Ghana Shared Growth and Development Agenda (GSGDA), 2010-2013

This Shared Growth and Development Agenda, 2010-2013 represents the Medium-Term National Development Policy Framework for Ghana. The ultimate aim of the Policy is the “establishment of a just and free society where every Ghanaian would have the opportunity to live long, productive, and meaningful lives”, as anchored in the Constitution of 1992. Government responds to this constitutional injunction within the context of its “Better Ghana Agenda” with, inter alia, the following social and economic goals: 1) Putting food on people’s tables; 2) Providing citizens with secure and sustainable jobs; 3) Rehabilitating and expanding infrastructural facilities; 4) Expanding access to potable water and sanitation, health, housing and education; 5) Guaranteeing the security of persons and their property; 6) Embarking on an affirmative action to rectify errors of the past, particularly as they relate to discrimination against women; 7) Reducing geographical disparities in the distribution of national resources; 8) Ensuring environmental sustainability in the use of natural resources through science, technology and innovation; 9) Pursuing an employment-led economic growth strategy that will appropriately link agriculture to industry, particularly manufacturing; 10) Creating a new social order of social justice and equity, premised on the inclusion of all; 11) Maximizing transparency and accountability in the use of public funds and other national resources.In particular, programmes, policies and projects will be prioritized in the following areas: 1) Agriculture; 2) Infrastructure (including energy, oil and gas); 3) Water and sanitation; 4) Health; 5) Education (including science, technology and innovation).
Chapter 4 deals with agriculture with a view to modernisation and sustainability. Currently, the agricultural sector is characterised by low productivity, but – given its key role – it shall drive the present Development Agenda. With a view to accelerated modernisation the following aspects are treated: 1) Improved agricultural productivity; 2) Increased agricultural competitiveness and enhanced integration into domestic and international markets; 4) Reduced production and distribution risks/bottlenecks in agriculture and industry; 5) Selected crops development for food security, export and support to industry; 6) Livestock and poultry development; 7) Promotion of fisheries development; 8) Improved institutional coordination for agricultural development. The second Part of this Chapter deals with sustainable natural resource management. The key objectives of the sector for the future are as follows: 1) Improved cross-sectoral environmental management, including the consideration of global issues such as climate change and loss of biodiversity; 2) Strategic environmental assessment (SEA) applied to inform decision-making and mainstream environment into all sectors of the economy, especially as regards the cost of environmental degradation; 3) Improved environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) processes and compliance; 4) Decentralized environmental management, including the enforcement of laws on waste, illegal mining and chain-saw logging at the local level; 5) Improved environmental monitoring and reporting; and 6) Strengthened functional partnership and participation in environmental management with civil society, development partners, industry, and research bodies. Section 3 deals with “Investing in the Natural Capital for Development” considering the a variety of aspects, such as: 1) Climate variability and change; 2) Protected areas; 3) Biodiversity; 4) Land degradation and Land Use; 5) Marine and coastal ecosystems; 6) Mineral extraction (including oil and gas; 7) Wetlands and water Resources; 8) Waste, pollution and noise; 9) Community participation; 10) Natural disasters, risks and vulnerability.
Chapter X concerns monitoring and evaluation processes and given its varied expectations, an efficient system is required to respond to these needs. Hence, it is proposed to improve these mechanisms within the framework of the present Agenda. Chapter VIII lays down provisions dealing with transparency and good governance. At the outset the following self-explanatory statement is made: “The broad goal of transparent and accountable governance is to empower state and non-state bodies to participate in the national development process and to collaborate effectively to achieve the national development goals and objectives”. The Chapter outlines in great detail the functions of the various institutional bodies.
This Agenda deals also in Chapter V with issues pertaining to oil and gas development and the energy sector in general (Chapter VI). In particular, it is underlined that oil and gas must be seen in terms of linkages with other sectors of the economy, generating resources that can be used for a rapid development of national infrastructure, for increasing agricultural productivity, for enabling a paradigm shift in the structure of the economy toward increased industrial value-added production, accelerating job creation and facilitating the building of national capacity to harness advanced technologies. Concomitantly, there will be a constant focus on protecting the environment to ensure sustainable development. The central part of Chapter VI discusses energy issues. The Energy sector will seek to ensure secure and reliable supply of high quality energy products and services for all sectors of the economy as Ghana regains her position as a regional exporter of power and becomes a net exporter of oil. The following topics are considered: 1) Energy Supply to Support Industries and Households; 2) Electricity and Thermal Energy ; 3) Renewable Energy; 4) Waste-to Energy; 5) Nuclear and Geo-thermal Energy; 6) Energy Efficiency and Conservation; 7) Transportation of Energy Products; 8) Energy and Environment; 9) Energy and Gender; 10) Regulatory Environment; 11) Mobilization of Investment for Energy Sector Development; 12) Building Human Resource Capacity.
The text consists of 9 Chapters as follows: Introduction (I); Ensuring and Sustaining Macro-economic Stability (II); Enhancing Competitiveness in Ghana’s Private Sector (III); Accelerated Agricultural Modernisation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management (IV); Oil and Gas Development (V); Infrastructure, Energy and Human Settlements (VI); Human Development, Productivity and Employment (VII); Transparent and Accountable Governance (VIII); Enabling Environment for Effective Plan Preparation and Implementation (IX); Monitoring and Evaluation (X). One Annex is enclosed.