Browsing by Subject "Ghana"

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Farming forest enclosures : contestations, practices and implications for tackling deforestation in Ghana
(2022) Kumeh, Eric Mensah; Birner, Regina
Scientists and policymakers are waking to the menacing impacts of deforestation on biodiversity and the livelihoods of the over one billion people reliant on forests. Concurrently, an upward trend in population and its corresponding rise in the global demand for feed, food, fuel, and fibre exerts new demands on limited land resources available to multiple stakeholders. As the competition over land intensifies, many farmers in the tropics employ several strategies to cultivate areas designated as forest reserves for their livelihoods, leading to further deforestation and conflicts with state forestry agencies. Moreover, despite decades of investments in institutions to directly fund smallholder farmers’ participation in rehabilitating deforested landscapes, little is known about the reach and performance of existing financial incentive mechanisms. This dissertation adds to filling these knowledge gaps based on qualitative case studies embedded in multiple analytical and data collection approaches in Ghana, which loses near 2% (135,000 ha) of its forests annually despite several efforts to overcome the challenge. Following a brief introduction and clarification of conceptual underpinning in Chapter 1, the knowledge gaps are addressed with three empirical publications (chapters 2-4). Chapter two examines why and how farmers in forest communities gain and secure access to their farmlands within forest reserves to produce food and cash crops against state law. Through process-net maps, focus group discussions, interviews, and field observation, data were gathered through an extended field stay in Ghana’s Juabeso district. The findings unbridle the multiple structural and relational mechanisms farmers apply to evade state attempts to rein in illegal farming in the area and how institutional deficiencies, notably corruption and elite capture of farming benefits by native chiefs, reinforce farming in forest reserves. The chapter discusses the broader implications of the findings for the Ghanaian government’s attempts to accelerate forest landscape rehabilitation, noting that such efforts will need to adapt to the multiple struggles and latent actor interests to succeed. Chapter three disentangles the narratives and experiences of forest communities and compares them with the current assumptions underlying forest policy in Ghana from the perspective of the most dominant forest policy actors. The results contend with current assumptions that portray forest communities as environmentally destructive. Alternatively, it reveals that while several factors combine to drive forest-dependent communities to cultivate forest reserves, the challenge of food insecurity is paramount but unconveyed to the forest policy arena. The chapter proposes a novel concept of food security corridors (FSCs) as a meta-narrative for harmonising competing actor interests in forest reserves. The chapter also discusses the feasibility of FSCs and calls for further efforts to refine and pilot the concept in the global search for solutions to forest and agriculture land-use conflicts in the tropics. Chapter four examines the governance of Ghana’s Forest Plantation Development Fund as an incentive system instituted to attract smallholders into landscape rehabilitation based on interviews with tree growers, forestry officials and NGO staff. The study revealed that the legal provisions instituted to ensure the fund’s transparent operation were not implemented by fund administrators. Many stakeholders were clueless about the Fund and could neither access nor demand accountability in its administration. The chapter clarifies the information needs of various fund stakeholders, such as eligibility criteria, funding cycles, annual inflows and outflows, and a list of beneficiaries. It also discusses the implications of the findings, including mechanisms required to trigger the transparent running of the fund by its administrators. The thesis reveals new patterns of perennial land competition between state and traditional institutions. It demonstrates how prevailing institutional challenges reinforce this competition and enable unsustainable land use to flourish. At the same, it points to lapses in governance, including state failure to evolve its forest policies to meet changing demands and needs among contemporary actors and how the same challenges curtail access and ability to support forestation rehabilitation efforts in Ghana. Overall, the thesis notes that while tackling farming in forest reserves can be challenging due to its multiple drivers and the competing actor interests, FSCs have the potential to serve as an entry point that enables government and other actors to resolve their differences and find lasting solutions that enable local communities to achieve their livelihoods needs while contributing to sustainable land use. However, for this potential to be realised, actors need to invest in refining and piloting FSCs in specific localities.
Governance of emerging biomass-based value webs in Africa : case studies from Ghana
(2018) Poku, Adu-Gyamfi; Birner, Regina
Rising global demand for food as well as for feed and biomass-based raw materials such as fuel and fibre crops has increased pressure on the agricultural sector, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa. The expected trend of increased demand for more diverse biomass-based produce from agricultural land effectively transforms the agriculture sector from just a food-supplying to a biomass-supplying sector in the growing international bioeconomy. This transition is leading to the development of biomass-based value webs whereby there are complex systems of interlinked value chains in which food, fodder, fuels, and other raw materials are produced, processed, traded and consumed. Against this background, this thesis aims to evaluate the appropriate roles of the public, private and third (civil society) sectors in facilitating the transformation of the agricultural sector in the developing bioeconomy in Ghana. The study focuses on the emerging value webs of cassava (Manihot esculenta) and maize (Zea mays), which are the two most important staple crops in Ghana.
Small-scale irrigation and womens empowerment : lessons from an irrigation intervention in Northern Ghana
(2022) Basauri Bryan, Elizabeth; Zeller, Manfred
This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore issues related to women’s empowerment and small-scale irrigation from several different angles: conceptually, based on a literature review, qualitatively and quantitatively, based on a case study in Northern Ghana, and qualitatively, as part of a larger effort of development organizations to promote adaptation to climate change. The analysis relies on a conceptual framework that illustrates the linkages between small-scale irrigation and the domains of women’s empowerment as well as the broader opportunity structure shaping these relationships. It then uses qualitative and quantitative data from the case study area to identify what aspects of women’s empowerment are salient in this context and how the irrigation intervention influences outcomes for women. Finally, the dissertation draws lessons from a capacity needs assessment of development organizations to identify areas for strengthening the delivery of gender-sensitive programs. Thus, the main research questions addressed by this dissertation are: 1) What are the linkages between small-scale irrigation technologies/systems and dimensions of women’s empowerment? 2) What aspects of women’s empowerment emerge as the most salient in the context of Northern Ghana where small scale irrigation is practiced and modern technologies (motor pumps) are being introduced? 3) How does the introduction of small-scale irrigation technologies (specifically motor pumps) affect indicators of women’s empowerment? 4) What are the gender-related capacity needs of development organizations working to promote climate change adaptation (of which small-scale irrigation is an important practice)? The findings in this dissertation suggest that there are many factors to consider in the design and dissemination of small-scale irrigation technologies to ensure that these are equitably distributed and that both men and women have the opportunity to engage in and benefit from irrigation. These include gendered preferences for the type of irrigation technology or system, the underlying socio-political environment shaping the barriers that men and women face, and implementation approaches. Moving beyond simply reaching women (that is, counting their participation in program activities) to benefitting and empowering women (increasing their well-being outcomes and expanding their ability to make strategic life decisions) requires knowledge of the local context and dedicated attention toward ensuring that outcomes for women are achieved, even if this means expanding activities and opportunities outside of agriculture. Thus, greater efforts are also needed to build the capacity of implementing organizations to deliver gender-responsive programs. Creating platforms, like stakeholder consultation processes or dialogues, for setting goals and sharing information, approaches, and lessons learned is one way to build this capacity. Integrating gender-sensitive research tools into strategy development, project design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation of implementing agencies would also support the development of more gender-responsive irrigation interventions and would contribute to fill remaining research gaps on the gendered implications of alternative agricultural technologies and practices. While this dissertation provides some evidence on the impacts of motor pumps for small-scale irrigation on women’s empowerment, this is only one of many types of irrigation technologies and approaches. More research is needed on the implications for women’s empowerment of alternative irrigation technologies, systems, and dissemination tactics, including group-based and service-based approaches.
The role of institutions and networks in developing the bioeconomy : case studies from Ghana and Brazil
(2019) Scheiterle, Lilli; Birner, Regina
An increasing number of countries have begun putting focus on developing a bioeconomy strategy. The bioeconomy provides a new concept with the aim to design a sustainable economy, which is knowledge-based and based on the use of biological resources. This entails on the one hand higher production of biomass and on the other tighter networks of traditional, national and international institutions. Institutional networks are pivotal for the sustainable production and use of biological resources, as well for the development of innovative biological processes and principles to exploit the potential of biomass. This thesis explores three pivotal aspects needed to take advantage of the considerable untapped potential of the bioeconomy. The first case study aims to identify the determinants of the persisting low maize yields in northern Ghana, despite the introduction of a fertilizer subsidy program. The policy is largely regarded as an instrument to increase crop productivity and contribute to food security. The second empirical study explores the role of female-led market institutions in Ghana. Marketing is central to the development of the bioeconomy and as such, trader organizations have a key role to play the value chain. The third case study investigates, taking sugarcane as a case study example, how well Brazil, the world’s leader in sugarcane production, is positioned to realize the shift from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy (bioeconomy). The two case study countries Ghana and Brazil were chosen because of their comparable net primary productivity and pedo-climatic conditions, and because of their different stages in the realization of the bioeconomy. Two components are pivotal to the success of the bioeconomy: biomass and knowledge. Based on two case studies in Ghana, this thesis investigates first the efforts to increase maize productivity in the Guinea savanna and secondly explores the role of collective action groups as central actors to address the sustainability dimension of the bioeconomy. Brazil has successfully implemented pivotal aspects of the bioeconomy, especially in the sugarcane sector. For this reason it lends itself well to analyze the role of institutions and networks in the development of new processes and products. This study adopts a mixed methods approach to address three key aspects of the development of the bioeconomy: production, marketing, and the overall innovation system. Data collection and analysis included qualitative and quantitative methods from various disciplines. The findings are presented in three papers, which this cumulative thesis is composed of. The first paper adopts a multidisciplinary approach. A household survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions served to gather data on the socio-economic challenges of maize production in the Guinea savanna. Additionally, soil and fertilizer samples were analyzed to identify natural constraints and potential governance challenges. The results from this paper show that both socio-economic and biophysical parameters contribute to an improved understanding of site-specific challenges, resulting in low maize productivity in the Guinea savanna of Ghana. The second paper explores the role of female-led market associations across regions, ethnicities, and market typologies throughout Ghana. For this study a qualitative approach was chosen with participant observation and in-depth open-ended interviews conducted with traders, both in and out of leadership positions. The results could not empirically confirm the prevailing discourse on the monopolizing power of female-led market associations. The study rather finds that traders’ collective action provides vital safety-net measures for asset-poor women engaging in risky market activity. However, the public perception is challenging female trader agencies. The third paper analyzes the role of institutions and focuses on the innovation networks in the sugarcane sector in Brazil. The study combines the novel concept of ‘biomass value-webs’ with the established National Innovation System concept. For data collection, in-depth interviews and Net-Maps as a participatory tool were applied. The results illustrate the importance of innovation networks for Brazil to become a front-runner in the future bioeconomy. In particular, it emphasizes the importance of integrating national and international private sector organizations, and the need for incentives to foster collaboration with knowledge institutions. Based on these findings, one can conclude that strengthening the efforts to tailor site-specific solutions that consider the inter-disciplinary nature of crop production, marketing and development of processes is crucial to the bioeconomy. Overall, more attention to innovation networks is required to master the challenges of the bioeconomy and take full advantage of its opportunities.