‘INACTION OR IN ACTION’, THE

EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GHANA SCHOOL

FEEDING PROGRAMME: THE CASE OF

NTRANOA SCHOOL, CAPE COAST, GHANA.

AMY LYNCH

H.P.S.S.

i

NAME: AMY LYNCH

ID NUMBER: 09006840

TITLE: INACTION OR IN ACTION’, THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE

GHANA SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMME: THE CASE OF

NTRANOA SCHOOL, CAPE COAST, GHANA

SUPERVISOR: DR. BERNADETTE CONNAUGHTON

EXTERNAL EXAMINER: DR. JANE O’MAHONY

DEGREE TITLE: H.P.S.S.

DATE: 21ST FEBRUARY 2013

ii

DECLARATION

I hereby declare that this project is entirely my own work, in my own words, and that all sources used in researching it are fully acknowledged and all quotations properly identified. It has not been submitted, in whole or in part, by me or another person, for the purpose of obtaining any other credit / grade. I understand the ethical implications of my research, and have been granted ethical approval by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Research Ethics Committee. This work meets the requirements of the above committee and is in line with the proposed ethics application.

Signed:..................................................................................................................

Date:.................................................

iii

CORRECTION SHEET

iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract .................................................................................................................................. viii

Acknowledgments.................................................................................................................. viii

Dedication..................................................................................................................................v

Table of Acronyms/Abreviations..............................................................................................vi

1 Profile of Ghana.....................................................................................................................1

1.1 Ghana’s evolution- Social Intervention Initiatives....................................................4

1.2 Poverty in Ghana .......................................................................................................... 4

1.3 Constitutional commitments of the GOG...................................................................5

1.4 NPP 2004 electoral manifesto- plans to introduce GSFP.........................................6

1.5 The Development of the School feeding programme in Ghana ................................ 6

1.5.1 Expansion of the GSFP in the Volta Region..............................................................7

1.6 The aims of the GSFP..................................................................................................8

1.7 The long term goals of the programme......................................................................8

1.8 Aims and Objectives of this study...............................................................................8

1.9 Identified problems......................................................................................................9

1.10 Central research questions: ......................................................................................... 9

1.11 Hypothesis: .................................................................................................................. 11

1.12 Methodological considerations .................................................................................. 11

1.14 Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 17

1.15 Chapter outline............................................................................................................17

Chapter Two-Literature review of policy process...............................................................19

2 Introduction................................................................................................................19

2.1 Defining policy............................................................................................................19

2.2 Top-down approach/ efforts to decentralise............................................................20

2.3 Pressman and Wildavsky’s series of linkages..........................................................20

2.4 The Bandwagon effect................................................................................................21

2.5 Probability Theory.....................................................................................................21

2.6 Separating politics and administration....................................................................22

v

2.7 The bottom-up approach...........................................................................................22

2.8 Actors responsible for policy and beneficiaries.......................................................24

2.9 Synthesizers.................................................................................................................24

2.10 Participatory democracy...........................................................................................25

2.11 Conclusion...................................................................................................................26

Chapter Three- Democracy, Poverty and Governance......................................................27

3 Introduction................................................................................................................28

3.1 Introduction of Structural Adjustment Programmes.............................................28

3.2 Agenda setting- Role of the WB and the IMF.........................................................28

3.3 Levels of dependency on donor assistance...............................................................29

3.4 Influence of the WB on Ghana's growth..................................................................30

3.4.1 Dutch Activity in Ghana............................................................................................30

3.5 Role of the Dutch Government and CSOs...............................................................31

3.5.1 Dutch Activity in Ghana............................................................................................31

3.6 Consultative processes...............................................................................................32

3.7 Legislative Measures aiding decentralisation..........................................................32

3.8 Local government, decentralisation and capacity building....................................33

3.8.1 Partisanship in politics...............................................................................................34

3.9 Role of parliament......................................................................................................35

3.10 Central features in poverty reduction......................................................................36

3.11 Risks encountered......................................................................................................37

3.12 Conclusion...................................................................................................................38

Chapter four- Analysis of household-survey results............................................................39

4 Introduction................................................................................................................39

4.1 Performance of the GSFP..........................................................................................39

4.2 Attendance and retention of school pupils...............................................................41

4.3 Levels of local food production.................................................................................41

4.4 GSFP reducing hunger..............................................................................................42

4.5 Levels of satisfaction with the GSFP........................................................................43

vi

4.6 Process of Implementation for the GSFP.................................................................47

Chapter five Discussion, conclusion of main findings and recommendations................54

5 Summary of chapters.................................................................................................54

5.1 Discussion: the Success of the GSFP to date............................................................55

5.2 Concluding comments................................................................................................55

References.............................................................................................................................. 59

TABLE OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of the Republic of Ghana....................................................................................3

Figure 2: Age of respondents...................................................................................................13

Figure 3: Gender of respondents..............................................................................................14

Figure 4: Level of education of respondents............................................................................15

Figure 5: Current Occupation of respondents..........................................................................16

Figure 6: The GSFP had helped to increase school enrolment................................................40

Figure 7: Levels of satisfaction about buying foodstuffs locally............................................44

Figure 8: Histogram showing the implementation of the GSFP..............................................49

Figure 9: Implementation of GSFP-controlled by local committee members.........................51

Figure 10: Implementation of GSFP-controlled by the Head-teacher.....................................53

vii

TABLE OF TABLES Table 1: Ages of respondents...................................................................................................13

Table 2: Gender of respondents................................................................................................14

Table 3: Level of education of respondents.............................................................................15

Table 4: Current occupation of respondents.............................................................................16

Table 5: The performance of the GSFP-increasing enrolment.................................................40

Table 6: Crosstabulation of gender/performance of GSFP......................................................41

Table 7: The performance of the GSFP-attendance and retention of pupils............................42

Table 8: Views about impact of the GSFP- domestic food production....................................42

Table 9: Views about reduction rural hunger and malnutrition...............................................43

Table 10: Levels of satisfaction about buying foodstuffs locally............................................44

Table 11: Levels of satisfaction with quality of food being served.........................................45

Table 12: Crosstabulation satisfaction with quality of food being served/gender...................45

Table 13: Crosstabulation satisfaction with quality of food being served/occupation.............46

Table 14: Levels of satisfaction with quantity of food being served.......................................47

Table 15: Levels of satisfaction with the menu chart...............................................................48

Table 16: Implementation of GSFP-controlled by Municipal Assembly Officials..................49

Table 17: Implementation of GSFP-controlled by KEEA education officials.........................50

Table 18: Implementation of GSFP-controlled by local committee members.........................51

Table 19: Crosstabulation-implementation by local committee members/gender...................52

Table 20: Crosstabulation-implementation by local committee members/education..............52

Table 21: Implementation of the GSFP-controlled by Head-teacher.......................................54

viii

ABSTRACT

ix

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to acknowledge the community of Ntranoa for their cooperation in conducting the household-surveys and to show my appreciation to those who assisted me in the distribution of the surveys.

To my supervisor Dr. Bernadette Connaughton who has provided me with direction and guidance throughout this project, I am most grateful.

To my friends both at home and abroad, thank you for your kindness and consideration during our frequent chats over multiple cups of coffee regarding the progress of the project, I am extremely grateful.

I would like to show my appreciation to the family of Ahotokurom, for granting me the opportunity to embark on a journey of teaching in Infant Jesus Preparatory School, Twifo Praso, the where I was first introduced to the workings of the Ghana School Feeding Policy,

Finally, I would like to acknowledge with high esteem, my family who have been an invaluable source of strength and reassurance, with a note of particular gratitude to my parents for their patience and unconditional support throughout the duration of my undergraduate degree.

x

DEDICATION

This project is dedicated to Dr. Mark Mantey to whom I am eternally grateful, for his

unwavering support and invaluable guidance both in Ireland and in Ghana, Meda ase.

Poem on the school feeding programme

By Joseph Cobbinah (9 years old)

Boekrom d/a Primary, Ahante West, June 2007

FOOD! FOOD! FOOD!

The energy giver

the hunger extinguisher

Who can confidently say that he has not eaten for the past two months

No one! No one! No one!

Gone are the days

When school going children weren’t in school

When the crow of the cock made us think what to eat at school

When we lost concentration in class at exactly 12 noon

When our parents dragged us to the farm during week days for food

Ah! Ah! Ah!

Today they are the things of the past

In the name of the School Feeding Programme

What says the time?

It is 12 noon

Yes smiles are written on our faces

Because it is lunch time

Long live the donors

Long live Ahanta West

Long live Ghana!

(SIGN)

xi

TABLE OF ACRONYMS/ABREVIATIONS

CAADP Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme

CHRAJ Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice

CPP Convention People’s Party

CSO Civil Society Organisation

DA District Assembly

DIC District Implementation Committee

GOG Government of Ghana

GSFP Ghana School Feeding Policy

HGSFP Home Grown School Feeding Policy

HTFI Hunger Task Force Initiative

IMF International Monetary Fund

KEEA Komenda /Edina/Eguafo/Abirem

LGSA Local Government Service Act

MA Municipal Assembly

MDG Millennium Development Goal

MLGRD Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development

MP Member of Parliament

NDC National Democratic Congress

NEPAD New Partnership for Africa’s Development

NGO Non Governmental Organisation

NIRP National Institutional Reform Programme

NPP National Patriotic Party

ODA Official Development Assistance

PCD Partnership for Child Development

PRSI Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative

xii

PRSP Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper

PSC Project Steering Committee

PTA Parent Teacher Association

SIC School Implementation Committee

SIGN School-feeding Initiative Ghana Netherlands

SMB School Management Board

SNV Netherlands Development Organisation

TUC Trade Union Congress

USAID United States Agency for International Development

WB World Bank

1

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

Examining the implementation of the Ghana School Feeding Policy: the case of Ntranoa

School

1. Country Profile of Ghana

Ghana is situated in West Africa bordered by Cote d’Ivoire on the west, Togo on the east,

Burkina Faso in the north and the Atlantic Ocean in the south forming its coastline. Ghana

has a population of approximately 25 million, of which an estimated 2 million people live in

the capital city Accra (World Bank 2011). Ghana, a former British colony gained

independence in 1957 under anti-colonialist leader Kwame Nkrumah with the Convention

People’s Party. Nkrumah’s leadership was brought to an abrupt end by a military coup in

1966. For the consequent years Ghana’s governance was dominated by periods of military

rule (1966-69, 1972-79, 1981-91) and by intermittent periods of civilian rule (1969-71, 1979-

81). Ghana made the transition to democracy and a return to multi-party politics in 1992

under Lt. Jerry Rawling’s government. The main political parties within Ghana are the

National Patriotic Party, the National Democratic Congress, the People’s National

Convention and the party which administered Ghana’s gaining Independence the Convention

People’s Party (Africa.com 2010). Today Ghana is governed by the NDC party under newly

elected President John Dramani Mahama. Ghana is also internationally renowned for its

natural resources namely cocoa and gold; however the discovery of an offshore oil source in

2007 saw the commencement of new oil production in 2010. Internationally Ghana has

gained membership in the UN, the Economic Community of West African States

(ECOWAS), the African Union and the British Commonwealth (Foreign and Commonwealth

Office 2012). According to the UN Committee on Social Economic and Cultural Rights 2001

the great majority of Ghanaians are living in poverty, as despite the existence of a minimum

wage the majority of Ghanaians are in receipt of as little as GH ¢50 - GH ¢100 per month

(approx. €25-50) with over fifty per cent of the total poor population living in rural areas

(Selby 2011).

Global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF have been instrumental in guiding

Ghana through the adoption of a number of strategic development programmes. The long

term effects of the introduction of the structural adjust programme (SAP) in the 1980’s by the

IMF, WB and other external donors saw the start of a process of external assistance which

would come to characterise Ghana’s development.

2

Regional Map of Ghana (UN 2005)

3

Figure 1

1.1 Ghana’s evolution- Social Intervention Initiatives

4

On gaining independence in 1957 the population of Ghana was at 5 million. On completion

of the last census in 2010 Ghana’s population was found to be nearing 25 million. Of this 25

million it has been estimated that 41% are between the age of 0 and 15. In addition to this

55% of the population live in rural communities (Uduku 2011; Oduro 2001). The aim of the

GSFP is to eradicate poor rural household and community poverty and achieve food security

(GSFP 2005). Since becoming a democracy there has been a push for a greater liberalization

of government initiatives through calls for broader participation and efforts to decentralize

the policy making terrain. This has aided successive governments such as National

Democratic Congress (NDC) 1992, 1996, New Patriotic party (NPP) 2001, 2006 and NDC

2010 making efforts to produce social intervention progress to address poverty related issues

to benefit both rural and urban poor.

For instance, the following examples illustrate the variation of poverty reducing policy

initiatives which have been implemented in Ghana in recent years: (i) the national health

insurance scheme, (ii) free primary education policy, (iii) school feeding programme, (iv)

metro mass transport system, (v) Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), (vi) the

education capitation grant (Al Hassan, R. and Colin Poulton 2009; Oduro 2001; Modern

Ghana, 2011). A number of these social intervention programmes have indeed helped to

address major poverty issues and have proved to be extremely successful. The LEAP

initiative has been particularly successful; it is based on the Growth and Poverty Reduction

Strategy II within Ghana. LEAP provides the most vulnerable poverty stricken citizens with a

cash supplement of GHC8.00 every two months and enrols its recipients in the National

Health Insurance Scheme. Like the GSFP LEAP aims to increase and maintain school

attendance (South-South Learning on Social Protection 2009). These policies among others

indeed demonstrate the political will and commitments of political parties in helping to

improve the living standards of the people.

Research problem:

1.2 Poverty in Ghana

Today Ghana is regarded as a success story in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a nation it has made a

number of significant advances in terms of poverty reduction in recent years, in the last

decade alone the overall poverty rate has seen a significant drop from 52 per cent to 28 per

cent whilst also achieving lower middle-income status. However, despite these successes

poverty remains to be a major obstacle in the path to development as Ghana is still considered

5

to be ‘a food deficit country’ (Feed the Future 2011, WFP, 2011). There are still major inter-

regional and urban/rural disparities as 70 per cent of Ghana’s poor live in three of the

northern regions- Northern (13 %), Upper East (11%) and Upper West (14%).Although

Ghana’s development is in line with the first MDG ‘to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger’

it is showing fewer signs of progress with the remaining seven. In the 2010 Human

Development Index Ghana was ranked 130th out of 169 countries and placed in the ‘low

human development category’ (UNDP 2010). In an effort to alleviate disparities between rich

and poor a number of initiatives have been taken to achieve sustainable food security within

Ghana’s own borders. In accordance with the Hunger Task Force Initiative introduced by UN

Secretary Kofi Annan in 2002 as part of a long term goal to halve the levels of hunger by

2015 through three pivotal areas: increasing small holder productivity (in terms of increasing

agricultural education), the introduction of a series of nutrition schemes within communities

and a conscious effort to enable the poor to benefit from the markets, thus making them more

accessible. To date Ghana is on the right track to achieving the 2015 target, its GDP has

doubled from 4 to 8 per cent in the last ten years. In 2011 alone Ghana’s economy grew by 14

per cent due to new oil productions (World Bank 2012). The largest generator of Ghana’s

GDP is the agricultural sector, contributing to almost one third of the total GDP. The

agricultural sector is the largest source of employment for Ghanaians as it is a source of

employment for 56 per cent of the entire labour force. Therefore it is clear that the

agricultural sector is a key component to reducing the rate of poverty in Ghana (Feed the

Future 2011).

1.3 Constitutional commitments of the GOG

In accordance to chapter six of the 1992 Ghanaian constitution: ‘The directive principles of

state policy: political objectives act 35 part (2) states that ‘........the state shall safe guard and

protect the well-being of all her citizens’. This ensures an unyielding commitment by the

GOG to protecting the citizens of Ghana and endeavouring to meet their needs. Also in the

same act in part (6d) in which the act refers to the decentralization of government

administrative and financial machinery to all regions ‘.....by affording all possible

opportunities to the people to participate in decision making at every level of national life and

in government’. This addresses the commitment by the GOG to the broadening of

participation in the decision making process; it states that in order to fulfil the democratic

ideals the people of Ghana from all societal levels have to be included in the decision-making

process (GOG 1992).

6

1.4 NPP 2004 electoral manifesto- plans to introduce GSFP

This project will focus primarily on the effectiveness of the GSFP whilst drawing on other

policy initiatives to support its findings. It will also examine the New Patriotic Party’s effort

to meet the requirements of the MDGs through the inclusion of plans for a GSFP in their

manifesto for the 2004 electoral campaign (NPP Manifesto, 2004). Throughout their time in

office 2001-2008 under President Kuffor the NPP introduced a series of measures which

would provide an invaluable foundation to the successful implementation of the GSFP in

2005. These comprised issues I and II (2003-2005 and 2006-2009) of the Ghana poverty

reduction strategies. Therefore through these efforts to reform the education system it was

acknowledged that an effective education system provided a solution to reducing poverty and

was highly conducive to development strategies (Wereko and Dorundoo 2010, pp 10-11).

1.5 The Development of the School feeding programme in Ghana

In an attempt to alleviate rural poverty, the Government of Ghana introduced the Ghana

School Feeding Programme. As a public policy, various institutions have to work in

collaboration to ensure that the implementation of the policy is done with effectiveness and

efficiency such as SIGN, the Dutch Government and the new partnership for African

Development. The GSFP originated from the New Partnership for African

Development/Hunger Task Force Initiative (NEPAD/HTFI) under the auspices of the-

Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Organisation (CAADP) which attracted

the support from external donors from the Netherlands Development Organisation (SNV)

(GOG-GSFP plan, 2010). On becoming a signatory of the CAADP in 2008 Ghana agreed to

allocate ten per cent of the national budget to agriculture, particularly to aid the development

of smallholder farmer’s productivity and furthermore to increase their access to markets

(WFP 2012-2016, 2011). This was done in collaboration with local institutions such as

Ministry of food and Agriculture, Ministry of Education and Ghana Education service and

Ministry of Health. The overall responsibility for the GSFP rests on the shoulders of Ministry

of Local government and rural development. In its Mission Statement the Ministry for local

government and rural development espouses promises of balanced development in rural areas

in supporting ‘a well resourced decentralised system of governance’ (Ghana Government

Portal 2013).

The implementation of public policy although usually introduced as a government initiative,

are often after the initial stages of implementation left without sufficient support and

7

therefore look to Civil Society Organizations (CSO) provide them with the necessary

resources to sustain themselves. These resources may vary from human to financial to

material resources as a result of inefficient government planning. The GSFP relies on support

from the WFP, SNV, PCD, and SIGN and within Ghana this is further supplemented by the

support of: The Ghana Health Service, Ministry of Food and Agriculture, and the

Government of Ghana. The implementation process for the GSFP is monitored by a number

of other bodies such as the Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development as the

coordinative ministry for the GSFP, the National Secretariat who is responsible for

administering implementation in Ghana, the PSC which was established in 2007 which

oversees commitment to policy rules and inter-ministerial communication (SIGN 2011).

1.5.1 Expansion of the GSFP in the Volta Region

The expansion of the GSFP school attendance was poor in rural communities and some urban

areas. The population of the Volta Region (see figure 1) accounts for 8.6 per cent of the

population, (73.0%) of this figure live in rural areas as agriculture is the largest sector and the

majority of the inhabitants of this sector are engaged in agriculture (Modern Ghana 2010). In

the first year of the programme 2005 the Volta region had a total of 4,501 recipient students

this had increased to 29,213 by 2010. Therefore the significant rate of expansion of the GSFP

between 2005 and 2010 may be attributed to the effectiveness of the programme in boosting

local economies through the employment of farmers for the SFP. This example reaffirms that

the measures being taken are in line with the overall aims of the programme to: (i) increase

school enrolment, attendance and retention (ii) boost domestic food production (iii) reduce

hunger and malnutrition.

The overriding objective of the GSFP is in conformity with Africa Agricultural development

Pillar 3 to provide food security and reduce hunger with the continent. This is in fulfilment of

achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially to do with pillars one and two,

which seek to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger and at the same time help to achieve

universal basic education (Kwankye and Chuks, 2007). Consequently the introduction of the

Ghanaian School Feeding Programme (GSFP) is a commendable development. The GSFP

initiative was developed in collaboration with the Comprehensive African Agricultural

Development Programme (CAADP) pillar III and part of the government’s (CAADP Pillar

III, 2008). The G.S.F.P is primarily concerned with children at basic level of education

especially at the public schools of the most deprived communities, particularly in rural

8

Ghana. The policy is to ensure the provision of one hot, nutritious meal, prepared from

locally grown foodstuffs. In addition, the aim of the policy is to spend eighty per cent of the

feeding cost in the local economy to help reduce rural poverty (Quaye 2007).

1.6 The aims of the GSFP are as follows:

• To Increase school enrolment, attendance and retention

• Reduce hunger and malnutrition

• Boost domestic food production (SNV 2007).

1.7 The long term goals of the programme

• Aid poverty reduction in Ghana

• To achieve food security in the worst poverty stricken areas (GSFP 2010 AOP, p.7).

1.8 Aims and Objectives of this study:

This study is concerned with implementation of public policy in Ghana. The provision of

public goods as a social intervention programme is becoming very popular in Ghanaian

policy making. Therefore political parties in an attempt to seek the mandate of citizenry to

rule do well to come up with good programmes that address needs of the people. The overall

aim of this project is to assess the extent to which the introduction of the GSFP has been

successful in meeting these aims.

The main objectives of this study are as follows:

(i) To review the relevant literature on the concept of public policy and models of

implementation

(ii) To examine the evolution of Ghana as a democratic state and how external

contributors have aided this transition.

(iii) To conduct an extensive secondary investigation with respect to the implementation

of the G.S.F.P and identify the progress and challenges militating against the policy

and implementation.

(iv) I will investigate whether the GSFP policy is in keeping with its initial intentions to

spend eighty per cent of the feeding cost in the local economy, thus aiding the

reduction of rural poverty.

9

(v) Another important objective is to collect primary data to help examine whether the

GSFP has indeed helped to increase and retain school attendance and also develop

local economies, thus working towards poverty eradication.

Against this background the data collection will deal with issues relating to the

benefits of the G.S.F.P to the relevant communities as a whole; creating employment

through various areas in the cultivation and preparation of food. Whilst also

investigating whether the communities are satisfied with portion size and the quality

of the food being served. Finally the study will investigate the extent to which the

implementation process is controlled by the local elites such as the Municipal

Assembly and KEEA and consequently to determine what is proving successful/not

so successful within this process to date.

1.9 Identified problems

So what problem is this study trying to solve? To what extent do governments utilise the

implementation of public policy to alleviate the concerns of the public? Or are they

implementing public policy to further promote their positions in government? How does the

process of implementation determine the outcome of the public policy after it has been

implemented? More specifically there are a number of challenges which discourage the

implementation of public policy.

1.10 Central research questions:

In an attempt to address the concerns of this research, the following research questions were

designed to help ascertain relevant information about identified problems. The research

questions are as follows:

1. To what extent has the GSFP helped to increase school enrolment and retain school

attendance?

2. To what extent is the process of implementation of the GSFP controlled by the

Municipal Assembly officials/KEEA?

Questions:

• How can public policy be sustained by the concerted effort of CSOs?

10

Donor finance has become a fixed necessity to supporting and sustaining public policy in

developing countries, as often countries such as Ghana are unable to extend their budgets to

public policy initiatives which prove fundamental to the country’s growth. Therefore, this

study will analyse the important role of CSOs within Ghana and in relation to the case study

how they aid the expansion of the GSFP.

• How has the GSFP benefitted the recipient children of the programme in terms of

acting as a type of incentive to stay in education?

Within Ghana often a child’s daily consumption of food is dependent on the money either

they themselves or their families earn from street vending each day which is an unreliable

source of income. Therefore the GSFP decreases the pressure on families as one hot,

nutritious meal is promised each day to students in public schools so therefore this is an

added incentive to attend school. However, many families cannot afford to allow their

children to attend school as they rely on the total income generated by the parents and their

children to sustain the family as a whole.

• To what extent is the implementation of public policy an opportunity for government

to reaffirm the promises outlined in their manifestos and thus gain more support?

In order to gain an informed opinion of the process of implementation one must, whilst

commending the successes question the extent to which political parties remain committed to

the promises outlined in their election campaign manifestos. If governments adhere fully to

the promises outlined in their manifestos then public support is automatically generated.

However if a promise outlined in the manifesto and it is not fulfilled then this can be of

extreme detriment to the government as a whole as the citizenry lose faith in the ability of the

government which in turn makes the public sceptical about the governments future

endeavours. For instance in relation to promises in the NDC 2008 manifesto which ensured

immediate action on the establishment of a National Council of Persons with Disability in

conjunction with the disability PWD act 2006, Act 715 . In reality it took three years for the

council to be established and five years for guidelines to be provided for the appropriate

distribution of funding. Although the promise was eventually delivered it was long overdue

and thus not in keeping with the promise of ‘immediate action’ as outlined in the 2008 NDC

manifesto (Amegashie 2012).

11

• To what extent may the implementation of public policy be viewed as a concerted

effort on behalf of the government to improve current policies/introduce new policies

to better the relevant areas?

The implementation of public policy can act as an extension of pre-existing policies, in terms

of expanding policy to a greater demographic or perhaps in increasing levels of funding

allocated to a particular policy. Also in relation to the introduction of new policies

governments can identify potential areas where new policies can be introduced that perhaps

the previous government had failed to address.

1.11 Hypothesis:

In order to answer the above research questions I will purpose two hypothesises.

The first hypothesis purposes that the GSFP is effective in meeting the increasing the

attendance and retention of the students and also acts as an incentive for the students to stay

in education.

The second hypothesis states that the GSFP is an ineffective government initiative in so far as

that the success of the public policy is greatly attributed to CSO intervention.

This projected has undertaken quantitative research in the form of the distribution of fifty

household surveys. On completing these surveys I proceeded to code the results using SPSS

data and I examined the evidence from this research to propose an explanation for the

findings. I then utilised this data accordingly to prove my hypothesis.

1.12 Methodological considerations

As part of the qualitative research the study will also review the relevant literature on the

implementation of public policy in Ghana and specifically the GSFP. During this process

Journals, official documents, internet sources, newspaper reports will be used to gain an in-

depth, comprehensive knowledge of the subject area.

The quantitative research will be conducted through the distribution of 50 household-surveys

around the village of Ntraona which is part of the Komenda, Edina Eguafo Abream (KEEA)

municipal Assembly located approximately 10km from the city of Cape Coast and 132km

from the Capital city of Accra. The results of which will serve to assess the community’s

opinion of the effectiveness of the scheme both for the children attending the school and for

12

the community as a whole. On completing the quantitative research a number of the

respondents utilised the space available to suggest improvements which could be made to

how policy is implemented in regard to the GSFP.

However, before the above research methods could be undertaken I applied for ethical

consideration and shortly afterwards it was approved. On receiving approval a pilot survey

was distributed in the community of Ntranoa to ensure the proposed questions worked

effectively so as to aid the extraction of evidence to support the project’s hypothesis.

1.13 Details of surveyed respondents

Table 1 and figure 2 below shows the distribution of age of the targeted respondents. The

majority of those surveyed are between the ages of 12-19 therefore indicating that they are

junior high and senior high students. Therefore these respondents have been the recipient

children of the GSFP since it was introduced in 2005, they have directly witnessed the

programmes evolution and are in the position to duly note both the successes of the policy

and the areas in which there may be room for improvement. There are also a large percentage

of respondents between the ages of 26-35 years; these respondents largely represent the

teachers. The teachers like the students have experienced the programme and from an

administrative point of view the teachers are more aware of exactly how the power of

implementation is distributed.

TABLE 1

13

FIGURE 2

The gender of the respondents is almost equally divided as 52% of the respondents are male

and 48% female. This will ensure the results are not gender biased and thus more

comprehensive.

Table 2

q1.2.Gender

Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative

Percent

Valid

Male 26 52.0 52.0 52.0

Female 24 48.0 48.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

14

FIGURE 3

The majority of those surveyed at 40% were educated to Junior High school level. With the

second highest percentage at 26% of the respondents were educated to University level.

Within the area of Ntranoa a number of students living in Ntranoa travel to Cape Coast

University. The comments from those educated to University level are extremely informative

and invaluable in their support of the surveys overall findings. For instance one teacher who

had been educated to university level suggested that the school authorities themselves should

become more involved in the implementation process so as ‘....to ensure the quality of food

served to the students and the school authorities’ is of a high standard (Respondent C08).

This comment provides us with a direct insight into the experiences of those on the ground

and gives a clear indication of the type of approach to implementation which is being used.

15

TABLE 3

FIGURE 4

Of the respondents surveyed Table 4 and Figure 5 below 50% were students and the second

largest majority at 28% of those surveyed were teachers. As the students are the direct

16

recipients of the GSFP and they make up 50% of the respondents with 40% of that 50% of

students being educated to Junior High School level. Therefore these students have been the

recipients of the programme from its outset. Similarly the teachers have witnessed the growth

of the GSFP since its introduction in 2005 and their comments and suggested developments

are invaluable to the evolution of the programme; as gaining informed insights into the

experiences of the programme from the bottom up is crucial to the program’s success in the

future.

TABLE 4

17

FIGURE 5

1.14 Conclusion

The subsequent research will therefore endeavour to undertake sufficient analysis so as to

provide informed answers to the aforementioned research questions and consequently prove

the proposed hypothesis.

1.15 The break-down of the chapters is as follows:

Chapter two will provide a literature review of the relevant policy implementation models as

well as a number of relevant theories whilst supporting them with examples from Ghana.

These models will in turn be used to explore a definition of participatory democracy and

efforts by non-state actors to entrench its fundamental principles within Ghana’s system of

governance.

18

Chapter three will address the stark change of direction which Ghana has undertaken since

becoming democratised in 1992. It will examine the actors within the public policy arena in

Ghana, focusing particularly on the acute role of donors and CSOs in sustaining Ghana’s

policy initiatives. This chapter will also assess the extent to which Ghana’s transition from a

centralised, technocratic form of governance to a decentralised liberal form of governance

has been successful in achieving broader participation in policy making.

Chapter four will provide analysis of the data collected in the household-surveys conducted

in the community of Ntranoa in relation to the GSFP. Particular attention will be paid to the

overall performance of the programme, levels of satisfaction within the community and who

is controlling the process of implementation.

Chapter five will provide a summation of the previous four chapters. It will serve to prove the

proposed hypothesis outlined in chapter one. This chapter will also provide recommendations

for the results of the household-surveys outlined in chapter four.

19

CHAPTER TWO-LITERATURE REVIEW OF POLICY PROCESS-

IMPLEMENTATION THEORIES AND PARTICIPATORY DEMOCRACY

2. Introduction

There is a vast amount of literature particularly from the 1970s concerning public policy and

the process of implementation. Central to this literature is an analysis of the top-down and

bottom-up approaches to policy making. The following chapter will endeavour to address the

two most significant models which are used in Ghana's public policy process, namely the top-

down, bottom up models and the role of these approaches play in Ghana's development as a

participatory democracy.

2.1 Defining Policy

Policy and the process associated with its formation and implementation may be defined

through a series of definitions. Firstly to define policy; Brian Hogwood and Lewis Gunn

stress the importance of distinguishing policy from ‘decision’, they view policy as being

created as a result of the interactions among a number of sequential decisions (Hogwood and

Gunn 1984, p.19). Hugh Heclo reaffirms this definition by stating that the general consensus

is to view policy as ‘bigger than particular decisions but smaller than social movements’

(Heclo 1972, p.84). Contrastingly Brian Smith considers both inaction and action to be of

equal importance rather than the relationship between a number of interrelating decisions; he

encourages one to also look at the resistance to particular decisions which do not support

change (Hill 2005, p. 7). However, one may argue that in all the definitions there are a

number of variables depending on the specific type of policy one is dealing with, such as the

type of actors involved and the quantity of actors. The ‘actors’ largely consist of politicians,

pressure groups, civil servants and members of the public. These various agents either

individual or corporate contribute their varying personal values and interests to the public

policy process all of which add to the complexity of the situation as a whole (Sabatier 1999,

pp 3-4).

When analysing the public policy process two of the most fundamental principles to address

are the following, firstly how decisions are made and secondly how the policies are put into

action. Christopher Ham and Michael Hill put forward the idea that public policy should be

formulated in the ‘real world’ where it shall be implemented (1984 p.7). The public policy

process is more than just a decision or a series of decisions but a ‘course of action’ (Hill

20

2005, p. 6). In order to understand public policy properly one has to look at policy formation

and implementation as two individual processes. There are a number of models one can draw

upon to understand various types of public policy, a vast amount of literature is based on the

top- down bottom-up paradigm and also a number of synthesizers have been developed as a

result of this paradigm. In analysing these models this study will focus primarily on policy

implementation in Ghana and more specifically the Ghana School Feeding Policy.

2.2 Top-down approach/ efforts to decentralise

The top-down approach may be defined as the impact of a policy decision which has been

directed from goals which have been the basis of an authoritative decision. Within Ghana

although public policy implementation is largely dominated by this top-down approach,

efforts to decentralize government power and more specifically policy making power may be

dated back to the 1940’s during colonial times as a mild form of ‘de-concentration of the

administrative structure’. This was to maintain control throughout Ghana rather than provide

the citizenry with greater influence in decision making (Kyei 2000). However it was not until

the 1980’s with the introduction of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and more

fervently in 1992 with the publication of Ghana’s democratic constitution that the control

centralised at the top was distributed to DA’S and Municipal Assemblies which marked a call

for the decentralisation of policy making power and thus the adoption of a bottom-up

approach (Ayee 1995).

2.3 Pressman and Wildavsky’s series of linkages

The objectives of the Top-down approach can prove quite controversial. According to

Sabatier the top-down approach aims to analyse the degree to which legally binding measures

have enabled/ disabled the success of policy over a specific time period (Sabatier 1986, p21-

22). Jeffrey Pressman and Aaron Wildavsky often referred to as the founding fathers of the

‘Top-Down approach’ view policy as a series of linkages between various organisations and

departments. These linkages all of which must be closely connected for a number of minor

deficits have the ability to cumulatively create a significant shortfall and thus hamper the

success of the entire process. However Joseph Ayee on examining Ghana’s plethora of

legislative measures and challenges within the bureaucracy views the failures of

implementation as fundamental to successful development. Ayee affirms that ultimate

success regarding implementation can only be achieved through employing the lessons

21

learned from previous unsuccessful attempts. He believes governments should ‘utilise

implementation failure as a route to implementation success’ (Ayee 1995, p.712). As Ghana

lacks sufficient historical legacies on which to draw upon, the failed measures of the past half

a century are fundamental experiences to the development of implementation practices.

2.4 The Bandwagon effect

Wildavsky and Pressman’s model has been modified by a number of writers on policy

implementation, the best known of which is Elinor Bowen. Wildavsky, Pressman and a

number of other early contributors to public policy analysis in particular the implementation

process discussed by Derthick (1972) and Bardach (1974) were later viewed to have a

pessimistic outlook in comparison to the more hopeful analysis of Bowen and later

contributors. Bowen provides a series of modifications, the first of which Bowen attempts to

find a universal clearance point instead of Wildavsky and Pressman’s collection of

independent decisions. In this instance Bowen employs the ‘Bandwagon effect’, notion that a

series of successful decisions will in turn enable a positive outcome (Alexander 1989, p.

454). An example of the ‘Bandwagon effect’ can be seen in the response of donors to the

Economic Recovery Programme (ERP) which was introduced in Ghana in 1983 when the

Government of Ghana showcased its potential as a negotiator in regard to aid agreements.

Ghana was seen to be in a favourable position in terms of negotiating capability, as a result,

increasing numbers of donors showed interest in collaborating with the GOG. This can be

seen as a prime example of the ‘bandwagon effect’ in action as Ghana was considered ‘a

potentially good case’ to pursue (Osei 2003, p.136).

2.5 Probability Theory

Bowen also approaches ‘Probability theory’ differently, she utilises it to promote the

successes of implementation rather than Wildavsky and Pressman’s use of it to support

implementation failure. Bowen’s modification of Wildavsky and Pressman’s model may be

seen as an improvement on the strict ‘command and control’ and essential compliance of

those involved observing subsidiary roles nature of their Top-down approach (Bowen 1982,

p.3). To summarise, Bowen believes that taking a more optimistic approach and focusing

primarily on implementation successes loosens the fixated grip of ‘command and control’ and

in turn allows those occupying subsidiary roles, i.e. those on the ground, citizenry of Ghana

22

to have greater influence in the process of implementation, making the policy more inclusive

responsive to the needs of the intended recipients.

2.6 Separating politics and administration

As outlined above policies are complex phenomena, as with all policy models there are a

number of criticisms that must be addressed when analysing the top down approach. In

relation to the public policy, concerns of politicians in particular have the likelihood of being

largely symbolic in intent. Often their commitments to particular policy areas are in an

attempt to boost the popularity politically or a poor effort to meet the promises of their

party’s manifestos? Thus a relative criticism has been made in relation to this inability by the

decision makers in authoritative positions to exercise a complete separation of politics and

administration (Matland 1995, p.148). In this case policies are formulated with little

intention of implementing them as politicians want to be seen in favour of particular interests

or goals but in reality have little intention of following them up (Hill 2004, pp 179-280).

There is evidence of such practices within the GOG, in particular in relation to electoral

campaigns. Taking for example the 2000 NPP electoral manifesto the party assured voters

that if victorious it would implement policies which would solve socio-economic, cultural

and political disparities throughout Ghana. Before gaining presidency John Agyekum Kuffor

acknowledged that the rural areas of Ghana who were often the producers of agricultural

commodities would benefit majorly from greater access to markets. This commitment went

unfulfilled as instead of allocating funding to the development of rural roads the Kuffor

administration provided funding for road networks connecting urban areas. This measure

meant that rural districts were increasingly isolated from the markets (Adu-Asare 2004).

Therefore this case exemplifies the government’s outright neglect of its electoral promises

but also its active decision to further isolate the rural communities and effectively making the

situation worse.

2.7 The bottom-up approach

In the late 1970s early 1980s a new approach had evolved; the Bottom up approach. This

approach was in essence seen as a reaction to the failures and difficulties encountered by the

top-down approach. The bottom-up approach as the title suggests focused on the interaction

of actors on a local level who worked specifically on a particular concern (Sabatier 1989,

p.22). As the notion of a bottom-up approach appeared more conducive to developing

23

countries making the transition to democracy, the 1990s witnessed an influx of donor-led

efforts to modernize developing countries. However, the cost of this transition was in many

cases gravely underestimated with the hasty imposition of institutions, processes and

organizations by donors so to reduce poverty and create self-sustaining democracies. In

reality, the transition to democracy was majorly impeded by these new initiatives as they well

exceeded the budgetary capacities of developing countries. This resulted in the deterioration

of new facilities as well as the demise of older facilities as the governments were spreading

themselves too thinly in an effort to support both new and pre-existing programmes. An

example of a misjudgement of financial capacity was evident with the low-profile second

democratic elections in Ghana in 1996, during which approximately one fifth of what the

government spent on education that year and 40 per cent of what was spent on health, this far

exceeded Ghana’s budget which meant half of the total cost was financed by donors (Ottaway

and Chung 1999, pp 109-110).

In light of these apparent underestimations donors began to place more focus on the

economic legacies of developing countries and sought about implementing institutions,

processes and organizations that could after long term donor support become self-sustained.

It was thought that this could be achieved firstly through the introduction of economic

reforms through structural adjustment which provide a condition for future financial support

from donors. Secondly a push for ‘beneficiary driven’, less costly bottom-up would be in line

with the evolution of more self-sustaining outcomes (Ottaway and Chung 1999, p.110). A

conscious advancement to a bottom-up approach would include a shift from a ‘supply-driven’

to a ‘demand-led’ approach. To ensure that this ‘demand-led’ bottom-up approach is

successful it is essential that leaders are appointed within the community as part of a local

organization. This organization monitors the demands of the proposed recipients making sure

they are a direct reflection of their needs and not altering their demands in accordance to what

they believe donors are willing to finance. Such organisations create a strong foundation for

future self-sustainability within communities (Ottawang and Chung 1999). This is evident in

the GSFP, as 80 per cent of the foodstuffs used for the recipients are sourced from the local

farmers. Furthermore the programme is over seen by a number of local committees such as

the District Implementing Committees and the School Implementing Committee (Antwi-

Boasiako 2010). An additional effort to further enhance Ghana’s self-sustaining ability as

well as an effort to decentralise government control is reflected in the development of District

Assemblies in Ghana during the 1980’s. In conjunction with the introduction of these DAs a

24

District Assembly Common Fund (DACF) was introduced which saw the allocation of 5 per

cent of total national revenue to DAs (Oduro 2001). In addition to the establishment of DA’s,

a series of sub-district structures were also created. These structures may be seen as ‘local

organs of the DAs’ (Owusu 2004, p.168). The basic aim of these sub-structures is to ensure

that decentralisation incorporates those at a grassroots level by making the local citizenry part

of the decision making process and thus enabling bottom-up action (Owusu 2004).

2.8 Actors responsible for policy and beneficiaries

One must consider two main issues when analysing the bottom up approach, firstly what

actors are responsible for the policy and secondly the impact on the beneficiaries of the

policy, provided the implementation process is successful. In looking at individual actors one

has to pose the question, ‘who is influencing what?’ (Hill 2004, p.182). Paul Sabatier in an

attempt to synthesize the two approaches stated it is the existence or absence of ‘a dominant

piece of legislation structuring the situation’ which will allow one to determine which

approach is best suited to a particular question (Hill 2004, p.183). However in Ghana despite

legislative measures being taken in accordance with efforts to decentralise, aside from a

number of successful cases the overall rate of success of the bottom-up approach is

questionable. Focusing again on the GSFP, those responsible for implementation at the

bottom rely on direction from District Assemblies’ and other Municipal Assemblies (MAs),

often these officials have little insight to the requirements of the recipient population.

Although the sub-district committees are aware of the needs of the proposed beneficiaries

they have no budget and therefore rely on the District Assemblies’ to administer work to

them (Owusu 2004). An additional problem encountered is the misappropriation of funds by

the DA officials due to the absence of adequate monitoring of expenditure. The District

Assembly officials claim that a large portion of the funding is spent on administration and

therefore there is a financial shortfall which means the caterers in the schools as well as the

local farmers who provide the produce for the GSFP do not receive payment (Oduro 2001).

Evidence of this misuse of budgetary funds will be discussed in more detail in chapter 4 with

the case of the community of Ntranoa, KEEA municipality, Ghana.

2.9 Synthesizers

In recent years a number of scholars have merged existing frameworks on public policy such

as the frameworks discussed above and devised synthesizers through which to analyse policy.

25

One of the earliest contributors is Richard Elmore through his extensive research on the

bottom-up framework. Elmore is most famous for his notion of ‘backward mapping’, through

which he states one should focus on individual and organizational choices which encompass

the problem itself first and foremost and then work on the establishment of rules and

implementation procedures (Hill and Hupe 2002, pp 58-59). This concept one could argue is

in line with the creation of community organisations in developing countries and the

responsibility endowed on them to make appropriate decisions to meet the demands of the

proposed recipients as aforementioned.

2.10 Participatory Democracy

The establishment of such community organisations is wholly conducive to the bulwarks of

participatory democracy and in turn provides for the existence of a successful bottom-up

approach. A participatory democracy may be described as, ‘action through which members of

political structures, organizations and local groups effectively exercise power to influence

policy outcomes’ (Bachrach and Botwinick 1992, p.57). Theorists of participatory

democracy have stated that the influence of the citizenry in regard to public policy becomes

more effective as citizens become more familiar with the participatory experience; thus

implying that as citizens’ gain experience in being democratically active, they in turn become

more competent and influential in the overall process (Bachrach and Botwinick 1992).

In particular since the turn of the twenty-first century there has been a notable increase in the

number of government initiatives to provide the citizenry as well as NGOs and CSOs with

opportunities to participate in Ghana’s democracy. For instance in 2001 on assuming office

the NPP government introduced ‘the people’s assembly programme’ which sought to provide

a base for dialogue to take place between the people and the president. This was viewed

favourably by the majority of citizens and as result of this the same structure was applied at

regional level with the regional minister representing the president. An additional measure

may be noted in the governments announcing an ‘open door policy on national budgeting’ in

2005 (AfriMAP 2007), this provided the people of Ghana and organisations such as the Trade

Union Congress (TUC) to submit proposals for the national budget. The cultivation of a

structure which enabled greater participation in constructing Ghana’s national budget is a

clear example of the Government of Ghana’s efforts to adhere to prior commitments

concerning the decentralisation of governance. The above examples highlight sufficiently the

26

government’s acknowledgement of the importance of the citizen’s right to participate in the

growth of Ghana’s democracy (AfriMAP 2007).

2.11 Conclusion

There is sufficient evidence to suggest that the top-down approach assumes a position of

greater prestige among elites. The 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana promises to

support a full provision of the rights of citizens as members of a democratic state. In theory

this would enable all citizens to avail of opportunities to participate in the governance of

Ghana through one’s activity in Civil Society Organisations, District Assemblies and

Parliament (Burnell and Calvert 1999). However, in real terms this is not the case as there are

a number challenges militating against such activity and thus preventing the citizens from

availing of the offerings of a consolidated participatory democracy. Therefore, although there

is evidence of support for both top-down and bottom-up models of policy implementation the

power appears to be concentrated in the hands of those who favour the top-down approach,

thus preventing the bottom-up model from advancing.

27

CHAPTER 3- DEMOCRACY, POVERTY AND GOVERNANCE

3. Introduction

As a country Ghana is considered to be unique in sub- Saharan Africa as it has achieved

levels of unprecedented growth both socially and economically and in addition it is one of the

few countries in West Africa that has succeeded in reducing poverty in the last twenty-five

years (Birmingham et al. 1967; Aryeetey and McKay 2007). The following chapter will

address Ghana’s turn around in the policy making terrain since 1984 with the enactment of

more consistent policies and its ability to successfully gain stability in the face of a series

challenges regarding the role of government institutions, donor involvement in public policy,

a transition from a technocratic centralised form of governance to a more decentralised liberal

form of governance incorporating broader participation in policy making as a major facet.

3.1 Introduction of Structural Adjustment Programmes

On gaining independence in 1957 Ghana was seen as the ‘shining star’ of West Africa.

However on closer inspection Ghana’s economy was in a compromised position and thus

remained rather volatile between the years of 1965-1984 (Aryeetey and McKay 2007). This

period of poor growth and volatility may be attributed to a combination of changes in power

between military regimes and the weak, ineffective nature of policy initiatives in Ghana.

However in 1983 Ghana experienced the introduction of structural adjustment initiatives that

would alter the policy making procedure thereafter. Centralised decision making is a

fundamental component of Ghana’s political history. The introduction of structural

adjustment programmes further enhanced Ghana’s espoused authoritarian form of

governance which provided further support to the adoption of a technocratic approach to

policy making (Whitfield 2005, p.654). Prior to 1983 institutional weakness and grave

political instability epitomized Ghanaian governance. The government were responsible for

outright neglect of the private sector and was lacking the essential skills to appropriately

manage the economy of Ghana. These discrepancies led to the establishment of a major

economic reform programme which was supported by the World Bank (WB) and the

International Monetary Fund (IMF) (Aryeetey and McKay 2007, pp 154-155). Ghana like a

great deal of other African countries under structural adjustment was forced to adhere to the

conditions of these programmes. These conditions included the retraction of subsidies, major

cuts in the health, and education sectors, major reductions in expenditure for imports and

exports irrespective of whether industries were successful or not. In particular the removal of

28

agricultural subsidies had a crippling effect on Ghana’s agricultural sector as this was and

still is Ghana’s largest source of employment, the backbone to the economy (Aryeetey and

McKay 2007).

The electorate’s decision in 1992 to pass a new constitution in Ghana marked a return to

democratic rule. Later that year the victory of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) party

under J.J. Rawlings was Ghana’s first multi-party election in the Fourth Republic. This

transition to democracy provided opportunities for broader participation of additional donors

and increased the role of a number of NGOs and CSO’s from the delivery of basic services to

consultative roles from the outset of public policies. The dominant argument made by NGOs

was that they believed their work on the ground enabled them to clearly articulate the needs

of the citizens and adequately assist a bottom up approach (Whitfield 2005, pp 659-660; Fox

et all 2011). However the main difficulties for the Ghanaian government in the Fourth

Republic particularly under the Kufor Government (2001-2009) was how to adequately

represent the needs of the citizens on the ground and thus sought to adopt a greater

liberalization of the political system as a whole. For the Kuffor government the adoption of a

fully decentralised government proved extremely difficult, a top-down approach had

dominated the past forms of governance. Critics of the structural adjustment programmes,

called for a departure from the technocratic approach to policy and aimed to achieve a more

democratic form of governance in conjunction with the new constitution. This transition

proved challenging as the government struggled to leave behind the historical legacies of the

past authoritarian bureaucratic culture, elements of which had become an inherent part of the

political system (Whitfield 2005, pp 658-659).

3.2 Agenda Setting- Role of the World Bank and IMF

With the establishment of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and increased aid

inflows with the long standing support of the IMF, the WB and from other donors there was a

concerted effort to remain committed to a pro-poor promise within Ghana. A number of

empirical investigations carried out by the United Nations Human Development Programme

and the World Food Programme in the years 2010 and 2011 respectively endeavour to

provide answers to explain the factors contributing to poverty in Ghana (Aryeetey and

McKay 2007). Research has indicated that poverty in Ghana is often as a result of ‘limited

access to infrastructure and basic utilities and services’ (Oduro 2001, p.1). As a response to

the widespread criticisms of the SAPs and as an effort to address the determinants of poverty

29

in Ghana the WB and the IMF introduced the Poverty Reduction Strategy Initiative (PRSI).

In conjunction with the Bretton Woods institutions the PRSI endeavoured to adopt a new type

of development borrowing process which would assume the role of a long term, country

driven initiative. As a low income borrowing country Ghana was obligated to construct a

Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP) this paper outlined the level of importance placed

on the issue of broadening participation and thus giving way to greater accountability of the

needs of citizens in policy making (Whitfield 2005, pp 641-642). However on analysing the

impact of the PRSP on policy making in the immediate period after its introduction 1999-

2003 data indicates that its influence was minimal. This is due largely to a lack of

government commitment and an outright neglect of prioritizing projects in relation to

allocation of public expenditure (Aryeetey and McKay 2007, p.161).

3.3 Levels of dependency on donor assistance

The high degree of dependence on donor finance is largely due to the unfavourable offers of

the national budget in providing adequate funding to government departments and what may

be regarded as highly desirable salaries. However the sums associated with donor funded

projects are far more satisfactory to government officials and thus the advantages of foreign

aid inflows are apparent to politicians (Whitfield 2005). The major discrepancy in taking on a

series of donor funded projects with the main incentive by politicians to increase budget

allocations means that the projects are wholly compromised as politicians are not committed

to the needs of the policy recipients from the outset. In an effort to somehow consolidate

these initiatives and ensure full commitment from government donors attempt to create

specific conditions upon which the granting of large sums of money is dependent (Harrison

2004). Throughout Lt. Jerry Rawlings term in office the tendency was to commit to a large

policy agenda so as to encourage and increase donor contributions to the national budget. Of

fundamental importance to this was of course the need for the government to appear to be

taking the necessary measures to the donors make the promised contributions. However, in

reality the government just appeared to be doing what they were supposed to be doing which

consequently gives rise to imbalances in power relations which is paired with an acute

eagerness on behalf of the donors to get the policies in action (Whitfield 2005, pp 648-649).

Thus a great deal of credibility in reference to policy initiatives between donor and

government was lost as these negotiations were seen as a ploy by donors to hasten the

introduction of new policy at any expense as the government would take all necessary

measures to maintain access to funding.

30

3.4 The influence of the World Bank on Ghana’s levels of growth

Aid takes up a considerable amount of the budget for public expenditure, the percentage of

which fluctuated between 40-50 % during the 1990s (Whitfield 2005, p.647). The WB

assumes the position of the largest donor in Ghana and therefore is able to cover a wide

spectrum of areas and include a variation of initiatives; in December 2002 the WB had

twenty-three projects on going. The assistance provided by the World Bank has been

invaluable to Ghana’s development. In particular the WB has been instrumental in increasing

the rates of students completing primary education, aiding developments in agricultural food

production, household electrification, ICT and providing a safe water supply. The WB’s

influence has been less progressive in the areas of transport, health and within both private

and public sectors. Although progress within the private sector has been slower than other

sectors a number of advances have been noted through increased levels private sector credit

and heightened foreign direct investment by the WB. Additionally the work of the World

Bank- financed Education Sector Project has been fundamental in supporting an increase in

the rate of access and attendance to education in Ghana. The levels of primary completion

experienced significant growth from 80.1 in 2007 to 86.3 in 2009. Although there remains a

great deal of development in Ghana’s health system, there have been a number of successes

in recent years assisted by the World Bank- financed Nutrition and Malaria Control Child

Survival and Health Insurance projects. Between 2003 and 2008 the child mortality rate has

been decreased from 111 deaths per 1,000 births to 80 and pregnancy related mortality

dropped from 503 to 451 per 100,000 live births (World Bank 2012).]

3.4.1 Looking to the future- the role of the World Bank

As Ghana’s largest donor the achievements aforementioned achievements of the World Bank

are highly commendable. However there are a number of areas which the World Bank has

itself outlined which will assist Ghana’s future development. The WB views Ghana’s lack of

capacity building as an impediment to the country’s progress, it has therefore endowed itself

with a responsibility to guide Ghana in this area. In order to aid capacity building a Public

Private Partnership (PPP) was approved in 2011 within the Ministry for Finance and

Economic Planning. The PPP aims to lead capacity building and to support action within the

ministries. The WB in turn will encourage the government of Ghana to remain committed to

their electoral promises and avoid the abandonment of project initiatives after the electoral

campaigns have come to an end. An example of this can be seen with the complete

31

abandonment of rural development projects after the 1992 elections (Aryeetey and McKay

2007, p.162). The WB acknowledges Ghana’s tendency to focus their attention on more

generalized programmes such as energy subsidies rather than on programs to help the poor.

Therefore the WB promises to guide Ghana’s common targeting approach (World Bank

2012). The WB also aims to aid the process of decentralization in Ghana through the

eradication of what it refers to as ‘a centrally run locally non-responsive service delivery

system’. The WB notes inter-regional disparities in outcomes concerning poverty and human

development. It seeks to bridge these regional gaps through for instance maintaining school

enrolment rates and paying particular attention to districts with school lacking qualified

teachers or adequate teaching materials (World Bank 2012).

3.5 The Role of the Dutch Government and CSO’s

The Dutch government first established links with Ghana in 1701, today their relationship is

characterized by strong historical legacies. Officially Ghana has been a partner country of the

Netherlands since 1988. Ghana is listed as one of the main countries with whom the

Netherlands maintains a bi-lateral development cooperation relationship. On this list Ghana

falls into the profile three categories as a country with progressive economic growth. In 2011

the Netherlands awarded Ghana with €45 million in Official Development Assistance (ODA)

(SIGN; SNV). Of the total ODA €10 million was allocated to the general budget and a further

€10 million was spent on the GSFP. In the first year of the GSFP the Dutch Government

contributed six million euro to the twenty million cost value of the programme (SNV; SIGN),

therefore there is evidence eight years later that the Netherlands has remained committed to

its GSFP portion of its ODA to Ghana.

3.5.1 Dutch Activity in Ghana

The Netherlands is active in the following areas: education, healthcare, environment, budget

provisions, water and sanitation and the promotion of good governance. Both at home and

abroad Dutch Civil Society is fundamental in promoting Ghana’s development. The Dutch

government is responsible for funding 11 major alliances with Dutch NGOs active in Ghana.

In addition to this there are 225 civil society organisations working within Ghana. Within the

Netherlands there are also a number of Ghanaian Diaspora organisations for the Ghanaian

community (Government.nl 2011).

32

3.6 Consultative Process’ in an effort to decentralise policy making power

In response to this lack of commitment by governments and a distinct deficiency in

prioritization by both donors and representative institutions a number of consultative

processes were introduced. These processes sought to connect more closely both citizens and

the state. In accordance with this effort to broaden participation there was a further initiative

to promote the role of civil society. These processes were an extension of earlier efforts to

decentralise the command orientated policy making actions of government and adopt a more

consultative approach to policy making which would grant greater policy making

responsibility to the district level (Whitfield 2005; Ayee 2008). These features of

decentralisation were formulated into law as part of the Local Government Law of 1988

(Republic of Ghana 1988). As an extension of this law a three tier structure was implemented

by the Provisional National Defence Council under Rawlings. This structure consisted of

Regional Coordinating Councils (RCCs), District Assemblies and the third tier was largely

perceived to be town/area councils (Koranteng and Larbi 2008, p.214). The District

Assembly (DA) was regarded as the highest political and administrative body and was

responsible for the establishment of the town and or area jurisdictions within its relevant

areas (Crawford 2008).

3.7 Legislative measures aiding decentralisation

In terms of the legislative measures introduced to aid the transition to decentralisation and

contribute to the broadening of participation in policy making on a local level, the 1992

Constitution, the Local Government Act, 1993 and the Civil Service Act, 1993 are notable

(Republic of Ghana 1992).These three measures presented a foundation for the establishment

of the Local Government Service Act (LGSA) which endeavoured to introduce effective

monitoring and assistance to the staff of local authorities so as to fulfil their duties to the best

of their abilities. However, the Act was not introduced until a decade later due to major

opposition from centralised government bureaucrats as they believed the act would weaken

the power of government institutions at the centre by transferring staff from the centre to

local level and additionally making the distribution of resources less concentrated (Aryeetey

and McKay 2007; Koranteng and Larbi 2008). Despite this opposition, with the support of

donors and the backing of the three fundamental measures introduced between 1992 and

1993 the LGSA was finally enacted in 2003 (Koranteng and Larbi 2008).

33

Although consultative processes were advantageous to the policy making terrain, a number of

obstacles were still apparent within the institutions in conducting such procedures. In an

effort to eradicate these obstacles the Rawlings government pushed for a number of reforms

in 1996. The national policy press and the cabinet process reforms were introduced as part of

the National Institutional Renewal Programme (NIRP) (Ayee 2002, p.191). The introduction

of these reforms sought to mark a major change in the initial stages of policy formulation

whilst also targeting implementation practices and resource distribution.

3.8 The role of local government, decentralisation and capacity building

In order to achieve local accountability it is paramount that local leaders are elected by their

own local electorate; successful decentralisation is the determining factor of such an

outcome. Decentralisation contributes to Ghana’s socio economic growth as well as its ability

to meet goals politically. At a symposium in 2009 on ‘the conflicting gains of

decentralisation’ and the urgency of ‘implementing decentralised policies’ Professor Gyima -

Boadi refered to the fact that despite the required allocation of certain financial control to

local authorities often it is short-lived, due to the inability of these local authorities to

effectively manage the responsibilities awarded to them (Antwi-Boasiako 2010). This remark

is a clear indication of the distinct lack of capacity building experience within Ghana and

within local government circles more specifically. As a result of this disadvantage in capacity

building the GOG is reluctant to distribute power to its subordinates; DA’s and DIC’s and

other local authorities. In addition to the GOG’s reluctance to broaden participation and

distribute power, ‘power sharing’ as a concept is wholly unfamiliar to the government

(Antwi-Boasiako 2010, p.168).

On analysing decentralisation the author of ‘Administrative Decentralisation for Developing

Countries’ J.M. Cohen states that defining decentralisation in terms of political models does

not adequately explain its function. He provides a more comprehensive definition in

describing it as, ‘a community having legally specified sovereignty over identified public

sector tasks’ (pp 19-20). At present, the executive is responsible for the appointment of

regional and district officials, thus depriving local members from exerting any influence on

the process of electing a local official.

34

3.8.1 The role of partisanship in politics

In conjunction with these disparities between the centralised elite and the local citizenry

Professor Gyimah-Boadi looks to the emergence of partisan politics and its concurrent impact

on the appointment of officials being dependent on their political activity. The Local

Government Act (1988) states that 30 per cent of the government appointments of officials to

district and regional assemblies are required to be technocrats and experts however in reality

this is not the case and the assemblies are largely dominated by political activists with

partisan affiliations (Antwi-Boasakio 2010, pp 168-169). As a result of an increase in both

power and wealth, politicians and their partisan supporters alike assume elitist positions and

formulate close ties with the private sector. Consequently this further isolates the great

majority of the citizenry from contributing to decision making and activities of political daily

life. In addition to this, growing partisanship in Ghana is evidenced in the definitive spilt

along NDC and NPP party lines. An interesting element of partisan politics which can further

ferment this split along party lines is the role of traditional authorities in Ghana. USAID’s

2011 report describes the role of powerful Chiefs within Ghana as ‘transparently partisan’

(2011, p.8). The report also refers to Chiefs exceeding the parameters of their legally

mandated role in endeavouring to involve their communities in partisan politics. It has been

suggested that often Chiefs assume such responsibilities in areas with a distinct lack of state

capacity (USAID 2011).

In assessing Ghana’s efforts to decentralize government one must look to the responsiveness

of the local governments and the impact of local accountability in achieving successful public

policy implementation. On reviewing the literature surrounding decentralisation a proposal

for a constitutional amendment to strengthen the power of local government through the

election of local officials by the local citizenry is a reoccurring theme throughout (Ayee

2008; Cohen 1999; Crawford 2008). Such an amendment would make the officials instantly

more accountable and responsive to the needs of the relevant local community. It is evident

that Ghana has to undergo a number of improvements before it can deem itself an effective

participatory democracy, thus proving the proposed hypothesis in chapter 1 that political

interferences or inefficiencies can militate against the successful implementation of public

policy and furthermore this can impede the effectiveness of the bottom-up approach. Antwi-

Boasiako suggests that a ‘mature democracy’ exists when ‘a people can govern themselves’

and evidently the people at grassroots level play a central role in electing the legislative and

executive personnel of their local community (Antwi-Boasiako 2010, p.174). As Ghana made

35

the transition to democracy in 1992 it cannot be described as a ‘mature’ democracy as its

fundamental principles are being established, it cannot draw on a democratic historical legacy

of its own for guidance. Therefore, many theorists are in agreement that today the GOG is

largely characterized by ‘a centralized top-down system’, which inhibits the growth of local

government (Antwi-Boasiako 2010, p. 175).

3.9 The role of parliament

The role of parliament in Ghana is limited to dealing with structural and situational issues.

Parliament is dependent on the Executive as it is responsible for granting the necessary

resources to it which in turn undermines its ability to oversee actions, thus its main role is as

a deliberative one. Parliament was at a disadvantage in the immediate years after gaining

independence and many argue it is still compromised due to its small library and lack of

research assistants; the absence of these basic resources means parliament is unable to

undertake sufficient research on bills and therefore is unable to partake in crucial debates

(Ayee 2002, pp 183-184). Parliament is presented with legislation and is expected to

approve/disapprove the relevant frameworks presented to them however parliament has no

role in the formulation of these frameworks (Whitfield 2005, pp 647-648). As Ghana does not

have a long history of consultative process’ and due to a lack of sufficient resources to

contribute to a public discussion before a bill is passed Members of Parliament (MPs) are

encouraged to analyse the needs of the proposed audience which the bill will affect. Often

this advice falls on deaf ears as MPs are more concerned with wealth accumulation and this

the nature of the bill becomes ambiguous (Ayee 20002, p. 184). Thus it is appropriate for one

to conclude that Parliament’s ability to address the needs of the poor is majorly hindered by

its limited role in policy making.

With the increasing role of NGOs in Civil Society they have far extended their role which

had previously consisted of delivering basic services to the poor whereas now NGOs had a

significant influence in the policy making terrain. Competition between Parliament and

various Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) regarding the distribution of resources was a

central feature of the struggle to establish an effective local authority in Ghana most

poignantly throughout the decade 1993-2003 (Koranteng and Larbi 2008, pp 214-215).

CSO’s argued that due to their presence on the ground they are instantly more accountable to

the needs of the citizenry. Parliament’s strictly representative and deliberative position has

been further enforced as a result of the more responsive nature of CSOs to the needs of policy

36

recipients in rural communities in particular. Donors have criticised the role of parliament

claiming that parliament’s agenda is not pro-poor enough and that its main objective is to

devise as many methods as possible to sustain wealth creation for the government (Whitfield

2005, p.658). Nonetheless one must acknowledge the achievements of Parliament to date

particularly in relation to the sixteen committees which comprise parliament as they did

indeed influence public policies. In reference to the actions of the committee for education,

the Ghana Education Service Bill, the Local Government Bill and the Ghana Education Trust

Bill were successfully passed all of which would prove fundamental to the successful

introduction of the Ghana School Feeding Policy, 2005.Additionally the change of

government to President John Atta Mills under the NDC party did not impede on the

successes of the public policy initiative already underway, specifically the GSFP (SIGN

2011).

3.10 Central features of poverty reduction in relation to public expenditure

How Public Spending is distributed determines the success of every Poverty Reduction

Strategy. On examining empirical research which has been undertaken on poverty in Ghana

as a whole the most dominant explanations of poverty which tend to occur in each

explanation the following: ‘a limited access to infrastructure and to basic utilities and

services’ which are essential components to successful poverty reduction (Oduro 2001). On

analysing poverty in Ghana one must look at the urban-rural divide and inter-regional

disparities. Rural Poverty accounts for approximately 90% of the national poverty rate for

Ghana. This high percentage of poverty is as a result of two fundamental features; the

absence of effectively functioning rural markets and a dire need to improve the rural poor’s

access to markets (Oduro 2001).

Abena Oduro a contributor to the workshop on ‘Macro-Economy, Stability, Growth and

Poverty Reduction’ in conjunction with ISSER and CEPA provides a detailed outline of the

suggested measures on how best to successfully reduce poverty and ensure equal and

balanced use of public expenditure. From the outset of a project, i.e. the product design

stage, the entire expenditure spanning the life of the project must be calculated. Take for

instance the Ghana School Building initiative; between the years of 2001-2005 fifty new

schools were constructed throughout Ghana. Despite this there is a distinct decline in pupil

performance which can be attributed to a lack of teachers within these schools. Thus during

the product design stage there was an insufficient amount of funding allocated to the

37

employment of teachers. It is essential that the cost of teachers, books, maintenance of the

school and teaching/learning aids are taken into consideration in order to ensure effective

implementation (Aryeetey and Mc Kay 2007).

Oduro outlines the necessary steps to avoid the omission of such crucial considerations at the

product design stage. The first step calls for a greater availability of necessary data regarding

public expenditure. The authorities at both state and district level should use this data to their

advantage when attempting to administer adequate amounts of funding (Oduro 2007, pp 5-6;

Aryeetey and McKay 2007). One most consider the role of bureaucrats in relation to this

availability of information. During Rawlings time in office (1992-2000) Ghana was at a

disadvantage in regard to employing senior civil servants due largely to poor rate of pay. In

other African countries senior civil servants are highly regarded and have a great deal of

influence in resource allocation and development planning. In the absence of experienced

policy analysts Ghana was at a further disadvantage because data for policy analysis was

unavailable. Therefore in this type of circumstance policy analysts were left with no

alternative but to depend on ‘guesses, institutions, ideological preferences, or hunches...’

(Rothchild and Curry 1978, cited in Ayee 2002). Therefore the success of public policy

initiatives was in this instance wholly dependent on the viewpoint of bureaucrats. As well as

the absence of policy analysts this apparent deficiency in the government’s ability signifies a

lack of capacity building. In conjunction with a wider distribution of data a second aspect

which must be adhered to is prioritization. This needs a greater deal of attention specifically

in the area of limited resources; the in-depth assessment of the needs of the recipients/projects

must undergo a complete analysis. This analysis will allow authorities to distribute funding

according to the level of poverty within the area and assess the degree of urgency of each

situation and allocate funding accordingly. A third element which is crucial to the success of

any public policy initiative is an understanding of the opinions and needs of the proposed

recipients. Often this is an area where the effectiveness of public policy initiatives instigated

by state authorities or even local elites can falter (Oduro 2001).

3.11 Risks encountered

In an attempt to abide by the distinct push for decentralisation the DA’s attempt to encourage

a greater participation of the intended participants. However situations have occurred where

the local elite’s interests are not in line with the needs of the poor and thus it is here that

discrepancies become apparent. Therefore to ensure the needs of the poor are best

38

represented, it is essential that a form of monitoring system is put in place to prevent such

divergences taking place from the previously defined intentions. Although the DA’s

endeavour to meet the needs of the poor and respond accordingly, often these efforts are

seriously inhibited by a distinct lack of human and financial resources (Ayee 2002). It is also

crucial that policy makers at state level maintain a close relationship with the needs of the

poor as they change over time. Thus the degree to which state authorities keep themselves

informed of the evolution of the needs of the poor is heavily dependent on the success of

poverty reduction strategies. In reiterating the importance of a form of regulatory system

within which the allocation of funding can be closely monitored is of utmost importance in

order to achieve successful policy making. Additionally these types of monitoring systems

are necessary to ensure that actions are in line with the measures outlined in formulating

poverty reducing initiatives (Oduro 2001, pp 6-8; Aryeetey and Mc Kay 2007, pp 162-163).

3.12 Conclusion

On completing the transition to democracy in 1992, Ghana has overcome a number of

legislative obstacles over the past two decades. However a more poignant development is the

Government of Ghana’s ability to sustain and further enrich the relationship with CSO’s and

other external actors which have embodied themselves in the process of public policy

process. Ghana has had a number of successes in both socio-economic and political arenas

since gaining democratic status; however one must note the extent to which Ghana’s budget

remains to be heavily dependent on aid inflows. The sustainability and success of public

policy initiatives within Ghana, particularly those in accordance with the MDGs is reliant on

gaining sufficient budgetary assistance from external donors. This dependency on external

financial assistance and guidance will be analysed in relation to the GSFP. Furthermore,

analysis of this policy will address the role of local government and examine the impact a

centralised form of governance has had on the programme since its inception in 2005.

39

CHAPTER 4-ANALYSIS OF HOUSE-SURVEY RESULTS

4 Introduction

The following chapter will proceed to analyse the data retrieved from the household-surveys.

The surveys focused on three areas in particular namely; the performance of the GSFP, the

levels of satisfaction and an investigation into who controls the process of implementation. In

presenting data in a series of tables and charts this chapter will endeavour to provide

explanations for the relevant findings.

4.1 Performance of the GSFP

A total of 50 household-surveys were conducted in the area surrounding the village of

Ntranoa, in Komenda, Edina Eguafo Abream (KEEA) municipal Assembly in Ghana. This

area of the survey will address the respondent’s opinion on the performance of the GSFP. In

respect to the performance of the GSFP, 92% of respondents agreed that the programme has

helped to increase school enrolment as shown in Table 5. Therefore there is significant

evidence to conclude that the GSFP is in fact in keeping with the short term goals of the

programme and it is successful in increasing school enrolment levels. These findings are

clearly displayed in Figure 6 below. This is further reinforced by President Mahama of Ghana

in his State of Nation Address on January 4th 2013. He reaffirms the successes of the

programmes performance to date and assures the communities that with the GSFP benefiting

approximately one million children throughout Ghana’s 170 districts: as he noted ‘other pro-

poor interventions like the capitation grant and the school-feeding program have been

expanded to cover many more children’. He also states, ‘Today more than one million

children are being fed one meal a day at school’

(http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/information/speeches/18924).

40

TABLE 5: THE PERFORMANCE OF THE GSFP

q1.5.The GSFP has helped to increase school enrolment

Frequency Percent Valid

Percent

Cumulative

Percent

Valid

Strongly

Disagree 2 4.0 4.0 4.0

Disagree 2 4.0 4.0 8.0

Agree 37 74.0 74.0 82.0

Strongly agree 9 18.0 18.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

Figure 6 The GSFP has helped to increase school enrolment

Figure 6: Further analysis of the performance of the GSFP can be seen in a crosstabulation

examination in table 2 below, which indicates that there is a consensus between the responses

of male and female that the GSFP has indeed helped to increase school enrolment as 24 males

and 22 females out of a total of 50 surveyed agreed that the programme has been successful

in this regard (See table 6 below).

41

TABLE 6: GENDER RESPONSES OF THE PERFORMANCE OF GSFP

As field data has revealed in a cross-tabulation analysis with respect to the level of education

of each of the respondents, it is evident that the majority of respondents who were in

agreement came from two main levels of education; those attending Junior High School were

17 out of a total 50 and those at University level with a total of 13 respectively. The students

attending Junior High school would have been the first recipients of the GSFP after its

introduction in 2005 and therefore have witnessed first-hand its impact on the levels of school

enrolment.

4.2 Attendance and Retention of School pupils

In addition to these findings on increasing school enrolment regarding the performance of the

GSFP, 82% of the respondents agreed that the GSFP programme has aided the increase in

levels of attendance and retention of school pupils as shown in Table 7. This evidence

suggests that the community of Ntranoa believe the GSFP is performing well in terms of

aiding attendance levels and retaining these levels in the area. Only 12% of the respondents

disagreed with the statement. This implies that the large majority of the community’s

respondents are satisfied with the performance of the programme with respect to attendance

and retention of school pupils.

Table 5 above and table 7 below correspond directly with the research question posed in

chapter one which questioned the extent to which the GSFP has helped to increase school

enrolment and retain school attendance. The data presented in the tables is a clear affirmation

of the positive results of the programme in relation to an increase in levels of enrolment and

in retaining school attendance.

42

TABLE 7: ATTENDANCE AND RETENTION OF SCHOOLS PUPILS

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Disagree 6 12.0 12.2 12.2

Neither agree nor disagree 2 4.0 4.1 16.3

Agree 26 52.0 53.1 69.4

Strongly agree 15 30.0 30.6 100.0

Total 49 98.0 100.0

Missing System 1 2.0

Total 50 100.0

4.3 Levels of local food production

One of the short term goals of the GSFP was to increase domestic food production. The

results of the surveys are interesting as the respondents were divided equally with a total of

46% disagreeing with the proposed statement, while the same percentage 46% of the

respondents agree that the GSFP had indeed increased domestic food production in the

Ntranoa area as shown in table 8. The findings of those who disagree with the statement that

GSFP has helped to increase domestic food production is further reinforced by a comment

made by one of the respondents from the survey noting that: ‘the food stuffs should be

purchased from the local community members as planned in the policy’ (C05). This

statement suggests that there is an urgent need to address this issue with respect to

encouraging local food production within the communities. If this is done, it will help to

facilitate local economic development.

TABLE 8: VIEWS ABOUT THE IMPACT OF GSFP WITH RESPECT TO DOMETIC FOOD PRODUCTION

q1.7.GSFP has helped to increase domestic food production in our local communities

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly Disagree 6 12.0 12.0 12.0

Disagree 17 34.0 34.0 46.0

Neither agree nor disagree 4 8.0 8.0 54.0

Agree 18 36.0 36.0 90.0

Strongly agree 5 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

43

4.4 The GSFP has helped to increase food security and reduce hunger

In line with the MDGs, a long term goal of the GSFP aimed to increase food security and

reduce hunger (ECASARD/SNV, Ghana 2009). The findings in table 6 below indicate that a

small majority of respondents 52 % do not believe the GSFP has helped reduce hunger and

malnutrition. The evidence of this particular element of the research suggests that aims of

achieving food security in line with the main objectives of the MDGs are not being achieved.

In addition, two of the respondents commented during the survey that: ‘the food should be

served along with water, they should provide food [which is] rich with a balanced diet’

(C23), ‘they should prepare better food that contains nutrients’ (C22). However, 44% of the

respondents believed that the programme is in fact helping to reduce rural hunger and

malnutrition. The findings seem to suggest that, more work needs to be done, to ensure that

the nutritional requirements of the beneficiaries of the GSFP are met. Therefore there is room

for improvement as shown Table 9.

TABLE 9 VIEWS ABOUT HOW GSFP HAS HELPED TO DEAL WITH RURAL HUNGER AND MALNUTRITION

q1.8.The GSFP has helped to reduce rural hunger and malnutrition

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly Disagree 5 10.0 10.0 10.0

Disagree 21 42.0 42.0 52.0

Neither agree nor disagree 2 4.0 4.0 56.0

Agree 19 38.0 38.0 94.0

Strongly agree 3 6.0 6.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

From the above research it is evident that the general response from the fifty respondents

surveyed is a positive one and the great majority of respondents were in agreement that the

GSFP is performing successfully especially in relation to an increase in enrolment and

helping increase attendance and retention of school pupils.

4.5 Levels of Satisfaction with the GSFP

On drawing up the strategies for implementing the GSFP it was envisaged that 80% of the

feeding costs of the school children would be spent in the local economy. However, the

surveys carried out indicate that only 32% of the respondents are in agreement and maintain

that they are satisfied with the arrangements of buying locally. A further 28% said they are

44

dissatisfied with the current arrangements whilst the majority of the respondents at 40%

neither agree nor disagree with the arrangement as shown in table 10. This makes this finding

quite interesting with respect to the overall level of satisfaction. It appears that the majority

neither agree nor disagree, perhaps is a reflection of a distinct lack of knowledge within the

community regarding the arrangements made with local farmers. This lack of knowledge may

be interpreted as result of a top-down approach to implementation as discussed in previous

chapters. Other respondents noted a need for the caterers to actively purchase the necessary

food stuffs from the local farmers so as to boost the local economy, ‘......caterers should

patronise food stuffs or items from the local community’ (C06).

TABLE 10

45

FIGURE 7 LEVELS OF SATISFACTION BUYING LOCALLY PRODUCED FOOD STUFFS

The results of this survey outline the high level of dissatisfaction with the quality of the food

being served to the school children at 82%. This undisputable majority is reaffirmed by a

number of comments made by the respondents, ‘….the quality of the food should be

improved’ (C05). In addition to this a number of those surveys made reference to the children

complaints of the food tasting bad, ‘Children complain of food without taste or the food tastes

bad, so they should work on that’ (C03) (See table 11 below).

46

TABLE 11 LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH FOOD SERVED TO SCHOOL CHILDREN

The cross-tabulation investigation undertaken in table 12 below demonstrates that the levels

of satisfaction across both genders are consistent as 22 males and 19 females out of a total of

50 respondents were dissatisfied with the quality of the food served to the school children. Of

this

TABLE 12: LEVELS OF SATISFACTION WITH THE QUALITY OF FOOD SERVED TO SCHOOL CHILDREN

The cross-tabulation investigation undertaken in table 13 below a total of 23 students and 9

teachers are dissatisfied with the quality of the food being served. As the students are/have

been the direct recipients of the GSFP they have the most experience in this particular area.

47

TABLE 13: OCCUPATION-RESPONSE TO THE QUALITY OF FOOD BEING SERVED

In addition to the high levels of dissatisfaction with the quality of the food the surveys show

an equally high level of dissatisfaction with the portion size of food served to the school

pupils as 84% of respondents said they were dissatisfied (see table 14). This is reinforced by

comments from some of the respondents in line with the open-ended question: ‘Students

should be given enough food so that they are well fed’ (C35), while another said: ‘in my

opinion, the GSFP should increase the quantity of the food as well as improving the quality

of the food’ (C17). This issue requires attention of the implementers of the policy.

TABLE 14: LEVEL OF SATISFACTION REGARDING THE PORTION OF FOOD BEING SERVED TO SCHOOL PUPILS

Although tables 5 and 7 disclosed that the GSFP is aiding an increase in levels of school

enrolment, attendance and retention which prove to be the successful elements of the

programmes performance. However, there are concerns when it comes to the quality and

portion size of food being served to the school children as majority of the respondents

expressed high levels of dissatisfaction as noted in tables 11 and 14.

Table 15 below clearly shows that the majority, 60% of respondents are satisfied with the

menu chart presented to the school. Therefore it is appropriate to conclude that the levels of

satisfaction falter in regard to the quality and quantity of the food being served however the

type of food being served to the children is considered satisfactory by the majority. However

48

those who claim they are dissatisfied with the menu have provided explanations for their

dissatisfaction, they believe the caterers should undergo the necessary training for working

with such large quantities of food. As noted by one respondents ‘….they should employ

people who have acquired skills in food preparation.’ (C10).

TABLE 15. LEVEL OF SATISFACTION WITH THE MENU CHART

4.6 Implementation process of the GSFP

The majority 58% of respondents agree that the GSFP is controlled principally by the

Municipal Assembly officials. Against this background one would agree that this finding

seems to suggest a top-down approach to implementation (as discussed in Chapter 2) is being

undertaken and in turn suggests that the needs of the recipients of the programme i.e. the

school children are not being appropriately addressed (see table 16 below). There is also a

significant number of the respondents at 38% who ‘neither agree nor disagree’ to the question

in discussion. The evidence to support the findings provides a mean = 3.66 and Standard

deviation =.823. This is perhaps as a result of a lack of knowledge about who exactly is

controlling the GSFP’s implementation which implies that the respondents are uninformed in

regard to the details of the process of implementation again giving further credence to the

previous conclusion that a top-down model dominates. In keeping with the majority of

respondents the following comment made by a teacher who received university level

education clearly outlines the assured opinion of one of the respondents in believing that a

great deal of responsibility and consequently control is concentrated in the hands of the

Municipal Assembly Officials. As noted: ‘the Municipal Assembly Officials should insist on

the purchase of locally produced food crops in the area as most of the parents are farmers’

(C12). The extent to which this teacher allocated such a degree of authority to these officials

demonstrates the inequitable power of the Municipal Assembly Officials within the area of

Ntranoa. The suggestion made by the teacher to encourage more bottom-up action by

49

involving local farmers thus boosting the local economy suggests that this commitment is far

from being fulfilled and that there is room for improvement.

TABLE 16: IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GSFP

q1.13.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by the Municipal Assembly

officials

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly Disagree 1 2.0 2.0 2.0

Disagree 1 2.0 2.0 4.0

Neither agree nor disagree 19 38.0 38.0 42.0

Agree 22 44.0 44.0 86.0

Strongly agree 7 14.0 14.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

FIGURE 8: HISTOGRAM SHOWING THE IMPLEMENATION OF THE GSFP

50

50% of the respondents agreed that the GSFP is mainly controlled by KEEA education

officials. This again lays claim to the above statement that efforts to decentralise governance

in Ghana and support a concerted effort to broaden participation in public policy

implementation are impeded by those at the top maintaining the majority of control. The

process of implementation appears to be controlled by top-downers; there is sufficient

evidence in table 17 to suggest this. The fact that 28% of the respondents neither agree nor

disagree to the question provides us with further cause for concern. The bottom-up model

would be more conducive to meeting the needs of the recipients of the public policy

programme and in keeping with the proposed structure of the programme which was decided

upon when the policy was being formulated. These findings are of grave concern to the future

of the GSFP.

TABLE 17: VIEWS ABOUT THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GSFP AND ITS RELATIONSHIP WITH OFFICIALS OF

KEEA EDUCATION UNIT

q1.14.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by KEEA education officials

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly Disagree 7 14.0 14.0 14.0

Disagree 4 8.0 8.0 22.0

Neither agree nor disagree 14 28.0 28.0 50.0

Agree 20 40.0 40.0 90.0

Strongly agree 5 10.0 10.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

Table 18 and figure 9 below show that the great majority 62% of the respondents do not

support the statement that the GSFP is controlled by local committee members who show

respect for policy officials. This reaffirms the results of table 17 and table 18 which indicate

that any form of grassroots or bottom-up action is not in place and that the control

predominantly lies in the hands of the Municipal Assembly and KEEA. Again this purports

evidence to suggest that the implementation of the GSFP does have a tendency of being

hijacked by top-downers.

51

Table 18: Views about the control and implementation of the GSFP by local committee

members

q1.15.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by local committee members

who show respect for the policy officials

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly agree 14 28.0 28.0 28.0

Disagree 17 34.0 34.0 62.0

Neither agree nor disagree 13 26.0 26.0 88.0

Agree 6 12.0 12.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

FIGURE 9: PIE CHART SHOWING THE CONTROL AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GSFP BY LOCAL COMMITTEE

MEMBERS

52

Table 19 Gender response in relation to implementation of the GSFP being controlled

by local committee members

q1.2.Gender * q1.15.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by local committee

members who show respect for the policy officials- Crosstabulation investigation

q1.15.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by local

committee members who show respect for the policy officials

Total

Strongly agree Disagree Neither agree

nor disagree

Agree

q1.2.Gender Male 9 8 6 3 26

Female 5 9 7 3 24

Total 14 17 13 6 50

A further cross-tabulation investigation as seen in table 20 below is a clear indication of the

two main groups which disagree with the proposed statement, these two groups are

comprised of respondents who have been educated to Junior High Level and the second

grouping has been educated to University level.

TABLE 20: LEVEL OF EDUCATION OF RESPONSDENTS IN RELATION TO IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GSFP BEING

CONTROLLED BY LOCAL COMMITTEE MEMBERS.

q1.3.Level of education * q1.15.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by local

committee members who show respect for the policy officials- Crosstabulation investigation

q1.15.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled

principally by local committee members who show

respect for the policy officials

Total

Strongly

agree

Disagree Neither

agree nor

disagree

Agree

q1.3.Level of

education

None 0 1 0 0 1

Primary school 1 2 1 1 5

Middle school 1 3 0 0 4

Junior high school 5 5 6 4 20

Senior high school 1 1 1 0 3

Technical/vocational

school 0 0 1 1 2

Polytechnic 1 0 1 0 2

University 5 5 3 0 13

Total 14 17 13 6 50

53

The results of Table 21 below are fundamentally important in conducting an overall analysis

of the effectiveness of the GSFP. The majority 60% of the respondents disagree with the

proposed statement that the implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by the

head-teacher. This again reinforces the responses so far, that those who are on the ground

working to ensure the programme in place is of maximum benefit to the students, have little

control over the implementation of the programme. The evidence provided can be shown

further support by a number of comments made by the respondents. A great deal of the

respondents believed that, as noted: ‘the Parent Teacher Association (PTA) and the School

Management Board should be fully involved. The same applies to the head teacher’ (C11).

Other respondents, predominantly the students themselves remarked that they should have a

role in the implementation of the GSFP; as one student suggested that ‘there should be a

committee comprising students who will speak and also represent issues on behalf of the

students to the Municipal Assembly Officials’ (C16). This comment shows that those on the

ground do indeed recognize that the Municipal Assembly officials have a major role in the

programme’s implementation. Furthermore, those on the ground feel that the best way to

involve the recipients of the programme in this process is to present their concerns to the

body in control, i.e. the Municipal Assembly Officials. Another comment suggested that the

teachers become more involved in the process of policy implementation, so they can ‘monitor

the quality of food being served’ (C13). Although the teachers are becoming involved would

better represent the needs of the students one must acknowledge the fact that the majority of

control over the process of implementation is with the Municipal Assembly Officials and

education officials at the KEEA. Therefore in keeping with President Mahama’s promise in

the State of Nation Address dated Jan 4th 2013, it is clear that there is room for significant

improvements to made in regard to who is in control of the process of implementation of the

GSFP.

54

Table 21: Views about the control and implementation of the GSFP by Headteacher

q1.16.The implementation of the GSFP is controlled principally by the head teacher

Frequency Per cent Valid Per cent Cumulative Per

cent

Valid

Strongly Disagree 14 28.0 28.0 28.0

Disagree 16 32.0 32.0 60.0

Neither agree nor disagree 9 18.0 18.0 78.0

Agree 11 22.0 22.0 100.0

Total 50 100.0 100.0

FIGURE 10 SHOWING CONTROL OF THE HEAD TEACHER IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GSFP

In relation to the research question posed in chapter one regarding the extent to which the

process of implementation is controlled by the Municipal Assembly officials and the KEEA

education officials the data suggests that the respondents many of whom are or have been

recipients of the GSFP believe that power is centralised within these assemblies. This

concentration of power consequently leaves all other actors such as the school management

board, the teachers, the head teachers and the recipient pupils with no significant role in the

implementation process and consequently has a detrimental effect on the possibility of a

successful bottom-up model from emerging.

55

CHAPTER 5-DISCUSSION OF MAIN FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5. Summary of Chapters

The principal aim of this study is to examine whether the school feeding programme has

helped to improve and retain school attendance or not. In an effort to reach this understanding

the study was divided into five chapters. Chapter one provided a profile of Ghana which was

assisted by an overview of Ghana’s growth as a democracy thus. Chapter one also outlined a

number of research questions and proposed two hypotheses which this final chapter will

endeavour to prove. Since the return of civilian rule the Government of Ghana has exceeded

all expectations in its efforts to achieve a consolidated participatory democracy. Although

Ghana seeks to award the fundamental components of participatory democracy, namely;

responsibility, efficiency and accountability to all citizens it may be argued that there is still

considerable room for improvement at regional and district level (SIGN 2011). Thus

implying that despite Ghana’s proliferation of successes stories in decentralisation there are

also a significant proportion of cases which suggest that Ghanaians at regional and district

level are indeed deprived of the opportunities available to those at the top. Chapter two

provides a review of the literature paying particular attention to the top-down and bottom-up

models and the extent to which the top-down does indeed militate against effective policy

implementation. Consequently, the predominance of a top-down approach impedes the

implementation of an effective bottom-up approach. This analysis was undertaken to the

backdrop of participatory democracy in Ghana.

Chapter three discussed the challenges militating against Ghana’s transition to democracy as

a centralised technocratic form of governance was replaced by a more liberal decentralised

model. It analysed the role of donors and other external actors in the policy making process

and the extent to which Ghana’s policy process is dependent on these external support

networks. Chapter four provided empirical results which brought together useful insights to

the programmes activity and the recipient’s reaction. This enabled me to make some

recommendations about the GSFP and formulate conclusions on these recommendations in

chapter five.

56

5.1 Discussion: the Success of the GSFP to date

It is evident that the GSFP has had a great deal of success in expanding and developing as a

programme from its inception in 2005. The programme was introduced to ten pilot schools in

each region of the country. By the summer of 2006 the programme had been introduced to

200 schools and benefitting 69,000 students (GSFP 2005). The number of beneficiary

students at the inception of the first phase (2007-2010) of the programme was estimated at

413, 498, this increased to 697,496 by the end of 2010. As it stands, the scheme is thought to

be benefitting over 1 million school children (Ghana 2011 AOP). In 2011 the Commission on

Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) included in its annual report on the State

of Human Rights in Ghana a call for the government to extend the GSFP to two million

recipient children by 2012. Although the government did not succeed in expanding the

coverage of the programme to the desired estimate of the CHRAJ the request to the

Government of Ghana is a direct acknowledgement of the success of the programme in terms

of increasing enrolment, retention and attendance of pupils (Modern Ghana 2012).

5.2 Concluding comments

This concluding chapter is divided into four sections. The first section deals with a summary

of the main findings with respect to how the Ghana school feeding programme is performing.

The second section provides a synopsis of the main findings regarding the level of

satisfaction with the Ghana school feeding programme. The third section is devoted to the

implementation process of the programme. In chapter four recommendations on how the

GSFP can be more effectively implemented are discussed. The results of the surveys suggest

that since the programme’s inception there has been a phenomenal increase in the number of

recipient school children, the details of which will be discussed in the following paragraph. In

summation of the results it is clear that although the GSFP has proved the hypotheses in

relation to its overall performance of increasing school enrolment, retention and attendance is

remarkable.

With respect to the level of satisfaction the study disclosed that many of the respondents are

not happy about some of the arrangements in terms of promoting local economic

development among others. There are major concerns with respect to the current

arrangements of not buying locally produced foodstuffs. This is obviously against the main

philosophy and the development of the GSFP, which aims to increase domestic food

production in the local communities. The evidence generated in chapter four, also disclosed

57

that there is high level of dissatisfaction, in relation to the quality and portion size of food

being served to the school children in Ntranoa. Again, this is a worrying finding as noted in

chapter one, one of the fundamental aims principles upon which the GSFP is based in line

with the MDGs in aiming to reduce hunger and malnutrition at the grassroots level. This issue

requires the urgent attention of all stakeholders of the policy.

In terms of levels of satisfaction with the quality and the quantity of the food being served

there is also significant room for improvement. More attention needs to be paid to the

preparation of the food, a type of assistance scheme for the caterers educating them on how to

best prepare such large quantities of food whilst maintaining good quality overall is essential.

Also a number of comments in the surveys referred to the major delay in caterers receiving

payment for their work, in the absence of payment caterers understandably do not pay the

same degree of effort and attention into the process as they simply lack the incentive to do so.

Additionally from my own experience, the menu chart of the GSFP should be reconsidered as

from my own experience in the Ghanaian school system a number of children go a whole day

in school without food as the food on offer is not to their tastes and furthermore it is of poor

quality. Therefore in order to eradicate hunger and malnutrition these issues must not be

overlooked.

As far as the implementation of GSFP is concerned, evidence provided suggests that the

process is being controlled principally by the top officials of education unit and officials of

KEEA municipal assembly. The findings of the research suggest that committee members,

the head teacher and parents association despite being at a closer level to the implementation

process appear to be side-lined in the process. This majorly impede any efforts to involve

those at local level in the process implementing public policy as discussed in-depth in chapter

two, thus preventing bottom-up action from taking place. This finding in turn proves one of

the two hypotheses proposed in chapter 1 which stated that local political intervention and

control of the implementation process, regarding KEEA and the Municipal Assembly in the

GSFP has been encumbered by a concentration of control at the top.

The empirical insight gained from this study does suggest that, it is not too late to begin to

examining the implementation of the School feeding programme further and more

importantly within a wider catchment area. As the year 2015 will mark a decade since the

GSFP’s inception in 2005 there is a large amount of scope on which to draw conclusions

from lessons learned. These conclusions will prove fundamental in constructing strategies for

58

improvement to aid the programme’s future development. Thus, the GSFP is indeed worthy

of its accredited status as a laudable strategic programme. It is a programme which espouses

the ideals of an influential pro-poor intervention policy, the success of which is primarily

dependent on the effectiveness of decentralisation at regional and district level.

Furthermore, the evidence presented in the surveys proves that the area, which needs the

most improving, is that of implementation. A system needs to be established which indicates

who exactly is controlling the process of implementation. Although a bottom-up approach is

the preferred option for the recipients of the programme and those working on the ground

such as teachers, caterers, local committee members, parents, the Parent Teacher Association

and the School Management Board this may not be the preferred choice of the Municipal

Assembly or KEEA and even less so for the Government of Ghana. Consequently this means

a loss of power and control over policy implementation. Although the Government of Ghana

is said to be working towards achieving the MDG’s for 2015 of eradicating extreme poverty

and hunger one cannot help but question Ghana’s level of commitment to such a major

endeavour. Particularly as a key strategy to achieving the proposed aims of the MDG’s would

be to follow through fully on plans to decentralise governance and place more responsibility

in local government and local committees. However, despite this one cannot dispute the

estimated figures which suggest that the GSFP is fast expanding in terms of its beneficiaries

as in the central region alone in 2005/2006 the programme was benefitting 7,796 school

pupils by 2010 this figure had grown to 42,409 the programme had multiplied by over six

times in 5 years (GSFP 2011 AOP). Therefore as stated by President Mahama in his recent

state of nation address ‘the investment that is made in our children is beginning to yield

diffidence’ (State of Nation Address-President Mahama, January 2013).

The principal aim of this study is to examine whether the school feeding programme has help

to improve and retain school attendance or not. The evidence provided by this study indeed

helps us to conclude that the school-feeding programme has helped to improve and retain

school attendance at Ntranoa School. These findings are in line with main philosophy of the

GSFP as established in Chapter one of the background information. Evidence of such growth

and expansion is commendable and must be maintained. However, particular attention must

be paid to the arrangements of buying locally produced food stuffs, providing quality food

and increasing the portion of food. There is an urgent need for all stakeholders to review the

implementation of the pro-poor public policy, so that it is not hijacked by the top-downers.

59

References Adu-Asare, Y. (2004) Good Governance in Ghana is not necessarily efficient [online], available: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=67995 [accessed 25 Jan 2013].

Africa.com (2010) Ghana’s rights and liberties report [online], available: http://www.africa.com/ghana/report [accessed 07 Feb 2013].

AfriMAP (2007) ‘Ghana: Democracy and Political Participation’, a review by AfriMAP, the

Open Society Initiative for West Africa and the Institute for Democratic Governance [online], available: http://www.afrimap.org/english/images/report/AfriMAP_Ghana_PolPart.pdf [accessed 03 Feb 2013].

Alexander, E.R. (1989) ‘Journal of Public Policy’, Improbable Implementation: the

Pressman-Wildavsky Paradox Revisited, 9(4), 451-465.

Amegashie, G. (2012) NDC’s broken Manifesto Promise: part 1 [online], available: http://www.modernghana.com/news/421949/1/ndcs-broken-manifesto-promises-part-1.html [accessed 08 Feb 2013].

Antwi-Boasiako, K.B. (2010) ‘Public Administration, Local Government and Decentralisation in Ghana’, Journal of African Studies and Development, 2 (7), 166-175.

Aryeetey, E. and McKay, A. (2007), ‘Ghana: The Challenge of Translating Sustained Growth into Poverty Reduction’ in Besley, T.and Cord, L.J. (eds.) Delivering on the Promise of Pro-

Poor Growth Insights and Lessons from Country Experiences, Washington: Palgrave and Macmillan and the World Bank, 147-168.

Ayee, J.R.A. (1995) ‘an anatomy of the public policy implementation: the case of decentralisation policies in Ghana’, Journal of Modern African Studies, 33 (4), 712-713.

Ayee, J. (2002), ‘Governance, Institutional Reforms and Policy Outcomes in Ghana’ in Ololwu, D. And Sako. S. (eds.) Better Governance and Public Policy, Bloomfield: Kumarian Press, Inc., 173-194.

Ayee, J. (2008) ‘The Balance Sheet of Decentralization in Ghana’ in Decentralisation a

comparative perspective, Saito, F. (ed.), Ghana: Physica Verlag, pp 223-258.

Bachrach, P. And Botwinick, A. (1992) Power and Empowerment: A radical theory of

Participatory Democracy, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Bowen, E.R. ‘Journal of Public Policy’, The Pressman-Wildavsky Paradox: Four Addenda or

Why Models Based on Probability Theory Can Predict Implementation Success and Suggest

Useful Tactical Advice for Implementers, 2 (1), 1-21.

Constitution of the Republic of Ghana (1992), No.35/1992,s.6, Ghana: Ministry of Justice/ Allshore Co.

60

Crawford, G. (2008) ‘Decentralisation and the Limits to Poverty Reduction: Findings in Ghana’, Oxford Development Studies, 36 (2), 235-260.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2012) Sub-Saharan Africa: Ghana [online], available: http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/travel-and-living-abroad/travel-advice-by-country/country-profile/sub-saharan-africa/ghana/?profile=all [accessed 07 Feb 2013].

Fox, L., Hoffman, B., Anyimadu, A. and Keshishian, M. (2011) Ghana, Democracy and

Government Assessment- Final Report, United States Agency for International Development.

Ghana Government Portal (2013) Ministry of Local government and rural development

[online], available: http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/governance/ministries/309-ministry-of-local-government-and-rural-development [accessed: 06 Jan 2013].

Government of Ghana (2011) Ghana School Feeding Programme Annual Operating Plan [online], available: http://www.sign-schoolfeeding.org/_dynamic/downloads/AOP%202011%20final%20draft.pdf [accessed: 15 Jan 2013].

Government of the Netherlands (2011) Republic of Ghana [online], available: www.government.nl/files/...ghana/bz102576-ghana-2011.pdf [accessed 08 Feb 2013].

GSFP (2005) Feeding the Nations Future Leaders through sustainable agriculture [online], available: http://www.schoolfeeding.gov.gh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=125&Itemid=128 [accessed 24th Jan 2013].

Gymah-Boadi, E. and Markovits, M.T. (2008), ‘Civil Society and Governance’ in Baffour Agyeman-Duah, ed., Ghana: governance in the fourth republic, Ghana: Digibooks Ghana Ltd, 215-233.

Harrison,G . (2004) The World Bank and Africa: the construction of governance states, London: Routledge.

Haynes, J. (1999) ‘The Possibility of Democratic Consolidation in Ghana’, in Burnell, P. and Calvert, P., eds., The Resilience of Democracy: persistent practice, durable idea, London: Frank Cass Publishers, 105-122.

Heclo, H.H. (1972) ‘British Journal of Political Science’, Policy Analysis, 2 (1), 83-108. Hill, M. (2004) the Public Policy Process, 4

th ed., London: Pearson Education.

Hill and Hupe (2002), Implementing Public Policy, Sage Publications: London.

Hogwood, B.W. and Gunn, L.A. (1984) Policy Analysis for the Real World, Oxford University Press: Oxford.

61

Koranteng, R.O. and G.A. Larbi (2008) ‘Policy Networks, Politics and Decentralization policies in Ghana’, Public Administration and Development, 28 (3), 212-222.

Kraus, J. (1991) ‘The Struggle of Structural Adjustment in Ghana’, Africa Today: Ghana, the

process of political and economic change, 38 (4), 19-37.

Kyei, P.O. (2000) Decentralisation and Poverty Alleviation in Rural Ghana: Perspectives

from District elites and voices of the rural poor, Durham: University of Durham.

Meng, J.(2004) Ghana’s Development Miracle or Mirage? [online], available: http://www.joycemeng.com/writings/ghana.pdf [accessed 2 Jan 2013].

Modern Ghana (2012) Increase GSFP coverage to two million children by 2012: CHRAJ

urges Government [online], available: http://www.modernghana.com/news/388314/1/increase-gsfp-coverage-to-two-million-children-in-.html%20%20%20%20%20%20http://www.modernghana.com/news/388314/1/increase-gsfp-coverage-to-two-million-children-in-.html [accessed 22 Jan 2013].

Modern Ghana (2010), Volta Region-Executive Summary, available: http://www.modernghana.com/GhanaHome/regions/volta.asp?menu_id=6&sub_menu_id=133&gender [accessed 25 Jan 2013].

Modern Ghana (2011), Social Interventions- Programmes Fail to Reach Targets [online], available: http://www.modernghana.com/news/331028/1/social-interventions-programmes-fail-to-reach-targ.html [accessed 21 Jan 2013].

NPP Manifesto (2004) [online], available: http://api.ning.com/files/ledLmWuntVYbovPFTW0CjsSN7ui-xLJTeiM3BUnUz1p8-5beWS2PXQhwznyTWKFyGeUOSbbj7TInGG1wuxRd5I3TUp6r2nCx/NPPManifesto.pdf [accessed 21 Jan 2013].

Oduro, A.D. (2001) ‘A note on Public Expenditure and Poverty Reduction’, Centre for Policy

Analysis- paper presented on Macro-Economics, Stability, Growth and Poverty Reduction on

Ghana, ISSER and CEPA in collaboration with Cornell University.

Osei, B.(2003) ‘How tied aid affects the cost of aid-funded projects in Ghana’, African

Economic Research Consortium, AERC research paper 137 [online], available: http://www.aercafrica.org/documents/rp137.pdf [accessed 3 Feb 2013].

Owusu, G. (2004) ‘Small towns and decentralised development in Ghana: theory and practice’, Afrika Spectrum, 39 (2), 165-195.

Pressman, J.L and Wildavsky, A. (1984) Implementation: 3rd ed. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Sabatier, P.A (1986) ‘Journal of Public Policy’, Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches to

Implementation Research: A Critical Analysis and Suggested Synthesis, 6 (1), 21.

Sabatier, P.A. (1999) ‘The Need for Better Theories’, in Sabatier, P.A., ed., Theories of the

Policy Process, Colorado: Westview Press, 3-19.

62

Selby, H. (2011) ‘Ghana: Poverty and Food Insecurity work hand in hand’, AllAfrica [online], available: http://allafrica.com/stories/201104210683.html [accessed 08 Feb 2013].

SNV (2009) Connecting People’s Capacities, available: http://www.snvworld.org/sites/www.snvworld.org/files/publications/education_in_ghana_.pdf [accessed 15 Jan 2013].

SIGN (2011) SIGN experiences, a struggle in trust and partnership [online], available: http://www.sign-schoolfeeding.org/_dynamic/downloads/0228%20SIGN%20slotboek_binnenwerk%20DEF.pdf [accessed 25 Jan 2013].

South-South Learning on Social Protection (2009) Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty

[online], available: http://south-south.ipc-undp.org/about-us/item/175-livelihood-empowerment-against-poverty-leap [accessed 21 Jan 2013].

Uduko, O. (2011) ‘School building design for feeding programmes and community outreach: Insights from Ghana and South Africa’ in International Journal of Educational Development, 31, 59-66.

United Nations (2005) ‘Map of the Republic of Ghana’, Department of Peace-keeping

missions-Cartographic section, Map no. 4186 [online], available: http://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/ghana.pdf [accessed 04 Feb 2013].

United Nations Development Programme (2010) ‘The Real Wealth of Nations: pathways to Human development’, Human Development Report 2010, New York: Palgrave Macmillan.

Wereko, T.B and Dordunoo, C. (2010) ‘Effective delivery of Public Services: Focus on Education’, A Review by AfriMAP and the Open Society Initiative for West Africa,

Johannesburg: Open Society Initiative for West Africa.

Whitfield, L. (2005) ‘Trustees of Development from Conditionality to Governance: Poverty Reduction Strategy’, The Journal of Modern African studies, 43 (4), 641-664.

World Bank (2012) Ghana Overview [online], available: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/ghana/overview [accessed 10 Feb 2013].

World Food Programme (2007), Home-grown School Feeding Programme: Ghana [online], available: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/newsroom/wfp204291.pdf [accessed 13 Jan 2013].

World Food Programme (2011) ‘Country Programme Ghana 200247, 2012-2016’ [online], available: http://one.wfp.org/operations/current_operations/project_docs/200247.pdf [accessed 16 Jan 2013].

63

64

APPENDICES