of households in the lowest quintile had

access to an adequate toilet facility (27%) (GSS, 2014).

 Rural savannah contributes more than 40 percent to the overall poverty in Ghana.

 Extreme poverty is a rural phenomenon, with as many as over 1.8 million persons living

in extreme poverty in rural areas (2010 PHC projections). Extreme poverty is particularly
 high in rural Savannah at 27.3 percent and this locality accounts for nearly three-fifths of

those living in extreme poverty in Ghana.

 Deprivation in toilet facilities in sub-rural localities - rural coastal, rural forest, and rural

savannah - where public and other facility (bush, beaches etc.) usage has increased

significantly.

References

Beaudry, P. and Sowa, N., 1994, ‘Ghana’, in Horton et al (eds), Labour Markets in an Era of

Adjustment.

Dinko, D.H. (2017). Theory and practice: Changing faces of rural development policy in Ghana

from 1957-2007. African Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development 5(3), 539-

546.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Poverty profile in

Ghana 2005-2013. Accra: Author.

Gibbon, P., 1992, ‘A failed agenda? African agriculture under structural adjustment with special

reference to Kenya and Ghana’, The Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 20, No. 1: 50-96.

IMF (2006). Ghana: Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper Annual Progress Report. IMF Country

Report No. 06/226.

Ninsin, Kwame A. (1979). Nkrumah's Socialism: A Reappraisal. Ufahamu: A Journal of African

Studies 9(1), 82-109.

Sowa, N.K. (2002). An Assessment of Poverty Reducing Policies and Programmes in Ghana

Paper presented at a MIMAP Workshop on Assessing Poverty Policies to be held at Rabat,

Morocco January 25-31, 2002; sponsored by the IDRC.

Tabor, S., Papafio, Q. and Haizel, K., 1995, ‘Ghana’, in S. Tabor (ed), Agricultural Research in

an Era of Adjustment: Policies, Institutions and Progress, Washington, D.C: World Bank.

Vordzorgbe, S.D. and Caiquo, B. (2001). Report on Status Review of National Strategies for

Sustainable Development in Ghana. OECD/DAC Dialogues with Developing Countries on

National Strategies for Sustainable Development.

 LECTURE SEVEN: DISTRICT ASSEMBLIES AS AGENTS IN RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

The Concept of Decentralization

District assemblies constitute a part of the decentralization system in Ghana. Decentralization as

a concept is defined as “the transfer of the responsibility for planning, decision-making, or

administrative authority from central government to its field organizations” (Rondinelli, Nellis

and Cheema, 1984:9). Ribot (2001) also define decentralization as any act in which a central

government formally surrenders powers to actors and institutions at lower levels in a political-

administration of a territory or country (Ribot 2001).

Creation of District Assemblies in Ghana

The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government in 1988 promulgated the Local

Government Law of 1988 (PNDC Law 207) which established a new local government system in

Ghana whereby the District Assembly (DA) became the key institution and authority in the 110

districts in Ghana at that time. This law was replaced by an Act of Parliament (Act 462) of 1993

based on the provision made in the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana in Article 240 (1)

which prescribed that local government in Ghana should be decentralized. Currently, there are

216 districts in Ghana as a consequence some of the original 110 districts being split as well as

the creation of new ones.

Composition of District Assemblies

According to the Local Government Act 462 of 1993, a District Assembly is composed of the

following members:

 The District Chief Executive – Appointed by the President of Ghana.

 Two-thirds of the members are directly elected by universal adult suffrage (voting)

 The Members of Parliament (MPs) representing constituencies within the district

 Not less than 30% of the members are appointed by the President in consultation with

traditional authorities and interest groups in the district.

The key role of elected assembly members is to connect communities with the DA, by making

known to the DA the pressing needs and demands of their community members. Appointed

members bring their professional expertise to the DA and also represent traditional authorities

and interest groups.

Operation of District Assemblies

The full meetings of district assemblies are called the General Assembly. It is at these meetings

that DAs make their decisions. The Generally Assembly meeting is held at least three times a

year (Crawford, 2008). General Assembly meetings are convened and chaired by the Presiding

Member (PM), who is elected by Assembly members. District Assemblies also have an

Executive Committee (EXECO) which meets monthly. It consists of one-third of members and

chaired by the District Chief Executive (DCE). In practice, it is the EXECO that carries out most

of the work of DAs.

Functions of District Assemblies

The functions of DAs are informed by section 10(3) of the Local Government Act of 1993, Act

462 that generally indicates the functions of DAs as administrative, legislative, executive,

planning and rating authority. Under this broad definition, DAs perform the following functions:

 Be responsible for the overall development of the district and ensure the preparation and

submission through the Regional Coordinating Council for approval of the development

plan to the commission and budget to minister of finance for the district.

 Formulate and execute plans, programmes, and strategies for the effective mobilisation of

the resources necessary for the overall development of the district.

 Promote and support productive activity and social development in the district and

remove any obstacles to initiative and development.

 Initiate programmes for the development of basic infrastructure and provide municipal

works and services in the district.

 Be responsible for the development, improvement and management of human settlements

and the environment in the district.

 In cooperation with appropriate national and local security agencies, be responsible for

the maintenance of security and public safety in the district.

 Ensure ready access to the courts and public tribunals in the district for the promotion of

justice.

 Initiate, sponsor or carry out such studies as may be necessary for the discharge of any of

the functions conferred by this Law or any other enactment.

 Perform such other functions as may be provided under any other enactment.
The various functions of DAs thus demonstrate that they are principal agents in rural

development as they are responsible for ensuring the overall development of their districts.

District Assemblies perform these functions through their 11 departments: Central

Administration Department; Finance Department; Education, Youth and Sports Department;

District Health Department; Agriculture Department; Physical Planning Department; Social

Welfare and Community Development Department; Natural Resource Conservation Department,

Forestry, Game and Wild Life Division; Works Department; Industry and Trade Department;

and Disaster Prevention Department (Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, 2010).

In carrying out its operations in the districts, DAs also collaborate with other agencies. These

agencies include:

 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

 Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs).

 The Public Service.

 International Organisations or Development Partners.

 The Private Sector.

 National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

 Civil Society Organisations (CSOs).

 Community-Based Organisations (CBOs).

Sources of Funding of District Assemblies

District Assemblies have three main sources of funds – central government funds, ceded revenue

and locally or internally generated funds (IGF). The central government fund constitutes mainly

the District Assembly Common Fund (DACF). The 1992 Constitution established the District

Assembly Common Fund (DACF), and as required by law, the central government disburses a

minimum of 5% of total national revenues to Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies.

A second source of finance is ‘ceded revenue’. This is revenue from a number of lesser tax fields

that central government has ceded to the DAs. Ceded revenue is collected by the Ghana Internal

Revenue Service (IRS), but then transferred to DAs through the Ministry of Local Government

and Rural Development. District Assemblies also generate internal revenue through taxation –

imposing basic rates and market tolls. These three main sources of revenue constitute the bulk of

funds DAs utilize to carry out their developmental activities in rural districts in Ghana.

DAs also access funds from external donors such as the World Bank and USAID among others.

For instance, the World Bank has funded rural projects such as the Village Infrastructure

(VIP) while the USAID has also funded the Quality Improvement in Primary Schools (QUIPS)

project (Crawford, 2008).

Empirical Development Activities of DAs in Rural Communities

According to the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (2012), between 2009 -

2011, DAs engaged in the following various development activities in rural areas:
  750 alternative livelihood programmes were organized to develop income generating and

entrepreneurial development skills among rural dwellers.

 12,000 youth received training in Technical and Vocational Skills.

 7,500 women’s group meetings held on home management, pomade –making, powder-

making batik, tie and dye making.

 450 community self-help projects were organized to provide basic social.

 1.950 study groups were organized to discuss topical issues such as Community Action

Plans.

 2, 617, 668 tree seedlings were raised in rural areas.

 4,837 schools enrolled into the school feeding programme.

 2, 030,077 school children were fed.

 15,000 women were trained in beauty care.

 9,000 people were trained in fashion and dressmaking.

 2,400 people were trained in rural transport.

 1,500 were trained in agro-processing.

 1,500 were trained in fishing and aquaculture.

 28,000 were trained in entrepreneurship skills.

Also, Crawford (2008) in his assessment of DAs contribution to alleviating poverty in rural

communities in Ghana observed that DAs engaged in the following developmental activities in

rural communities:

 Organized training programmes in “tie and dye” batik making for women in order to

enhance employment opportunities.

  Created Poverty Alleviation Funds to disburse low-interest loans to individuals, with the

aim to raise incomes through increased productivity and employment generation.

 Engaged in road construction and improvement (rehabilitation) of feeder roads to

enhance farmers’ access to markets and thereby increase their incomes.

 Constructed classrooms and teachers’ accommodation.

 Constructed health centres and nurses’ accommodation.

 Constructed boreholes and toilet facilities.

 Provided electricity supply.

 Built market structures.

 Provided family planning and HIV/AIDS awareness training.

 Developed small-scale industries and agro-processing facilities.

Crawford (2008) noted that rural communities that benefitted from the developmental activities

of DAs were generally of the view that DAs had contributed positively to development efforts in

their communities.

Challenges of District Assemblies in Pursuing Rural Development

While DAs engage in rural development activities in Ghana, they have had a limited impact on

reducing poverty in rural areas (Crawford, 2008). This situation is due to various challenges that

confront DAs. Some of the challenges of DAs include the following:

 Although funds from the DACF have recently increased, the constitutional minimum of

“five percent of the total revenues of Ghana” remains limited and subject to central

government control over its expenditure.

 Delays in the release of DACF to DAs in the fiscal year to conduct their operations and

development activities.

 The politicization of disbursing loans to rural dwellers with loans commonly disbursed to

ruling party supporters and high non-repayment rates (Crawford, 2008).

 DAs spend a large proportion of their available financial resources on itself, particularly

on the construction and refurbishment of Assembly buildings, including staff

accommodation, executive guest houses, on hardware (such as computers and

generators), on fuel for vehicles and on staff training; while mostly legitimate, this

suggests a degree of elite capture of local resources, in this case an official,

administrative elite created by the DA system itself (Crawford, 2008).

 DAs have no knowledge of, or control over, the finances of line departments – education,

health, and agriculture. These line departments are financially autonomous from the DA,

receiving funding from central government and operating according to guidelines from

their respective ministries, to whom they are accountable.

 It is estimated that 85% of government funds at the district level are not controlled by the

DAs, thus undermining their role as the planning, development and budgeting authority

(Local Government Act 1993, Article 3(1)) and their responsibility for poverty alleviation

within their geographical boundaries (Crawford, 2008).

 Although the DA’s roles and responsibilities may appear significant on paper (Local

Government Act 462, 1993), major service delivery remains in the hands of the line

departments. For rural communities, the key departments are those of health, education

and agriculture.
 The DA’s role in education and health provision is limited and controlled. In education,

the DA is responsible for the provision of school infrastructure, financed from its own

budget, but with implementation overseen by the district office of the Ghana Education

Service (GES) (Crawford, 2008).

 In health care, the DA can provide small-scale infrastructure and is obliged by central

government to spend at least 1% of the DACF on malaria prevention and 1% on

HIV/AIDS, with such funds frequently channelled directly to the district office of the

Ghana Health Service (GHS) for their usage (Crawford, 2008).

 DAs do not have control over road construction. They can select feeder roads for

construction and improvement, but it is dependent on the Department of Feeder Roads for

implementation and on central government for funding (Crawford, 2008). Thus, for road

projects, the DA has little or no influence on whether such projects are implemented.

 The development plans of DAs have failed to achieve the set goals and objectives as a

result of poor implementation. There is substantial slippage from plan to implementation

where 50% of planned projects are not implemented (Crawford, 2008).

 DAs engage in cash irregularities. A maximum of 96 Assemblies were found to have

engaged in cash irregularities totaling GH¢25,702,114.89 (Ghana Audit Service, 2016).

Some of these cash irregularities include unsubstantiated payments, DACF deductions for

items/services not supplied, financial assistance to staff without policy guidelines,

unbudgeted/unjustified budget overruns, unaccounted funds, misapplication of funds,

misappropriation of funds, unauthorised withdrawals, unpresented payment vouchers,

failure to allocate funds to substructures, and unsubstantiated financial assistance to

 students, overpayment of repair works, excessive cash payments, non prudent

expenditure (Ghana Audit Service, 2016).

 Decentralization in Ghana is characterized more by political control than by political

commitment the fact that DCEs are political appointees not civil servants confirms that

their function is to strengthen and consolidate ruling party control at local level, a sham

of the supposedly non-partisan DA system. The blatant manipulation of the system of

decentralization by ruling parties in Ghana to their “party political advantage” both

undermines such expectations and reduces the prospects for locally oriented poverty

alleviation programmes (Crawford, 2008).

Solutions to the Challenges Faced by DAs

 Government should increase the minimum 5% of total revenues constituting the DACF

so that DAs will have substantial funds to carry out more development projects and

programmes in rural communities.

 DAs must develop good development grant proposals to source funds from external

donors to carry out their development projects and programmes in rural communities.

 DAs should utilize less financial resources on its buildings and staff and rather prioritize

the needs of rural communities. This would augment the funds earmarked for rural

development.

 The activities of DAs should be depoliticized so that all citizens in rural areas have an

equal opportunity of benefit from development projects and programmes and not only

members of a ruling political party.

  DAs must play the lead role in their collaboration with line departments – health,

education, and agriculture – to ensure that development projects and programmes reflect

rural or local needs.

 DAs must play the lead role in their collaboration with the Ministry of Roads and

Transport in the provision of feeder roads so that the provision of this important

infrastructure will reflect local needs.

 DAs must receive training in plan implementation in order to be efficient in the

implementation of rural projects and programmes.

 DAs which engage in financial irregularities should be legally prosecuted and sanctioned

to deter such actions.

 Key official of DAs such as the District Chief Executive (DCE) should be elected so that

their allegiance and commitment lie with rural dwellers and not the government. This will

go a long way to ensure that DAs will be responsive to the needs of rural communities

thereby engendering rural development.

References

Crawford, G. (2008) Decentralization and the limits to poverty reduction: Findings from Ghana.

Oxford Development Studies 36(2), 235-258. doi: 10.1080/13600810701702002

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung. (2010). A guide to district assemblies in Ghana. Accra: Author.

Ghana Audit Service. (2016). Report of the auditor general: The management and utilisation of

district assemblies' common fund and other statutory funds for the year ended 31 December

2015. Accra: Author.

Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. (2012). Program based budget (PBB)

pilot for 2012-2014. Accra: Author.

Ribot, J.C. (2001), Local actors, powers and accountability in African decentralizations: A

review of issues (Unpublished paper prepared for International Development Research Center,

Canada. To be published by UNRISD).

Rondinelli, D. A. Nellis, J.R. and Cheema, G. S. (1984) Decentralisation in developing

countries, a review of recent experience. World Bank Staff Working Papers No.581.
 LECTURE EIGHT: LAND ISSUES AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

In rural environments, land is a natural resource and the major factor of production the world

over. Land is a unique, important and a fixed resource of limited quantity. It is fundamental to

the subsistence of rural societies, and as such a very strategic socio-economic asset. Thus, land

tenure security is a precondition for socio-economic development in rural communities. Indeed,

Ghana largely depends on primary land-based products such as agriculture, mining, and timber

for its growth and socio-economic development. The country possesses a great natural resource

base where about 40% of the total land area (230,020 sq. km) is arable or covered with crops and

pasture while about 35% is covered with forests and woodlands. This session examines the

concept of land tenure, land tenure in Ghana, types of lands in Ghana, challenges of land

acquisition and use, and solutions to problems of land acquisition and land tenure.

The Concept of Land Tenure

Land tenure is the set of rules and regulations which guide how land is owned, managed, and

alienated (Yeboah & Shaw, 2013). Kwapong (2009: 53) explains that “land tenure is about the

institutional framework within which interests in land are granted, acquired, held, and utilized or

left dormant in the process of land management and development.”

Land Tenure in Ghana

 Land tenure in Ghana is managed in a plural legal setting. Land administration in Ghana

is thus governed by both customary practices and enacted legislation. There are six

recognized types of interests/ownership in land in Ghana. These are:

  The Allodial Interest

 Customary Freehold

 Common Law Freehold

 Leasehold including subleases

 Customary Tenancies

 The State’s Right of Eminent Domain

Allodial Interest/Ownership

It is the highest ownership known in customary law. The allodial interest in land is held

originally by stools, skins, tendama, sub-stools, clans or families. In some traditional areas in

Ghana, it is held by stools or skins only. In other traditional areas, sub-stools, sub-skins, clans,

and families hold it. The allodial title is vested in the head of the land owning group who

administers it on behalf of the community with the consent and agreement of the key members of

the community. The allodial title is gained through discovery, conquest, or settlement and use by

the stool/skin and family. This interest or title can be transferred from one owner to the other

through purchase by an individual or community or transferred as gift to an individual or

community.

Customary Freehold/Usufruct

It is an ownership of land whereby the indigenes or members of the landowning community that

holds the allodial interest have the right to use the land according to the customary law of that

community. The indigenes or members can acquire the land by being the first to cultivate it or by

being apportioned land because he is a member of land owning group. Indigenes or members’
ownership spans an indefinite duration and is superior against the whole world including the

allodial titleholder. Any individual, group, sub-group of a community owning the allodial title

may obtain the customary freehold title or ownership of land by exercising his or her natural

right to cultivate any vacant virgin communal land. The customary freehold also includes the

right to occupy and derive economic benefits from any portion of the communally owned land

that has not been occupied previously by any member of the community. Thus, the usufruct can

cultivate, build or enjoy the use of the land in any way he chooses, insofar as he does not infringe

on the stool’s and state’s right to the minerals on the land. Such rights are confined to the land

area occupied by the member or indigene. Other rights to the land, apart from customary

freehold include hunting rights, rights to water, non-timber forest products and minerals. These

rights are derived rights which are also referred to as group rights. They are different from

customary freehold.

The customary freehold can be transferred as a gift or through testamentary disposition to

members of the community by the holder. However, transfer to members outside the land

owning group may be done only by the holder of the customary freehold with the permission of

the appropriate head and elders of the land owning community. The reason for this procedure is

to prevent outsiders from benefitting from the ancestral heritage of the community. The rationale

for the customary freehold is to ensure the permanent use of community or lineage land by

members thereby by ensuring the survival and continuity of the lineage.

Common Law Freehold

It is an interest or ownership of land through the sale or gift from the holder of the allodial title.

This is an interest in land that can be held by non-members of the community or lineage

(strangers) or foreigners for a maximum lease term of 50 years. Also, freehold rights in stool and

skin lands cannot be granted to both members of the land owning community and strangers. This

means that free hold rights to stool and skin lands are not granted. However, common law

freeholds can be obtained from lineage or family lands.

Leaseholds

These are rights granted to an individual to inhabit and use land for a particular period based on

agreed terms and the payment of an agreed rent. The holder of the allodial title, customary

freehold or common law freehold may grant a lease only regarding land that has not been already

granted. The leaseholders may also sub-lease the land if they wish to.

Lesser Interests

Holders of allodial title and customary freehold or common law freehold which are customary

tenancies may also create numerous lesser interests under customary law. These are normally

share-cropping contractual agreements whereby a tenant farmer gives a specified portion of the

produce of the farm to the landlord during harvesting periods. There are two common forms of

such agreements known as the ‘abunu’ (the harvest is shared equally -50/50) and the ‘abusa’

(two-thirds of the harvest goes to the farmer while one-third goes to the landlord) tenancy

agreements.
Apart from these two types of tenancy agreements, there are other types of agreements where the

tenancy agreement is based on monetary payments such as periodic rents.

The State’s Right of Eminent Domain

The state by its power of eminent domain can acquire any land in the country over which any of

the interests discussed above is held. Interests through statutory acquisitions are common law

freehold especially regarding total takeover (compulsory acquisition) or leasehold for a definite

period.

Types of Lands in Ghana

Based on the different types of land ownership or titles discussed above, lands in Ghana can be

categorized into two, that is, public and private (customary) lands.

Public Lands

There are two types of public lands in Ghana – state land and vested land.

State Land

This constitutes land that the government (state) has compulsorily obtained for particular public

use through its exercise of constitutional or statutory power of eminent domain. These lands are

entrusted to the President and held in trust by the State for the people of Ghana. Those who

previously held the land are entitled by law to monetary or land compensation. The 1992

Constitution makes provision for previous owners of lands acquired by the state to be fairly and

adequately compensated. The Lands Commission manages state lands on behalf of the President.
Vested Land

These are lands acquired by the state by law however the landowner continues to hold the

customary landownership. The land is administered by the state and held in trust for the land

owners. Vested lands are also managed by the Lands Commission on behalf of the President.

Customary Land

Customary land comprises stool, skin, clan, and family lands. These lands, including vested

lands, constitute about 80-90% of land holding in Ghana. They are communally owned,

transmitted from one generation to another, held in trust by the head of community for the whole

clan or family and guided by the belief that land is owned by the ancestors (dead), the living and

the unborn. The allodial title to the land is vested in the community, clan or family and cannot be

transferred.

Stool Lands

Stool lands are lands owned land controlled by a stool, skin, the head of a particular community

or the captain of a company, for the benefit of the subjects of that Stool or the members of that

particular community or company. The occupant of a stool thus holds land and in trust for the

subjects of the stool in accordance with customary law and practice. In Ghana, stool lands are

common in areas that have centralized traditional political systems, as such traditional authorities

in these areas hold the allodial title to land. No freeholds can be granted of such lands, including

customary freeholds.
Family Lands

There are some traditional groups in some regions in Ghana – Volta, Central, Eastern, Greater-

Accra, Northern, Upper East and Upper West - where stools and skins are not the entities that

hold communal land. In these areas, lands are rather owned by families thus the allodial title to

land is vested in families or clans. Family lands constitute about 35% of customary land

ownership in Ghana.

Individual Lands

Individual lands are lands owned by individuals which are derived from common law freeholds.

Challenges of Land Acquisition and Use

Commercialization of Land and Reduction in Land Access: The commercialization of land

has increased due to commercial farming investments, residential purposes, urbanization,

and mining.

 Commercial Farming: Land has been commercialized due to investments in farming by

corporate bodies. According to Schonevald, German, and Nutakor (2010), seventeen

companies, fifteen of which are foreign-owned acquired a total of 1,075,000 hectares of

land in 2009 for the cultivation of jatropha, mostly in the Brong Ahafo and Ashanti

regions of Ghana. Also, Greenleaf Global in 2011 acquired 10,000 hectares of land for

the cultivation of maize largely for the export market in the Volta Region. These

acquisitions have increased the value of land and led to the displacement of farmers and
 rural dwellers (ElHadary & Obeng-Odoom, 2012). Furthermore, displaced farmers often

receive very small or no compensation or restitution and are left hoping that the returns of

this foreign investment will trickle down to them. Also, the grabs lead to a deterioration

of soil quality because farmers no longer have sufficient land to practice the fallow

system, which usually leads to a natural replenishing of lost nutrients in the soil. A loss in

soil quality, in turn, leads to a reduction in yield and quality of nutritious food. In the long

run, it is likely that there will be pressure to till hitherto uncultivated land and forest

reserves in Ghana

 Residential Needs: According to Kasanga and Kotey (2001), subsistence agricultural

land has acquired real value with rising land prices due to flourishing housing land

markets. They indicate that in some rural communities in the Ashanti region, 50% to 70%

of male and female farmers have lost their agricultural land holdings as a consequence of

housing projects. They conclude that housing remains the predominant land use in the

land conversion process.

 Urbanization: Urbanization has enhanced the market value of land (Kasanga & Kotey,

2001). As a consequence, lands particularly in villages close to peri-urban communities

have been sold to non-indigenes. For instance, Gough and Yankson (2000) in their study

of land markets in Agbogba, Ashale Botwe, La Bawaleshie, Pantang, and Gbawe - peri-

urban communities in Accra - observed that chiefs and land owning families in these

communities had sold large tracts of lands used for farming and as such it forced

indigenous farmers to access lands located many miles away from their communities.
 According to them, this situation discouraged especially the elderly from engaging in

farming activities.

 Mining: Mining companies also acquire large tracts of rural land for mining activities

which deprive rural dwellers of land for farming activities. For instance, Alhassan (2006)

indicates that a mining firm at Bogoso obtained mineral prospecting rights over a large

tract of land in the Anyanabrim stool area of Amenfi which deprived the rural community

members of land thereby increasing their landlessness and poverty.

Compulsory State Land Acquisition and Reduction in Rural Land Access: Larbi, Antwi,

and Olomolaiye (2004) indicate that between 1850 and 2004, the state executed 1,336

instruments to obtain land compulsorily. It acquired land in all the regions of Ghana. The regions

with the largest shares of compulsorily obtained lands are Greater Accra (34.1%), Western

(26.7%), Ashanti (13.3%), and Brong Ahafo (10.1%). According to Kwapong (2009),

government compulsory acquisitions throughout the years for infrastructure and conservation

purposes such as roads, offices, security installations, educational facilities, forests, and mineral

reserves has deprived farmers’ access to land and has created a situation where particularly

young people do not have lands to farm to eke out a living. According to ElHadary & Obeng-

Odoom (2012) governments in Ghana acquire land and give it to their cronies or people who

voted for their favourite politicians while dispossessing people who voted against their preferred

politicians. Thus, they note that some agents of the state (in the government) use state land in

ways that are contrary to the provisions of the constitution. ElHadary and Obeng-Odoom (2012)

further note that the state owes a huge amount in compensation payment, which varies among the

regions of Ghana. For instance, in the Central Region, the state has paid compensation for only
20.4 percent of the 692 parcels of land it has purportedly acquired. It is estimated that about $66

million is required to settle compensation claims in the region. In instances where compensation

is paid, it goes to the chiefs and traditional authorities, who are only trustees, rather than the

common people, who make a living through farming.

Unfair Sharing of Rural Land Revenues between the State and Rural Communities: Wily

and Hammond (2001) have noted that the state has taken over control of forestland as both

manager and regulator of their use. According to them, these communal lands are rich in sand,

stones, riverbed palms, and timber, among others and the revenues that accrue from these

resources are not shared fairly with the host communities. They indicate that approximately 60%

of revenues go to Forestry Commission, 10% is taken by the Office of the Administrator of Stool

Lands (OASL) while the rest (30%) is distributed according to a constitutional formula among

the owners of the stool. The constitutional formula requires the OASL to give 25% to the stool

and 55% to the District Assembly (Constitution 1992 Article 267 [6]) while there is no

stipulation regarding how much is distributed to community members. Kwapong (2009) thus

concludes that this situation creates a scenario where the chief of the community may not use the

resources to develop his community but rather use it to meet his personal needs and thereby

renege his obligation to share with members of the community due mainly to the fact that 55% of

the revenue has been given to the District Assembly to bring development to members of the

district.

Sale of Land by Traditional Authorities: The increasing commercialisation of land has

increased the tendency of chiefs to sell large parcels of land without consulting other members,
or sharing the revenues from the sale (Alhassan, 2006). Furthermore, the sale of stool lands has

been fuelled by the need to financially maintain stools, chiefs, queen mothers, and their elders as

well as the need for cash to fight litigation in the courts in order to protect community lands from

rivals (Kasanga & Kotey, 2001). As a result of this situation, many rural dwellers are deprived of

land that they utilized previously as a birthright. Thus corruption is creeping into the chieftaincy

institutions as chiefs are observed to be shifting from being custodians of the lands to becoming

landowners (Kwapong, 2009).

Sale of Land by Family Heads: The increasing commercialisation of land has also increased the

tendency of family heads to sell large parcels of land without consulting other family members,

or sharing the revenues from the sale with their families. Over the years, as the demand for land

has increased as well as its market value, family heads have sold large portions of their lands for

monetary gain and as a result have deprived members of their families of farmlands in many

parts of rural Ghana (Gough & Yankson, 2000; Kasanga & Kotey, 2001).

Misappropriation of Community Lands by Indigenous Families: According to Alhassan

(2006) families have appropriated community lands because as indigenes, they have rights to

virgin or unoccupied lands, and could cultivate such plots without the permission of the chief.

These indigenes are required to inform the chiefs and stools of all share cropping contracts with

tenant farmers but because they do not want to share the proceeds with the chiefs they do not

inform the stools. The lands they acquired are eventually passed on to family members upon the

demise of the original holder of the land and does not revert back to the community or stool. This

situation has contributed to inaccessible land for farming in rural areas of Ghana.
Lack of Ability to Manage Customary Lands: The capacity of traditional authorities, families,

and individuals to administer customary lands is also weak and has contributed to the decline of

land access in rural communities. Traditional authorities, families, and individuals often do not

have any records on land transactions they have carried out. They rely on public sector agencies

to administer their lands in terms of recognized registration, authorization, and official revenue

collection. This has resulted in their losing control over their lands and confusion over revenues

(Wily & Hammond, 2001).

Unequal Gendered Access to Land: According to customary law, all members of a lineage are

entitled to use rights or customary freehold regardless of their sex. In practice, however, male

heads of family are in charge of setting up land tenure arrangements, sometimes even in

matrilineal societies. The result is that women’s access to and use of land is through their male

counterparts. Such practices limit women’s direct access to land -owned or used- until they reach

an older age (FAO, 2012). Aryeetey (2002) also notes that even when women are allocated

lands, these lands are poor in quality compared to those allocated to men.

Diminishing Access to and Use of Common Property Resources (CPRs): Members of the

landowning community that holds the allodial interest also have the right to use the common

property resources of the land. These resources include water, durbar/funeral grounds, grazing

grounds, and non-timber forest products (NTFPs) among others. Customary rules in the past

sustained the use of these resources. However, a number of factors have contributed to the

decline of CPRs in rural communities. These factors include the growing population of people
and animals, diminishing supply of land, inter and intra regional migration and urbanization. As

a consequence of these factors the livelihood options of rural dwellers in terms of relying on

these resources, have diminished and therefore has consequences on rural poverty reduction

strategies.

High Land Rents and Lack of Access to Land: Some landlords in rural areas charge high rents

twice the amount they are supposed to charge (Alhassan, 2006). The result is that poor farmers

are not able to afford these rents and therefore do not have access to farmlands. Also, in some

cases advance payments are demanded – 2 to 4 years cash payment - before tenants are given the

permission to use the land. This situation also reduces rural farmers’ access to land particularly

tenant farmers.

Current Insecure Practice of Abusa and Abunu and Reduction in Land Access: Alhassan

(2006) indicates that in the past the customary tenancy practice of Abunu and Abusa ensured

tenant farmers’ access to land and contributed to increased agricultural production. However in

present times, the practice creates insecurity of title and frustrates tenants due to a number of

reasons including conflicts over land boundaries, lack of documentation of their leases, and

double sales of land by landlords. These current developments have resulted in farmers being

ejected from their holdings. This situation also reduces tenant farmers’ access to land.

Land and Chieftaincy Disputes and Loss of Livelihoods

Kasanga and Kotey (2001) have noted that land and chieftaincy disputes culminate into conflict

which eventually leads to loss of livelihoods and life. According to them, land and chieftaincy

disputes in the Northern region in 1994/95 resulted in communal conflict amongst the key ethnic

groups in the Northern region including the Dagombas, Gonjas and the Kokombas. These

conflicts led to the displacement of people, loss of lives, property, and livelihoods.

Solutions to Land Acquisition and Tenure Challenges

To address the challenges of land acquisition and access in Ghana, the following actions need to

be taken:

 When land is acquired through purchase, lease, concession, or other legal or customary

means of transfer, it must proceed on the basis of a rigorous application of the principles

of Free, Prior, and Informed Consent of existing users and claimants. Furthermore, the

fundamental principles of social and natural justice, the rule of law, equity and efficiency

must be adhered to so that the needs of rural dwellers with regards to land will be

addressed.

 Decision-making over land must be inclusive, transparent, and accountable. Without

transparency, accountability, and open debate, decision-making over land will continue to

be influenced by vested interests at the expense of rural land users. Also, without

transparency, land acquirers cannot be held accountable to contractual obligations,

 national laws, or voluntary guidelines. This would help to resolve land issues particularly

regarding the wrong beneficiaries of land sales in rural Ghana.

 Land acquisitions by corporate bodies should not be solely based on monetary

considerations but on partnerships between corporate bodies and communities such as

equity sharing or contract farming, which may provide mutually beneficial solutions

where communities have the necessary secure resource rights, organisation, and

negotiating capacity.

 Constitutional amendments are needed so that the revenues that accrue from land are

shared fairly between the state and rural communities so that rural communities will be

able to use these substantial revenues to develop their communities.

 The state must improve the capacity for collective action and networking by local

populations, in particular social movements representing farmers, women, landless

people (tenant farmers), and indigenous peoples to fully ensure the disclosure of

information on existing and new land contracts to ensure transparency and accountability

as well as guarantee that disadvantaged groups are not deprived of their lands and

livelihoods.

 To avoid disputes over land as well as conflict, the demarcation of community land areas

or territories is vital and must be based on mutual agreements in the face of increasing

competition for land.

 Land decision making has inherent risks that are longstanding and often has irreversible

implications for rural populations, thus the state should consider the imposition of

temporary moratoria on large-scale land acquisitions to allow meaningful and inclusive

debate to take place and national frameworks to be agreed.

 There is the need for awareness creation on contemporary developments in the

administration of land, for the benefit of the farmer at the village. This can be done

through the national media as well as through selected NGOs, Community Based

Organisations (CBOs), and other community groups such as farmer cooperatives.

 During land reform, the negotiating table is generally reserved for the very powerful and

wealthy stakeholders, excluding the vast majority of the poor land users, land poor, and

landless, whose productivity and linkage to the economy are key to eradicating rural

poverty. Thus, disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in rural areas must be given an

active voice in land reform and negotiations.

 International donor agencies and NGOs must support rural communities to bring both

local and international legal action against the state to ensure that it compensates rural

communities for the lands it has compulsorily acquired.

  Strong legal sanctions should be preferred against chiefs, family heads, and individuals

who contravene the law regarding the sale of land in rural areas. This will go a long way

to halt the indiscriminate misappropriation and sale of land in rural areas.

References

Alhassan, O. (2006). Land access and security of tenure in Ghana: Some considerations for

improvement. Paper presented at the international conference on agrarian reform and rural

development (ICARRD) Porto Alegre, Brazil, 7-10 march, 2006.

ElHadary, Y.A.E. & Obeng-Odoom, F. (2012). Conventions, changes, and contradictions in land

governance in Africa: The story of land grabbing in North Sudan and Ghana. Africa Today 59

(2), 58-78.

Kasanga, K., & Kotey, N. A. (2001). Land management in Ghana: Building on tradition and

modernity. London: International Institute for Environment and Development.

Kwapong, O. (2009). The poor and land: A situational analysis of access to land by poor land

users in Ghana. Journal of Rural and Community Development 4(1) 51–66.

Larbi, O.W. & Antwi, A., & Olomolaiye, P. (2004). Compulsory land acquisition in Ghana:

Policy and praxis. Land Use Policy 21,115–127.

Wily, A. L., & Hammond, D. (2001). Land security and the poor in Ghana: Is there a way

forward? A land scoping study. Accra, Ghana: Ministry of Land and Forestry/DFID.

Yeboah, E., & Shaw, D.P. (2013). Customary land tenure practices in Ghana: Examining the

relationship with land-use planning delivery. International Development Planning Review 35(1),

21-39.
 LECTURE NINE: AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Globally, the traditional economic base in rural areas is agriculture. Thus, scholars, the public,

and policy makers, view agriculture as the lead generator of rural development across nations. In

most countries, policy focus on agriculture has historically been synonymous with rural

development policy. IFAD (2016) acknowledges that increase in agricultural productivity as well

as increasing commercialization and marketable surpluses lead to rural transformation. This

session thus examines the agricultural sector in rural Ghana, the constraints associated with

Ghanaian agriculture and the strategies that can be adopted to improve agriculture in Ghana to

engender rural development.

Overview of Ghana’s Agricultural Sector

Agriculture is very important to the Ghanaian economy, playing a critical role in ensuring food

security, as well as socio-economic development. The agricultural sector is the largest employer

in Ghana, employing 41.7 percent of the Ghanaian population (GSS, 2014). In rural areas,

agricultural and fishery occupations are predominant, engaging 69.5 percent of all workers (GSS,

2014). Agriculture used to be a key contributor to GDP in Ghana, but in recent times, its

contribution has been dwindling. For instance, in 2005 the agricultural sector was the highest

contributor to GDP contributing 42%, however it contributed 22% (third highest contributor) to

GDP in 2013 (GSS, 2013). In spite of its declining contribution to GDP, the sector continues to

be paramount in rural communities.

Agriculture Sub-sectors

The agriculture sector is made up of five major sub sectors – food crops, livestock, fisheries,

cocoa, and forestry. The crops sector is the highest contributor to GDP, contributing 61.2% to

GDP, while cocoa, forestry, livestock, and fishing contribute 13.3%, 11.1%, 7.5% and 1.9%

respectively to GDP.

Agro-ecological Zones

There are 5 main agro-ecological zones defined on the basis of climate, reflected by the natural

vegetation and influenced by the soils. These are Rain Forest, Deciduous Forest, Transitional

Zone, Coastal Savanna and Northern Savanna (Guinea and Sudan Savanna). Rainfall distribution

is bimodal in the Forest, Transitional and Coastal Zones, giving a major and minor growing

season while the Guinea Savanna and Sudan Savanna, which is unimodal gives a single growing

season.

Farming Systems

Agricultural production in rural Ghana is characterized by small farms: about 2.7 million holders

own farms with an average holding of 1.2 hectares; these farms account for 80 percent of the

total agricultural production and 82 percent of land is dedicated to farming activities (FAO,

2012). However, there are some large farms and plantations, particularly for rubber, oil palm and

coconut and to a lesser extent, rice, maize and pineapples. The main system of farming is

traditional. The two main farming tools used are the hoe and cutlass. There is minimum

mechanized farming, but bullock labour is utilized in farming in some parts of Ghana, especially
in the North. Most food crop farms are intercropped. Mono cropping is mostly associated with

larger-scale commercial farms.

In Ghana, due to the small size of most farms, market-oriented activities are limited, and as such,

approximately 77 percent of farmers are involved in subsistence farming (FAO, 2012). For many

households a large proportion of the food consumed comes from their farms. According to GLSS

6, on the average, a household in Ghana consumes GH¢4,702.47 worth of its own produced food

items and GH¢201.28 of own produced alcoholic drinks (GSS, 2014). The consumption of own

produce takes place mostly in rural households with an average value of GH¢5,004.56, compared

to GH¢3,713.62 for urban households. The estimated annual consumption of roots and tubers

and plantain in the rural areas (GH¢2,608.46) is about four times that of urban areas

(GH¢623.84).

According to GLSS 6, about 1.9 million farming households purchased herbicides for use on

their farms and one million purchased insecticides for their farming activities. About 1.6 million

hired labour to work on the farms and 1.4 million households purchased locally made hand tools.

Out of the total amount of GH¢1,833.16 million spent on different types of agricultural inputs by

households, as much as 80 percent was spent on crop inputs, while only 10 percent and 9 percent

were spent on livestock and fish inputs respectively.

About 85 percent of the households purchase their agricultural inputs from private dealers.

Similar to the case of crop inputs, more than 90 percent of livestock inputs are purchased from

private dealers. About 52 percent of households reported that inorganic fertilizers are difficult to
come by while 8.3 and 9.6 percent of households respectively, reported non-availability of farm

labour and animals to rent for use on their farms.

According to GLSS 6, agricultural operators are common in the rural savannah with about 93

percent of households involved. The corresponding figures for the rural forest and rural coastal is

81.3 percent and 64.7 percent respectively (GSS, 2014). Nearly 2 million (1,825,882) households

are involved in raising chickens while more than a million (1,061,784) own goats. A much

smaller number of households own other forms of livestock (8,507) and ostriches (695).

Livestock rearing is concentrated in the rural savannah areas where 86 percent of draught

animals, 63 percent of cattle and about 80 percent of guinea fowls are being reared.

Apiculture (bee keeping) is mainly practiced in the rural forest areas where about 91 percent of

households involved in this activity are found. Rural forest (51.4%) areas also engaged in snail

farming (GSS, 2014).

With regard to the types of crops harvested, a little over two million (2.1 million) households

harvested maize. Other major crops, in terms of the number of households involved, are cocoa

(794,129), groundnut/peanut (534,766), beans/peas (362,333) and rice (332,504). Estimates of

the number of households in each ecological zone that harvested different crops in the previous

12 months vary widely across the country depending on the types of crop grown. Maize and

cocoa are the only staple grain and cash crops grown extensively in all the three zones. More

than half of the two million households that cultivate maize are located in the forest zone. Tiger
nut, shea nut, tobacco, sorghum and cotton are exclusively grown by households in the savannah

zone.

The GLSS 6 notes that cocoa, cassava, and plantain are the three most important cash crops

grown in the forest zone, accounting for 62 percent of total harvest value of crops (GSS, 2014).

Cassava and cocoa are also the two most important crops in the coastal zone though their values

are not as much compared to those of the forest and savannah zones. Maize and yam account for

more than half of the total crop harvest value in the savannah zone. In terms of the value of crop

sales, cocoa is the most important accounting for 45 percent of crop sales in the forest zone while

yam and maize represent 59 percent of sales in the savannah zone. Again, cocoa is the most

important crop in terms of the value of sales in the coastal zone, accounting for 24 percent. Other

crops of significant value in the coastal zone are oil palm (22%) and cassava (16%).

Game hunting is second in terms of value, accounting for 12 percent of the total sales, with the

bigger share of sales being derived in the rural areas as expected. The data also show that a large

number of households derive income from the sale of fruits and berries followed by the sale of

snails and hunting than for the other items.

Fishing is also a very important component of agriculture in rural Ghana. With a marine

coastline of 550 km, the fishing industry plays a major role in sustaining livelihoods in many

households and communities. The fishing industry in Ghana supports the livelihood of about

10% of the population. The importance of the fishing industry stems from the significant
contribution of around 60% of the national protein supply and around $87 million exports in

2009 (Antwi-Asare & Abbey, 2011).

The fisheries sector is made up of marine and inland fisheries. The marine fisheries sector is

usually categorized into four subsectors: small scale (or artisanal), semi-industrial (or inshore),

industrial and tuna. Of these, the small scale or artisanal fisheries subsector is the most important

with respect to landed weight of fish, it accounts namely for approximately 70 to 80 percent of

the national marine fish production (Amador et al., 2006). Inland fishing largely takes place in

Lake Volta. The Lake Volta, reservoirs associated with irrigation and potable water projects and

fishponds are the main sources of freshwater fish in Ghana. Fishing in Lake Volta (with a surface

area of 8480 km² and 5200 km of shoreline) contributes about 90 percent of the total inland

fishery production in Ghana, which is around 90 000 metric tonnes. About 80 000 fishers and 20

000 fish processors and traders are engaged in the Lake Volta fishery. There are 17500 canoes

actively fishing in the Lake Volta (Antwi-Asare & Abbey, 2011).

Constraints Associated with Ghanaian Agriculture

Ghanaian agricultural output is inadequate to meet local demand. Ghana’s agricultural

production meets only 50% of domestic cereal and meat needs, 60% of domestic fish

consumption and less than 30% of the raw materials needed for agro-based industries (Ghana &

UNESCO, 2010). The low output of agricultural production in the country is due to a number of

constraints:
Predominance of smallholder farmers: An overwhelming majority of farmers in Ghana

operate small farms. These farms account for 80 percent of the total agricultural production in

the country. The out-put of these small farms are low and translates into low national agricultural

out-put.

Low level of technology: The majority of farmers in Ghana use simple tools such as hoes and

cutlasses. The use of these simple tools means that relatively small parcels of land can be cleared

for cultivation. Indeed, this is one of the key reasons why slightly more than half (55.9%) of the

land is under cultivation in the country. Thus, the use of simple tools rather mechanized farming

explains low agricultural output in the country.

Lack of Storage Facilities: One of the key reasons why Ghana is not self-sufficient in food

production is because Ghanaian agriculture is rain-fed and thus it is difficult to ensure food

availability in sufficient quantities all year round. During periods of good rains, food abounds

however the excess crop harvest perish due to inadequate storage facilities.

In Ghana, the major industrial crops such as cotton, coconut, oil palm, and rubber are not

optimally produced due to the unavailability of high yielding planting material, poor agronomic

methods, and cultivation on small farms (Ghana & UNESCO, 2010).

Lack of Irrigation Facilities: Although irrigation is indispensable in enhancing agriculture, less

than 1% of arable land is under irrigation. Furthermore, the poor management of existing

irrigation systems also limits their effectiveness. Thus, irrigation has a negligible impact on
Ghana’s food production. The land area under cultivation is 11,000 ha in Ghana however there

are about 500,000 ha of unutilized inland valleys that could be developed for cultivation

purposes through irrigation (Ghana & UNESCO, 2010).

Subsistence Agriculture: In Ghana, due to the small size of most farms, market-oriented

activities are limited, and as such, approximately 77 percent of farmers are involved in

subsistence farming (FAO, 2012). For many households a large proportion of the food consumed

comes from their farms. According to GLSS 6, on the average, a household in Ghana consumes

GH¢4,702.47 worth of its own produced food items and GH¢201.28 of own produced alcoholic

drinks (GSS, 2014). The consumption of own produce takes place mostly in rural households

with an average value of GH¢5,004.56, compared to GH¢3,713.62 for urban households.

Lack of credit facilities: Access to rural credit for small-scale farmers is constrained in the main

by lack of collateral security in the form of property and stable employment. Furthermore,

challenges such as a history of default on subsidized loans by farmers, issues of land tenure, and

weather risks combine to reduce farmers’ access to credit to invest and expand their farming

activities, remain in gainful employment and able to take care of the needs of their immediate

and extended families. Limited access to credit and finance can further impede efforts invest in

future production or to take a risk and diversify into producing new crops.

Lack of Access to Land: On the average, only 10 per cent of Ghanaian women farmers and 23

percent of male farmers own land (SEND Ghana, 2014). Farmers who do not own farm land

have to rent land and particularly poor farmers cannot afford to pay rent and therefore become
landless. Furthermore, farmers who do not own land enter into tenancy agreements that require

them to share their harvests with land lords which deprive them of the full benefits of farming.

Inadequate Agricultural Extension Services: Extension services delivery is important in

promoting agricultural innovation. Over the years, the demand for extension services increased

however, the availability of such services remains low for farmers. The evidence on extension

services delivery in Ghana reveals that of the 3,909 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs)

required in the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, only 2,068 are filled resulting in a very low

AEA farmer ratio (1:1,500) as well as the fact that only 56 per cent of operational areas have

designated extension officers (SEND Ghana, 2014).

Lack of Transportation Infrastructure: Transportation problems such as poor roads,

irregularity and high transport fares undermine the smooth transportation of agricultural

commodities from the farm or village to the markets. Rail and water transportation are minimal

in rural Ghana. Transportation of food crops in Ghana is done mainly by carrying produce on

one’s head or by trucks. Thus, the lack of transportation leads to perishable crops on farmlands

and also impedes farmers’ access to markets.

The limited size of the local market: The market opportunities available to farmers within their

rural communities are low due the low population densities of rural communities as well as the

low incomes of the people. As a consequence, farmers are forced to sell their farm produce at

prices that are far below the cost of the labour they utilized in their farming activities. This

situation does not make farming attractive especially to young people in the country.
Inability of farmers to access basic technology: The suitable technology relevant for land

preparation, cultivation, harvesting, and processing are not within the reach of the rural farmers.

Often, rural farmers do not have the financial capacity to acquire these equipments which result

on low agricultural output and low incomes of farmers. Thus, the average food crop farmer in

Ghana is unlikely to use fertilizers, insecticides or high yielding seed varieties in their farming

activities (FAO, 2012).

The low production of livestock in the country is due to a number of challenges including low

genetic make-up of livestock species, poor management practices, inadequate availability of

quality feed, low application of good agricultural practices in production, poor handling and

transportation of livestock/livestock products and poor quality of data and monitoring system

(Ghana & UNESCO, 2010).

Over Fishing: One of the major problems in the fisheries sector in Ghana is over fishing. As a

result fish catch over the years have been declining and this has direct impact on fisheries

livelihood through income and profit reduction.

Strategies to Improve Agriculture and Engender Rural Development

Agricultural development is about improving the quality of life and economic well-being of

agricultural workers. It focuses on the exploitation of land-intensive natural resources such as

agriculture, livestock, forestry and fisheries. It involves improving agricultural services,

agricultural incentives and technologies, and the resources used in agriculture, such as land,

irrigation, human capital and rural infrastructure.

Introduction of Input Subsidies: In order to raise the out-put of agriculture in Ghana, there is

the need for government to introduce a system whereby agricultural inputs such as fertilizers,

pesticides, and high yielding seeds can be provided to farmers as subsidized rates so that farmers

can afford to purchase these inputs and utilize them in their farming activities. This measure will

raise the agricultural output in rural areas which will also lead to increased income of farmers.

Improve access to mechanized farming equipments: Due to the low level of agricultural

mechanization in the country, it is crucial for government to provide credit facilities to the

appropriate private sector companies to buy agricultural machinery at subsidized prices which

will in turn be rented out to rural farmers at very low and affordable prices. This measure will

enable farmers to cultivate larger tracts of land which expand agricultural output in the country.

Introduction of national buffer stocks and minimum guaranteed prices for farmers: To

reduce post harvest losses and ensure stable prices for farmers there is the need for national food

buffer stock corporations to be established with the sole aim of buying, storing, selling, and

distributing excess agricultural products from warehouses all over the country. These companies

will buy various agricultural products from farmers at minimum prices that ensure that farmers

will make a decent profit. This measure will ensure price stability, reduction in post-harvest

losses, lower prices for consumers and higher prices for farmers resulting in increased

production.
Improvement in Extension Services: Smallholder farmers can improve their productivity by

accessing training or information on the best farming techniques, on new, higher-yielding crop

varieties or on what crops are likely to produce.

Increase Access to Credit: Farmers lack of assets usually prevents them from accessing formal

institutional credit. The lack of credit particularly for the purchase of agricultural inputs remains

one the major impediments to agricultural development. Farmers tend to secure credit from

micro financial companies as these companies usually do not demand collateral before granting

credit. Thus, there is the need to expand micro finance schemes for farmers so that it will enable

especially poor farmers to expand their farming operations.

Improve Roads: Poor roads are characteristic of rural areas. This situation makes it difficult for

farmers to transport their produce especially in the rainy season. Thus, there is the need for the

construction of good roads to link farming communities to market centres so that farmers can

market their produce.

Improve Irrigation: To ensure year round farming in Ghana, there is the need for the

establishment of micro-irrigation and valley bottom irrigation schemes in rural communities.

Furthermore, irrigation infrastructure can be provided through the promotion of partnerships

between the public and private sector in the provision of large commercial irrigation

infrastructure.
Increase Access to Markets: Due to limited local markets, farmers sell their produce at very

low prices. It is therefore vital to increase Ghanaian farmers’ access to markets beyond the

shores of Ghana. Initiatives must be promoted to open up the ECOWAS sub-regional markets to

Ghanaian agricultural products. Furthermore, the state must pursue bilateral agreements with

European, Asian, American, South American countries so that Ghanaian agricultural products

can be exported to various countries. The increase in access to markets will in turn increase

farmers’ incomes and farm expansion.

Promote livestock production: To improve the production of livestock in the country, there is

the need to implement a number of strategies including improving animal health (using

community animal health workers); improving access to quality feed and water; enhancing the

performance of indigenous breeds through a programme of selection; developing commercial

poultry; and improving livestock farmers’ access to technology.

Increase fish production: To increase fish production, the state needs to construct more fishing

harbours and landing sites as well as cold-stores in the main fishing communities along the coast

and rivers in the country. The government must also provide efficient fishing patrol vessels, for

the monitoring, control and surveillance (MCS) division of the fisheries commission, to enable

them perform their duties effectively in dealing with illegal fishing methods.

All the strategies discussed above will ultimately bring about rural development due to the fact

that these strategies will expand the agricultural activities of farmers and transform the

traditional smallholder farming practiced in Ghana to moderate commercialized farming. This

transformation will ensure farmers’ increase in access to income. The expansion of agriculture

will also bring about increased employment opportunities in rural economies in Ghana. Increased

incomes and employment allow better nutrition, health and increased investment in education

leading indirectly to higher labor productivity. Increase in economic activities also generates

more local tax revenue and increase rural dwellers demand for better infrastructure, contributing

to second round effects promoting the rural economy. Linkages in the production chain also

generate trust and information, build social capital and facilitate non-farm investment. Thus,

improvement and the modernization of agriculture in rural Ghana will engender rural

development and transformation.

References

Chamberlin, J. (2007). Defining smallholder agriculture in Ghana: Who are smallholders, what

do they do and how are they linked with markets? Ghana Strategy Support Program

(GSSP)Background Paper No. GSSP 0006. Accra: International Food Policy Research Institute

(IFPR).

Food and Agriculture Organisation. (2012). Gender inequalities in rural employment in Ghana:

An overview. Rome: Author.

Ghana and UNESCO. (2010). Ghana and UNESCO annual magazine: 2nd edition 2009/2010.

Accra: Ghana National Commission for UNESCO.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2013b). 2010 Population and housing census: National analytical

report. Accra, Ghana: Author.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Main report. Accra:

Author.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014a). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Poverty profile in

Ghana 2005-2013. Accra: Author.

Ministry of Food and Agriculture. (2013). Agriculture in Ghana: Facts and figures. Accra:

Author.

SEND Ghana. (2014). Women and smallholder agriculture in Ghana. Policy Brief No. 4. Accra:

Author.
 LECTURE TEN: NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS (NGOs) AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) act as external agents of change as research

demonstrates that they have the capability to change traditional cultural values slowly and

partially and are successful in reducing poverty. Thus, NGOs are able to change the culture of

rural societies by enhancing the capabilities of people and ensuring socio-economic development

of households in rural areas. Hence, this session examines the term NGO, types of NGOs, the

activities of NGOs in engendering rural development, and the challenges NGOs experience in

bring about transformation in rural communities.

Defining NGOs

The term NGOs can be used to refer to all voluntary, non-profit, non-state social organisations,

with varying functions; levels of operation; organisational structures; goals and membership

(Hushie, 2016). Malena (1995:13) also defines NGOs as “private organizations that pursue

activities to relieve suffering, promote the interests of the poor, protect the environment, provide

basic social services, or undertake community development”. She further notes broadly that the

term NGO can be applied to any non-profit organization which is independent from government

and are usually value-based organizations which depend, in whole or in part, on charitable

donations and voluntary service. Thus, NGOs include citizens’ groups or associations providing
social services (e.g. health and education); development-oriented organisations; lobbying and

advocacy groups seeking to effect changes in public policies that adversely affect the poor and

marginalized in society (Hushie, 2016).

Types of NGOs

According to Cousins (1991), NGOs can be differentiated based on their orientation and level of

operation. The types of NGOs based on orientation include:

Charitable Orientation: These are NGOs that pursue activities that satisfy the needs of the poor

such as the delivery of food, clothing and medicine as well as the provision of housing, transport,

and schools among others. NGOs with charitable orientation may also engage in relief activities

during disasters.

Service Orientation: These are NGOs that design programmes to provide services such as

health, family planning or education services in which the beneficiaries of these services help in

the implementation of these services. In other words, the beneficiaries are made to own the

programme.

Participatory Orientation: These are NGOs that pursue self-help projects involving local

people or the target beneficiaries who define their own problems and challenges and contribute

cash, tools, land, materials, labour, and ideas as well as implement the project. Cooperatives

usually belong to this category of NGOs.

Empowering Orientation: NGOs that have an empowering orientation often have the objective

of assisting poor people have a clearer comprehension of the social, political, and economic
factors that impact their lives, and to increase their awareness of their own potential abilities to

control their lives. Often, these NGOs come into being as a consequence of the need to solve a

challenging issue or as a result of NGOs assisting in the creation of such a body to deal with an

issue.

NGOs that can be differentiated on the basis of level of operation include:

Community-Based Organizations (CBOs): CBOs serve a specific population in a narrow

geographic area. These NGOs develop out of people's own initiatives and comprise sports clubs,

women's organizations, neighbourhood organizations, religious organizations and educational

organizations among others. Some of these CBOs are also assisted by NGOs, national or

international NGOs, and bilateral or international agencies while others are not. Often these

organizations provide services to the vulnerable and needy in their communities or assist their

communities to secure access to needed services.

National NGOs: Are organizations that operate in individual countries.

International NGOs: These are NGOs which are typically headquartered in developed countries

and carry out operations in several developing countries. Examples of such NGOs include Save

the Children, OXFAM, CARE, and Ford and Rockefeller Foundations that mainly fund local

NGOs, institutions and projects, as well as implement their own projects.

Rural Development Activities of NGOs in Ghana

There are many NGOs that engage developmental activities in rural communities in Ghana.

Some of these activities include promoting better education, improving health provision,
improving water access and sanitation, promoting agricultural development, enhancing credit

access, providing entrepreneurial skills, promoting political participation, enhancing social

protection, and curbing outmoded cultural practices. The development activities of NGOs such

as Action Aid, Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), World Vision, Catholic

Relief Agency (CRS), Grameen Foundation, Plan Ghana, Rural Action Alliance Program

(RAAP), and Social Development and Improvement Agency (SODIA) in rural Ghana are

discussed.

Promoting Better Education

Promoting education is one of the key rural developmental activities of NGOs in Ghana.

 Plan Ghana and RAAP have provided physical infrastructure for pre-school and primary

education in the Wa West district of Ghana which improved children’s academic

performance (Agyei, Agyeman & Afriyie, 2012).

 Action Aid supported youth-led advocacy programmes to campaign for the provision of

quality teaching and learning materials in basic schools in the Northern Region. As a

result, the Ministry of Education supported four (4) basic schools with teaching and

learning materials. The campaign also attracted financial donations from supporters and

goodwill ambassadors in Italy and Ghana towards the provision of teaching and learning

materials for pupils in the region (Action Aid, 2016).

 Action Aid organises educational camps for girls which is aimed at increasing enrolment

and retention of girls in school, and inspire them to aspire for greater achievements with

606 girls participating in the 2015 regional camps in Ghana (Action Aid, 2016).
  ADRA in 2014 embarked on the Nurture Project, an educational dream scheme for

Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) and People Living with HIV (PLHIV) in 7

districts - Asante Akyem North, Asante Akyem South, Bosome Freho, Kwahu West,

Agona West, Birim Central and Mfantseman. 35 selected communities in the seven

districts benefitted from this project (ADRA Ghana, 2014).

 World Vision in 2014 improved access and quality of basic education for 2.4 million

children leading to improved learning outcomes (World Vision Ghana, 2014).

Improving Health Provision

As part of their development agenda, NGOs in Ghana engage in activities that improve health

provision in rural Ghana.

 To improve health conditions in Northern Ghana, RAAP and Plan Ghana educated

women and children in Northern Ghana (Wechiau, Chogsia, and Tampiennie, and other

communities) about reproductive health, family planning, appropriate use of insecticide

mosquito nets, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections (STI’s) (Agyei,

Agyeman & Afriyie, 2012).

 ADRA in 2014 implemented the Global Fund HIV and AIDS Project by promoting the

correct and consistent use of condom; improving access to HIV/STI testing and

counselling services; and addressing HIV/STI related stigma and discrimination among

Female Sex Workers (FSWs) and against FSWs by health workers (ADRA Ghana, 2014).

The aim of the project was to strengthen HIV prevention.

  Grameen Foundation partnered with Concern Worldwide, the Ghana Health Service, and

John Snow International to develop Community Health Nurse (CHN) on the Go, a

smartphone app to assist 264 nurses who serve 66, 403 across five rural districts to

diagnose patients quickly in the field, plan their weekly schedules, stay abreast of new

medical information and training, as well as receive richer feedback from supervisors and

peers (Grameen Foundation, 2016).

Improving Water Access and Sanitation

One of the key indicators of development is access to safe drinking water and good sanitation

conditions. Thus, NGOs in their efforts to develop rural communities work to provide safe

drinking water and improve sanitation in rural communities.

 ADRA Ghana with funding from United States Agency for International Development

(USAID) implemented the Ghana Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (G-WASH) Project

which improved access to safe and adequate water supply and basic sanitation

infrastructural facilities for households, clinics, and schools in rural communities. The

project increased about 78,760 people’s access to water and sanitation facilities (ADRA,

2014).

 World Vision in 2014 held 228 water treatment education programs. Also, 263 boreholes

were drilled which served 78, 900 people while 60 manual boreholes were drilled which

served 18,000 people. Furthermore, 119 non-functioning boreholes were rehabilitated

which served over 35,700 people while 3 dugout ponds were constructed for 3

communities. With regard to sanitation, 478 communities were trained in the awareness
 of sanitation benefits and technologies while 356 communities were educated on the

importance of waste management (World Vision, 2014).

Promoting Agricultural Development

Agriculture is the predominant occupation in rural Ghana. As a result, many NGOs engage in

activities that target the development of agriculture by providing extension services.

Extension Services

 Action Aid in 2015, through its female extension volunteers, provided timely extension

advice to 9,000 smallholder women farmers thereby increasing their productivity (Action

Aid, 2016).

 Action Aid established 10 Climate Resistant Sustainable Agriculture (CSRA)

demonstration fields to train 200 smallholder farmers in the Northern region on the

cultivation of improved seed varieties, planting methods, weed control practices,

mulching, fertiliser application, and the use of organic manures for soil fertility

management. As a result output increased from two (2) to three (3) bags in 2014 and five

(5) bags per acre in 2015 among women farmers in Nanumba. The increased yield

provides enough food for the families of smallholder farmers and also serves as a source

of income. Overall, 32,350 smallholder farmers were trained to practice CRSA (Action

Aid, 2016).

 ADRA, from 2012-2014 provided extension service delivery to 304 mango farmers on

general farm management; good record keeping practices; and pests and disease control

mechanisms (ADRA Ghana, 2014).

  In 2014, World Vision trained 3000 farmers on improved agriculture production and

storage, and Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) and Management Natural

Regeneration (MNR) techniques to ensure constant availability of food.

 Catholic Relief Services (CRS) provided new agricultural knowledge and skills to poor

farmers in Northern Ghana to improve their production (CRS, 2011).

 ADRA in 2014 through its Integrated Agricultural Productivity Improvement and

Marketing Project (INTAPIMP) in the Central Gonja, West Gonja, Bole, Sawla-Tuna-

Kalba, East Gonja, Yendi, Mion, Zabzugu, Tatale, and West Mamprusi districts

supported a total of 11,404 farmers (394 FBOs) to cultivate rice, soybean, and maize.

 Grameen Foundation through its AgroTech program, funded by the New Alliance ICT

Extension Challenge Fund, enabled 320,000 smallholder farmers in 29 districts to access

information and financing for their businesses through a mobile software application,

radio campaign and farmer-led production of videos on best agricultural practices.

Improve Access to Land

 Action Aid Ghana and its partners have assisted 256 widows and female-headed

household farmers to acquire 80 acres of fertile land for farming and other productive

activities.

Find New Markets for Agricultural Products

 ADRA in 2014 in its contribution to the achievement of World Food Program’s (WFP)

Purchase for Progress (P4P) Project, promoted the development of agricultural markets
 for smallholder/low-income farmers for increased agricultural production and incomes in

the Ejura-Sekyedumase District. The project helped farmers to increase their productivity

and as a result they supplied 500 metric tons of maize and 150 metric tons of cowpea to

WFP (ADRA, 2014).

Enhancing Rural Credit Access

Rural dwellers due to the lack of assets are not able to access credit from formal banking

institutions. As a result of this challenge, NGOs implement projects that enable rural

communities to access credit.

 SODIA provided business advisory services, micro-credit and input loan schemes to 45

members of the Women in Small Business Association (WISBA) in the Tain District to

expand their livelihood activities. SODIA also assisted the Nassana Women Group (45

membership) to jointly own a gari processing centre; whilst SODIA supported the

Ohiatua Women Group (40 membership) with credit facilities to engage in palm oil

extraction in the Tain District (Agyei, Agyeman & Afriyie, 2012).

 RAAP, in the Wa West District, introduced the Village Loans and Savings Associations

(VLSA) and the Savings and Loans Solutions (SALSO) to train women to save and

acquire credit and this enabled a significant number of women to obtain funds, engage in

shear butter extraction and sometimes purchase shear nuts and cereals during bumper

harvest for storage to be sold later for higher earnings (Agyei, Agyeman & Afriyie,

2012).

 World Vision in 2014 introduced the Savings Groups concept into rural communities and

as a result 575 savings groups contributed an amount of GHC 1, 426,649.00 out of which
 GHC 908,001.78 was loaned to members to expand their businesses to support household

wellbeing (World Vision Ghana, 2014).

 Catholic Relief Services implemented a Savings and Internal Lending Communities

(SILC) project and as at 2011 there were 5,525 SILC members (4,143 women and 1,382

men) in 233 SILC groups who saved GH¢ 93,591 (US$ 66,377) and 40.5% of the SILC

members took loans (at an interest of 10% per month set by the group) for agricultural

investments petty trading activities as well as the payment of school fees and family’s

national health insurance premiums (CRS, 2011).

Providing Entrepreneurial Skills Training

NGOs also provide entrepreneurial training skills to rural dwellers to enhance their income

generation opportunities.

 SODIA and RAAP provided entrepreneurial marketing training to women in the Wa

West and Tain Districts and as a result they gained entrepreneurial aptitude and good

marketing skills which lifted them out of endemic poverty (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie,

2012).

 In 2014, World Vision trained more than 200 youth in bee keeping and apprenticeship.

Also, 500 households were supported to undertake the rearing of ruminants and birds to

increase animal source protein to household members (World Vision Ghana, 2014).
Promoting Political Participation

Giving a voice to people in decision making is vital in development. NGOs therefore engage in

activities that help particularly the voiceless, marginalized and vulnerable groups to participate in

political decision making processes that affect their lives.

 During the celebration of the 2015 International Women’s day, Action Aid supported

women groups to petition the government of Ghana to support women to contest in

district level elections as well as appoint more women to serve in leadership and

decision-making positions at national, regional and local levels (Action Aid, 2016).

Enhancing Social Protection

Development also encompasses the need for people to feel safe and be protected in their

communities. Thus, NGOs engage in activities to enhance the protection of vulnerable members

of society particularly women and children.

 Action Aid created the Community-Based Anti-violence Teams (COMBATs), a

community structure that allows rural community members in remote areas to access

social protection amenities and structures such as Police Stations, in pursuit of their

rights. In 2015, the voluntary community teams worked to promote peace and social

cohesion in rural communities by providing support to the Domestic Violence and Victim

Support Unit (DOVVSU) in dealing with gender-based violence. The COMBATs also
 work with CHRAJ, the department of social development and the district and municipal

assemblies (Action Aid, 2016).

Curbing Outmoded Cultural Practices

Cultural practices that are dangerous also deprive people of their freedoms, human rights, and

personal safety. As such, NGOs through educational programmes educate rural communities

about the dangers associated with some cultural practices in order to curb or eliminate such

practices.

 In 2015, Action Aid collaborated with traditional authorities and Queen mothers in the

Tain and Banda districts in the Brong Ahafo region to campaign against negative and

outmoded cultural practices such as widowhood rites. As a result there is greater

awareness in the community about traditional practices that violate the rights of women

and girls (Action Aid, 2016).

 Action Aid collaborated with UNICEF to implement the “End Child Marriage”

Campaign in 12 districts in the Upper east, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra

regions where the practice is most prevalent. The project also aimed at building the

capacity of girls aged between 12-17 years to resist child marriage and focus on their

education (Action Aid, 2016).

Challenges of NGOs

NGOs in discharging their development activities in rural communities experience some

challenges. Some of these constraints include financial constraints, lack of rural infrastructure,

poor national economy, lack of autonomy, dictatorial practices of NGOs, tensions with state

institutions, lack of participation of beneficiaries, use of NGOs for political and personal gain,

and cultural barriers.

Financial Constraints: One of the basic challenges of NGOs is financial constraints. NGOs

depend on charity and donors for their activities and usually these are inadequate for them to

implement some of their rural projects. Furthermore, they also experience delays in the release of

donor funds as a consequence of weighty bureaucratic procedures (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie,

2012).

Lack of Transportation and Communication Infrastructure in Rural Areas: Transportation

and communication barriers play a key role in hampering successful program implementation of

NGOs in rural communities in Ghana. The poor road and communication network in rural

communities often make it difficult for NGO staff to access project sites particularly in the rainy

season. This situation often delays the completion of development initiatives of NGOs and

sometimes leads to the abandonment of projects (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie, 2012).

Lack of Storage facilities in Rural Communities: NGOs promote agricultural development

and often this leads to increased agricultural output. However, limited storage facilities for farm
produce lead to reduced returns, especially during bumper harvest when farmers are forced to

trade off surpluses at reduced prices (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie, 2012).

Poor National Economy: NGOs engage in projects and programmes in rural communities that

are significant in improving the livelihoods of rural dwellers, however, the effect of these

developmental activities have a marginal effect on beneficiaries due to a poor national economy.

The continues depreciation of the Ghana Cedi against the major foreign currencies coupled with

frequent hikes of prices of goods and services negatively affect the beneficiaries of NGO projects

in terms of their purchasing power and their investments in the well-being of their families

(World Vision Ghana, 2015).

Control of Local NGOs by Parent NGOs: Most of the rural development focused NGOs often

have their parent NGOs outside of Ghana. The parent NGOs often based in Western countries

consider their knowledge and procedures superior, and are reluctant to release the total control of

programmes to local NGOs. This situation runs contrary to participatory development which

emphasizes local knowledge and yet the parent NGOs management systems is drawn from the

western corporate world. This leads to tension between local NGOs and their international

counterparts and at times leads to conflict (Mohan, 2002).

Dictatorial Practices of Local NGOs: According to Mohan (2002), local NGOs behave in

patronising, dictatorial, and bureaucratic ways towards the villages they represent. They claim to

represent the local communities, but have rather patronising attitudes towards them. In this way
civil society organisations actually impede local development, democratization, and good

governance.

Tensions between State Institutions and NGOs: The view that NGOs are effective in bringing

development to rural communities helps them to attract funds for development purposes. As a

consequence of this situation, large funds that used to be channelled to institutions of state for

development have declined. This development according to Mohan (2002) incites the resentment

of NGOs by state officials and therefore creates tensions between state institutions and NGOs.

Lack of Participation in Decision Making by Beneficiaries of NGO Projects and

Programmes: Beneficiaries of rural development projects and programmes are often excluded

from the decision making process of the NGOs. This situation is contrary to participatory

development and also contributes to apathetic participation of rural dwellers in development

projects and programmes of NGOs in rural Ghana (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie, 2012).

Use of NGOs for Political and Personal Gain: According to Mohan (2002), NGOs are used as

vehicles for personal and party political gain by local NGO officers. This happens through

interlocking political affiliations and petty corruption. In effect, some NGOs become an avenue

or domain for local elites to increase their material and political status. This situation defeats the

purpose of NGOs in aiding rural transformation and development.

Cultural Barriers: Strict adherence of rural communities to certain cultural practices such as

complex land tenure systems and discriminatory gender role differentiation negatively affect
community organization and involvement in some NGOs initiatives that aim to promote equity

and reduce inequality. As a result of some of these cultural practices, some community members

resist change in the socio-cultural systems and therefore hamper the effectiveness of NGOs in

some rural communities. Such resistance leads to the low level of co-operation and lack of

community spirit and enthusiasm to support NGO projects (Agyei, Agyeman and Afriyie (2012).

Conclusion

In spite of the challenges experienced by NGOs, their initiatives assist rural households to meet

their food and other basic needs. The various forms of projects largely contribute to reduction of

rural poverty and enhance rural development.

References

Action Aid. (2016). Annual Report 2015: Increasing possibilities, claiming rights. Accra:

Author.

Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Ghana). (2014). 2014 annual report: Sharing

experiences and achievements. Accra: Author.

Adjei, P.O-W., Agyemang, S. & Afriyie, K. (2012). Non-governmental organizations and rural

poverty reduction in northern Ghana: Perspectives of beneficiaries on strategies, impact and

challenges. Journal of Poverty Alleviation and International Development, 3(2), 47-73.

Catholic Relief Services, (2011). Harnessing the power of savings and lending communities to

drive agroenterprise development in Ghana. Baltimore: Author.

Grameen Foundation. (2016). Annual Report: 2015-2016. Washington D.C: Author.

Hushie, M. (2016). Public-non-governmental organization partnerships for health: an exploratory

study with case studies from recent Ghanaian experience. BMC Public Health 16, 1-13.

Malena, C. (1995). Working with NGOs: Practical guide to operational collaboration between

the World Bank and non-governmental organizations. Washington D.C: World Bank.

Mohan, G. (2002). The disappointments of civil society: The politics of NGO intervention in

northern Ghana. Political Geography 21, 125–154.

World Vision Ghana (2014). Annual Report on Child Wellbeing: 2014. Accra: Author.
 LECTURE ELEVEN: ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN RURAL AREAS

Introduction

One of the key characteristics that distinguish rural areas from urban ones is the predominance of

nature in the former compared to the latter. Rural dwellers often have a direct relationship with

nature and indeed the major occupation (agriculture) in rural communities is largely dependent

on nature. Thus, the environment is important in matters of rural development. This session

examines the concept of environmental degradation, types of environmental degradation,

environmental degradation in rural Ghana, causes of environmental degradation in rural Ghana,

the consequences of environmental degradation in rural areas and solutions to curb

environmental degradation in rural Ghana.

Defining Environmental Degradation

Johnson et al (1997) define environmental degradation as any change or disturbance to the

environment perceived to be deleterious or undesirable. Godson-Ibeji and Chikaire (2016:6) also

define environmental degradation as “the introduction of different harmful pollutants in a certain

environment that make the environment unhealthy for survival of man, flora, and fauna.”

According UNRISD (1994), environmental degradation includes depletion of renewable and

non-renewable resources and pollution of air, water, and soils.

Types of Environmental Degradation

There many forms of environmental degradation. These include:

Air Pollution: Air pollution refers to the introduction dangerous or harmful substances into the

atmosphere at levels that can negatively affect plant life and the health of animals and humans.

Harmful substances or pollutants introduced into the air include carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides,

dust particles, hydrocarbons, organic compounds, and nitrogen oxides.

Water Pollution: Water pollution refers to the contamination water bodies such as rivers,

oceans, lakes, streams, aquifers, and groundwater by harmful or toxic substances such as waste

matter or chemicals that are directly or indirectly released into water bodies.

Land Degradation: Land degradation refers to the damage, or temporary or permanent

reduction of the productive capacity of the earth cover in relation to land use, the landscape, and

the capacity of land to support life forms.

According to the FAO (1994), there are many forms of land degradation. These include:

 Desertification is land degradation in aria, semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions.

 Water erosion covers all forms of soil erosion induced by water, including sheet and rill

erosion and gullying.

 Wind erosion is the loss of soil by wind, which takes place largely in dry regions.

 Soil fertility decline is the deterioration of the physical, chemical and biological

properties of the soil.

  Waterlogging is the lowering in land productivity through the rise in groundwater close

to the soil surface.

 Salinization refers to all types of soil degradation brought about by the increase of salts

in the soil.

 Lowering of the water table is a type of land degradation, caused by tube well that

pumps out groundwater for irrigation, urban and industrial purposes and exceeds the

natural water recharge capacity.

 Deforestation is the cutting of trees, transforming a forest into cleared land.

 Forest degradation is the decline of biotic resources and lowering of productive capacity

of forests.

Often due to the absence of industrial activities in rural areas, air pollution is not a major

problem. However, water pollution and land degradation largely occur in rural areas as a

consequence of agricultural activities and other natural resource based economic activities.

Environmental Degradation in Rural Ghana

National data on environmental degradation in rural Ghana are generally lacking. The data that

are available are derived largely from the work of environmental researchers in rural

communities in Ghana. Empirical data on environmental degradation in rural Ghana focus on

deforestation, air pollution, pollution of water bodies, and scarred landscapes.

Deforestation: According to the UNDP (2010), Ghana’s forest cover has reduced from 32.7 per

cent to 24.2 per cent between 1990 and 2005. In 1990, the forest cover was estimated at

7,448,000 hectares, and this has diminished at an average rate of 1.8 per cent annually to

5,517,000 hectares in 2005. The UNDP (2010) further notes that some reports estimate that

about 80 per cent of the forests have already been lost.

Agyemang, McDonald, and Carver (2007) have also noted that the savannah woodland in the

northern part of Ghana has also been declining. According to them spatial analysis in the years

1990, 2000, and 2004 shows a dramatic decline of savannah woodland from 549 km to 93 km.

Air pollution: Hilson (2002) has observed that emissions of mercury enter the environment

because small-scale gold miners based in the mining communities of Tarkwa and Obuasi, burn

amalgam over open fires and kitchen stoves. Asiedu-Amoako, Ntiamoah, and Gedzi (2016) have

also noted that the air is polluted in rural communities as a result the burning of refuse at dump

sites, saw-dust at sawmills and sand winning.

Pollution of Water Bodies: Asiedu-Amoako, Ntiamoah, and Gedzi (2016) indicate that in

Akyem Abuakwa, rivers Birim and its tributaries as well as rivers Supon and Bompon are highly

polluted with cyanide, waste disposal, and human excreta. Hilson (2002) also asserts that surface

water and groundwater have mercury concentrations and that sediments are seriously polluted

and fish are contaminated to the point where they should not be consumed.
Scarred Landscapes: Hilson (2002) notes that deep underground gold mining in rural areas

results in the digging of pits which are typically left uncovered and abandoned in rural areas such

as Tarkwa. Yelpaala and Ali (2005) also indicate that the digging of the land to mine diamonds

by both legal mining and galamsey activities in Akwatia leaves large pits. These activities have

scarred the landscape with excavated pits and trenches in many rural mining communities in

Ghana.

Causes of Environmental Degradation in Rural Ghana

Various factors account for environmental degradation in rural Ghana. These include population

expansion, farming practices, urbanization, mining, excessive logging, bush and forest fires, poor

sanitation practices, corruption, poverty, macro-economic policies, and natural climate change.

Rapid Population Increase and Over-exploitation of Resources: Rapid population growth

contributes to environmental degradation and resource depletion in Ghana. According to the

2010 population and housing census national analytical report, Ghana recorded a population of

24,658,823 in 2010 (GSS, 2013). According to the report, the population was 6,726,815 in 1960

and increased to 18,912,079 in 2000 indicating that the population more than tripled in fifty

years, that is, between 1960 and 2010. As the population increases, there is great pressure on the

utilization of natural resources and particularly in rural areas in Ghana where about 70% of the

population engage in agricultural and fishing occupations (GSS, 2014). The high dependence on
natural resources in rural areas causes over-exploitation of the natural resources and contributes

to environmental erosion.

Farming Practices: In order to engage in farming activities, farmers clear forests and grasslands

to grow crops which reduce the quality of natural forests and vegetation. According to the UNDP

(2010), the total forest area in Ghana declined from 60.9 thousand square kilometers in 2000, to

52.9 thousand square kilometers in 2007as a consequence of the increase in total agricultural

land use over the same period (from 63.5% in 2000 to 65.3% in 2007). This demonstrates that

the increasing pressure on land for agricultural purposes leads to the depletion of natural

resources such as forests

The major farming practices in Ghana also lead to soil degradation. According to FAO (2003)

the following farming practices in Ghana contribute to land fragmentation:

 The rotational bush fallow system is characterized by clearing and burning of the

vegetative cover which normally exposes the soil to erosion and leaching leading to soil

infertility, serious deforestation, and rural landscape degradation.

 Compound farming systems are carried out mainly in the interior savanna zone where

most farms are cultivated within close vicinity of villages. This farming system has been

practiced over many generations through inheritance which ultimately leads to soil

erosion, leaching, and eutrophication.

  The Mixed farming systems combine the rotational bush fallow system and the

permanent tree crop system, and are largely practiced in the high rain forest and the semi-

deciduous forest zones. Usual crop mixtures are cocoa with food crops or oil palm with

food crops. Land preparation practices, particularly bush farming associated with this

farming method leads to soil erosion as well as nutrient and water loss from the soil.

 Horticultural farming systems generally cultivate export crops such as pineapples,

pawpaw, and exotic vegetables. Large hectares of land and application of fertilizers are

utilized in this farming method which contributes to soil erosion and eutrophication.

Urbanization and Infrastructural Development: The increasing rate of urbanization and

infrastructure development in Ghana has also contributed immensely to the depletion of most of

the forest and savannah trees and grasses in rural communities. More than two decades ago,

small rural settlements in Ghana were surrounded by secondary forests. However, today, large

acres of natural lands have been converted to human settlements. Secondary forests, wetlands,

and farmlands have been cleared to make way for the construction of modern houses as well as

roads and other modern social amenities. It is for this reason that Yeboah, Codjoe, and Maingi

(2013) have observed that rural settlements along the fringes of cities in Ghana have transformed

into towns. Indeed, the increasing rate of urbanization is the reason why for the first time since

1960, more than half of Ghana's population lives in urban areas (GSS, 2013). Increasing

urbanization has thus contributed to environmental depletion.

Mining Activities:
Mining activities has been increasing in rural communities in Ghana. For instance, national

statistics indicate that gold mining industry is a major employer in Ghana. It is estimated that it

employs over 520,000 Ghanaians, with about 4 percent working in the large scale subsector and

96 percent in the small scale mining subsector (Ghana National Commission for UNESCO). The

industry is a major employer of rural labour force however; the industry has several negative

effects on the environment. Most rivers in rural mining communities which serve as the main

source of water for household chores and other activities have become heavily polluted through

the activities of small scale gold miners. Some mining sites have also turned into dry open spaces

as the vegetation cover in those areas has been removed. Deep pits that have been dug by small

scale miners are left uncovered and have scarred the landscape in many mining communities. As

a result of the negative environmental effects of mining, there has been a national outcry against

small scale mining activities and the state is taking the necessary action to curb the practice.

Excessive Logging: More than 90% of Ghana’s forests have been logged since the 1940s

(Glastra, 1999). According to Tabi (2001) the harvesting of timber is the most important single

factor contributing to deforestation in Ghana. He notes that outside the forest reserves, logging

has been on the increase and has intensified more in the semi-deciduous zones than in the

evergreen forest due to greater densities of desirable timber species. He further notes that illegal

logging activities are also having a serious toll on the timber resource base of the country. The

annual cutting of trees is 1.6–2.5 times higher than the optimistically calculated sustainable cut

(World Bank 1988, cited in Glastra, 1999). This situation leads to the depletion of forests and

savannah grasslands.
Bush Burning: Bushfires usually occur in the savannah ecological zones of Ghana. The

savannah and grassland environments create fine fuels that dry out quickly at the end of the rainy

season leading to frequent bush fires. Also, forest fire has been largely responsible for forest

degradation in the country over the last few years. According to data gathered over the years,

every year about 30% of the forest areas are destroyed by fire (Tabi, 2001). Bushfires in Ghana

occur annually in the dry season usually from November to May. Bush or forest fires remove

vegetative cover, damage leaf chlorophyll, char stems and change soil characteristics which

result in erosion.

Open Defecation: In rural areas of Ghana, about a third of households have no toilet facilities

(32.9%) or use the public toilet (32.1) while in rural savannah more than 70 percent (72.6%) of

households have no toilet facilities (GSS, 2014). Households without toilet facilities engage in

open defecation or indiscriminate disposal of human excreta. Open defecation contaminates

ground waters.

Disposal of Rubbish and Liquid Waste: According to the Ghana Living Standards Survey

Report of the Sixth Round (GLSS 6) 52.4% of rural households dispose off their refuse by taking

them to the public dump site (GSS, 2014). The report further notes that 20.7% of rural

households bury their rubbish while 23% of households dispose their refuse indiscriminately.

The burning of refuse at dump sites as well as indiscriminate disposal of refuse pollutes the air,

ground, and water bodies in rural communities (Asiedu-Amoako, Ntiamoah & Gedzi, 2016).
Corruption: Agyemang, McDonald and Carver (2007) have noted that some traditional

leadership engage in corrupt practices by conniving with the Land Commission, forest officers

and the Government of Ghana to take environmental decisions that ignore the concept of

environmental conservation and protection. Glastra (1999) similarly asserts that corruption fuels

deforestation in Ghana as the main collaborators with illegal chain-saw operators are district

forestry officials, district chief executives and assembly people, law enforcement agents, chiefs

and village elders, concessionaires, and wood sellers.

Poverty: In 2012/13, the rural population comprised 50% of the population of Ghana, however it

accounts for 78 percent of those in poverty (GSS, 2014b). Agyemang, McDonald and Carver

(2007) have argued that poverty drives rural people to engage in survival strategies such as

mining, ruinous farming activities, cattle rearing, and other small-scale economic ventures that

damage the environment. Tabi (2001) also acknowledges that poor and landless peasant farmers

tend to be pushed onto ecologically sensitive areas with low agricultural potential (for example

semi-arid savanna, erosion-prone hill sides and tropical forests) which also deepens

environmental degradation.

Macro-economic Policies: Macro-economic policies in Ghana have also contributed to

environmental degradation especially regarding mining activities. Agyeman (2012) has argued

that prior to the promulgation of the Minerals and Mining Law, 1986 (PNDCL 153), Ghanaians

had been involved in illegal small-scale mining since the 1930s, with limited environmental

impacts. However, PNDC Law 153 nationally legalized small-scale mining which attracted
many people to engage in the mining of precious minerals, which has ultimately increased the

negative environmental impact of the activity nationwide.

Climate Change: Natural factors such as climate change also accounts for environmental

degradation in Ghana. In recent times Ghana experiences erratic rainfall. According to the

UNDP (2010), rainfall has decreased by 2.4 per cent per decade since 1960. Furthermore, the

country experiences high temperatures, low relative humidity, and frequent flooding in the rainy

season. These climatic changes have played a major role in the degradation of particularly the

savannah vegetative cover (Agyeman, 2012), the drying of boreholes in rural areas as well as the

decrease in waters in the Volta, Tano, and Oti rivers (UNDP, 2010).

Consequences of Environmental Degradation in Rural Ghana

Environmental degradation has a lot of negative consequences for rural dwellers in Ghana. Some

of these effects include loss of rural livelihoods, deforestation and rising sea levels, flooding, loss

of GDP, food shortages, spread of diseases, and loss of biodiversity.

Loss of Rural Livelihoods: The majority of rural people rely on fertile lands and forests for

their livelihood. Natural resources have played a significant role in the provision of food,

clothing, shelter, furniture, water-supply sources, and bush meat for rural communities.

Environmental degradation is thus gradually diminishing the livelihood sources of rural dwellers.
Negative Impact of Climate Change on Rural Livelihoods: With regard to climate change, the

UNDP (2010) indicates that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has predicted that by

2080, cocoa will fail to grow due to climate change effects. Furthermore, cassava yields will

reduce by 3% by 2020, and by up to 53 per cent by 2080; while cocoyam yields will decline by

11.8 per cent by 2020 and up to 68 per cent by 2080. These crops generate about 75%

government earnings and employ about 70 per cent of the rural population, as such climatic

changes will lead to loss of government revenue and loss of rural livelihoods.

Impact of Climate Change on Deforestation and Sea Levels: According to the UNDP (2010),

EPA projections show that if current trends in deforestation and climate change continue,

Ghanaian forest reserves would decline by 45, 000 hectares; total cleared forests would decrease

by 343,000 hectares; and national savannah woodland will reduce by about 600,000 hectares.

Furthermore, projected continual rise of the sea will lead to a total loss of 1,110 square

kilometers of land, affecting a total population of 132,000 mostly living within the east coast

area.

Climate Change and Flooding: Flooding in 2007 damaged the maize harvest as a consequence

of climate change (UNDP, 2010). Furthermore, between 1991 and 2008, the country experienced

six major floods, with almost 2 million people affected in 1991 alone.

Loss of Gross Domestic Product (GDP): According to the UNDP (2010), the 2006 Country

Environmental Assessment of the cost of degradation indicate that an equivalent of 10% of GDP
is lost annually through unsustainable management of Ghana’s natural resources (forests,

wildlife, fisheries, and land).

Food Shortages: Agyemang, McDonald and Carver (2007) have noted that the loss of savannah

woodland through activities such as extensive grazing, quarrying, sand winning, and small-scale

surface mining has affected food production in rural communities in northern Ghana thereby

leading to food shortages.

Spread of Malaria: The digging of the land to mine precious minerals by both legal and illegal

mining activities leaves large pits which fill with water during the rainy season in rural mining

communities in Ghana (Yelpaala & Ali, 2005). Standing water creates a breeding ground for

Anopheles mosquitoes, the vector of transmission for malaria, and thus malaria has been found

to be prevalent in some rural mining communities.

Health Risks of Mercury Contamination: Many gold miners in rural communities have high

concentrations of mercury in their hair, urine, bloodstreams, and nails and thus are sources of

exposure of mercury in the community through contaminated food (Rambaud et al. cited in

Hilson, 2002). Rivers in mining areas that are contaminated with mercury are absorbed by fish

which are in turn consumed by humans through the food chain. Exposure to large amounts of

mercury causes nerve damage and kidney disease to mammals (Hilson, 2002).
Loss of Biodiversity: Mining, logging, and bushfires have destroyed plants and animal habitats

therefore endangering the survival of some plants and animal species. Many plant species that

have medicinal properties have been destroyed by negative environmental practices in rural areas

(Yelpaala & Ali, 2005).

Risks of Open Defecation: Open defecation contaminates agricultural produce and aids in

spreading diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, and bilharzia. Open defecation also pollutes the

air, serves as breeding grounds for harmful insects while people who engage in the practice are at

risk of being bitten by dangerous reptiles. The act is also dehumanizing and exposes one’s

privacy.

Solutions to Curb Environmental Degradation in Rural Ghana

In order to curb environmental degradation in rural communities, various solutions should be

implemented. These solutions include modernization of agriculture, restoration of degraded land,

promotion of sustainable forest management, involvement of rural communities in forest

management, promote anti-bush fire education, efficient monitoring of mining activities,

promote interventions to reduce climate change, and provision of sanitation facilities in rural

communities.

Modernization of Agriculture: Modern methods of agriculture such as the use of mechanized

equipments, improved seeds, and fertilizers should be introduced to small-holder farmers

through the provision of credit so that bush fallowing cultivation practices will minimize in rural

communities. The reduction in practicing traditional farming methods (clearing and burning of

vegetative cover) will help to stall land degradation in rural areas.

Restoration of Degraded Land: Large and small scale mining companies, the forestry

commission, NGOs, and other stake holders should be tasked to cover open pits, and re-plant

trees in mining communities as well as places where forests and grasslands have been degraded

in order to re-establish forests and grasslands.

Promote Sustainable Forest Management: In order to promote sustainable forest management,

there is the need to re-establish the organizational capacity of the Forestry Commission (FC) to

make forest authorities more responsive to the management of the forest estate by employing

efficient monitoring methods to check particularly illegal logging. The FC also ought to

collaborate with other sectors of the national economy whose activities impinge on the forestry

sector in order to prevent undue pressure on the forest resource base.

Promote the Involvement of Rural Communities in Forest Management: Rural dwellers are

basically those who utilize forest resources in their livelihood activities. As such, for sustainable

forest management to be successful there is the need for the FC to involve rural communities in

decision making concerning forest rehabilitation and management. Since rural dwellers are

largely the users of forests, their involvement forest management decision making and

implementation will go a long way to curb deforestation.

Promote Anti-Bush Fire Education: The socio-economic activities of rural dwellers cause

bush fires which decimate grasslands and forests. Thus, it is important to promote and intensify

anti-bushfire education through local chiefs and opinion leaders in rural communities in order to

reduce the bushfire.

Efficient Monitoring of Mining Activities: The Minerals Commission, the Environmental

Protection Agency (EPA), and the Ghana Chamber of Mines must work together to regulate

particularly small scale mining in rural Ghana. These institutions must ensure that large and

small mining companies adhere to mining and environmental regulations so that it will curb the

damage of rural natural resources.

Promote Interventions that Reduce Climate Change: To reduce climate change, there is the

need for the government to develop appropriate policies and strategies to make Ghana a

low‐carbon economy and to move towards greater utilization of renewable energy sources.

Furthermore, the government must develop the country’s capacity to monitor climate change

through climate change research and its environmental risk factors to human security and

livelihoods so as to develop warning systems thereby increasing the resilience of rural dwellers

to climate change impacts.

Provision of Sanitation Facilities in Rural Communities: Government agencies such as

District Assemblies (DAs) must facilitate the provision of sanitation facilities such as public

toilets and household toilets as well as proper garbage disposal amenities in rural communities to

curb open defecation and indiscriminate dumping of refuse in open spaces which degrade the
environment. Furthermore, the DAs should promote sanitation education through chiefs and

opinion leaders so that rural dwellers will become aware of the health risks associated with poor

sanitation practices so as to improve sanitation conditions in rural areas.

References

Agyeman, I. (2012). Assessing the driving forces of environmental degradation in Northern

Ghana: Community truthing approach. African Journal of History and Culture (AJHC), 4(4), pp.

59-68.

Hilson, G. (2002). The environmental impact of small-scale gold mining in Ghana: Identifying

problems and possible solutions. The Geographical Journal 168(1), 57-72.

Tabi, A. (2001). FAO Forestry Outlook Study for Africa (FOSA) Country Report: Ghana.

Rome: FAO, Rome.

Godson-Ibeji, C.C. &, Chikaire, J.U. (2016). Consequences of Environmental Pollution on

Agricultural Productivity in Developing Countries: A Case of Nigeria. International Journal of

Agricultural and Food Research 5(3), 1-12.

Glastra, R. (Ed.) (1999). CUT AND RUN: Illegal Logging and Timber Trade in the Tropics

Ottawa: International Development Research Centre .

Johnson, D. L., S. H. Ambrose, T. J. Bassett, M. L. Bowen, D. E. Crummey, J. S. Isaacson, D. N.

Johnson, P. Lamb, M. Saul, and A. E. Winter-Nelson. 1997. Meanings of Environmental Terms.

J. Environ. Qual. 26:581-589. doi:10.2134/jeq1997.00472425002600030002x

United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD). (1994). Environmental

degradation and social integration. Briefing Paper No. 3. World Summit for Social

Development. Geneva: Author.

 LECTURE TWELVE: THE STATE, HEALTHCARE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Access to healthcare has been identified as a major indicator of development. The health

condition of people affects their level of productivity (GSS, 2007) and as such, it is inextricably

linked with development as people who are ill or face health challenges may not be able to

pursue their livelihoods (Scoones, 1998). Healthcare is thus critical in rural development. This

session examines the state and healthcare provision in rural Ghana, the reproductive health status

and other health statuses of the rural population in Ghana, challenges in accessing rural

healthcare, and solutions to rural healthcare challenges.

The State and Healthcare Provision in Rural Ghana

In Ghana, it is the state that largely provides healthcare. The Health Sector Medium Term

Development Plan (HSMTDP), 2014–2017, aims to provide affordable primary health care to all

people (including rural dwellers) living in Ghana and it is informed by the objective to attain

Universal Health Coverage for basic health services in Ghana. Ghana has a decentralised multi-

level health system:

The Ministry of Health (MOH): Is responsible for health policy formation, regulation and

strategic direction.

The Ghana Health Service (GHS): Is responsible for policy implementation.

Regional Administrations: Are responsible for public health and curative services at the

regional level and supervision and management of district level services.

District Administrations: Are responsible for providing public health and curative services at

the district level.

Sub-district Level Administrations: Are responsible for the provision of preventative and

curative services at health centres and community outreach posts

Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS): Are responsible for providing

basic preventative and curative services for minor ailments at community and household levels.

The health post or outreach sites such as CHPS compounds are the first-level health care

providers in rural areas. The MOH also provides mobile health services, including immunization

and family planning, to rural residents. Furthermore, traditional healers, Traditional Birth

Attendants (TBAs), and pharmacies/chemical shops provide health delivery in rural areas. Other

higher-level health facilities that are accessed by rural dwellers, in ascending order, are health

centers or clinics, district hospitals, regional hospitals, and tertiary hospitals.

To ensure that Ghanaians have access to healthcare, the Government of Ghana initiated and

passed the National Health Insurance Law, 2003 (Act 650) and the National Health Insurance

Regulations, 2004 (L.I. 1809) to provide affordable safe health care to all residents of Ghana.

Thus, District Mutual Health Insurance Schemes were implemented in 2005 and are funded

predominantly from the central government national health insurance levy supplemented by

annual member contributions. Vulnerable members of the population who subscribe to the
scheme are however exempt from charges and these include: children under the age of 18 whose

parents or guardians belong to the scheme; people aged 70 or more; pregnant women; people

with no reliable form of support from another person or no source of income and no fixed place

of residence; and SSNIT pensioners–though they are required to pay the registration fee (ACCA,

2013). The NHIS covers 95% of conditions and includes inpatient and outpatient services for

general and specialist care, surgical operations, hospital accommodation, prescription drugs,

blood products, dental care, maternity care and emergency treatment (ACCA, 2013). Exclusions

currently include cancer services–other than cervical and breast cancer–dialysis, organ

transplants and appliances, including optical and hearing aids (ACCA, 2013). According to

GLSS 6, 63.9% of the Ghanaian rural population are registered or covered by a health insurance

scheme (GSS, 2014).

Reproductive Health Status and Other Health Statuses of the Rural Population in Ghana

Health facilities in Ghana are not evenly distributed, with most rural areas lacking basic facilities

such as hospitals and clinics as well as doctors and nurses. While rural communities have some

health facilities, access to health services is generally inadequate and poor in rural areas

(Government of Ghana, 2010) and consequently, rural dwellers suffer from poor reproductive

and other health conditions.

Reproductive health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being in all matters

relating to the reproductive system. It means that people are able to have a satisfying safe sex

life, the capability to reproduce, and the freedom to decide if, when, and how often to do so. To
maintain good reproductive health, when women decide to have children, they must have access

to services that can help them have a fit pregnancy, safe delivery and healthy baby.

The poor reproductive and other health conditions of the rural population in Ghana include:

Greater Birth Intervals: A birth interval is defined as the length of time between two live

births. Children born too close to a previous birth, especially if the interval between the births is

less than two years, are at increased risk of health problems and dying at an early age. Longer

birth intervals, on the other hand, contribute to the improved health status of both mother and

child. According to the 2008 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS), the median

interval between births is six months longer among women in urban areas (44 months) than

among those in rural areas (38 months) (GSS, GHS & ICF Macro, 2009). This finding suggests

that mothers and children in rural areas have increased risk of health challenges.

High Early Childhood Mortality: According to the 2008 GDHS, early childhood mortality

levels in rural areas are consistently higher than those in urban areas (GSS, GHS & ICF Macro,

2009). In the ten-year period before the survey, infant mortality in rural areas was 56 deaths per

1,000 live births, compared with 46 deaths per 1,000 live births in urban areas. The under-five

mortality rate during the same period was 90 deaths per 1,000 live births in rural areas and 75

deaths per 1,000 live births in urban areas.

High Perinatal Mortality: Perinatal deaths include pregnancy losses of at least seven months’

gestation (stillbirths) and deaths among live births that occurred within the first seven days of life
(early neonatal deaths). According to the 2008 GDHS, perinatal mortality is higher among

women in rural areas than those in urban areas (42 and 34 per 1,000 pregnancies, respectively)

(GSS, GHS & ICF Macro, 2009).

Low Antenatal Care: Antenatal care (ANC) from a skilled provider is important to monitor

pregnancy and reduce morbidity and mortality risks for the mother and child during pregnancy,

at delivery, and during the postnatal period (within 42 days after delivery). According to the

2014 GDHS urban women are slightly more likely than rural women to have received ANC from

a skilled provider (99 percent and 96 percent, respectively) and notably more likely to have had

four or more ANC visits (93 percent and 82 percent, respectively) (GSS, 2015).

High Tetanus Toxoid: Tetanus toxoid injections are given during pregnancy to prevent neonatal

tetanus, a major cause of early infant death in many developing countries. According to the 2014

GDHS, the percentage of women whose last birth was protected from tetanus is higher among

women living in urban than rural areas (81% versus 75%) (GSS, 2015). The percentage of

women whose last live birth was protected against tetanus also increases with increasing

education and wealth.

Low Access to Delivery Care: Access to proper medical attention and hygienic conditions

during delivery can reduce the risk of complications and infections that may lead to death or

serious illness for the mother and/or baby (Van Lerberghe and De Brouwere, 2001; WHO,

2006). According to the 2014 GDHS, 91% of births to urban mothers were assisted by a skilled
provider and 91% were delivered in a health facility, as compared with 59% and 58%,

respectively, of births to rural women (GSS, 2015).

Low Access to Medical Expertise during Complications of Delivery: Access to caesarean

section operations is a measure of access to emergency care for childbirth complications. The

global estimate of a 5 to 15 percent access to caesarean sections is considered adequate in any

given population. According to the 2008 GDHS, caesarean sections are more common in urban

areas (11 percent) than in rural areas (5 percent), probably because of the greater access to

doctors in urban areas (GSS, GHS & ICF Macro, 2009).

Lower Access to Postnatal Care for the Mother: A large proportion of maternal and neonatal

deaths occur during the first 48 hours after delivery. Thus, safe motherhood programmes

recommend that all women receive a check of their health within two days after delivery.

According to the 2014 GDHS, the proportion of women receiving a postnatal checkup within

two days of delivery is higher in urban than rural areas (87 percent versus 71 percent) (GSS,

2015). Overall, the percentage of women receiving a postnatal checkup within two days of

delivery increases with increasing education and wealth.

Low Nutritional Status of Children: According to the 2014 GDHS 19% of Ghanaian children

are stunted (below -2 SD) and 5% are severely stunted (below -3 SD). Stunting is greater among

children in rural areas (22 percent) than urban areas (15 percent) (GSS, 2015). Stunting is

inversely correlated with education and wealth. For example, 25 percent of children in the lowest

two wealth quintiles are stunted, as compared with 9 percent of children in the highest quintile.
High Anaemia Prevalence in Children and Women: Anaemia is a condition that is marked by

low levels of haemoglobin in the blood due mainly iron deficiency, and other causes including

hookworm infections, helminths, nutritional deficiencies, chronic infections, and genetic

conditions. Anaemia is a serious concern for children because it can impair cognitive

development, stunt growth, and increase morbidity from infectious diseases. According to the

2014 GDHS, anaemia prevalence is higher in rural (74%) than urban areas (57%) (GSS, 2015).

The 2014 GDHS also indicates that the proportion of women with anaemia is slightly higher in

rural (44%) than in urban areas (41%).

Low Preventive Treatment of Malaria in Pregnancy: Malaria in pregnant women can

interfere with the maternal-foetal exchange that occurs at the placenta, leading to the delivery of

low birth weight infants. According to the 2014 GDHS, A higher proportion of women in urban

(43%) than rural (35%) areas received malaria treatment - three or more doses of SP/Fansidar,

with at least one dose received during an ANC visit. This evidence suggests that pregnant

women in rural areas are exposed to risks of pregnancy complications associated with malaria.

Prevalence of Fever among Children: In moderately to highly endemic areas of malaria, acute

clinical disease is almost always confined to young children who suffer high parasite densities. If

untreated, this condition can progress very rapidly lead to severe malaria, which can result in

death. According to the 2014 GDHS, a slightly higher proportion of children in rural areas

(15.4%) than urban ones (12%) had fever two weeks preceding the survey (GSS, 2015).
Prevalence of Low Haemoglobin in Children: Poor dietary intake of iron is only one of

numerous causes of anaemia. Malaria infection can also result in a person becoming anaemic. A

haemoglobin concentration of less than 8.0 g/dl is considered low and may be an indication that

an individual has malaria (Korenromp et al., 2004). Children in rural areas (12 percent), those

residing in the Northern and Upper West regions (18 percent and 17 percent, respectively), are

most likely to have low haemoglobin levels (GSS, 2015).

Prevalence of Malaria in Children: According to the 2014 GDHS, the prevalence of malaria in

children aged 6-59 months is 36 percent as measured by RDT or 27 percent as measured by

analysis of blood smears via microscopy. Malaria prevalence based on microscopy results is

highest among children living in rural areas and in the Northern, Western, and Central regions

(GSS, 2015).

Low HIV/AIDS Knowledge: According to the 2014 GDHS respondents residing in urban areas,

especially women, are more likely to be knowledgeable about HIV prevention methods than their

rural counterparts. Urban young people are more likely than rural young people to have

knowledge of HIV prevention. This suggests that that public health education is greater in urban

than rural areas.

Low HIV Testing Services: Knowledge of HIV status helps HIV-negative individuals make

specific decisions to reduce risk and increase safer sex practices so that they can remain disease

free. Among those who are HIV infected, knowledge of their status allows them to take action to

protect their sexual partners, to access treatment, and to plan for the future. According to the
2014 GDHS, knowledge of a place to get an HIV test is higher among urban than rural

respondents. Furthermore, in terms of testing for HIV, urban residents (50 percent of women and

26 percent of men) were much more likely than rural residents (33 percent of women and 13

percent of men) to have been tested and to have received the results.

Smoking: Smoking is a known risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It also causes lung and

other forms of cancer, and contributes to the severity of pneumonia, emphysema, and chronic

bronchitis. Because smoking is an acquired behaviour that is chosen by individuals, all morbidity

and mortality caused by smoking is preventable. According to the 2008 GDHS, men in urban

areas are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men in rural areas (GSS, GHS & ICF Macro, 2009).

Challenges in Accessing Rural Health Care

Where health services are present, there are many factors - social, cultural, and economic - that

cause women not to use the services, especially when the health concern is related to sexual or

reproductive matters. Information on such factors is particularly important in understanding and

addressing the barriers women face in seeking care during pregnancy and at the time of delivery.

The 2008 GDHS indicates that the following are some of the key problems that affect rural

women in seeking health care for themselves (GSS, GHS & ICF Macro, 2009):

 Getting permission to go for treatment – 9.2% of rural women

 Lack of money for treatment – 49.9% of rural women

 Distance to a health facility – 34.8% of rural women

 Having to take transportation – 34.2% of rural women

  Not wanting to go alone to the health facility – 22.4% of rural women

 Concern that there may not be a female health provider –24.8% of rural women

 Concern that there may not be a health provider – 49.3% of rural women

 Concern that there may be no drugs available – 53.1% of rural women

 At least one problem in accessing healthcare – 80.1% of rural women

Also, Yakong, Rush, Bassett-Smith, Bottorff & Robinson (2010) in their study of women’s

experiences of seeking reproductive health care in rural Ghana indicate that rural women face the

following problems:

 Nurses spend very little time with rural women and disregard their questions during times

that they provided care.

 Many rural women were scolded for not seeking care earlier, for not practising birth

control, or for asking questions.

 Rural women were also threatened with treatment withdrawal or denial if they did not

comply with instructions from nurses, and were treated ‘like children’, ignored, and

disrespected.

 Rural women reported that their relationships with some nurses, particularly male nurses,

deteriorated to such an extent that they did not want to seek care for themselves or their

children from particular clinics and nurses, regardless of the seriousness of the condition.

The scolding appeared to be worse at public clinics compared to private clinics.

 Rural women’s choices in seeking reproductive health care were limited. In particular,

the women thought that nurses limited their choices related to labour and birthing.

 Rural women’s preferences to give birth at home with support from trained Traditional

Birth Attendants (TBAs), their mothers-in law or a peer, were not supported by nurses.
 Nurses would not come to rural women’s homes to assist them, even when they were

called. Instead they required the women to walk the distance to the clinics, regardless of

the stage of labour or the time when labour began.

 TBAs were only allowed to report labour cases from their communities to nurses and/or

accompany women in labour to the clinics. Thus, there was a strong attempt by nurses to

turn TBAs into messengers, even with their training by the health ministry and the skills

gained over the years in practice.

 Rural women’s ability to meet their reproductive healthcare needs was often severely

compromised, and nurses’ failure to provide information cut across all reproductive

health issues.

 Nurses called rural women ‘ignorant, uneducated, rural, and local people who lacked

simple understanding’. This resulted in them offering the women little information about

the care provided.

 Clinic structures and practices also made it difficult for rural women to discuss their

healthcare concerns with nursing staff. There was little privacy in clinics conducted in

open rooms.

 The physical clinic structure also compromised privacy during physical examinations.

Sometimes pregnant women were palpated with curtains opened so others saw their

abdomens.

 From rural women’s perspectives, the lack of privacy at the clinic and manner in which

nurses neglected this aspect of care acted as barriers to reproductive healthcare-seeking.

Also, Turkson (2009) in his study of perceived quality of healthcare delivery in a rural district of

Ghana observed the following problems in rural health delivery:

 The range of drugs given was limited to mainly painkillers, vitamins, and anti-malarials.

 The staffs were inadequate so the few available were overworked and tired affecting their

performance.

 The referrals were too many and costly, encouraging self-medication.

 The lack of ambulances or vehicles especially to help transport referred cases.

 Favouritism was sometimes practiced to the chagrin of other patients.

 There were no services on weekends, with only emergencies being treated. In certain

facilities medical assistants were not available over the weekends.

 Waiting times were longer, especially at the dispensary or when going for an injection.

 Lack of Information or Complaints desk to help clients.

 Health workers engaged in illegal charges.

Solutions to Rural Healthcare Challenges

a) Provision of Health Facilities: The District Assembly, community leaders and other Non-

Governmental Organizations in rural communities without any health facility should assist to

provide a health facility such as a health post, CHPS Compound or community clinic to serve the

community. An ambulance should also be provided to rural communities to help carry clients to

the hospitals and other higher level health facilities in district and regional capitals when the

need arises. Also, motorcycles retrofitted with sidecars should be provided to take residents to

clinics in district capitals.

b) Capacity Building of Nurses: More emphasis should be placed on raising awareness among

nurses about women’s accounts of care-seeking, ethical practices and professional codes of

conduct. Nursing regulatory boards and the health ministry must play a major role in ensuring

that nurses provide accessible, acceptable and culturally-appropriate care to all users, irrespective

of their social conditions. Good role modelling is required for new nurses entering practice.

c) Capacity Building of TBAs: The district authorities and other stakeholders in rural areas

should also build the capacity of TBAs through constant training and the supply of required

equipment to help them carry out their roles.

d) Training of Rural Health Workers in Customer Relations: There is the need for the Ghana

Health Service (GHS) to institute regular customer-relations training courses run professionally

to help staff improve or maintain good inter-personal skills.

f) Enforcement of Patients Charter and Rights: Patient’s Charter and Rights should be

enforced vigorously after educating all health workers on these.

g) Establishment of Complaints Desks: Complaint desks should be established at all facilities

with assurance that concerns would be addressed effectively, while allaying fears of

victimization of clients or patients.

f) Ensuring the Privacy of Patients: Screens or cubicles should be provided at the outpatient

department to improve privacy.

g) Provision of Diverse and Quality Drugs: The national drugs policies and essential drugs list

need to be reviewed, making them more responsive to rural patients’ needs and improving

availability.

h) Intensify Community Health Education: Also, the District Health Directorate should ensure

that health education is intensified in rural areas to help change the perceptions and negative

attitudes of the rural population towards family planning and the Expanded Programme on

Immunization. Education can be done at least once in every month.

i) Improve road Conditions: Efforts should be made to improve the road conditions in rural

areas by the government in order to facilitate rural dwellers access to health facilities.

j) Communication Services: In the long term, the District Authorities and other stakeholders

should collaborate with the private sector (Network Service Providers such as Vodafone, MTN,

among others) to provide better network services to rural communities to improve their

communication services.

The implementation of the above mentioned solutions will go a long way to improve the health

status of the rural population in Ghana. A healthy rural population will engender rural

productivity as illnesses result in loss of hours of productive work. Thus, a healthy rural

population will contribute to rural development. Furthermore, the provision of health

infrastructure in rural communities will also attract professionals particularly from urban areas to

rural areas which will contribute to rural transformation and development.

References

Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA). (2013). Key health challenges in

Ghana. Accra: Author.

Drislane, F.W., Akpalu, A., & Wegdam, H.H.J. (2014). The medical system in Ghana. Yale

Journal of Biology and Medicine 87, 321-326.

Ghana Statistical Service. (2014). Ghana living standards survey round 6: Main report. Accra:

Author.

Ghana Statistical Service. (GSS), Ghana Health Service (GHS) & ICF Macro (2009). Ghana

demographic and health survey 2008. Accra: GSS, GHS and ICF Macro.

Ghana Statistical Service. (GSS), Ghana Health Service (GHS) & ICF Macro (2015). Ghana

demographic and health survey 2014: Key Indicators. Accra: GSS, GHS and ICF Macro.

Government of Ghana. (2010). Medium-term national development policy framework: Ghana

shared growth and development agenda (GSGDA), 2010-2013, Volume I, Policy framework.

Accra: National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

Turkson, P.K. (2009). Perceived quality of healthcare delivery in a rural district of Ghana.

Ghana Medical Journal 43(2), 65-70.

Yakong V.N. , Rush K.L., Bassett-Smith J ., Bottorff J .L. & Robinson C. (2010). Women’s

experiences of seeking reproductive health care in rural Ghana: Challenges for maternal health

service utilization. Journal of Advanced Nursing 66(11), 2431–2441. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-

2648.2010.05404.x
 LECTURE THIRTEEN: GENDER AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT

Introduction

Globally, as well as in Ghana, women are key actors in rural areas and engage in farm and non-

farm economic activities to guarantee their families’ and communities’ food, and economic well-

being. However, in spite of their important and diverse contributions, women in rural areas have

less access than men to productive resources due to gender inequality in access to resources.

Thus, to promote rural development, gender disparities in rural areas ought to be addressed. This

session, examines the concept of gender, the important roles of women in rural areas, the key

explanation for gender disparities in rural areas, gender differences in access to productive

resources, and solutions to address gender inequalities in rural areas.

The Concept of Gender

Baden and Reeves (2000:30) define gender as “how a person’s biology is culturally valued and

interpreted into locally accepted ideas of what it is to be a woman or man. ‘Gender’ and the

hierarchical power relations between women and men based on this are socially constructed, and

not derived directly from biology.”

Also, according to Stanley (1990), gender is an array of identities, behaviors, and power

relationships that are constructed by the culture of a society in accordance with sex. This means

that gender identities and associated expectations of roles and responsibilities are therefore

changeable between and within cultures (Baden and Reeves, 2000). Thus, it is socially

constructed and reconstructed through time. In this vein, what men and women do or the

different roles and activities of men and women in rural communities are socially constructed.
The Important Roles of Women in Rural Areas in Ghana

Household/Reproductive Responsibilities: In Ghana, rural women are principally responsible

for satisfying the basic needs of their families. Women mainly produce food for household

consumption and local markets, whereas men more often engage in cash crop production.

Generally, women are responsible for food selection and preparation, and for the care and

feeding of the children, and thus they play a key role in ensuring the well-being of their

households in terms of achieving food security and reducing risk. Women normally spend a

higher share of their income than men on providing food, health and education to the family.

Additionally, they expend a lot of time and hard work in household responsibilities such as food

processing and cooking, fetching water and fuel wood, washing clothes, cleaning, cooking, and

washing dishes. The GLSS 6 indicates that females spend more time on average than males in

carrying out most housekeeping activities (GSS, 2014). Ardayfio-Schandorf (1986) also

indicates that in rural Ghana, women spend more than 10 hours a day to find fuel and water and

prepare meals.

Productive Responsibilities: Women are the main actors in Ghana's agriculture, comprising

over half of the agricultural labour force and produce 70% of the country's food stock (SEND-

Ghana, 2014). Women constitute 95% of those involved in agro-processing and 85% of those in

food distribution and marketing. Due of women’s involvement in food production, many of them

are the sources of knowledge on cultivation, processing, and preservation of nutritious and

locally adapted crop varieties (SEND-Ghana, 2014). Women also play key roles in livestock

farming. They help to feed the animals, clean the stalls and compost manure. When raising
poultry, sheep, goats or rabbits, they are responsible for breeding and tending to the animals’

health. The activities performed by women are often unpaid.

In spite of women’s important and diverse reproductive and productive contributions in rural

communities in Ghana, they have less access than men to productive resources. In almost all

cultures and traditions in Ghana, gender is not only a paramount determinant of access to

productive resources but also the source of the division of labour within the household, the social

value attributed to diverse forms of work, and bargaining power (SEND-Ghana, 2014).

Patriarchy : Key Reason for Gender Disparities in Rural Areas

Women’s relatively poor access to resources in Ghana has been attributed to the traditional

patriarchal system in the country (Dumor, 1983). According to Baden and Reeves (2000: 28)

patriarchy is “the systemic societal structures that institutionalise male physical, social and

economic power over women.” Baden and Reeves (2000) further note that some feminists use

the concept of patriarchy to denote the systematic subordination of women by both overarching

and localised structures. These structures operate to the advantage of men by constraining

women’s life choices and chances. Patriarchal oppression has been found to mainly manifest in

areas such as housework, paid work, the state, culture, sexuality, and violence.

Behaviours that discriminate against women on the basis of their gender are considered as

patriarchal ‘practices’ and these include occupational segregation, exclusion, and unequal pay.
Feminists who view gender inequality in relation to patriarchy usually reject male-biased societal

structures and practices and recommend greater female autonomy or even separatism as a

strategy.

Gender Differences in Access to Resources in Rural Areas

Gender inequalities in rural areas are widespread particularly in agriculture and rural

employment and are seen in many forms such as limited access to education, labour, land, credit,

extension services, markets, productive inputs, natural resources, and participation in social and

political bodies.

Gender Gap in Education: Education is an important aspect of societal development. It is the

process of acquiring knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes to fully develop individual

capacities for societal well-being. According to GLSS 6, school attendance of adults 15 years

and older who have ever attended school is higher among males (83.5%) than females (70.4%),

in rural areas with the highest gaps in favour of males observed in the Northern, Upper West, and

Central regions (GSS, 2014).

In terms of literacy in English and a Ghanaian language, male literacy rates are higher than

females in rural areas. For instance, according to GLSS 6, male adult literacy in English is higher

in rural coastal (64.7%), rural forest (59.5%), and rural Savannah (38.4%) than females in rural

coastal (39.4%) rural forest (35.4%) rural savannah (22.4%) (GSS, 2014).
Low educational and literacy levels of rural women compared to men constrain their multiple

roles as agricultural producers, workers, mothers, and caregivers.

Gender Differentials in Access to Labour: In some traditions in Ghana, women are obliged to

work on their husbands’ farms while in others they may not be required to do so but help with

planting and harvesting of crops. In both situations, there is no reciprocity and thus women

small-scale farmers particularly tend to use temporary hired labour in small amounts for specific

farming activities like bush clearing and weeding (Baden, Otoo-Oyortey, & Peasgood, 1994). In

the majority of cases women spend the greater part of their scarce resources on such labour and

have less capital to purchase modern farm inputs. Thus, in rural Ghana, women’s access to

labour is considerably inferior to that of men and contributes to women’s cultivation of relatively

small farmlands.

Gender Differentials in Access to Land: One of the key gender-based constraints that women

farmers face is access to, ownership, and control of agricultural land. On the average, only 10%

of Ghanaian women farmers own land compared to 23% of men and the average value of land

holdings for women are three times lower than that of men (SEND-Ghana, 2014). Women

farmers in Ghana, particularly smallholder farmers, rarely own the land they cultivate and in

cases in cases where they own it, the lands are mostly small in size hampering any large scale

farming. According to FAO (2012) there are gender disparities in land holdings in Ghana, with

men holding 3.2 times more of the total farms than women and 8.1 times more of the medium-

large farms (of 5 acres and more). The majority of female holders mostly manage small farms (of

less than 5 acres). Women's lack of access to and control over land is informed by land tenure
customary practices and laws as well as customary land inheritance norms that tend to favour

men.

Gender Differentials in Access to Credit: Financial resources play a very important role in

economic development and the lack of capital is considered as a major drawback in any

economic enterprise. Rural women find it difficult to access capital due to the fact that women

by their traditional status do not often own fixed property. Also, the collateral requirements of

banks and their focus on cash crop producers do not favour women further limiting women’s

access to credit. According to SEND-Ghana (2014), it is estimated that for every 100 Ghanaian

men accessing credit, only 47 women do. Furthermore, of the GH¢66, 323,081.47 facility loans

granted to farmers by the Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) in 2012, less than 30% of

women received loans. Rural women’s inability to access credit is due to their limited education

and mobility, social and cultural barriers (SEND-Ghana, 2014). As a consequence of problems

encountered with formal credit in Ghana, women have resorted to a variety of informal sources

of credit for their economic activities. Informal credit is mainly obtained through savings and

loan schemes (26.0%), and relatives/friends/neighbours (18.3%) (GSS, 2014).

Gender Differentials in Access to Extension Services: Extension services are critical in

promoting agricultural innovation; however women compared to men have less access to these

services in rural Ghana. Extension services reach about 70% of farming communities in Ghana

with women farmers mostly left out of the reach of extension officers as extension service

provision is generally tailored to the needs of males and rarely recognizes women's time burdens,
and different time schedules from that of men (SEND-Ghana, 2014). Thus, women’s agricultural

output cannot increase without a considerable increase in their access to extension services.

Gender Differential in Access to Markets: Women farmers and agro processors face gender-

specific limitations to market availability and access such as low mobility less access to market

information, long distances to village markets, low prices paid for food crops, high market tolls

demanded by the local government authorities, and lack of capital, technology, education and

land (SEND-Ghana, 2014). Furthermore, cultural factors impede women’s access to markets

including women's contributions to household care services, cultural biases that determine

women's roles which make it difficult for women to travel long distances to seek the best prices

for their farm output as well as other cultural and socioeconomic barriers to membership in

farmer organizations and cooperatives. These challenges inhibit women’s access to the market.

Men on the other hand are more likely to be approached by agricultural companies or other

representatives wanting to engage in business.

Gender Differential in Access to Productive Inputs: Smallholder farmers in Ghana generally

use limited modern inputs due to high costs and the poor distribution system. As a result of rural

women’s limited access to credit, they tend to use less modern inputs such as fertilizers, tractors

and pesticides compared to men. Furthermore, many women farmers do not have access to

productive inputs due to their lack of access to information on the availability of affordable

equipment, which can enable them improve on their outputs (SEND-Ghana, 2014). Women’s

limited access to mechanical tools and technologies in the agriculture sector exacerbates the

difficulties of women farmers.

Gender and Access to Natural Resources: The activities undertaken by women within the rural

economy in Ghana are very much reliant on the natural resource base. Apart from their

agricultural production, women are also involved in fuelwood and water collection and other

processing activities (for both home consumption and sale). As such, any decline in the natural

resource base particularly affects women. Women’s access to natural resources is also largely

determined through their membership of lineages and communities thus migrant labourers and

women, in particular, may have lesser access to these resources, particularly where the overall

resource base is diminishing as a result of over-cultivation, the rapid expansion of agricultural

land into previously uncultivated areas, unreliable and erratic rainfall and resultant desertification

processes in the savanna zone.

Gender Differentials in Social and Political Participation: Participating in political and social

organizations in rural areas is a major mechanism through which development programs can

assist women to increase their control of assets, improve their productivity, and enhance their

status and well-being. Indeed, the political and social capitals that groups generate have been

recognized as very important assets. However, rural women in Ghana have low levels of

participation in local government institutions and Community Based organizations (CBOs) due

to heavy time constraints because of their numerous productive and reproductive responsibilities.

The lack of participation in these groups means that women do not have a voice to spearhead

their well-being in rural communities which further exacerbates the difficulties that women

experience in rural areas in Ghana.

Solutions to Gender Inequalities in Rural Areas

Rural women in Ghana play very important productive and reproductive roles and yet they are

constrained in their access to resources. Enhancing women’s access to resources will therefore

engender profound benefits and development in rural areas. Indeed, according to SEND-Ghana

(2014) it is estimated that if women farmers had equal access to productive resources as male

farmers, they could increase their farm output by 20%-30%, which would increase total

agricultural output in Ghana by 4%, and reduce hunger by 17%. In the long term, this would

enhance family nutrition, food security, child and maternal health, improve environmental

management, reduce poverty and decrease conflicts.

The solutions to gender inequalities in rural areas include provision of rural time saving

technologies, increase women’s access to education, labour, land, credit, extension services,

markets, productive inputs, natural resources and promote their social and political participation.

Provision of Water and Energy Supplies in Rural Areas: Improvements in women’s lives

would be achieved by improving access to water supplies and gas for cooking in rural areas as

the availability of these resources would save considerable time for women, and help them to

enhance their income earning capacity and potential.

Promote the Education of Women: To improve women’s education, there is the need to create

incentives to keep female children in school such as providing better schooling services and the
provision of meals in schools. Furthermore, female enrolment in non-traditional

vocational/technical education needs to be promoted at the post primary level in order to widen

their economic opportunities. Also, to enhance women’s enrolment in literacy/adult programmes,

there is the need to revise the curriculum of literacy/adult education programmes to include skills

exclusively relevant to women’s livelihood activities and for which women demand themselves.

Improve Women’s Access to Farm Labour: Traditions that compel women to work on their

husbands’ farms should be discouraged so that women can focus their efforts on their own farms.

Alternatively, husbands and other male relatives should be encouraged to provide labour to

women so that they can cultivate larger farmlands and increase their farm output.

Enhance Women’s Access to Land: The state should take measures to end discrimination in

land ownership and tenure by guaranteeing equal rights to land for men and women, independent

of their civil status; and implement policies and programmes to facilitate women's access to and

control over land for productive purposes.

Improve Women’s Access to Credit: There is a critical need for increasing women’s access to

credit and savings through more accessible and affordable public and private finance

mechanisms, which would permit them increased access to land markets, seeds, fertilizers, and

machinery. Specifically, the state should establish a “Women’s Fund” to provide credit to

women farmers and traders who cannot access capital from the formal financial sector. The fund

should have substantial capital to reach large numbers of women, and should be efficient
managed by Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and the Ministry of Gender, Children and

Social Protection.

Promote Female Farmers’ Access to Agricultural Extension: To enhance women farmers’

access to extension services, there is the need to identify and address the factors that prevent

women from attending extension-related community meetings. Furthermore, such meetings

should be organized at times and locations that make them more accessible for women farmers.

Also, female extension agents should be used to reach female farmers as well as the creation of

incentives for extension officers to reach and work with female farmers.

Enhance Women’s Access to Markets: Markets should be provided in rural areas particularly

for the women farmers to sell their products directly to consumers so as to reduce the role of

middlemen who buy market produce at very low prices. Furthermore, rural infrastructure such as

roads should be improved so that women can send their produce to market centres at reduced

transport costs. Also, new marketing avenues should be explored that can offer better

opportunities for women in high-value, export-oriented agro-industries.

Promote Women’s Access to Productive Inputs: The Agricultural Engineering Services

Directorates of the MoFA should support women farmers as well as women farmers groups to

procure inputs such as fertilizers, tractors and other improved traditional tools to assist them in

their farming activities. This would help reduce the labour shortages for land preparation and

would improve women's productivity since they will make use of less energy while producing

more for home consumption and for the market.

Improve Women’s Access to Natural Resources: Rural women should have the same rights

and opportunities as men in accessing and using natural resources (forest resources). Local

awareness and support, and women’s participation in decision-making, are crucial for the

realization of these rights.

Promote Women’s Participation in Social and Political Organizations: Granting women an

equal say in decision-making processes in rural development institutions such local government

authorities and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) improves their access to resources and

the factors of production such as land, labour, and capital. Thus, gender balanced representation

in all administrative and decision-making bodies in rural areas should be institutionalized so that

the needs of women would be comprehensively understood, appreciated, and addressed so that it

will ensure the empowerment of rural women and ultimately contribute to rural development.

References

Ardayfio-Schandorf, E. (1986). The rural energy crisis in Ghana: Its implications for women’s

work and household survival. World Employment Programme Research Working Paper 39.

Geneva: International Labour Organization.

Baden, S., & Reeves, H. (2000). Gender and development: Concepts and definitions. Brighton:

Institute of Development Studies.

Baden, S., Green, C., Otoo-Oyortey, N., & Peasgood, T. (1994). Background paper on gender

issues in Ghana: Report prepared for the West and North Africa department, Department of

Overseas Development (DFID). Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, University of

Sussex, UK. Retrieved from http://www.bridge.ids.ac.uk/reports/re19c.pdf

Dumor, E. (1983). Women in rural development in Ghana. Rural Africana, No.17.

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2012). Gender inequalities in rural employment in

Ghana: An overview. Rome: FAO.

SEND Ghana. (2014). Women and smallholder agriculture in Ghana. Policy Brief No. 4. Accra:

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Stanley, L. (Ed) (1990). Feminist praxis: Research, theory and epistemology in feminist

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