Aid and Agriculture A constructivist approach to a political economy analysis of sustainable agriculture in Ghana Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy (Dr. phil.) at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg im Breisgau Jasmin Marston 2017 Dean: Prof. Dr. Tim Freytag 1st Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Glaser 2nd Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Tim Freytag 2nd Reviewer: Prof. Dr. Michael Pregernig Date of thesis defense:12.06.2018 In memory of: Karl Wendelin Klober and Uwe Josef Kristen (06.11.1928-26.09.2015) (22.03.1960-11.11.2016) Acknowledgements i Acknowledgements This study has been inspired and supported by a wide array of individuals and institutions that my gratitude extends to. The quality of research benefited tremendously from the support given by the members of the Department of Physical Geography and Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg (im Breisgau, Germany). Specifically I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Glaser, Prof. Dr. Tim Freytag, Prof. Dr. Michael Pregernig, as well as the entire Physical Geography team, for the trust and support they have given me at crucial parts of this study. Likewise I am deeply grateful for the support extended through the UrbanFoodPlus project, which is jointly funded by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschafltiche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung (BMZ, Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), Germany, and the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF, Federal Ministry of Education and Research), Germany. In particular I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Axel Drescher, who was the Principle Investigator and a crucial supporter throughout the ups and downs I encountered as a researcher. Furthermore, Dr. Pay Drechsel and Prof. Dr. Andreas Buerkert established and enabled cooperation with local partner organizations such as the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) in Accra, and the University of Development Studies in Tamale. Particular appreciation is extended to the staff and leadership of the IWMI, including Dr. Olufunke Cofie and Dr. Philip Amoah that made the beginning weeks in Accra substantially easier. I am also grateful for the guidance extended by Prof. Dr. Abena Busia during the preparation phase, through the extensive recommendations for reading material on the history of Ghana. Also critical for the preparation of the field visit was Francisco Mari at Brot für die Welt, who put me in contact with staff of the Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit/ German Development Cooperation (GIZ) that led me to the most important supporters within Ghana: Dr. Dirk-Florent Thies and Dr. Ernst Mill. These men in turn connected me to a wide range of supportive staff of various Development Partners as well as within the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. At the Unites States Agency for International Development (USAID) special thanks must be extended to Brian Conklin, Michael Dockrey, Walter Nuñez Rodriguez and Allan Pineda whose expertise, trust and continued support was essential to achieve the depth of analysis in this study. I also want to highlight the importance of Ghanaian staff working within Development Partner that represented an intuitional memory and often another perspective on aid projects in the sector. I am deeply grateful for the support extended by Bloomfield C. Attipoe, Atta-Agyepong and Kofi Biney. Moreover, I sincerely appreciate the generous support with the time and trust of a great number of civil servants of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in particular and the Ministry of Finance (MoF). I wish to particularly thank the former Deputy Minister Dr. Ahmed Yakubu Alhassan, Directors Madam Angela Mercy Dannson and Daniel Ohmeng Boateng, as well as Ohene Damptey of the national office of the MoFA. Their patience, knowledge, honesty and encouragement were ii Acknowledgements invaluable to this research. During my stay in the Northern Region it was Director Boakye Acheampong and his Monitoring and Evaluation Officer Peter Claver Anyeembey that enabled me to contact and interview Regional, Metropolitan and District level staff of the MoFA in the region. At the Ministry of Finance I must thank Directors Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu and Samuel Danquah Arkhurst, as well as Seidu Dawdi Adams, Kwame Gyesaw and Joseph Antwi for their time, insights and sharing of information that was crucial to corroborate the ideational data with material, numerical evidence. Similarly, it was due to the help of Madam Lena Otto at Local Government Services that deeply strengthened my understanding around the key issue of decentralization. Furthermore, I owe a great debt of gratitude to Kofi Menkah for his interest, time and passionate support, particularly by establishing contact and organizing meetings with numerous Members of Parliament. There is a long list of unnamed civil servants within Ghana who I’m deeply indebted to for their relentless patience, hospitality and trust also. I benefitted greatly from discussion with a number of excellent academics at the University of Development Studies (UDS), as well as the University of Ghana in Legon. In particular, I would like to thank Prof. Dean Amin Alhassan, Prof.Saa Dittoh, Prof. Justice Bawole, Dr. Nana Akua Anyidoho, Dr. Annabella Osei-Tutu (Opare-Henaku), as well as Dr. Imogen Bellwood-Howard (Institute of Development Studies) and Siera Vercillo (Western University). The greatest lessons on the reality of farmers, however, were taught to me by Miles Apobona Adongo. Their combined interest, passion and patience were invaluable during the time in Ghana and thereafter. Last, but most importantly the thesis was only finished through the relentless and patient support of friends and colleagues including Jana Seidel, Jennifer Smith, Marites & Glenn Antonio, Christian Winger, Viktoria Klass, Lorenzo Uribe, Lea Mohnen, Tomas Canosa, Monika Dean, Dr. Hanna Karg, Obehi Iziduh, Patrick Ansah, Finola Mohan, and Swantje Oldörp. Finally, much credit and gratitude must extend to Dorit Barlevy and Mathilde Erfurt for their great editorial and organizational support of this thesis. Thank you very much and Medase pa pa pa! Abstract iii Abstract This empirical research sets out to illuminate political, economic and ideational influences on the agricultural sector of Ghana.1 Particular attention is paid to the role of governmental aid agencies, known as Development Partners (DPs), on policy, budget and implementation development decisions. Initially efforts were also made to understand the status and potential of sustainable agriculture2 in Ghana, but downgraded in importance, as little of it exists and definitions differ. The traditional foci of a Political Economy Analysis (PEA), which are chiefly concerned with the distribution of power and wealth within a society or a sector, are expanded through a constructivist approach, which is interested in ideational factors resulting out of the social and historical fabric humans are interwoven in. Ontologically the study then is set on the understanding that our world is socially and historically constructed. This constructivist lens led to the inquiry into influential ideas, i.e. expectations of agricultural sector stakeholders for agricultural development, perceptions on policy and project ownership, as well as their definitions of sustainability among other thing. To elucidate the origins and vicissitudes of the most influential ideas presently important in the sector, the analysis is embedded in a rich historical context. This is in line with a Hegelian approach, which in general values history as important and significant to the understanding of the current state of development. The study follows an applied research question as well as an inter-disciplinary approach, combining theories of development studies, political science, economic history and anthropology, to analyze the agricultural sector and the role of aid within it. Epistemologically it then follows a constitutive rather than causal logic. Using qualitative methods, 260 semi-structured interviews, four focus group discussions and a plethora of participatory observations were collected over an uninterrupted 16-months field research visit in Ghana between September 2015 and December 2016. After an initial exploratory phase the research turned descriptive, aiming at uncovering what we must understand about the agricultural sector in Ghana before we know what to do. Primary data was expanded by budgetary data from 1999-2016, acquired via Parliamentary Hansards and Select Committee Reports.3 While this study aims at uncovering the ideational factors that guide the policy and budget decision, the implementation level was added to provide a holistic and realistic analysis of the agricultural sector. While the structure and functioning of institutions in the sector were well captured, the main finding is the severely dilapidate state of agricultural data systems present in Ghana (and elsewhere on 1 In this study the agricultural sector is focused on the crops and livestock sector under the hospice of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). The Cocoa sector is Ghana largest agricultural commodity and managed separately (through the Cocobod) and could not be included. 2 Sustainable agriculture is defined as any holistic approach, considering the wider natural environment during food production. Examples include organic agriculture, Permaculture or Agroecology. 3 A Hansard is