A Case Study of Community Participation in Development Intervention Programmes in Northern Ghana
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE INFLUENCE OF THE POOR IN PRO-POOR ACTIVITIES: A CASE STUDY OF COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION IN DEVELOPMENT INTERVENTION PROGRAMMES IN NORTHERN GHANA by MICHAEL WOMBEOGO submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF LITERATURE AND PHILOSOPHY in the subject DEVELOPMENT STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA SUPERVISOR: PROF L CORNWELL JUNE 2014 DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my parents and my family for their love, inspiration and support. I STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP I, Michael Wombeogo hereby declare that this thesis entitled “The participation of the poor in pro-poor activities: A case study of community participation in development intervention programmes in northern Ghana”, I am the original author and that all sources of references that I used or quoted have been indicated and duly acknowledged by means of complete references. 25th June 2014 SIGNATURE DATE (M WOMBEOGO) II ABBREVIATIONS ABCD – Asset-based community development ACDEP – Association of Church Development Project AFRC – Armed Forces Revolutionary Council BMZ – German Ministry for Development CHPS – Community health-based programme and services CDD – Centre for Democratic Development CDD – Community-driven development CIA – Criminal Investigation Association CO2 – Carbon dioxide CRS – Catholic Relief Services DA – District Assembly DACF – District Assembly Common Fund DASF – Development Alternatives Services Foundation DRA – Demand responsive approach EFA – Education for all ERPs – Economic recovery programmes ESP – Education strategic programme FASDEP – Food and Agriculture Sector Development Programme FAWE – Forum for African Women Educationalists FCUBE – Free compulsory universal basic education GDI – Gross domestic index GDP – Gross domestic product GER – Gross enrolment rate GES – Ghana education service GHS – Ghana Health Service GLSS 5 – Ghana living and statistical service 5 GNI – Gross National Income GoG – Government of Ghana GPRS 1 – Ghana Poverty reduction strategy 1 GPRS 11 – Ghana poverty reduction strategy 2 GSS – Ghana Statistical Service HDI – Human development index III HIPC – Highly indebted poor countries HIV/AIDS – Human immune virus / Acquired immune-deficiency syndrome IDA – integrated development approach IFAD – International Food and Agricultural Development IMF – International Monetary Fund IRD – Integrated rural development ISSER – Integrated scientific, social and educational research JHS – Junior High School JSS – Junior Secondary School LEAP – Livelihood empowerment and agricultural programme MCA – Millennium challenge authority MCC – Millennium challenge centre MDA – Millennium development authority MDBS – Multi-donor budget support MDG 1 – Millennium development goal 1 MDGs – Millennium development goals MOEYS – Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports MOFA – Ministry of Food and Agriculture NDC – National Democratic Congress NGO – Non-governmental organisation NGOs – Non-governmental organisations NHIS – National Health Insurance Scheme NIRP – National Institutional Renewal Programme NNED – Northern Network for Education Development NPP – New Patriotic Party NR – Northern region NRC – National Revolutionary Council NYeP – National Youth Employment Programme ODI – Overseas Development Initiative OECD – Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OVC – Organisation of Voluntary Cooperation Oxfam GB – Oxfam Great Britain PAR – Poverty action research PLA – Participatory Learning in Action IV PLHIV – People living with HIV PM&E – Participatory monitoring and evaluation PNDC – Provisional National Defence Council PPA – Participatory poverty assessment PPP – Public purchasing power PRSP – Poverty reduction strategy paper PRA – Participatory rural appraisal REFLECT – Regenerated Freierian Literacy through Empowering Community Techniques RRA – Rapid rural appraisal SADA – Savannah Accelerated Development Authority SAPs – Structural Adjustment Programmes SEND – Social Education for National Development SNV – Netherlands Development Cooperation SPSS – Statistical package for social sciences UER – Upper East region UNCTAD – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development UNDP – United Nations Development Programme UNESCO – United Nations Education and Scientific Organisation UNICEF – United Nations Children’s Fund USAID – United States Agency for International Development USD – United States Dollar UWR – Upper West region VALCO – Volta Aluminium Company VAT – Value added tax WFP – World Food Programme V ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to acknowledge the support of my promoter, Professor Linda Cornwell, the Director, School of Social Sciences, University of South Africa for her motherly and professional advice and supervision of this piece of work. In addition, I am sincerely grateful to CODESRIA for supporting me with bursary for the thesis writing. I am grateful to the chiefs and people of Namoaligo, Jawani, Nalerigu, Jirapa, Nandom, Kotintabig, Chiana and Mankarigu for the tremendous support and permission to use their communities for the research. I appreciate the staff of the agencies and organisations that supported me with information during my data gathering. I am grateful to Dr. Joseph Ayembila for proof reading and providing final editing to the thesis within a very short time. Besides, I am sincerely grateful to all authors of books, articles and journals, both published and unpublished from which I made references to support this thesis. Finally, this work has been made possible because of the huge support I got from my family and peers. I am grateful for their kindness. VI ABSTRACT The aim is to explore how community participation can situate beneficiaries to discover and commit to what they need for the future in northern Ghana. The methodology used was observational, descriptive, qualitative and quantitative, cross-sectional and longitudinal survey. A convenient sampling method was used for the community and district selection process. Respondents were randomly selected to ensure equal opportunity for all those available at the time of the interview. Eight communities were used from the three regions of northern Ghana in which community-based pro-poor interventions by interventionists have either completed or are still in process. The participatory, reflective and participatory rural appraisal, techniques were used in the data gathering. The results show that 57% males and 43% females participated in the study. The study shows that 95.2% respondents from Northern region, 93.3%, from Upper West region and 88.7% from Upper East region participated more in NGO than government led activities. There were five main findings of the research. First, 61% of respondents give high priority to farm credit, boreholes/wells and dams. Respondents claim to gain maximum benefit from these interventions more. Second, 92.4% of respondents from the eight communities participate more in activities organised by NGOs for personal gain and motivation. Third, 53% of all target respondents participated actively at the implementation stage of the participation process. Fourth, there is low investment in the area of school, road and dam projects in the study communities. Only two of the eight communities benefited from a school or road project, and three out of eight communities benefited from dam projects. Fifth, 57% males against 43% females participate in pro-poor intervention activities in the eight communities. As a contribution to knowledge, the thesis shows community members in northern Ghana participate in activities when there is immediate motivation (either in cash or kind) or when projects border more on their main occupational areas. The thesis recommends that Government facilitates community members to demand the right to take active part in the participatory process in all pro-poor interventions in their communities. Key words: participation, pro-poor, community, intervention, programmes, development VII TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ............................................................................................................................................. I STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP ........................................................................................ II ABBREVIATIONS ...................................................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................................ VI ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................. VII LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................................................. XIII LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................................... XIV CHAPTER ONE ..........................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND ................................................................................................1 1.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 1.2 The research problem .......................................................................................................................