Local Economic
Development and Growth Strategy
for Wassa East District Assembly
Poultry Farm, Western Region, Ghana, June 2018 (Photo Credit: WAGES)
Prepared for World University Service of Canada
April 2018
By Dr. Steve Manteaw and Nicholas Adamtey
Contents
List of Tables...............................................................................................................................................iii List of Plates ...............................................................................................................................................iii Acronyms.....................................................................................................................................................iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY...........................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................10
Background and Purpose of the assignment......................................................................10 The Wassa East District Assembly.......................................................................................11
1.2.1 Geographical Features...........................................................................................................11
Purpose of the Assignment....................................................................................................12
1.4 Scope of the Assignment ..............................................................................................................12
2.0
2.1
THE DEVELOPMENT ASPIRATION AND VISION OF WASSA EAST..............................13
Anchoring the LED and Growth Strategy on a shared vision...........................................13
2.1.1 The Alternative Approach to Developing the District Vision.........................................14
2.1.2 The Proposed Vision ..............................................................................................................14 2.1.3 District Development Goals ...............................................................................................15
THE PREVAILING SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONDITIONS........................................................16
3.1 Structure of the Local Economy...................................................................................................16
Demographic characteristics .................................................................................................17
REPORTS OF STUDIES AND ANALYSIS ON THE DISTRICT..........................................17
4.1 Reports Commissioned for the Purpose of LED Planning.......................................................17 4.2 Agriculture and Agri-business Report .........................................................................................18
Local Procurement Assessment ...........................................................................................18
THE NATIONAL POLICY CONTEXT .......................................................................................18
One District, One Factory.......................................................................................................18 Planting for Food and Jobs ....................................................................................................20 Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program (IPEP) .....................................................21 Local Content Regulations in the Mining Sector.................................................................21
THEORETICAL UNDERPINNING OF THE STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK.........................25
5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4
6.0
6.1 The Growth Pole Theory...............................................................................................................25
6.1.1 The Agriculture and Agri-business Growth Pole................................................................26 6.1.2 The Mining Sector Growth Pole............................................................................................26
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THE STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK .............................................................26
Basis for Enhancing Agricultural Performance ...................................................................28
7.1.1 Integrating Rice Production and Enhancing Rice productivity.....................................29 7.1.2 Other Uses of Rice Straw to Expand Rice Value Chain Opportunities ......................31
- 7.2
- Integrating Oil Palm Production to Enhance Performance ...............................................32
7.2.1 The oil palm market ............................................................................................................32
7.2.2 Viable but unexplored opportunities in the palm oil value chain..................................34
7.2.3 Palm kernel cake utilization in poultry..............................................................................34
7.2.4 Oil Palm Sector and the case for Poultry development ................................................35
7.2.5 Palm kernel cake utilization in piggery feed....................................................................35 7.2.6 Use of palm kernel shell for activated carbon.................................................................36
Strategies for Enhancing Agricultural Performance...........................................................37
STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATING MINING INTO THE LOCAL ECONOMY..................37
Other Strategies for Leveraging Opportunities in the mining Sector for Growth...........38
THE ROLE OF INFRASTRUCTURE IN WEDA’S LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
AND GROWTH STRATEGY......................................................................................................39
The Atuabo gas transmission line.........................................................................................39 Roads ........................................................................................................................................40
10.0 INTEGRATING GENDER AND YOUTH IN THE WEDA LED AND GROWTH
STRATEGY...................................................................................................................................40
11.0 INTEGRATING ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS INTO THE LED AND GROWTH
STRATEGY...................................................................................................................................41
12.0 BUILDING STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS FOR THE LED AND GROWTH STRATEGY
13.0 THE IMPORTANCE OF LAND USE PLAN TO THE LED AND GROWTH STRATEGY.43
14.0 IMPLEMENTATION FRAMEWORK.........................................................................................44
15.0 FINANCING THE LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH STRATEGY.49
15.1 The Minerals Development Fund and the Opportunities it Provides...............................49
15.2 Corporate Social Responsibility Contributions....................................................................50 15.3 Other Financing Opportunities...............................................................................................50
16.0 Bibliographical References.........................................................................................................52
ii
List of Tables
Table 1 Mining Industry Expenditure Pattern 2013 - 2016 .......................................................... 22 Table 2 Mining Industry Local Content Procurement List ............................................................ 23 Table 3 Locally Available but Imported Input by Value (2009 – 2013) ........................................ 24 Table 4 Economic uses of rice straw in industrial chain within agricultural and other sectors .. 31 Table 5 Mining industry import expenditure on activate carbon .................................................. 36 Table 6: Strategies for Enhancing Agricultural Performance....................................................... 37 Table 7 Strategies for Promoting Business Growth..................................................................... 38 Table 8 Prioritized Programs and Activities ................................................................................. 44
List of Plates
Plate 1. Wassa East, as situated among other districts of the Western Region ......................... 11 Plate 2. The abundance of rainfall and valleys makes Wassa East an ideal location to grow rice ....................................................................................................................................................... 28 Plate 3. Rice Milling Machine – Will not only create jobs but add value to agricultural produce 31 Plate 4. Palm fruits – a major cash crop in the Wassa District .................................................... 32 Plate 5. The industrial processes for manufacturing activated carbon........................................ 36 Plate 6.. Many youth and women etch a living from artisanal mining, under hazardous conditions ....................................................................................................................................................... 40
iii
Acronyms
- 1D1F
- One-District-One Factory
- BAC
- Business Advisory Centres
BOPP CBO
Benso Oil Palm Plantation Community Based Organisations Centre for International Studies and Cooperation Crude Palm Oil
CECI CPO CSIR CSR
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Corporate Social Responsibility District Assembly Common Fund District Assemblies
DACF DAs
- DDF
- District Development Fund
DMTDPs DPCU DPF
District Medium Term Development Plans District Planning Coordinating Unit Decentralization Policy Framework
- Foreign Direct Investment
- FDI
- FFA
- Free Fatty Acid
- GCB
- Ghana Commercial Bank
GHEITI GSOPP GSS
Ghana Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative Golden Star Oil Palm Plantations Ghana Statistical Service
- IGF
- Internally Generated Fund
IPEP LED
Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program Local Economic Development Local Economic Development Agency Local Economic Development and Growth Strategy Monitoring and Evaluation
LEDA LEDADS M&E MCDS MDF
Mining Community Development Scheme Minerals Development Fund
iv
MSDI NGO
Ministry of Special Development Initiative Non-Governmental Organization
- NPP
- New Patriotic Party
OASL PFJ
Office of the Administrator of Stool Lands Planting for Food and Jobs
- PPP
- Public-Private Partnership
SDGs SMEs SWOT SWOT TOPP WAGES WEDA WEDAR
Sustainable Development Goals Small and Medium Enterprises Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Strength Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Twifo Oil Palm Plantation West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas Wassa East District Assembly Wassa East District Analytical Report
GPHC WUSC
Ghana’s 2010 Population and Housing Census
WUSC World University Service of Canada
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Wassa East is one of Western Region’s youngest but burgeoning districts. In spite of its mineral
and agricultural endowment, Wassa East remains a poor district, unable to finance basic infrastructure, provide jobs and deliver efficient social services to its people. Like many other resource endowed communities, the district has largely been unable to integrate mining into its local economy, leading to the externalization of most of the benefits that mining affords.
This local Economic Development and Growth Strategy document, prepared at the instance of the World University Service of Canada (WUSC), and the Centre for International Studies and Cooperation (CECI) as part of their West Africa Governance and Economic Sustainability in Extractive Areas (WAGES) project, therefore comes as part of a support package to the Wassa
East District Assembly, in furtherance of the project’s objective of helping to unleash the
development potential of mining in host communities.
The strategy paper approaches the issue of Local Economic Development not in a ‘business as usual’ fashion, but as a carefully thought through process that affords citizens the opportunity to
contribute and own the strategy, anchored on a shared vision of local economic diversification and job creation based on the growth pole economic theory.
The processes and activities leading to the development of this strategy paper began with a stakeholder consultation towards the 2017 – 2020 medium-term development planning process, facilitated by the WAGES project. The consultations afforded the consultants the opportunity to harvest ideas, wishes, and aspirations of key stakeholders in Wassa East. The consultations, which involved the Development Planning Units of the Wassa East Assembly, revealed some knowledge gaps in contemporary approaches to Local Economic Development Planning. The consultation was therefore followed by a training of the District Planning Coordinating Committees and One District and One Factory Committee of the Wassa East District Assembly. This training provided further insights into the opportunities and constraints within the local economy. Other activities that served as useful input into the strategy document were studies conducted by the WAGES project into the agriculture and agribusiness sub-sector, the local procurement capacity assessment, and market research reports commissioned.
The document also made extensive use of available socio-economic data on the municipality, including the District Analytical Reports of Ghana’s 2010 Population and Housing Census as well as previous municipal development plans.
The proposed development strategy is positioned to pursue a Vision of: An integrated economy,
mutually reinforced by agriculture and mining, delivering jobs and contributing to poverty reduction in the Wassa East District Assembly (WEDA).
The following specific goals would be pursued under the district development vision:
•••••
Improve employment opportunities in the district, especially for youth and women; Enhance and sustain agricultural incomes through agribusiness and agro-processing; Build backward and forward linkages between agriculture and mining; Enhance the contribution of tourism to local economic development; Enhance district revenue mobilization and Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the district.
Prevailing Socio-economic conditions that have informed the district development strategy
The Wassa East economy is mostly agrarian. According to the Wassa East District Analytical
Report of Ghana’s 2010 Population and Housing Census, most of the people in the district are
engaged in agriculture. The major staple food crops produced in the district include cassava, plantain, maize, cocoyam and vegetables. The agricultural sector and the extensive petty trading that goes on in the district have combined to render the local economy predominantly informal. The few large-scale industries in the district are the Golden Star Limited (Wassa Mine) in Akyempim; the SOCFINAF plantations Limited, which grows rubber and oil palm; and the Ghana Water Company in Daboase, which supplies Daboase and its environs with pipe borne water.
Agro-processing is low and characterized by the use of rudimentary technology. The predominant agro-processing activities are gari and palm oil processing.
Small-scale mining was on the upsurge till government placed a moratorium on it. Because the activities were largely unregulated, the Assembly lost the revenue opportunity that could have been seized upon to finance local economic development.
The location of the district affords it good accessibility to markets. The district capital, Daboase, lies close to the Takoradi-Accra main road, and is less than 30 minutes to the Takoradi harbour. The intra district road network is however deplorable, with only 25km out of the 202km motorable, roads in the district being of bituminous surface. Some settlements in the district are inaccessible during rainy season. The bad roads account for a greater percentage of post-harvest losses, and therefore low agricultural incomes.
Though the district has great potential for ecotourism development, it has no decent hotel facilities to host visitors.
Challenges faced by the local economy
•••
Scarcity of farm lands arising from land use contestation between agriculture and mining; Unregulated small-scale mining poses a great threat to the environment and water bodies; Job creation and agricultural income sustainability constrained by the use of rudimentary technology for agro-processing;
••
Limited opportunities for training and capacity building for youth and women for effective participation in the local economy; Weak collaboration with the biggest mine, Golden Star Resources in local economic development planning, as a result of which the benefits of mining to the local economy has been marginal.
The national policy context and opportunities it affords
Existing government policies and programs that the district could strategically position itself to take advantage of in promoting its local economic development agenda are:
••••
Planting for Food and Jobs; One-District-One-Factory; Infrastructure for Poverty Eradication Program; and Local Content Regulations for the mining sector, requiring the procurement of listed mine inputs from the Ghanaian economy.
