The Contribution of Donor Support Programs to Decentralized Development: Learning from the District Level in Ghana

Donor aid has over the years turned out to be a very decisive development component for most developing nations, but aid is often criticized for ineffectiveness. This article seeks to share perspectives on the relevance of direct project or program support and the need to refrain from homogeneity in aid research by assessing the contribution of the Government of Ghana/European Union (GoG/EU) Micro-Projects Programme in the Nadowli District of Ghana from 1997–2009. The findings acknowledge positive impacts of the program in the district. There are sector consistencies between the donor interest and local development priorities in health, education and the water and sanitation sectors. However, selectivity of project within and among sectors brings potential conflicts of interest and tradeoffs between the program and local community needs. The results imply a reexamination of decentralized development through a lens of new partnership between donors’ interest and local needs. Stepping up community awareness to ensure full participation in project design, execution, operation, and maintenance could serve as a start-up platform for new partnerships. It is imperative to align donor interest with local realities, which prompts a rethinking of adoption of new project approaches such as co-development, design, and implementation.     

Does the policy cycle reflect the policymaking approach in Ghana?

Based on two cases involving 60 interviews and secondary evidence, this paper investigated whether Ghana's policymaking approach accorded with the policy cycle. The evidence showed that the Ghana industrial policy was largely compliant with the model. But the free senior high school policy bore little resemblance to it. Factors that determined whether or not policymaking followed the policy cycle included the salience of the issue, the sponsor of the issue, the political environment at the time, and the timing of the introduction of the issue. Four conclusions can be drawn from the Ghanaian evidence. First, the rough edges of the policy cycle can be trimmed and applied as a best fit model rather than a best practice model in any jurisdiction. Second, the policy cycle like other policy process theories should not be written off as inappropriate or inefficacious simply because practice failed to adhere to one or two out of the several elements of the theory. Third, an integrated policy process model is likely to be more efficacious than a single one, but there is inattention to such an idea. Finally, drawing lessons from policy process theories is a neglected area, which needs to be emphasized.     

The Philosophy of the Revolution: Thoughts on Modernizing Islamic Schools in Ghana

This article examines the historical distaste for secular education within the Muslim communities of Ghana and the growing enthusiasm of Ghana’s Ministry of Education in transforming Qur’anic schools to integrate secular subjects. The popularity of the Qur’anic schools has remained as places—either under trees, at courtyards, or at street corners—where pupils simply recited the Qur’an, relevant only because it is fundamentally religious. The article argues that the contemporary philosophical foundations of Islamic education ought to be based upon the provision of Islamic learning that ensures not only taqwa or the fear of Allah but also renders students’ faith unshakeable for the modernization efforts of incorporating technical and scientific learning at the Qur’anic schools to become acceptable. The article concludes that the recent structural and pedagogical changes taking place at the Makaranta or recitation schools go beyond philosophical reconciliations to harnessing the combined benefits of Islamic and secular education for the good of the nation.     

Speaking from the periphery

Many households and businesses in developing countries are said to face credit constraints which limit their ability to undertake investments in various production-enhancing economic activities required to reduce poverty. This limited access to formal credit is often attributed to the lack of ‘acceptable’ collateral, resulting from the absence of formally registered land titles. Despite the fact that this assertion is fast gaining ground, land registration has not been found empirically to positively influence access to credit. This article seeks to critically examine the above argument and provide credible theoretical explanations as to why previous studies in the developing world have failed to establish any significant positive link between land registration and access to credit. It is argued that formalising property titles alone will not be enough solve the problem of limited access to credit in the developing world.     

Food Aid and Malnutrition in Developing Countries: Evidence from Global Food Aid Allocation

This study investigates the allocation of dietary energy, iron, vitamin A and zinc within global food aid. The response of US and non-US donors to nutritional needs and donor interests is estimated with a dynamic correlated random effects Tobit model. Aid flows of the period 1993–2007 are analysed. The empirical results show that nutrient shipments in emergency food aid have been allocated towards poorer countries, but also face inertia and media bias. Project food aid from the US is found to be targeted towards politically stable and rural regions, while non-US project aid focuses on populations with high nutritional requirements.     

Assessment of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty programme in Karaga district,Ghana

This article assesses the contribution of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme in reducing rural poverty in the Karaga district of Northern Ghana, using a mixed research design to compare the livelihoods of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. It concludes that the programme is contributing to poverty reduction among the poor and vulnerable, and recommends that school children benefiting from LEAP should be exempted from paying extra expenses such as examination and PTA fees. There should also be a system to provide subsidies for agriculture inputs to enable beneficiaries to engage in agriculture to promote longer term poverty alleviation.     

A Micro-Level Study of the Relationship Between Experienced Corruption and Subjective Wellbeing in Africa

The economic consequences of corruption have been widely studied. A growing number of studies exists on the relationship between corruption and subjective wellbeing. However, very few studies have examined how individual experiences of corruption are correlated with subjective wellbeing. In this paper, we explore whether, and to what extent, paying a bribe, giving a gift, or doing a favour for a government official to obtain a document or service influences wellbeing. In addition, we test whether being at the receiving end of corrupt practices affects the individual’s wellbeing. We find that experienced corruption undermines individual wellbeing for both bribe victims and recipients.