Natural Capital Policy and Economic Development in Ghana: Development Effect of the 1994 Forestry Policy in the Ashanti Region
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Date
November, 2016
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Abstract
This thesis examines the effort to attain economic development in Ghana through natural
capital. It evaluates natural capital policy in the context of global policies in developing
countries. Suggestions from literature indicate that good natural capital policy is capable
of improving the well-being of the poor and should be an area of high priority for natural
resource-rich developing countries. The history of natural capital policy spanning over
one hundred years in Ghana, made it a country of choice for empirical evidence and
consequently the most prominent natural capital policy in the country -forestry policy.
The study, mainly quantitative, used both primary and secondary data. Primary data were
obtained through the administration of questionnaire to household heads, selected through
a two-stage probability sampling procedure, in forest communities in the Ashanti Region.
Secondary data were obtained mainly from the Forestry Commission of Ghana’s annual
reports. The conceptual framework was based on economic criteria for evaluat ing
inclusive wealth creation through forestry policy implemented in Ghana. Three analytica l
techniques were employed, namely: efficiency analysis based on the Policy Analysis
Matrix, cost-effectiveness analysis and equity analysis based on Lorenz curve, and Giniindex
assessments.
The thesis found that for all its life, forestry policy in Ghana had been driven by the
normative forest science paradigm. Forestry policy in the Ashanti Region has met neither
the necessary (efficiency) nor sufficient (equity) conditions for economic development.
Therefore forestry policy has not been a driver of economic development in the Ashanti
Region of Ghana, thereby serving as a drag on national economic development. The
almost absolute silvicultural approach to forestry policy must give way to a more holist ic
approach at all stages of the forestry policy process to provide the needed driving force
for economic development in Ghana.
Description
A Thesis submitted to the Department of Economics of the Faculty of Social Sciences,
Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in fulfillment of the
requirements for award of Doctor of Philosophy degree in Economics,