Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I) 2003-2005.

The Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) is a strategic instrument with a multi-sectorial approach, applicable at the national level. The GPRS represents comprehensive policies, strategies, programmes, and projects to support growth and poverty reduction over a three-year period. The documents aims to create wealth by transforming the nature of the economy to achieve growth, accelerated poverty reduction and the protection of the vulnerable and excluded within a decentralized, democratic environment. This goal will be achieved by: ensuring sound economic management for accelerated growth; increasing production and promoting sustainable livelihoods; direct support for human development and the provision of basic services; providing special programmes in support of the vulnerable and excluded; ensuring good governance and increased capacity of the public sector; and the active involvement of the private sector as the main engine of growth and partner in nation building. The emphasis over the period will be on stabilizing the economy and laying the foundation for a sustainable, accelerated and job creating agro-based industrial growth. The GPRS will also focus on providing the enabling environment that will empower all Ghanaians to participate in wealth creation. It will ensure that all Ghanaians irrespective of their socio-economic status or where they reside have access to basic social services such as health care, quality education, potable drinking water, decent housing and the ability to participate in decisions that affect their own lives.
One of the objectives is to contribute to food security. Strategies for tackling post harvest losses will include warehouses to store grains and legumes; especially in the northern regions will be constructed through community mobilisation to help attain food security.
The document aims to make agriculture more productive and sustainable. Government s objective is to develop the country to become an agro-industrial economy by the year 2010. This will require the development of the rural economy. The actions to be taken include the following: reform land acquisition to ensure easier access and more efficient land ownership and title processes; serve as a catalyst to assist the private sector to increase the production of grains such as rice, maize and tubers in order to achieve food security; encourage the production of cash crops such as cashew; support the private sector to add value to traditional crops such as cocoa.
Growth and poverty reduction are among the main goals of the instrument. Special attention is given to poverty in rural areas.
The GPRS also seeks to enable more inclusive and efficient agricultural systems. The strategy for improving production and generating gainful employment is based on the creation of an enabling environment for improved private sector-led agro-based industrial production propelled by the application of science and technology and the promotion of tourism. This will involve improvement in the capacity of the private sector to adopt an entrepreneurial approach to increase production and generate employment. This includes measures such as: easing access to farming inputs such as fertilizers, insecticides, high yielding seed varieties and irrigation-based farming techniques; development of marketing channels for agricultural produce; encouraging the development of non-traditional exports to expand industrial production and gainful employment; addressing the gender dimensions of production including access to credit. Extension and research services, irrigation facilities, and affordable credit to support the farmer are encouraged.
Concerning the preservation of natural resources and the environment, the long-term objective is to maintain a sound environment and to prevent all forms of environmental degradation. This will be achieved by ensuring that the national policies now in place, such as the requirement that all investment projects are subject to environmental impact assessment and the prohibition on practices, which destroy the environment, are fully implemented. Mining activities, fishing, farming and timber resource exploitation, energy provision and manufacturing industrial production must be subjected to environmental impact assessments and audits.
In addition, the GPRS seeks to increase the resilience of livelihood to disasters. The GPRS will also focus on the development of the capacity of agencies involved in the management of disasters, especially in methods for establishing the nature, form and scale of a disaster and subsequent remedies. Programmes for the vulnerable and excluded will seek to prevent disasters and mitigate their impact on the poor.