USAID- Pivot of US development agenda

Page 20: February 19, 2008

Feature: Albert K. Salia

SINCE the establishment of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) office in Ghana in 1957, Ghana has benefited immensely from USAID’s programmes.
For instance, in the first eight years, 1957-1965, of USAID's presence in Ghana, the programme was involved in agriculture, training and infrastructure (including support for the construction of the Akosombo Dam).
In the period 1966-1974, the programme turned to balance of payments support in the form of programme loans for commodity imports. In addition to programme loans, USAID provided cotton and oil under soft loans for the industrial sector. USAID strengthened agricultural extension service, farmer training institutes and the GoG's seed multiplication service. The Mission also had a small family planning and health technical assistance programme.
In 1975, USAID increased the focus on rural sectors and had a major programme of support to increase maize production in the Brong-Ahafo and Ashanti regions. This included support for inputs and construction of feeder roads.
To prove that it was not just there to throw resources at the government and its institutions, the USAID started to raise questions around 1978, about the level of its support to Ghana due to the severe and growing macroeconomic distortions. The exchange rate was enormously overvalued, and interest rates were heavily negative. These distortions, combined with the Rawlings coup in 1981, led to a period of reduced programming. Funding averaged $38 million per annum plus $15 million in food aid commodities.
Fortunately, since the return to democratic rule in Ghana, the USAID sees Ghana with its population of 23 million, as a strong proponent of democracy and a country that possess considerable growth potential, setting it apart from other troubled countries in West Africa. As a result, it has embarked on a number of initiatives to help Ghana realise its development objectives.
Ghana has become a critical U.S. African partner, playing important leadership roles in key regional and global issues, such as peacekeeping, conflict resolution, counterterrorism, anti-trafficking in persons, HIV/AIDS prevention, family planning, infectious disease control, and economic development.
Under President J. A. Kufuor’s leadership, Ghana has worked diligently through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union to ensure that peace has an opportunity to take hold in Liberia, Cote d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and elsewhere. In fact, Ghana is the world’s fourth largest contributor of UN peacekeeping forces and hosts the region’s operational level peacekeeping training facility.
Ghana is increasingly viewed as a gateway for American companies to the sub-region searching for viable West African partners and is the fourth largest non-oil producing purchaser of U.S. exports in sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s free market policy reforms have made the country attractive to U.S. trade and investors. Transparency International (2005 Corruption Perception Index) reports that Ghana is the least corrupt country in West Africa, and sixth least corrupt country in sub-Saharan Africa.
It is in line with these positive trademarks that the current Ghana-USAID strategic objective includes strategic goals that advance the growth of democracy and good governance; strengthen world economic growth, development and stability; and improve health, education, and environment.
Despite the fact that Ghana had made significant advances, daunting challenges remain. Key institutions like Parliament and District Assemblies remain weak and lack the resources or capacity to channel citizen concerns and hold government accountable.
In addition, civil society groups lack advocacy skills and resources to advocate for their needs and interests.
Agriculture employs 60 per cent of the workforce, but a vast majority of farmers are subsistence smallholders. They lack access to improved technologies, market information and linkages to the private sector. Environmental degradation especially in forests, is taking an increase toll on Ghana's ability to sustain livelihoods. Natural resource stocks are degraded the equivalent of 10 per cent of GDP per year and resource depletion is reducing GDP growth potential by an estimated one per cent annually.
Health care delivery at the village/community level is weak. Maternal and infant mortality rates are high. Under five mortality has not changed in the last 10 years. The mortality rate has remained at 111 per 1000 live births. Malaria is the cause for 40 per cent of outpatient visits, as well as 25 per cent of deaths of children under five years or age. The HIV/AIDS prevalence rate among high-risk groups, such as commercial sex workers, is as high as 60 per cent. In the northern regions, most people live on substantially less than $1 a day and have limited access to clean drinking water and sanitation facilities. 
Another critical development challenge is the low quality of education. Out of every 100 Ghanaian school-age children, it is estimated that close to 90 will enter Grade One, but only 67 of these children will complete Grade Six. Of those completing primary schools, only seven will have the reading comprehension level of a child in Grade Six. Thus, access to quality basic education remains a major challenge in Ghana.
Food insecurity is a problem in Ghana, especially in the three northern regions. Low rainfall, poor soils, and low agricultural productivity are key factors to food insecurity in Ghana. These factors are further worsened by the subsistence nature of agriculture as well as low incomes, inadequate education and poor health status of the population. Most households lack stable foods for several months of the year, resulting in high rates of malnutrition.
While interest rates continue to fall, small holder farmers and owners of micro-, small- and medium-enterprises, which make up the vast majority of Ghana’s entrepreneurs, still find it difficult to access credit.
Although Ghana has a long history of political decentralisation, devolution of fiscal and administrative authority is hampered by the central government’s reluctance to relinquish power and by local governments’ inability, and in some instances unwillingness, to plan, budget, implement and monitor programmes in a participatory manner. Communities also lack the advocacy skills needed to effectively articulate their needs and participate in shaping the agenda of local government.
Educational opportunities remain limited, only 78 per cent of children who enroll in the first grade actually complete sixth grade. Access to basic education remains challenging for girls, children with disabilities, and those living in the three northern regions of the country.
It is in response to some of these challenges that the USAID Country Strategic Plan (2004 -2010) was developed in close consultation with the Government of Ghana and development partners.
USAID/Ghana supports the Government of Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy by strengthening decentralised governance systems, promoting private sector competitiveness, improving health care delivery, enhancing access to quality basic education, and increasing food security. Funding levels have averaged around $37 million per year from 2004 to 2007, plus an additional $22.5 million in food aid.
Ghana’s model of democratic governance and private sector-led growth offers a beacon of hope to West Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. Ghana’s last three Presidential and Parliamentary elections (1996, 2000 and 2004) have been free and fair. The peaceful handover of power from one political party to a rival party after the 2000 Presidential election was a clear symbol of Ghana’s democratic maturation. Civil society organisations continue to emerge as dynamic change agents at all levels of society. A free and spirited media is thriving.
The Government of Ghana (GoG) has made significant strides toward advancing the key economic reforms needed to strengthen the economy and invigorate the private sector. As a result, petroleum subsidies are gradually being eliminated, inflation has steadily declined, the number of days to start a business has been reduced and interest rates have fallen. Ghana was the first country to volunteer to undergo the African Peer Review, a good governance initiative under the African Union’s New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
In support of these positive trends, Ghana through the USAID has also been a beneficiary of two major US Presidential initiatives. These initiatives are targeted at specific areas so as to achieve desired effect.The two U.S. Presidential initiatives are fully integrated into USAID/Ghana’s strategy.
One of them is the U.S. Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa (IEHA): USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective will increase the competitiveness, capacity and efficiency of Ghana’s private sector in overseas and regional markets, with special emphasis on non-traditional exports. IEHA funding expands USAID/Ghana’s ability to enhance export competitiveness in the agricultural sector by: (a) helping farmers and exporters understand and adopt international standards for fresh and processed commodities; (b) integrating smallholder farmers into export supply chains; (c) promoting the adoption of biotechnology innovations within the context of sound biosafety regulations; (d) broadening access to finance; and (e) improving the enabling environment for trade and investment.
The second is the U.S. Presidential African Education Initiative (AEI): USAID/Ghana’s Basic Education Strategic Objective will improve the quality of, and increase access to basic education for Ghanaian children. AEI supports an innovative reading programme, helps rural out-of-school children transition to formal school, and provides critical training to teachers.
USAID-Ghana also has other initiatives to address the various challenges facing other sectors.
Management of Extractive Industries: Ghana has one of the world’s largest known reserves of gold. Newmont (U.S.) and Gold Fields (South Africa) together have the rights to mine vast amounts of Ghana’s identified reserves, with the gold produced by Gold Fields alone generating 12 per cent of Ghana’s foreign exchange earning. Unresolved issues involving environmental protection, resettlement, employment, land use and water rights have led to growing discontent within some of the affected mining communities. USAID is on the verge of embarking on an alliance with Newmont and Gold Fields, in coordination with the Ghana Chamber of Mines, which strives to (a) design a stakeholder process for developing best practice principles for all mining industry players to follow in Ghana and (b) work with all stakeholders (communities, local and national government and the mining companies) to improve health service delivery and the quality of education in the affected mining areas. Additionally, USAID/Ghana will target two mining districts and work to improve the District Assembly’s capacity to manage issues and promote sustained economic growth with input from civil society and citizens. With support from EGAT, USAID/WARP and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, USAID/Ghana will strive to build the capacity of the Ghana Environmental Protection Agency to monitor and report on key issues in the targeted GDA mining areas.
Youth: Approximately 30 per cent of Ghana’s population is between the ages of 15 and 25 years. Ghanaian youth have extremely limited opportunities for education, employment, and participation in constructive political and development processes. While Ghana’s youth represent an enormous resource, they are rarely seen as important agents of social and economic transformation. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will enhance youth participation in local governance, reduce youth unemployment, increase access to and use of basic health services (including HIV) and ensure that Ghana’s primary school children (its future youth) have sufficient reading and numeric skills to be productive citizens. Specifically, the USAID/Ghana Economic Growth strategic objective will work on the supply side with the government to create an environment for job creation through private sector growth and the Democracy, Health and Education Strategic Objectives will work on the demand side with youth organisations, schools, communities and governments to promote healthy, productive lifestyles and opportunities for youth engagement in local governance and development.
Urbanisation: Ghana’s towns and cities are growing at a tremendous rate as a result of rural-urban migration, land policies which limit the supply of usable land, and neglect of the three northern regions. In 2001, the urban poor equaled nearly five million. The number of slum dwellers is growing at a rate of 1.8 per cent per annum. To counter this trend, USAID/Ghana’s strategy will create economic opportunities in rural farming communities and secondary towns serving those rural areas, rationalise land tenure policies, extend quality education to under-served rural communities, and improve health services in urban and peri-urban districts in the southern part of the country.
Malaria, HIV/AIDS, and Other Infectious Diseases: Malaria is the leading cause of death in Ghana, especially among children under five and pregnant women. It is a drain on the health care system, accounting for 40 per cent of all outpatient attendance. Malaria is a major contributor to poverty — drug treatment and loss of workdays due to illness place an enormous financial strain on the resources of families, businesses and governments. Similarly, HIV/AIDS has a negative impact on productivity due to the high mortality rate and high drug treatment costs. The incidence of tuberculosis is growing at an alarming rate. In 1918, Ghana lost five per cent of its population to an Avian Influenza-like virus. Due to Ghana’s weak rural and peri-urban disease monitoring, diagnostic and treatment systems, it is feared that migratory birds infected with the Avian Influenza virus will intermingle undetected with Ghana’s rural domestic birds resulting in a catastrophic economic and health crisis. USAID/Ghana’s health programme addresses each of these threats. To combat malaria, USAID supports the GoG’s Roll Back Malaria strategy and social marketing of insecticide treated nets. USAID/Ghana’s HIV/AIDS prevention programme will change risky behaviour in the most-at-risk groups and reduce mother-to-child transmissions.
RISK FACTORS FOR VULNERABILITY
In addition to the inherent risks faced by any new democracy, Ghana's political and economic framework is vulnerable to shocks caused by volatile neighbours, domestic chieftaincy conflicts, corruption, resources (land and water), disputes, and external price shocks. The GoG, USAID, and other donors are working together to minimise these risks. Nevertheless, if realised, these risks have the potential to limit successful implementation of this strategy and reduce the impact of USAID assistance. Through careful monitoring and targeted interventions, USAID will strive to mitigate the following risks to the extent practicable:
Reducing Regional Conflict and Barriers to Trade: Ghana is located between volatile eastern (Togo and Nigeria) and western (Ivory Coast and Liberia) neighbours. Ghana has little capacity to effectively deal with a large inflow of refugees from its neighbours (there are 48,000 refugees currently living in Ghana, according to the UNHCR Statistical Yearbook). Ghana is playing an increasing role in promoting regional political stability. USAID/WARP works to strengthen ECOWAS’ capacity to promote peace and regional integration. More specifically USAID/WARP is working with ECOWAS on a common currency and other initiatives which will reduce formal and informal barriers to regional trade.
Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS: In Ghana, the HIV/AIDS virus currently has little impact on the macro-level economy. However, households in the lowest three wealth quintiles with a person living with HIV/AIDS are likely to fall below the poverty line, making efforts to reduce poverty less effective. While knowledge about HIV/AIDS is nearly universal in Ghana, a significant percentage of the population fails to use prevention methods.
Therefore, the most important challenge will be for Ghana to direct sufficient preventive interventions toward those groups (e.g., education sector) and geographical areas where transmission is highest, in order to reduce the number of new infections. USAID/Ghana’s strategy will identify and target the most-at-risks groups and develop interventions that will reduce risky behaviour. USAID is also working with the GoG to address the challenge of how to finance the clinical response to HIV/AIDS, where the annual cost of anti-retroviral treatment nationwide could equal tens of millions of dollars.
Reducing the Threat of Domestic Conflict: Chieftaincy disputes, extractive industry exploitation issues (both real and perceived), and resource (land and water) clashes are currently the major conflict triggers in Ghana which thwart development efforts. USAID/Ghana supports two alliances that strive to mitigate conflict: Catholic Relief Service’s Northern Ghana Peace-Keeping Initiative and a newly conceived Global Development Alliance with the key stakeholders in the extractive industries (Newmont Mining Company and Gold Fields). Both alliances will create forums for constructive dialogue between key stakeholders to settle issues and disputes before they escalate.
Expanding Export Opportunities: Ghana relies heavily on three primary exports, cocoa, gold and timber, to earn foreign currency. However, these commodities are greatly affected by world price fluctuations. The rising cost of imports such as fuel is also a major vulnerability for Ghana. Remittances of well over $2 billion annually, are Ghana’s fourth largest source of foreign exchange. However, these flows can decrease dramatically with economic downturns in the U.S. and Europe. USAID/Ghana’s Economic Growth Strategic Objective targets the expansion of non-traditional exports, such as mango, pineapple and horticulture products, to mitigate against price fluctuations of Ghana’s primary exports.
CROSS-CUTTING THEMES
A number of cross-cutting themes permeate this strategy. The most notable are gender mainstreaming; combating HIV/AIDS; good governance and decentralisation; inclusion of disenfranchised groups; empowering Ghanaians and private sector partnerships.
Gender: Women's empowerment is the key to Ghana’s development. Yet, women play a minor role in Ghana’s political and economic development. USAID programmes are gender sensitive in order to ensure both women and men are appropriately empowered. Each strategic objective collects relevant performance data, disaggregated by gender, in order to clearly show how both men and women are affected by USAID-supported activities. The Health programme, which historically has tended to focus on women, will include men to be more effective. The Education programme seeks increased enrolment of girls in primary schools, which also has a positive impact on boys’ enrolment. Under the Economic Growth programme, USAID helps women’s business associations and female entrepreneurs to market their products. The Democracy and Governance programme seeks to increase the voice of women by creating opportunities for them to advocate, to take leadership positions in citizen groups and government, and to run in elections.
HIV/AIDS: Each Strategic Objective helps in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The Health programme will lower the prevalence rate by targeting most-at-risk groups and preventing mother-to-child transmissions. The programme will also provide care and support to PLWHAs. The Education programme will reduce risky behaviour in teachers, students, out-of-school youth and parents. The Democracy and Governance programme will work with civil society organisations representing the interests of PLWHAs and assist local governments to effectively apply financial resources to combating the spread of the virus. The Economic Growth programme will encourage private sector employers to implement work place programmes that not only build awareness but also provide treatment to employees. The FFP programme provides food supplements to PLWHA and orphans.
Decentralisation: Centralised administrative and financial decision-making undermines local government’s ability to be fully responsive to the needs of Ghanaian citizens and advance development. Improved governance and the devolution of decision-making to the local level are important elements of USAID/Ghana’s programmes.
Institutional capacity-building is incorporated throughout the portfolio, at the local, district, and national levels. The Democracy and Governance programme works closely with District Assemblies to build their capacity to promote transparency, encourage public participation and respond to citizen demands. The Education programme assists PTAs and community-level school management committees to make teachers and administrators more accountable and provides grants to the District Assemblies to enhance oversight of basic education. The Health programme supports the GoG’s Community-based Health Planning and Service programme which will increase community involvement in health care. The Economic Growth programme works on national policies that encourage fiscal decentralisation.
Food Security: The Northern Region of Ghana is classified as savannah land with less than 1000mm of rainfall per year and long periodic droughts, similar to its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Niger. Poverty levels in the three northern regions of Upper East, Upper West and Northern, as well as north eastern Brong-Ahafo Region range from between 69 and 88 per cent making these regions the poorest and most vulnerable in the country. In these regions 47 per cent of the children are stunted; 44 per cent are underweight; and 11 per cent are wasted. USAID/Washington’s Food for Peace (FFP) Title II Programme, which is fully integrated into this strategy, addresses Ghana’s food security issues by increasing agricultural production and income for poor farmers (Economic Growth/ U.S Presidential Initiative to End Hunger in Africa [IEHA]); increasing access of communities to safe water and improved sanitation facilities (Health); improving health and nutrition of children under-five years old (Health); improving access to food for the highly vulnerable (Health); and improving quality of primary education in the northern regions, and increasing educational
opportunities for Ghanaian children, especially girls (Education). The completion dates for the current FFP multi-year assistance programmes range from September 2006 to September 2010. FFP funding, which is currently at $20 million per annum, is expected to drastically decline over the next five years. To avoid undermining this strategy and IEHA, USAID/Ghana will negotiate with USAID/FFP for a rational phase out of the FFP programme by 2010.
Disenfranchised and Vulnerable Groups: To the maximum extent practicable, this strategy will prioritise the inclusion of disenfranchised groups in all USAID/Ghana programmes. However, special programmes will be developed to support Muslim communities, particularly youth organisations, children with learning disabilities, the physically-challenged, especially during key elections, and children orphaned due to AIDS. For example, the Mission is undertaking, in collaboration with the Ghana Ministry of Education and Sports (MOES), an assessment of Islamic education in Ghana to help the MOES expand access to, and improve the quality of, educational services provided to Ghana’s Muslim population.
Empowering Ghanaians: USAID/Ghana’s strategy is focused on empowering individuals, communities, local and national government institutions and non-governmental organizations to attain Ghana’s development objectives.
The Democracy and Governance programme uses local expertise and Ghana’s national service volunteers to build capacity in civil society organisations and local governments. Prominent Ghanaian think tanks and non-governmental organisations are employed to strengthen Parliament. The Health programme empowers individuals by providing them with sufficient information to make informed health decisions. The Economic Growth programme builds private sector capacity and the Education programme will use the Ministry of Education’s own systems to improve reading and numeric results. USAID plans to increase host country contracting in its health and education programmes to strengthen country systems and ensure sustainability. To build local capacity, all USAID/Ghana solicitations require bidders to maximise Ghanaian expertise and the winning awards reflect this policy. Within the walls of USAID, local employees assume ever-increasing levels of responsibility as American staff are replaced by Ghanaians. Ghanaians now represent over 95 per cent of the total USAID and implementing partner population.
Public-Private Partnerships: USAID/Ghana has several public-private partnerships underway and more are in the design phase. Establishment of strategic partnerships between Ghanaian businesses and buyers in the U.S., European Union and other countries is a core component of the Economic Growth Strategic Objective. One successful alliance was recently established when the Economic Growth programme helped a Ghanaian fruit juice exporter implement technical and business production innovations and facilitated discussions with the Coca Cola Company, which resulted in a partnership to launch a new drink in the Nigerian market. USAID is also partnering with the University of Ghana and Harvard University to produce nine PhD economists to strengthen Ghana’s capacity for policy analysis and advocacy. In the Health Strategic Objective, a public-private alliance with Netmark, a Ghanaian firm, under the “Roll Back Malaria” initiative, aims to attract corporate sponsors to promote a voucher scheme for Insecticide Treated Nets (ITNs). USAID has also funded an alliance under the Democracy and Government Strategic Objective with a religious based organisation, Catholic Relief Services, to support conflict mitigation efforts in the northern regions. USAID/Ghana is also in the process of establishing a public-private alliance with major stakeholders in the mining industry to develop a best practice strategy for the entire industry.