Plant Pool: A case study for analysing wellbeing through sustainable urban agriculture

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University College London – Development Planning UnitField Trip 2011 to Accra: Plant Pool Group

London, 10th June 2011

A CASE STUDY

FOR ANALYZING

WELLBEING THROUGH

SUSTAINABLE URBAN

AGRICULTURE



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If Accra is ever to place its urban development on a sustainable path, it

needs to encourage the active recognition and participation of its vibrant

citizenry. Currently, planning processes across scales have failed to lead to

the implementation of meaningful, sustainable urban planning policies that

can help Accra‟s citizens advance their wellbeing and aspirations and liftthemselves out of poverty. This is evident in our analysis of the impacts of

planning processes on the lives of 36 urban farmers working at the Plant

Pool site in Accra.

Taking the promotion of sustainable urban agriculture as the basis of our

analytical framework, our research revealed that planning processes across

different scales of governance can provide opportunities and constraints to

the advancement of citizens‟ wellbeing and aspirations. At the macro level,

we have identified the discourse of economic liberalization, ingrained in the

country‟s structural adjustment programs, as a source of significant

constraints. On the other hand, we found that Ghana‟s decentralizationpolicy has recognized the need to

devolve power to the local level and

provides opportunities for civil society

to have a recognised role in

improving the effectiveness of policy

formulation and implementation.

Overall we found that the economic

liberalization discourse‟s influence on

planning processes has constrained

Plant Pool farmers‟ efforts to advance

their collective wellbeing and

aspirations in three key areas:

1. Use of privately provided inputs such as hybrid seeds, fertilizers,

pesticides and herbicides, to increase short-term crop yield has

caused environmental degradation and locked farmers in a „cycle of

dependency‟ of unsustainable inputs and practices.

2. Entrepreneurial training from external organizations has inhibited

internal dynamics such as solidarity, reciprocity and co-operation

within Plant Pool farmers‟ association. This reduces farmers‟ ability

to self-organize and gain a greater voice to influence planning

processes affecting their capabilities.3. Rapid urbanisation of Accra has placed increasing pressure and

value on land. For Plant Pool farmers this translates into insecure

land tenure, which has been exacerbated by land grabbing, pitting

the farmers against poor shopkeepers.

These findings, combined with the opportunities for civil society recognition

encompassed in the decentralisation policy, provided the basis for four

strategies to address such constraints. Two relate to structural problems

concerning weak levels of collaboration and reciprocity within the farmer

associations:

EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY

Planning processes across differentscales of governance can provideopportunities and constraints to theadvancement of citizens’ wellbeing andaspirations



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1. Farming by the book – Plant Pool farmers formulate a constitution

for their association;

2. Act together, grow together – Increase overall unity by bolstering

social interactions at FA meetings.

Two address f urther issues of the „cycle of dependency‟ and land

encroachment:

3. Nothing goes to waste - Farmers work in partnership with a third-

party scheme to produce compost at an agreed site;

4. Protecting Plant Pool – By monitoring encroachments, farmers can

take a step towards gaining

recognition through co-

productive practices with local

level institutions.

These strategies lay the foundations

for farmers to advance their wellbeing

and aspirations, and may also provide

inspiration for wider mobilization

efforts of the urban poor. These

efforts could help advance wellbeing

and reduce poverty on a broader,

sustainable basis for Accra‟s citizens,

and promote a greater awareness

especially within government that

citizens, and the myriad of cultures,

knowledge, experiences, traditionsand aspirations they represent, have a

role to play in placing Accra‟s

development on a truly sustainable

path.

EXECUTIVE

SUMMARY



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Report

Executive Summary 2 Table of Contents 4 Research Objectives 5 Background 6 Methodology and Limitations 8

Framework and Hypotheses 9Key Findings 14 Strategies 22 Conclusion 28 Further research 29Acknowledgements 30

Appendices

1: List of Abbreviations 31 2: Research Methodology 32

3: Stakeholder Map and Analysis 34 4: Objectives of Focus Groups 44 5: Field Trip Schedule 46 6: Agricultural Value Chain 497: Criteria for SUA 50 8: Collective Action and Coproduction 519: Strategy Implementation 5210: Policy Analysis 54

List of References

TABLE OF CONTENTS



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This project is aimed at building upon the research on sustainable urban

agriculture in Accra conducted by DPU students during 2009/2010 academic years.

By focusing on planning, land and value chain, our study is aimed at:

Highlighting how urban planning has created conditions that mayimpair people‟s wellbeing;

Exploring how urban agriculture can be a vehicle for analyzing these

conditions, specifically in the case of the Plant Pool site;

Develop potential strategic interventions in order to create more

favourable circumstances for the promotion of SUA in the Greater

Accra Region.

RESEARCH

OBJECTIVES



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Since 1983, Ghana has been on the receiving end of a number of loans

linked to Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) from the IMF and World

Bank 1. These SAPs were accepted on the premise of rebuilding Ghana‟s

image after years of high national debt, low foreign reserves and a sharply

falling GDP under the government of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana‟s foundingleader2.

Ghana has received six Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSCs) from the

World Bank over the last ten years at an average of around US$100 million

per year3. PRSCs are delivered to low-income countries by the World Bank

in order for them to carry out poverty reduction strategies. Currently, the

government is working to achieve goals set by the World Bank in order to

mobilize another PRSC.

Annual growth of Ghana‟s GDP is

averaging over 5% at present4, in line

with the government‟s aim to achieveMiddle Income Country status, which

is a means to increase confidence in

the country, allowing access to more

international funds. As planned, the

status of Middle Income Country was

attained in November 20105.

In terms of income inequality, Ghana‟s Gini Coefficient stands at 39.4, which

places it 65th in the Central Intelligence Agency‟s index of countries by

income equality6.

Ghana has recently discovered offshore oil, which has boosted GDP growth

predictions for 2011/2012 to over 10%: accelerated growth is an essential

element of Ghana‟s Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS) set out by the World

Bank and the Ghanaian Government in 20037.

Accra is the country‟s capital city and

its most urbanized centre: the

majority of manufacturing and

commercial activities, culture, political

and administrative functions are

based in the city, attracting migrants

from other regions of Ghana and

neighbouring countries.8

Although agricultural production is not

the main economic sector of Accra,

urban farming is an important

livelihood strategy, involving around

1,000 growers, and it is typically

practiced along water bodies and

drains, and in backyards9.

Located in northern Accra

Although agricultural production is notthe main economic sector of Accra,urban farming is an important livelihoodstrategy, involving around 1,000 growers

BACKGROUND

Figure 1. Map of Plant Pool



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Metropolitan Area (AMA), Plant Pool is an open farming site occupying

institutional land owned by GRIDCO, underneath high-tension power lines.

The site is composed of four areas (see Figure 1) where 36 male farmers

cultivate mainly exotic vegetables. These crops are irrigated with piped

water, with limited use of drainage water to cope with shortages. Farmers

also use a mixture of artificial fertilizers and manure to increase yields;

Produce is used both for farmers‟ household consumption and

commercialization, usually in local open markets.

BACKGROUND



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The following section describes how our research was carried out, the tools

used, and outlines some of the most relevant limitations of our research.

Methodology

The details of our research methodology are presented in Appendix 2.

Limitations

The main limitation of our research was the small sample size of farmers at

Plant Pool. There were only approximately 30 farmers on site, which limited

our ability to generate fully representative research on understanding the

micro- and macro-conditions impacting UA, poverty and well-being of

farmers. We are also aware that our research might be biased towards the

experience and perceptions of particular farmers: for instance our in-depth

interviews on internal group dynamics were held with four younger

Christians and two older Muslims.

Another limitation was the short time we spent in the field. It was difficult to

gather information from farmers and institutions, and understand the

complex relationships between different actors at the macro-level, in just

two weeks. Furthermore, the four specific site visits exposed us to barely

over half the farmers. Those farmers in a representative position in the FA

also refused to participate in the research. This hindered our efforts to

analyze misunderstandings and leadership problems in the association.

Regarding participatory exercises, the

language barrier was a limitation. Some

older farmers were not fluent in English,

which limited our interactions in

interviews and focus group discussions.

The facilitator often helped in translation,

but the dialogue and dynamic of group

work may have been impoverished.

Some younger, better-spoken farmers

may have dominated the discussions,meaning that the views of other farmers

may be under-represented.

METHODOLOGY

ANDLIMITATIONS



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FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES



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Our research examines urban agricultural practices in the Plant Pool site as a

case study to analyze how urban planning has shaped conditions that

influence farmers‟ capabilities to pursue their aspirations and advance

wellbeing.

Defining wellbeing and poverty

Our research draws on a three-dimensional model of wellbeing.10 Wellbeing

is defined as a social process that determines quality of life, which as a

subjective term can be interpreted differently depending on person and

context. It moves beyond objective measures of welfare such as health,

income and nutrition, and emphasizes:

“ [The] multiplicity and integrity of people‟s lives, forged in a

complex mix of priorities, strategies, influences, activities, and ther efore outcomes” .

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Figure 2 illustrates interdependence of

the three dimensions. The subjective

dimension at the apex of the triangle

shows how people‟s self -perceptions,

values and ideologies influence material

and relational dimensions.

To understand the collective wellbeing of

Plant Pool farmers according to their own

values, we tried to identify their differentaspirations as individuals and as a group

(see appendix 4).

In the material dimension, farmers expressed aspirations such as expanding

their farms and owning a house. In the relational dimension, they

mentioned wishes of having a family and providing a good education for

their children. In the subjective dimension, we identified the centrality of the

value of respect, which was expressed as the importance of honouring

older, wiser farmers, and also reflected in the way farmers perceived social

relations. This provided a rationale for why most of them aspired to continue

farming, as they felt that it was a respectable occupation.Having identified farmers‟ relevant aspirations and some values behind

them, it is necessary to examine the extent to which the farmers can pursue

those aspirations: in other words, understand the elements that affect the

process of wellbeing.

Thus, it is important to recognize:

“that people differ in their capacity to convert goods into

valuable achievements due to personal and locational factors

and social arrangements.” 12

FRAMEWORK

ANDHYPOTHESES

Figure 2. Dimensions of wellbeing





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agriculture farmers, is often limited in planning processes. However, the

degree to which SUA can be fulfilled depends much on the impacts of

planning processes and the extent to which they support urban agriculture

across all its components.

The extent to which planning processes influence the five aspects of SUA

(political, economic, social, environmental and built environment) can be

evaluated using criteria for each dimension, examples of which are

illustrated in Figure 3 (see Appendix 7 for more details).18

Hypothesis 1

From pre-field study research we found

that the government has a strategy to

reform Accra‟s urban planning

processes.19 However, efforts to usher in

reforms to the planning framework have

either been weakly implemented or have

only produced piecemeal change.

Decentralization of urban planning

responsibilities has, in particular, been

perceived as very weak, with many sub-

metropolitan administrative units still not

fully established or operational.20

Concerning UA in Accra, and at PlantPool in particular, although MoFA is providing local level support, there is

widespread opinion among institutional stakeholders that UA is not

sustainable within AMA. 21 In particular, it has been suggested that land

would not be made available for farming purposes within AMA. These

factors have shaped our first hypothesis to be tested in the field:

FRAMEWORK

ANDHYPOTHESES Figure 3. Urban planning's influence on wellbeing

Hypothesis 1 - Urban planning in Accra does not support SUA and

has created conditions that hinder farmers‟ pursuit of wellbeing, in

two main ways:

A. The liberalization discourse prevalent in urban planning hascreated a negative environment for SUA;

B. Urban planning, characterized by poor policy implementation,

has prevented the enforcement of policies that could create

more favourable conditions for SUA.



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Hypothesis 2

Urban planning processes in Accra have been found to lack the formal

structures that allow civil society participation in decision making. 22 This

suggests that farmers also lack recognition in planning and do not have anyclear, formal mechanisms to influence decisions that impact their lives.

In this context, civil society organizations working to promote UA in Accra,

such as IWMI and RUAF, have opened up a space of negotiation that

previously did not exist as they introduced the UA in the policy agenda.

However, they have thus far failed to coordinate their activities sufficiently

enough to significantly influence urban planning.23

Our research aims to examine opportunities for Plant Pool farmers to

organize themselves more effectively, which could also provide them with

opportunities for strategic partnerships with Accra‟s under-resourced public

service delivery agencies. In turn this could bolster the farmers‟ terms of recognition, advance SUA practices and help improve their ability to pursue

their aspirations and wellbeing. On this basis, our second hypothesis is that:

Hypothesis 2 - There are opportunities for farmers to improve

collaboration, which can help address conditions created by urban

planning that limit their capabilities. These broadly consist of:

A. Collective action amongst farmers at Plant Pool between the

farmers and civil society;

B. Co-production between the farmers and state and non-stateorganizations for the purpose of public service delivery (see

Appendix 8 for our definition of the terms „collective action‟ and

„co-production‟ )

FRAMEWORK

ANDHYPOTHESES



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KEY FINDINGS



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In order to analyze the influence of planning on wellbeing through our SUA

framework, we broke down planning into „structural elements‟ of macro level

policies and practices and analyzed their impact on agricultural processes

and then farmers‟ aspirations. Our key findings are organized around these

linkages, shown in Figure 4.

The structural elements consist of

key strategic planning policies at

the national and city level.

Highlights of these are set out in

Table 1 and these are further

elaborated in Appendix 10.

However, the way these policies

are reflected in „practices‟ is

influenced by organizational

factors, such as bureaucraticinertia, lack of accountability and

transparency mechanisms and

political will. Bureaucratic inertia

refers to the complexity of the

government‟s reporting structure,

while the latter points relate to

how national-level bodies try to

resist decentralization by keeping

control of power, especially over

budgets.

Policy Description

Shared Growth and

Development Agenda

Focus on sustaining growth by increasing private sector

competitiveness;Mentions sustainable use of resources as a goal butpromotes oil and gas development and mechanization of agriculture;Supports large-scale farming and enhancing theproductivity of small-scale farmers through investments intechnology, access to credit, markets and land.

Millennium City Plan Envisions a modern and economic thriving city.Clearly seeks to address poverty but defines it in a top-down simplistic way as the lack of access to infrastructureand services. As a result, sees unplanned settlements as a majorchallenge and migrants as a problem to the city.

National

Decentralization Action Plan

Entrenched in the 1992 constitution, decentralization has

been a challenge for Ghana. Aims to strengthen local institutions and the power of localauthorities in order to enhance engagement with the “beneficiaries of development”. Advocates popular, local-level participation in planning,implementation, monitoring and delivery of services.

Figure 4. Analysis of key findings

KEY

FINDINGS

Table 1. Policy analysis



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Collective action and group dynamics

Through profiling questionnaires and in-depth interviews with farmers wefound that there is a complex ecosystem of social groups within Plant Pool,which involves different levels of cooperation, reciprocity, solidarity andrespect, trust and communication. As shown in Box 3, there are differentidentity groups, especially in relation to age and religion. This has createddelicate social dynamics, characterized by smaller groups of farmers withfriendship/family ties that often cooperate amongst themselves but rarely doso with the larger group.

Despite these internal complexities in

2008 the PPFA was founded as part of

the FStT project (see Box 2). Although

limited in scope, the FA was active and

well functioning, particularly because it

had a power balance between different

groups24

.

In this context, different planning

interventions in Plant Pool saw a value

in enhancing self-organization. This was

influenced, on the one hand, by

decentralization policies, to facilitate a

process of official recognition of the

group, and, on the other hand, by the

neoliberal, pro-growth development

agendas, to provide technical training to the farmers (further discussed in

the next finding).

Self-organization „from above‟ was promoted by formalizing the FA through

the DoC, a central government agency responsible for supporting

cooperatives and farmer-based organizations25. This, however, imposed a

lot of rigid structures that exacerbated

group dynamics. For example, new

leadership elections were held under

the DoC rules and a model

constitution was given to guide the

functioning of the FA. The farmers

lacked supervision and so failed tomodify the constitution. This

diminished the perceived legitimacy of

the new leadership and led to

misunderstandings, contributing to

disharmony within the FA.

Failing to understand the complexity on the site, representatives from the

DoC and MoFA viewed the lack of self-organization simply as a failure of

Plant Pool farmers, who could not cooperate with each other because of a

religious split.

KEY

FINDINGS

Figure 5. Findings for collective action and group dynamics

Self-organization ‘from above’ waspromoted by formalizing the FA through

the DoC: this imposed a lot of rigidstructures that exacerbated groupdynamics



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From this experience, we can argue that external interventions that fail to

consider subjectivity and identity issues inhibit the political dimensions of

SUA because they limit farmers‟ abi lity to self-organize and effectively

pursue recognition and participation in planning processes.

We can therefore conclude that external planning interventions harm

farmer‟s pursuit of their aspirations, especially in two dimensions: economic

opportunities, because the lack of self-organization prevents farmers from

cooperating to buy and sell collectively

or to demand better service provision

from the government; and belonging,

because it restricts their ability to be

recognized as part of a group and

engage in beneficial social interaction.

Box 2 – External interventions

FStT was part of the wider Cities Farming For the Future (CFF)

project, developed and implemented by RUAF and IWMI.

CFF facilitated a multi-stakeholder policy formulation and action

planning (MPAP) on UA in Accra. The project resulted in the

creation of AWGUPA, consisting of 15 different stakeholders fromexternal organizations, including MoFA and FAs.

AWGUPA produced a City Strategic Agenda, which outlined key

issues affecting UPA in Accra, and formulated strategies/goals to

resolve them. One of these goals was “improvement in post–

harvest handling and in marketing”; and this was implemented as

FStT, which was executed by the local NGO Enterprise Works.

FStT aimed to facilitate “the development of sustainable urban

farming and to contribute to urban poverty alleviation”. It provided

farmers with technical training on safe production, processing and

marketing practices.

FStT gained support from producer groups (including Plant Pool) to

make direct business links with final consumers, such as hotels,

restaurants and through farmer-led kiosks. The latter were

supposed to be regulated by a marketing committee composed of

relevant FA members. However, the farmers did not have the

capacity or willingness to act as sellers as well as producers.

Currently, the working kiosks are being run by a member of

Enterprise Works, and serve their original objective, which was to

move farmers up the value chain in order to increase profitability.

However, this has created several misunderstandings within

Roman Ridge and Plant Pool farmers‟ groups.

KEY

FINDINGS



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Environmental factors and the cycle of

dependency

Influenced by the neo-liberal development agendas, training provided by

external organizations, particularly through FStT, to Plant Pool farmers wascentred on increasing yields and profitability.

FStT focused on bolstering profitability across the value chain: farmers were

trained to market their produce directly through a kiosk in Legon. However,

training failed to consider that direct marketing requires a high level of

coordination among farmers, and that farmers may not want to perform

marketing tasks.

FStT also trained farmers to adopt

safer practices in application of

chemicals and use of fertilizer and

compost (through, for example, use

of protective equipment, or

composting raw manure prior to using

it). However, farmers‟ adoption of

these measures was poor because of

reported time and practicality

constraints.

FStT‟s training does not meet the

criteria established in the political

dimension of SUA because it fails to

recognize farmers‟ priorities andconstraints, which can harm their

potential to participate in planning processes. Furthermore, ineffective

training resulted in a lost opportunity to improve the economic and

environmental sustainability of farmers‟ practices.

Farmers are also dependent on artificial inputs, such as fertilizer 26 ,

pesticides/herbicides and hybrid seeds to increase yields: they have

expressed their concerns over the cost of these inputs, but maintain that

this expenditure is unavoidable. However, these substances have

environmentally unsustainable

consequences such as soil degradationand pest resistance.

This traps farmers in a „cycle of

dependency‟ in which they need to

purchase inputs from multinational

corporations or large national retailers

such as Aglow or Agrimat, which were

former government companies

privatized under the SAPs during the

1980s.

Figure 6. Findings for environmental factors and the cycle of dependency

KEY

FINDINGS

Farmers’ aspirations are themselvesinfluenced by the neoliberal discourse,which means they accept the conditionswithin the cycle of dependency



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Thus, it appears that the underlying discourse of neoliberal development has

influenced the training delivered and encourages farmers to pursue

economic opportunities through high-input practices focused on short-term

productivity gains. Additionally, farmers‟ aspirations are themselves

influenced by this discourse which means they accept the conditions withinthe cycle of dependency.

The farmers‟ position in the cycle of dependency clearly falls short of the

criteria set out in the economic and environmental dimensions of SUA.

We can conclude that external

planning interventions and farmers‟

position in the cycle of dependency

harm farmer‟s pursuit of economic

opportunities.

Box 3 – Who are the Plant Pool farmers?

Official MoFA records state that Plant Pool has a total of 36 all

male farmers. During field research, we conducted profilinginterviews with all farmers that were present during the visits,

totalling 18 interviewees from all three areas that compose the

site.

Key information from the research sample:

Farmers are between 20 and 75 years old with an average

age of 44;

All plant at least one type of exotic vegetable;

They have been farming there for an average of 15 years,

ranging from 1 to 49 years;

Half of the farmers are Muslim and half Christians, but inthe totality of the site, Muslims are said to be in the

majority;

Fifteen farmers are married with at least one child;

Eleven farmers live nearby and cycle or walk to the site;

Thirteen have farming as their only source of livelihood;

The majority had family members, commonly fathers and

brothers, involved in farming.

KEY

FINDINGS



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Land tenure and enforcement of regulations

From our transect walk (see Appendix 2) we found that, contrary to previous

research, farming land is being grabbed by shops, especially along roads.

This phenomenon results from two wider processes. Firstly, commercial

pressure on land in AMA is exacerbated by the neo-liberal development

agenda, originating in the SAPs27.

Secondly, in Plant Pool, although building

regulations strictly forbid construction of

any structure under power lines,28 these

rules have not been enforced.

Decentralization created local bodies

responsible to monitor these rules ( AMA‟s

BIU in this case), but owing to lack of

resources, they do not operateefficiently 29 . Furthermore, non-

transparent regulation has led to

inaccurate interpretation. During our

transect walk, for example, MoFA‟s EO

and one farmer mentioned that shop

owners built non-permanent structures

because they believed these to be legal.

Commercial threats on land, coupled with lack of an official understanding

between farmers and GRIDCO, highlights that land tenure is not secure,

contrary to the criteria for the builtenvironment dimension of SUA.

This constant threat to farmers‟ main

source of livelihood hinders their sense of

security and ability to seize economic

opportunities.

KEY

FINDINGS

Figure 7. Findings for land tenure and enforcement of regulations



21STRATEGIES



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Our findings have uncovered structural conditions of urban planning that

hinder farmers‟ wellbeing, and complexities of the farmers‟ group dynamics,

which limit their ability to act as a group and engage with other actors, such

as FAs, civil society organizations and public service delivery agencies, to

bring about change.

As structural conditions are difficult to address, our strategies are focused

on grounded and simple actions to facilitate the formation of a more

organized and stronger group of farmers, as we believe this could provide

initial grounds for action.

As the benefits of acting as a group

start to be realized, we expect that

farmer‟s values gradually shift from an

individualistic to a collective

perspective, and practices of

reciprocity, solidarity and cooperationbecome more widespread.

Consequently, as a cohesive group,

farmers can have a greater

understanding of their current

situation and attain a better position from which to challenge it, by seeking

interaction with service providers and establishing strategic relationships of

co-production.

Along these lines, our first two strategies, „Farming by the book ‟ and „ Act

together, grow together‟ focus on building collective action within the FA

and with other civil society organizations, providing a base for the next two,

„Nothing goes to waste‟ and „Protecting Plant Pool‟ , which involve co-

production with private and public organizations, helping to address issues

of farmers‟ dependency on artificial inputs and land encroachment.

All strategies were discussed together

with the farmers during field visits:

implementation steps and monitoring

indicators are presented in detail in

Appendix 9.

STRATEGIES

Our strategies are focused on groundedand simple actions to facilitate theformation of a more organized andstronger group of farmers



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Strategy 1: Farming by the book

This strategy aims to create a new Constitution for PPFA, which should take

into account the group‟s vision for the future and reflect a set of internally

agreed rules.

Due to its complex political nature, the

formation of the Constitution should

be tied to the elections for the

association‟s new leadership, which

will take place in the second half of

2011.

The Constitution will be a starting

point for building collective action, as

it should contain specific guidelines for

new endeavours, such as savingsschemes, self-enumeration and land preservation and monitoring, which will

be further detailed in the following strategies.

However, the main outcome of the strategy is not the Constitution itself, but

what the process of writing it collectively can represent. Deciding on the

content and reaching common ground on the various matters treated will

promote better transparency and accountability and, more importantly,

foster trust between the farmers, creating a greater sense of purpose for the

association.

Furthermore, the Constitution will lay

the foundations for a legitimate and

active association, which will, in turn,

confer more credibility at the

institutional level. In this new context,

a closer relationship with the DoC can

bring about opportunities such as

facilitated access to credit and

training programmes.

Given the complexity of the task, we

believe it is essential that farmers tap

into the greater experience of Dzorwulu‟s FA: their lessons learnt

when performing the same activity

would prove very valuable to Plant

Pool. Moreover, this would provide a

great opportunity to institutionalize

the relationship between farmers of

the two sites, which already exists in

an ad hoc and informal basis,

strengthening the potential for future

collaboration.

STRATEGIES

The main outcome of this strategy is notthe Constitution itself, but what theprocess of writing it collectively canrepresent



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Strategy 2: Act together, grow together

Building on the Constitution, this strategy intends to address the currently

limited collaboration between farmers, by strengthening the FA through two

main mechanisms: collective savings, and self-enumeration and informationsharing.

Creating a collective savings scheme,

be it limited or incremental to the FA‟s

membership fees, could provide a

group-wide welfare fund for farmers

and collateral for loans taken

collectively by the association, making

it possible to access larger amounts

under better terms and more flexible

payment conditions for collective

purchases.

Although the benefits of collective

savings appear clear to the farmers,

during a focus group they identified

lack of trust as a major potential

obstacle. However, the farmers

themselves suggested that a revolving

fund could be established exclusively

with the association fees, and

additional savings could take place in

smaller groups, capitalizing on

friendship and family ties, and

eventually be expended to the whole

FA.

Complementary to savings are efforts for self-enumeration: recording,

sharing and updating information on every farmer working on the site. In

addition to encouraging farmers to get to know more about each other,

unveiling diversity and fostering greater familiarity and trust, enumeration

would allow the association to keep track of crop schedules, share

knowledge on farming practices and, therefore, improve marketing

conditions.

STRATEGIES

Running a successful savings schemeand possessing updated information onthe site can be a way to showcase self-organization capacity and gain visibilityfrom planning bodies



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Moreover, periodically carrying out self-enumeration activities and sharing

such data with MoFA and the DoC is a means to further engage with such

bodies, allowing farmers to influence and shape future interventions on the

site.

In contrast to savings, the

gains of self-enumeration were

not evident to the farmers. Yet,

they saw the instrumental value

of recording information,

especially in relation to land

monitoring strategies, which

will be detailed below.

Thus, running a successful

savings scheme and possessing

updated information on the sitecan not only build a stronger

and more cohesive group, but

also be a way to showcase self-

organization capacity and,

consequently, gain visibility

from planning bodies.

To foster those processes and

build connections to a wider

movement of wellbeing, we

believe that Plant Pool farmerscan use the support of People‟s

Dialogue (see Appendix 3 for

stakeholder description),

especially through exchange

visits with different groups from

the Federation of the Urban

Poor (FUP), whose success

stories could inspire farmers to

work together.

STRATEGIES



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Strategy 3: Nothing goes to waste

This strategy is based on an initiative from CHF and Zoomlion (for

stakeholder‟s description see Appendix 3) to engage Plant Pool farmers in a

composting project. Farmers would be provided with a dedicated facilitynear Plant Pool, training on composting and regular provision of organic

waste (at no cost) to produce compost to satisfy their farming needs or sell

for profit. In return they would be responsible for organizing themselves to

operate and maintain facilities, and to manage relationships with organic

waste suppliers and other actors.

Plant Pool farmers have been trained

by FStT on the benefits of compost for

soil health. However, with limited

space and time, farmers failed to

follow the recommended procedures,

reducing effectiveness of their

compost.

This strategy has potential to promote

availability and usage of compost,

reducing farmers‟ reliance on commercial inputs. Use of compost will also

promote soil health, allowing farmers to pursue long-term agricultural

practices in Plant Pool.

While discussing this strategy with farmers, however, it was not clear

whether many of them agreed on the environmental benefits of compost.

Moreover, they expressed doubts over the amount of work required, as wellas on the time and expense of regularly travelling to the composting site.

In implementing this strategy, it is crucial that farmers are educated on how

the cycle of dependency on commercial inputs impedes their aspirations for

economic opportunity. This awareness will motivate them to not only invest

individual time and labour, but to

organize themselves collectively

through the FA to manage project

activities.

We also recommend that CHF and

Zoomlion continue to monitor theproject after farmers take over facility

management operations. Farmers

would benefit from working with CHF

and Zoomlion to address issues that

cannot be resolved internally within

the FA, while CHF and Zoomlion

would benefit through learning

lessons from this project, which can

be applied to future, similar

initiatives.

STRATEGIES

Awareness on the cycle of dependency

will motivate farmers to organizethemselves collectively through the FA



27

Strategy 4: Protecting Plant Pool

To address issues of land grabbing, we propose that farmers set up

monitoring duties within the association, erect signs to demarcate land

boundaries, and report new instances of land conflict to AMA‟s BIU and

GRIDCO.

This form of co-production helps

alleviate the service of land

monitoring from AMA‟s under-

resourced BIU to farmers, who have a

stake in protecting Plant Pool

farmland from encroachment. This

strategy also serves as an opportunity

for the FA to show effectiveness of

their self-organization in influencing

and shaping interventions. PPFA can

build greater identity and credibility

with government authorities and

GRIDCO, laying a foundation for

future working relationships with

other institutions in negotiating for and participating in pubic service

delivery.

A caveat is that reporting and monitoring land use may not prevent land

grabbing. Due to issues of bureaucratic inertia and governmentalaccountability and transparency, actions may not be taken by government

authorities to resolve land conflicts. As such, we recommend that land issues

also be reported to GRIDCO, who has a stake in keeping the Plant Pool land

free of (semi)permanent structures, as the area under high-tension power

lines needs to be accessible for maintenance. We recommend that further

research be conducted to investigate what actions can be taken by GRIDCO

in preventing construction of structures in Plant Pool site without

compromising farmers‟ tenure.

In addition, care must be taken to

avoid creating conflict betweenfarmers, community and shop owners,

as land grabs are not driven by

organized developers seeking to turn

land use for speculation, but by other

poor people who use shop keeping as

a source of livelihoods.

STRATEGIES

This strategy also serves as anopportunity for the FA to showeffectiveness of their self-organization ininfluencing and shaping interventions



28

Our research has disclosed the influence of planning processes on the

activities of 36 marginalized urban farmers at Plant Pool. Planning processes

have diminished opportunities for these farmers‟ voices to be heard in

decision making, affecting their ability to pursue their aspirations.

We have proposed strategies that are small stepping stones to strengthen

values of collective action amongst the farmers; build a sense of

environmental awareness of their practices and get them to think about

ways in which they could collaborate with weak, local-level governmental

institutions for their mutual benefit, for instance, through the monitoring of

land-use practices.

We acknowledge that the strategies have their own limitations especially

because they may have wider implications for other citizens to pursue their

own aspirations.

Nevertheless, we believe that taken

together the strategies provide an

indication of how wider mobilization

efforts of the urban poor could take

place. Scaling up these efforts would not

only help advance wellbeing for Accra‟s

citizens on a broader basis but also

promote a greater awareness, especially

within government, that citizens – and

all the multitude of cultures, knowledge,

experiences, traditions and aspirations

they represent – have a role to play inplacing the city‟s urban development on

a truly sustainable path.

CONCLUSION



29

Our key recommendation is to expand the research from focusing on the

Plant Pool farmers‟ situation to consider the motivations and norms

governing the behaviour and actions of different actors involved

in/influenced by the urban agriculture value chain. These actors would

include market women, consumers, land encroachers and other farmergroups whose wellbeing may be constrained or facilitated by urban

agriculture practices, and by other stakeholders.

Careful consideration of the

situations of different actors would

foment the proposed strategies by

identifying actions that mitigate

negative effects for other

groups. For example, in the

„Protecting Plant Pool‟ strategy, we

recommend that future researchexamine the conditions and

motivations of the community and

shop owners who are grabbing

land in Plant Pool in an attempt to

improve their livelihoods and

wellbeing. Moreover, this analysis

can identify opportunities and

actions for the actors to work

together to influence future

interventions.

FURTHER

RESEARCH



30

We would like to express our extreme gratitude towards the many lecturers,

experts and organizations who supported us prior, during and after our

journey to Ghana. First and foremost we would like to thank the DPU staff,

and in particular, Alexandre Frediani, Pascale Hoffman, Adriana Allen and

others who guided us throughout this project.

We would also like to thank IWMI for providing insight and assistance, as

well as operational support. Furthermore, we would like to extend our

special gratitude to Sowah Ababio, our

facilitator and interpreter, who very

patiently and very competently guided us

in the context of Plant Pool.

Furthermore, we are thankful to all

representatives of the institutions in

Accra who contributed their time and

energy to our research.

Last but not least, our full appreciation

goes to the Plant Pool farmers, for their

friendly welcome, for providing most of

the information in our research, not only

in terms of insight and expertise in urban

agriculture, and for positively challenging

our notions on what it means to be

development practitioners.

Thank you!

Camila Haddad

Davide Tassinari

Eddie Wong

Fong Yee Chan

Mpigi Gbenekanu

Jeet Mistry

Omar Saeed

Wan Hamidon

ACKNOWLEDGE-

MENTS



31

AMA Accra Metropolitan Area

AWGUPA Accra Working Group on Urban And Peri-urban

Agriculture

BIU Building Inspector Unit

CHF Cooperative Housing Foundation

DoC Department of Cooperatives

DPU Development Planning Unit

EO Extension Officer

FA Farmer‟s Association

FStT From Seed to Table

GPRS Ghana‟s Poverty Reduction Strategy

GWCL Ghana Water Commission Limited

GRIDCO Ghana Grid Company Limited

IWMI International Water Management Institute

MoFA Ministry of Food and Agriculture

NGO Non-Governmental Organization

PPFA Plant Pool Farmer Association

PRSC Poverty Reduction Support Credit

RUAF Resource Centres On Urban Agriculture and Food

Security

SAP Structural Adjustment Programme

SUA Sustainable Urban Agriculture

TCP Town and Country Planning

UA Urban Agriculture

VRA Volta River Authority

APPENDIX 1

LIST OFABBREVIATIONS



32

Our research was undertaken in three phases as illustrated in

Table 1 below.

Phase Phase 1: Pre-field

visit

Phase 2: Field visit Phase 1: Post-field

visit

Period 28th January – 5th May 6th May – 20th May 21st May – 8th June

Phase Phase 1: Pre-fieldvisit

Phase 2: Field visit Phase 1: Post-fieldvisit

Period 28th January – 5th May 6th May – 20th May 21st May – 8th June

Descriptionand activities

The research began witha preliminary diagnosisof the context of UA inPlant Pool and Accrawith an analysis of secondary data frompast-year fieldtrip

reports, seminarpresentations andrelevant literatures. A definition of SUA,criteria for itsassessment and twohypotheses were thendeveloped in accordancewith the researchobjectives.Several research toolswere produced to helpunderstand and analyzethe relationships amongdifferent UA actors in

the context of PlantPool, Accra and Ghana:Stakeholder analysisand map (see Appendix 3); Agricultural valuechain (see Appendix6);

Field researchmethodologies were usedto collect primary data inthe two-week field visit to Accra (see Table 2)The fieldtrip schedule isshown in Appendix 5. The

objectives and keyfindings of focus groups,in relation to ourtheoretical framework,are outlined in Appendix4.

This final phaseinvolves dataprocessing, dataanalysis and generationof findings.

APPENDIX 2

RESEARCHMETHODOLOGY



33

Phase Phase 1: Pre-fieldvisit

Phase 2: Field visit Phase 1: Post-fieldvisit

Descriptionand activities

The research began witha preliminary diagnosis

of the context of UA inPlant Pool and Accrawith an analysis of secondary data frompast-year fieldtripreports, seminarpresentations andrelevant literatures. A definition of SUA,criteria for itsassessment and twohypotheses were thendeveloped in accordancewith the researchobjectives.Several research tools

were produced to helpunderstand and analyzethe relationships amongdifferent UA actors inthe context of PlantPool, Accra and Ghana:

Stakeholder analysisand map (see Appendix 3); Agricultural valuechain (see Appendix6);

Field researchmethodologies were used

to collect primary data inthe two-week field visit to Accra (see Table 2) The fieldtrip schedule isshown in Appendix 5. Theobjectives and keyfindings of focus groups,in relation to ourtheoretical framework,are outlined in Appendix4.

This final phaseinvolves data

processing, dataanalysis and generationof findings.

Table 1. Research activities and relevant work phases

Table 2 shows a list of fieldtrip methodologies we used to collect primary

data for testing our hypotheses and generating findings.

Table 2. List of research methods employed

Method Number

Focus groups 4

Semi-structured interviews 18

In-depth interviews 6

Meetings with key informants 20

Participatory mapping 1

Participatory video 1

Transect Walk 1



34

Stakeholder map

Stakeholder analysis

Level of Governance

Organization Description and key findingsfrom readings and previousreports

Room forManoeuvre

National-levelGovernmentalOrganizations

Department of Cooperatives,(meeting12/5, 1400-

1530)

Many ethnic groups in Ghana have long traditions of working cooperatively in agriculture and at the village level through traditional

organizations, such as “nnoboa” groups. At the bottom of the Co-operative movement in Ghana are primary Co- operatives, which are normally single purpose or single crop Co- operatives. Most primary Co- operatives are small. They are active in most areas of economic activity,and fewer than half of Co-operatives are engaged in agriculture. The Department of Cooperatives exists to facilitate the development of vibrant cooperative and other group enterprises that are capable of contributing positively to

sustainable employment generation,poverty reduction and community development.

Has thepotential topositivelyencourage

farmers’ self -organization.

GhanaIrrigationDevelopment Authority(GIDA) underMOFA

To explore all water resources for livelihood options in agriculture at appropriate scales for all communities. To formulate and execute plans to promote the development of land and water resources in Ghana for crop production, livestock watering,aquaculture, agricultural related industries and institutions within a sustainable environment.Formulated National Irrigation policy

which includes supporting water for

Potentiallypositiveinfluence onwater inputs.

Currently apositiveinfluence onwater inputs.

APPENDIX 3

STAKEHOLDERMAP ANDANALYSIS



35

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

food security policy. Policy structure:(1) informal (smallholder) irrigation;(2) Formal irrigation; (3) large scale

commercial irrigation.Has tried to introduce springerirrigation and drip irrigation, but thelatter does notcatch up well because filters have tobe replaced regularly. May re-introduce drip irrigation to deal withwater shortages. Affordability andprofit is an important constraint.Is looking for water savingtechnologies to use in Accra.

Ghana WaterCompanyLimited

Provided piped water system tofarmers on application and nowabout 70% of the total farming land

in Plant Pool has been equipped withirrigation pipe lines. Farmers feel thewater fees are more affordable, andare willing to pay to sustain the pipewater supply.Cuts off water in the dry seasonwhich leads farmers to stopirrigation during this time.

Potentially apositive/negative influence

on waterinputs.

Currently apositiveinfluence onwater inputs.

LandsCommission – Odame Larbi,CEO

See article written by him, 1996,„Spatial Planning and Urban Fragmentation in Accra‟, Third World Planning Review, Vol. 18,No. 2,pp.193-215.Has written about the WB sponsoredStructure Plan for the Greater Accra

Metropolitan Area The planningperiod is 1993-2010Will know about progress with theland use policy being changed forthe first time since 1945.

Potentially apositive/negative influenceon land inputs.

Ministry of Food and Agriculture(MOFA)

MOFA‟s main goal is to create an environment for sustainable growth and development in the agricultural sector that would include: provision of food security; supply of raw materials for industry; creation of employment; reduction in poverty and the creation of wealth. Has advocated the interests of Dzorwulu and Plant Pool UA farming.

Is the only government body thathas direct contact with farmersthrough on-site outreach officers. Advocates a Food and AgricultureSector Development Policy (FASDEP)which has incorporated urbanagriculture.Includes a unit dedicated to UAissues.Has encouraged farmers to compost,noting that farmers would prefer touse compost instead of chemicalfertilizers.

Potentially apositiveinfluence overcompost/fertilizer inputs.

Potentially apositive/negative influenceover seed

inputs.

Currently apositiveinfluence (atoutreachlevel) of farmers’ self -organization.

Ministry of LocalGovernment(MLGRD),

Is responsible for the National Urban Policy.Is responsible for the National Decentralization Action Programme

Potential toencourageself-organization



36

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

meeting 11/5,1400-1530

(NDAP) to promote convergence of the decentralization efforts,consolidation of the processes of

resource allocation and management, building capacities for poverty-targeted development and governance at the local level and promotion of partnership and participation between local government, civil society, the private sector and traditional authorities.However 2010 review found problems with implementation of the NDAP including incomplete functioning of the local government sub-structures,inadequate capacity in terms of full complements of staff, weakness of

district departments, the low levels of internally generated revenues,planning and budgeting challenges and unsatisfactory conduct of public hearings. In practice, relationships between local authorities and central government ministries, departments and agencies, sectoral units,development projects and programmes; the scope of responsibilities; reporting mechanisms; needed to be worked out further.( http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/e n-national-decentralizationpolicy.pdf ) .

Local level democracy also provides the context for decentralized planning. Planning is not only required to be “bottom - up”; it is also required to be participatory. Thus decentralized participatory planning should see the active involvement of the sub-district structures, the communities, the chiefs and traditional authorities,CSOs/CBOs/NGOs and other interest groups making inputs into the draft district development plan which ultimately should lead to a

participatory budgeting framework in which the people decide with the local authorities the priorities of the district development plan and how the resources are to be appropriated to the programmes and projects in the plan(Draft Decentralization Policy Framework http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/e n-national-decentralizationpolicy.pdf ) .

Non-state actors will play critical roles in all aspects of policy implementation and review. Other

local governance-related bodies including development NGOs such as

and potentialforpositive/negat

ive influenceon land andwater inputs.

http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/en-national-decentralization-policy.pdf

















37

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

the Local Governance Network (LOGNET) and the Network of Civic Unions (NETCU), membership

organizations like organized labour,market associations, occupational and commodity groupings and faith- based organizations will periodically conduct alternative reviews and assessments of policy implementation to guide policy review (http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/e n-national-decentralizationpolicy.pdf).

Volta River Authority/GRIDCO

Owners of the land on which PlantPool farmers cultivate.From 2010‟s report, the farmers

were negotiating a MoU to clarifytheir terms of use on the land. Although Plant Pool is viewed as asecure cultivating space, there is stilla possibility of eviction if GRIDCOneeds to carry out major upgradingwork on its power lines and becausethere have reportedly been incidentsof conflict between farmers andGRIDCO workers when the latterhave carried out maintenance work on the power lines.There is lack of clarity over therelationship between VRA andGRIDCO and ownership of the land.

PotentiallynegativeInfluence over

land and land-use inputs.

Currently apositiveinfluence onland.

District/Local-levelGovernmentalOrganizations

AccraMetropolitan Assembly

Established bye-laws for UAReceives RUAF support for MPAPIncludes District AgriculturalDevelopment Unit that implicitlyrecognizes role of UA.Recommended by RUAF to assist UAby building marketing infrastructure.Waste Management DepartmentRecognizes that composting isbeneficial.Has noted that price of waste canget expensive if site is far fromwaste dump.Has note that farmers bring sacks tothe waste plant and return usingtheir owntransportation. If they need helpWMD will charge a fee fortransportation.Composting plant has, however,been closed down.

Potentiallypositive/negative influenceoncompost/fertilizer, land, soilandtransportationinputs.

Currentlypositive onthese inputs.

Town andCountryPlanningDepartment

Has called for farmers to be betterorganized to advance UA in AMA.Can provide for open spaces forurban agriculture in its layout, landdevelopment planning, or landschemes.Is working towards providing abetter system for the transfer,documentation, and mapping of

lands, which is anticipated to take

Potentially apositiveinfluence overland inputs.

Currently apositiveinfluence overlabour and has

encouraged



38

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

25 years to complete. From the2010 report, the process is at thedesign level.

As of 2010, another 25-year landuse and administration projectdesigned to reform the landmanagement system is nearingcompletion of its design stages.Noted in 2010 that plans toreformulate a Green Belt have notworked out.Has encouraged Roman Ridgefarmers to apply to The LandCommission to gain securedesignation and gain local support todo this. Has noted that the farmersmay have an ally in the ExecutiveSecretary of the Land Commission,

who has previously worked onsustainable livelihoods issues.

self-organizationof farmers.

Local NGOs/Companies

Accra WorkingGroup onUrban andPeri-urban Agriculture(AWGUPA)

Membership includes Accra Metropolitan Authority‟s Department of Food and Agriculture, Planning and Coordination Unit, The Public Health Department, and The Town and Country Planning Unit; University of Ghana‟s Colle ge of Agriculture and Consumer Sciences and Department of Geography and Resource Development; Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-STEPRI); IWMI-Ghana; Environmental Protection Agency-

Accra; Ministry of Food and Agriculture; Directorate of Extension; Enterprise Works Ghana; Ghana Agriculture Workers Union; New Times Corporation; Crop Farmers Association; Livestock Farmers Association.Is implementing a city strategicagenda on UA in Accra.Last year‟s research suggestedexpanding AWGUPA to includeadditional actors, such aslandowners and the media. Also suggested that there is roomfor AWGUPA to expand its work onland-related issues.

Has updated training at urbanproducer field schools withentrepreneurial training and use of business plans.

Currentlyinfluences allinputs. Hasthe potentialto positivelyinfluenceacross allinputs andencouragefarmers’ self -organization.

The CivilSocietyCoalition onLand (CICOL),meeting 13/5,1100-1230

CICOL is a network of civil society (CS) organizations working and advocating for equitable land tenure practices, policies and management in Ghana.Has highlighted plight of Ghanaian small-scale farmers, particularly women, kicked off their farmland to make way for large-scale jatrophy plantations (used for biofuels). Has been reported that the cultivation of

the bio-fuel plant has gone largely

Has thepotential topositivelyinfluence landinputs.



39

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

unregulated.In 2009, was invited by the Ministry of Lands and National Resources “to

partner with government in developing the good land administration system for the country. CICOL's activities should transcend not only the land rights issues into assisting communities in proper land use planning,sensitization and awareness creation, in sound environmental management and sanitation in our environment. All these affect the proper uses of our land." Involved in the Land for Life NGO/project (meeting13/5, 1600- 1730)

DzorwuluFarmers’ Association

Divided between Plant Pool,Dzorwulu and Roman Ridge sites.Potential to build knowledge sharingnetworks and social capital.Do not appear to work together formarketing of produce or shareequipment.Only came together for FStT.

EnterpriseWorks

Can have a positive influence onimproving marketing knowledge forfarmers.EW involved in helping to implementFStT program in Plant Pool.

IWMI has carried out a lot of testingon water quality.

Currentlypositiveinfluence onlabour inputs.

ILGS – Institute of LocalGovernmentStudies,(meeting11/5, 1100-1230)

The Institute was commissioned in 1999 as a project of the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development as part of efforts by the Government of Ghana to equip the local government system to play a pivotal role in development and poverty reduction. Works on local economic development and urban development issues. It also holds courses on environmental management and sanitation and

good governance and sustainable dev.

IWMI IWMI's sub-regional research portfolio focuses on efforts to reduce poverty and to provide improved food security through sustainable and efficient agricultural water use.

Provides technical support through its research, and facilitates the development of gender-sensitive policies and action plans on UPA which are integrated into the programmes of key gov. and non- gov. stakeholders.

IWMI also promotes knowledge

Is currentlypromotingself-organizationandinfluences allinputs. Hasthe potentialto positivelyinfluenceacross allinputs andencouragefarmers’ self -organization.



40

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

sharing on UPA to strengthen the capacity of local stakeholders.

IWMI and partners are contributing to improved food security and environmental sanitation by researching the safe and productive use of water, nutrients, organic matter and energy from liquid and solid waste.

Currently undertaking a Design for Re-use research initiative looking at contributing to solutions that will enable continuous operation of sanitation facilities. Design for Re- use is looking at four primary means to re-use waste for revenue. One

component will pilot the re-use of wastewater for irrigation, while another will pilot composting from fecal sludge.

From Pay Dreschel article: To showthe authorities how farmers andstreet-food vendors are takinghealth issues seriously,representatives from otherstakeholder groups were invited to join a “road show” event.Participants were taken on a bustour, starting from a farm wherewastewater is used, through themarket, and ending at streetrestaurants where the vegetablesare most commonly sold. At eachstop, participants learned first handabout health threats and risk reduction methods. Although theroad show required careful planningand facilitation, the methoddissolved the traditional separationbetween active teachers and passivelearners. By sharing their knowledgeof good practices, participantsbecome trainers, champions, andmediators.

Key actors: Pay Dreschel, Olufunke

Cofie.

ISSR (Institute of StatisticalSocial andEconomicResearch),meeting 11/51600-1730

ISSER is involved in The State of the Ghanaian Economy Report (SGER) and the Ghana Human Development Report (GHDR).

People’sDialogue onHumanSettlements/Ghana

Homeless

People‟s Dialogue on Human Settlements (PD) is community- based, non-governmental organization that works in partnership with the Ghana

Homeless People‟s Federation (the

Has thepotential toencourageself-organization.



41

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

People’s

FederationFederation) to find permanent solutions to urban poverty in Ghana through the improvement of human

settlements and shelter conditions.(see http://www.sdinet.org/country/ghan a) focuses on the capacity building of federation communities.Runs savings groups amongst slumdweller communities

Markets Plant Pool farmers sell products asindividuals to the queens so there ispotential to self-organize to sell as agroup and boost their bargainingpower.The price of one bed of cabbage is100 CD, the cost of buying from

farmers is eight CD. Transportationcost does affect the profit and theprice of product. The price isdifferent in different market andfrom different farming area.Consumers complained about UA‟swater quality and fertilizer use. Thusmarketers prefer rural products andthink that UA should stop. They notethat resource for UA is poor, whilecost of production is high.

Currentlyinfluencestransportinputs, Hasthe potentialto influencewater and

fertilizer/compost inputsand encouragefarmers’ self -organization.

Plant PoolFarmers’

Association

Although still young, has strongcollaboration amongst members andwith external actors such as theMOFA, Enterprise Works and other

institutions to improve agriculturalpractices.Potential to work together withDzorwulu FA.

Currently andpotentially apositiveinfluence on

farmers’ self -organization.

InternationalOrganizations

Zoomlion Runs sorting and composting plants throughout Ghana and Accra Conducts public educationcampaigns on sanitation.Has acquired lands in all the regionsfor commercial farming usingcompost. A subsidiary of Zoomlion undertakeslandscaping, beautification of parks,gardens, and horticultural activitiesin the cities.

Has noted that the governmentshould use subsidies and incentivesto encourage composting. Inparticular has referred to TheGreening Ghana project whichshould use compost. Zoomlion ownsThe Plant Pool Company whosedepot is located next to the PlantPool site.

Currentlyinfluencescomposting/fertilizer inputs.Has thepotential tofurtherinfluencecomposting,land andtransport

inputs.

ColombiaUniversity’s

EarthInstitute’s

MillenniumCitiesInitiative(MCI)

“Working closely with the Mayor and the Accra Metropolitan Assembly, as well as with other Ghanaian officials,scholars, scientists, community members and development partners,MCI will help address the city‟ s most pressing challenges, including flooding, water security and

Has thepotential toinfluence land,water, labourandtransportationinputs.



42

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

sanitation issues; in-migration and unplanned settlements; congestion; pollution; and the need for detailed

and far-sighted urban planning” (fromhttp://mci.ei.columbia.edu/?id=locations_accra). “MCI will take an in -depth look at the water and liquid waste disposal systems and has agreed to help two sprawling Accra neighborhoods become viable residential and commercial centers with ready access to public goods and services.” (fromhttp://mci.ei.columbia.edu/?id=locations_accra).

CooperativeHousingFoundation(CHF)International

International NGO using funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to work on slum upgrading in Accra. CHF is implementing The Slum Communities Achieving Livable Environments with Urban Partners (SCALE-UP) Program which focuses on “training and empowering residents and grassroots organizations to participate actively in designing and implementing physical and social improvement programs in partnership with local non- governmental organizations.”

( http://www.chfinternational.org/gh ana ) .The organization is working with Zoomlion to promote a composting project and is approaching Plant Pol farmers to provide them with training and facilities to for composting.

MillenniumCities Project(meeting11/5, 0900-1030)

“The immediate objective of the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) ( http://www.mci.ei.columbia.edu ) ,established by The Earth Institute,Columbia University, in early 2006, is to help a number of Millennium Cities across sub-Saharan Africa achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).” “The ultimate objective of the MCI is to develop an approach that can be used by under-resourced, medium- size cities in sub-Saharan Africa to attain the MDGs on their own, or with minimal assistance from outside.These objectives are being pursued in the framework of helping the Millennium Cities formulate Integrated City Development Strategies. These strategies combine the economic and social components of a development strategy,

recognizing that the sustainable

http://mci.ei.columbia.edu/?id=locations_accra






http://www.chfinternational.org/ghana




http://www.mci.ei.columbia.edu/












43

Level of Governance


Room forManoeuvre

delivery of social services requires cities to stimulate enterprise development, create employment

and foster economic growth and development – in brief, to eradicate extreme poverty, the first and most basic of the MDGs.”



44

The objectives and key findings of our focus groups with farmers were as

follows.

Aspirations and activity mapping

We asked the farmers to draw and share what they see themselves in 5years in order for us to learn about the different dimensions of wellbeingthat are valuable to the farmers. We found that some farmers wanted tokeep farming or to expand their farms, i.e. material wellbeing. Some otherswanted to have a good education for themselves and for their children, i.e.relational wellbeing. Some wanted to be respected by planning bodies, i.e.subjective wellbeing.

On top of the aspiration exercise, we also asked the farmers to map theircore activities in relation to farming on a seasonal basis throughout the year.This included mapping when farmers planted and harvested differentproduce, mapping of changing weather patterns and soil quality and their

impacts on production, the use of various inputs into farming processes suchas seeds, fertilizers, chemicals, labour, water etc. This helped us to gain an

insight into the level of coordinationand organization of the group, thedifferences in knowledge aboutdifferent produce, the attitudes of farmers to the use of different inputs,and the various issues concerningenvironmental management of theirbeds, how farmers resolved issuessuch as water shortages and theimpact of changing weather patterns,

and which farmers were more vocaland which were more marginalisedwithin the group.

Mapping of “flow”

We engaged the farmers in mappingwhere they farm and live, and the flowof different farm inputs on/around thesite. We found that privatization of inputs such as fertilizers brought thefarmers into a cycle of dependencyand negatively impacted their

economic wellbeing and also theenvironment. The map we used torecord farmers‟ plots helped improveunderstanding among farmers and hasthe potential to help facilitateenumeration and further collaborationwithin the farmer association.

APPENDIX 4

OBJECTIVESOF FOCUSGROUPS



45

Mapping of “external organizations”

We asked the farmers and mapped their perceptions on the power of different external organizations and the relationship of these organizationsto the Plant Pool Farmer Association. The exercise would help input into our

stakeholder analysis and the process of formulating potential strategies byhelping to locate „room for manoeuvre‟ for farmers‟ recognition andparticipation in decision making by providing entry points for potentialcollaboration with external organizations.

World Café

We came up with some initial

strategies based on the diagnosis of

the Plant Pool context before the

exercise. We wanted farmers‟ opinions

and inputs into these proposed

strategies and received substantial

feedback on their benefits, constraints

and feasibility. The exercise was also

useful in helping us to reconsider the

entry points for self-organization

efforts and coproduction to improve

SUA and gain recognition of farmers

from government agencies and other

significant stakeholders.



46

Date MethodologyStakeholder(s)involved

Purpose / Outcome

May 9th Presentation, Q&Asession and discussion

IWMI and local facilitator- Sowah

To present and discussour preliminary diagnosiswith IWMI staff andarrange field visits

May10th

Transect walk Local facilitator - Sowah To understand thegeneral conditions of Plant Pool, in particularthe farm inputs andfarmers‟ activities

Focus group Plant Pool Farmers To learn about farmers‟ aspirations and exploretheir farming activitiesthroughout the year

Semi-structuredinterviews

Plant Pool Farmers To explore farmers‟ activities, obstaclesimpacting SUA andcollect information forfarmer‟s profile

May11th

Presentation and Q&Asession

Millennium City Initiative To understand the visionof the Millennium Cityproject, UA‟s role in thisvision and the localgovernment structure inrelation to UA


Institute of LocalGovernment Studies

To understand the localgovernment structureand processes, and howcivic society canparticipate in policy-making

Presentation and Q&A

session

Ministry of Local

Government

To learn about the

progress made withdecentralization, keyproblems with theprocess, and the extentto which the newstructures provide civilsociety with a voice indecision makingprocesses


Institute of Statistics andSocial Economic Research

To understand how thecountry‟s development isinterpreted by thegovernment and whatthe key indicators beingused to this end

May12th

Participatory mapping Plant Pool Farmers To map out wherefarmers live and the flowof inputs/outputs

Focus group Plant Pool Hired Labour(UA boys)

To explore the statusand conditions of thehired labour in UA



In-depth interviews Plant Pool Farmers To learn about farmers‟ aspirations, examineconditions of poverty andfactors impacting

farmer‟s wellbeing Presentation and Q&A Zoomlion To understand its

APPENDIX 5

FIELD TRIPSCHEDULE



47


Purpose / Outcome

session perspective on wastemanagement andcompost production, andlearn about the potential

of co-production inmaking compost withfarmers


Department of Cooperatives

To learn about the keyprocedures required forFAs to register with theDoC, the benefits for FAsof registration and howthe DoC handlesproblems within FAs,with particular referenceto the problemsconcerning Plant Pool‟sFA

May

13th

Presentation and Q&A

session

Enterprise Works To understand its role in

UA and how farmercooperatives can benefitfrom the government


GIDA To understand thecurrent practices of irrigation and theirimpacts on UA


Land for Life To understand thedifferent pressures onland tenure and securityin Accra, the impact of government‟s policies onthese, and whatstrategies are required toalleviate them


People‟s Dialogue andGhana Federation of Urban Poor

To understand theirdifferent roles and howthey performenumerations, run savinggroups, facilitate self-organization, and gainrecognition for the urbanpoor from thegovernment as a meansof improving thecondition of the urbanpoor

May14th

Focus group Plant Pool Farmers To map out farmers‟ perspectives withexternal organizations

and potentials for co-production



In-depth interviews Plant Pool Farmers To learn about farmers‟ aspirations, examineconditions of poverty andfactors impactingfarmer‟s wellbeing

May16th


MoFA and MoFAextension department

To learn about MOFA‟sinterpretation of the roleand significance of UA

within the country‟s



48


Purpose / Outcome

agricultural policies anddevelopment. Tounderstand the particularroles and responsibilities

of the MOFA extensiondepartment and howMOFA interprets and ispromoting sustainableurban agriculturaldevelopment.


Town and CountryPlanning

To understand the landadministration andregulations of the cityand their impacts onUA/PUA

May17th

Focus Group – WorldCafé

Plant Pool Farmers To test out and examinethe feasibility of ourproposed strategies onSUA

Participatory Video Plant Pool Farmers To get farmers involvedin making a video toshow their stories toexternal organizations

Semi-structuredInterviews


In-depth interviews Plant Pool Farmers To learn about farmers‟ aspirations, examineconditions of poverty andfactors impactingfarmer‟s wellbeing


AWGUPA To understand thecurrent practices of stakeholder involvementin UA/PUA

Semi-structuredInterview

Market Women Association

To understand thevegetable marketoperation and theirrelationship with farmers

May19th


IWMI and stakeholdersinvolved in the research

To present and sharefindings and getfeedback for furtherresearch



49

Our group used the lens of the agricultural value chain to analyze the

complex range of activities, rules, norms, and power relations that frame

how products and services flow between various actors. We conducted a

preliminary value chain analysis prior to the Accra trip to uncover topics to

be explored on the field. To further focus our research, during fieldwork and findings analysis, we examined all of the topics below in relation to our

framework and hypotheses.

Differentstages in value

chain

Focus topic on the ground with farmers

Finance Channels and ease to access credits?Interest rate? Any trainings from FStT, FA, MoFA?Degree of financial knowledge?Habit of keeping financial ledger?

Cultivation Inputs: Seeds, Water, Fertilizers, Labour, ToolsSource/suppliers of inputsHow much inputs are needed?Cost and reliability of input supply?Price fluctuation?Collective purchase of inputs? Any trainings from FStT on using inputs? Any variable costs?

Collection How often to hire labour?Where? Cost?Relationship with the hired labour?Farmers helping each others on harvest?

Marketing Channels to sell produces? Any trainings from FStT on marketing?Source of market information about demand and price?Collective bargaining?Price stability? Any processing of produce before sale?

APPENDIX 6

AGRICULTURALVALUE CHAIN



50

The criteria used to assess the influence of planning processes on urban

agricultural practices are the following.

Economic

Farmers have the market information and knowledge to decide on

the most appropriate marketing channel and price for their produce;

Farmers have adequate access to funding to invest inputs into urban

agriculture;

Income from UA activities enables farmers to meet their material

needs;

Social

Farmers do not contract disease from agricultural practices;

There is no discrimination in terms of ethnicity, religion, age etc

amongst the farmers (e.g. between Christians and Muslims);

Environment

Use of chemical inputs is minimized;

Animal waste generated in the agriculture process is inputted safely

into the agriculture process through compost;

Soil remains healthy and microbial flora is intact;

Farmers use safe water for irrigation;

Transportation of inputs, outputs and of the farmers themselves

does not involve long distances or time-consuming practices.

Built Environment

Farmers possess legally valid land tenure;

Water system provides adequate amounts of water for urban

agriculture;

Political

Recognition and participation of farmers in urban planning processes

including opportunities for farmers to participate in decision making

that impact their wellbeing;Urban planning at the local level considers appropriate infrastructure

and/or techniques that can provide accessible and affordable, and

timely access to water and waste composting resources;

There is credible commitment from urban planning organizations to

support and work with farmers and FAs;

Farmer associations have established levels of cooperation,

reciprocity, solidarity, respect, trust and communication which allow

them to act together to strengthen their negotiating power with

institutions and enable sharing of information.

APPENDIX 7

CRITERIAFOR SUA



51

We will scrutinize the interactions between organizations involved in

planning and the farmers using the theoretical lenses of collective action and

coproduction as established in the work of Elinor Ostrom and the New

Institutional Economics School.30

Collective action

Collective action will help to shed light on the key institutional norms that

underpin cooperative interactions amongst the farmers and civil society.

These norms include cooperation, reciprocity, respect, solidarity and trust.

These norms help bind farmers to work collectively for their mutual benefit.

In previous years, membership of the FA at Plant Pool have helped the

farmers to access training and other services such as piped water from

GWCL. The farmers have also collectively participated in numerous research

projects with IWMI, RUAF, and University of Ghana. However, despite these

efforts, there has been little collaboration in many areas such as accessing

credit facilities; collectively purchasing key inputs such as compost,

equipment and fertilizers; and the production, planning and marketing of

produce.31

Co-production

Joshi and Moore, refining Ostrom‟s concept of coproduction, define

institutionalized coproduction as the provision of public services through a

regular long-term relationship between weak and under-resourced public

agencies and organized group of citizens, where both make resource

contributions. 32 This definition implies that public agencies recognize and

provide the means for civil society to actively participate in decision-making

processes. Public agencies also need to show a level of credible commitment

where they need to reciprocate efforts made by civil society to maintain or

even improve delivery of services by increasing their engagement.

Finding potential areas for coproduction would involve identifying issues for

which farmers and public agencies have shared interests. Potentials to build

credible commitment (by, for example, highlighting complementary aspects

of SUA for either party or by proposing incentives to encourage greater

levels of input from either side) would then need to be explored. Strategies

could then be formulated to encourage coproduction and thereby improvethe terms of recognition for farmers in planning processes. Greater

recognition and participation in planning processes could in turn advance

farmers‟ pursuit of their aspirations and wellbeing.

APPENDIX 8

COLLECTIVEACTION ANDCOPRODUCTION



52

The following table outlines implementation steps, monitoring indicators and

related stakeholders for the four strategies.

Strategy Steps for implementationby PPFA and farmers

Who willmonitor?

Indicators forassessment

Farming bythe book

•New FA executives(following appointment)organize a meeting to discussthe value of creating theirown constitution;•Work with Dzorwulu FA anddraw from their experience

on how to develop aconstitution;•Include all FA members todecide on content of theconstitution and vote all rulesbefore they are accepted;•Make available thecompleted constitution for allmembers.

•MoFA EO •Member turnout fordiscussions and draftingof constitution;•Number of controversiessolved by referring toconstitution;•Decline in time of

number of amendmentsmade.

Acttogether,growtogether

(a) On enumerationscheme:

•Decide information to berecorded;•Identify groups with existingbonds who gatherinformation on each other;•Collate profile informationand share it at FA meetings;•Pass information onto MoFAEO.

(b) On saving scheme:•Use membership dues of FAas basis of scheme to createsavings ledgers;•Decide collectively howmoney will be used, loanedand repaid;•Include mechanisms tomonitor repayments.

•MoFA EO;

•People‟s

Dialogue.

•Number of farmersproviding/refusinginformation; attending FAmeetings, andcontributing to savings;• Assess whether

positive/negativeparticipation is correlatedwith demographiccharacteristics (e.g.unequal participationbetweenChristians/Muslims,young/old etc.);•Frequency of profileupdate;•Total funds in savingsscheme and reasons foruse.

APPENDIX 9

STRATEGYIMPLEMENT-ATION



53

Nothinggoes towaste

•Involve civil societyadvocates (e.g. EnvironmentProtection Agency) to informfarmers about risks of chemical use and motivatethem to participate in project;•Organize meetings withinvolved stakeholders (e.g.waste providers) to evaluatewillingness and to buildrelationships betweendifferent actors;•Ensure CHF/Zoomlionremain involved in the projectfollowing transition of thefacility management,monitoring project progressand resolving any significantissues with PPFA.

•CHF/Zoomlion;•MoFA EO;•NGO (i.e.Environmen

t Protection Agency) onchemicaluseawareness.

•Number of farmersinvolved;•Daily hours farmersdedicate to composting;•Possible decrease in

daily hours devoted tofarming;•Total amount of compost generated everythree months;• Amount, if any, of surplus compost sold;• Amount of fertilizerused.

Protecting

Plant Pool

•Farmers/FA erect signs to

warn about encroachment;•Create maps illustratingfarmers‟ beds and theencroached areas;•Develop ledgers andmaintain to record and profileencroachers;•Seek assistance from MoFAEO and report incidents toGRIDCO/AMA BIU;•Invite representatives of GRIDCO/AMA BIU/MoFA EO,to take part in FA meetingsso that information can beshared;

•See possibility to work withother sites through MoFA EOsto share strategies forpreventing encroachment.

•GRIDCO;

• AMA BIU;•MoFA EO.

•Reduction in number

and size of existingencroachments;•Level of response andquality of relationshipwith institutions;•Number of meetingsattended byGRIDCO/AMA BIU;•Frequency of profile and

encroachment ledgerupdate.



54

Ghana’s Shared Growth and Development Agenda

(2010-2013)

Developed to follow the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (2006-

2009), Shared Growth and Development Agenda plans for a structuraltransformation of the Ghanaian economy in order to ensuring and sustaining

macroeconomic stability. For that purpose, it envisions the development of

an increasingly competitive private sector, characterized by industrialisation,

manufacturing, modernised agriculture and a “sustainable” exploitation of

Ghana‟s natural resources, namely oil and gas.

Human development is among one of the main objectives of the agenda,

but it is immediately followed by the words “employment and productivity”,

which connotes that economic growth and consequent inclusion of people in

the formal labour market are understood as the main mechanisms to

address poverty.

In that context, the document focuses on improving real standard of living

(access to better food, housing, clothing, water, education, health, transport

facilities), however, such improvement is to be measured in relation to

access to tangible goods and services. Again, it is noticeable the focus on

infrastructure to allow for an “orderly development”, which undermines

citizens‟ diverse values and aspirations, and their own perceptions on

“standard of living” 33.

Regarding agriculture, the policy‟s main goal is to promote and support

large-scale enterprises, using science, technology and innovations to

accelerate agricultural modernization and increase productivity, enhancefood security, create employment opportunities, and boost agricultural

export earnings. In the case of small scale farmers, actions like securing

access to extension, storage, price stability, credit, markets and land and

developing improved seeds/planting materials are planned as instruments to

enhance productivity.

Millennium City Plan for Accra

The Millennium City Plans aims to design effective viable strategies for Accra

to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is stated to seek

solutions for the city‟s most pressing challenges, including flooding, watersecurity and sanitation issues; in-migration and unplanned settlements;

congestion; pollution; and the need for detailed and far-sighted urban

planning.

In December 2009, the Metropolitan Assembly launched its vision for the

project, which is “to make Accra a modern city with the provision of utilities

daily, good environment and unlettered roads, effective drainage system,

healthy private and public toilets, disciplined people, effective transportation,

modern hospital to meet the challenges of the time and effective housing

programme to meet the accommodation needs of the people.”

APPENDIX 10

POLICYANALYSIS



55

Once more, it is possible to identify the focus on infrastructure as the

panacea to reduce inequality, or at least its visual manifestations in the city.

Aligned with this vision, halting of informal settlements gains a new force.

As declared by mayor Dr. Vanderpuije, “the new Accra is to see the end of

further slum development while existing slums would be upgraded” 34

.

Furthermore, along those same lines, during a field research Q&A session

about the Millennium City Project, realized on May 11 th 2011, a

representative from AMA emphasised the migration and urban growth

factors as a big problematic, which needed to be “contained”, since not all

migrants are able to secure a job and represent an increased demand for

public services.

Decentralisation Policy

The Decentralization Policy intends to widen the opportunities for citizens to

participate in local decision-making processes. Concerning economic

development, a decentralized state is expected to address poverty and lower

inequality by making public services more responsive to the needs of its

people. Decentralization, therefore, has been regarded as a normatively

justified policy, as it is closely linked to a democratization process.

The new Local Government System, in place since the review of the Act 480

of the National Development Planning System Acts (1994), in 2010, is a

response to the criticisms to the old system, reflected in the Constitution

among other legislative instruments, which had a lot of drawbacks because

was centrally planned and did not reflect citizens‟ perspectives.

Currently, Ghana‟s political structure consists of the Ministry of Local

Government in the policy-making level, followed by the Regional

Coordination Council, which is responsible for the coordination and

monitoring of the local level bodies, namely the District, Municipal and

Metropolitan assemblies. These assemblies and its sub units (sub-metros,

councils and unit committees) are the implementation front, and are

responsible for mobilization and allocation of resources at the local level, in

addition to budgeting, planning, and delivering services.

Through these policies, functions, powers, means and competences are

being transferred from the national level, however, budgets are still

centralized, since only 6% of the national revenue goes to the District

Assembly Common Fund and then distributed according to a number of

criteria, along with guidelines on how to spend it.

Moreover, the complexity of the Local Government System‟s reporting

structure, intensified by the fuzzy definition of traditional authorities‟ roles,

seem to a major obstacle for local bodies, especially the Assemblies, to

effectively engage with citizens and take their inputs to the highest levels of

policy making.



56

Ghana’s Budget Report

In the matters concerning agriculture, to ensure the growth of incomes in

the sector and the reduction in income variability, the policy encourages

farmers in addition to their food crop farming activities to diversify into the

cultivation of cash crops and livestock for which they have comparative and

competitive advantages.

To support small-scale agriculture, the Budget Report presented the Small

Farm Irrigation Project, which consists of the construction of irrigation

facilities for an area of 492 ha designated for crop production. Additionally,

the document registers the Ministry intention to increase the involvement of

the private sector and NGOs in the delivery of services such as farmer

training, Farmer Based Organization (FBO) development, input procurement

and distribution and provision of technical services.



57

1 Kraus, J., 1991, „The Struggle Over Structural Adjustment in Ghana‟, Africa

Today Vol. 38 (4) pp.19-37.

2 Louis, K., 2005, „The Lament of a Nation: Ghana‟s SAP Experience‟,

Ghanaweb , Accessed 07/06/2011. Available from:

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=8045

3

3 World Bank, 2011, „Ghana: World Bank Approves US$215m for Ghana‟,

Portal to Africa , Accessed on 5/06/2011. Available from

http://portaltoafrica.com/news/africa/finance/world-bank-approves-us215m-

for-ghana/

4 World Bank, 2011.

5 Ghanaweb, 2010, „Ghana Attains Middle Income Country Status‟, Accessed

01/06/2011. Available from:

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/artikel.php?ID=1

96857

6 „The Gini coefficient is a measurement of income inequality‟, The 2006 CIA

World Fact Book: Country Comparison: Distribution of Family Income ,

Accessed 01/06/2011. Available from:

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-

factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html

7

Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy, 2003, Accessed 02/06/2011. Availablefrom

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/GHANAEXTN/Resources/Ghana_PRSP.pdf

8 Ghana Districts, 2011, „AMA Demographic Characteristics‟, Accessed on

June 02 2011. Available from

http://www.ama.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/?arrow=atd&_=3&sa=3004.

9 RUAF, 2011, „Urban Agriculture in Accra‟, Accessed on June 02 2011.

Available from http://www.ruaf.org/node/498#intro

10 As defined by the Wellbeing in Developing Countries Research Group in

White, S. C., 2010, „Analysing Wellbeing: a Framework for Development

Practice‟, Development in Practice , Vol. 20, No. 2, March, p. 158.

11 White, S. C., 2010, „Analysing Wellbeing: a Framework for Development

Practice‟, Development in Practice , Vol. 20, No. 2, March, pp. 158-172.

12 Frediani, A.A., 2010, ‘Sen’s Capability Approach as a framework to

the practice of development’, Development in practice, Vol. 20, No.2,

p.175.

13 Sen, A., 1999, Development as Freedom , Oxford University Press: Oxford,

p.87.

LIST OF

REFERENCES




http://portaltoafrica.com/news/africa/finance/world-bank-approves-us215m-for-ghana/






https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html





http://www.ama.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/?arrow=atd&_=3&sa=3004














58

14 Based on Nussbaum, M., Sen, A. (eds), 1993, The Quality of Life . Oxford

University Press: Oxford. Agency involves an individual‟s consciousness

about their situation and willingness to act, as much as his/hers concrete

skills and capacities to do so.15 Based on Levy C., 2010, „Perspectives and Potentials in Planning‟, lecture

given at the Development Planning Unit, UCL, 1 October. State-led

modernisation refers to the dominant development approach in the 1950s-

60s where a „strong‟ state was viewed as the stimulator of development and

economic planning through such strategies as state-led industrialisation. The

general failure of this development model led to the emergence and current

pre-dominance of the neo-liberal development model where the state has

withdrawn from its previous role in economic planning. Instead the state has

become the enabler of economic development by providing incentives for

the market and private sector to determine the trajectory of economicdevelopment, which sees the shrinking of the size and power of the state as

it withdraws from public service provision.

16 See Figure 2 and description, p.156 in Allen A., 2001, „Urban Sustainability

under Threat: the Restructuring of the Fishing Industry in Mar del Plata,

Argentina, Development in Practice , Vol. 11, No. 2, pp. 152-173.

17 Based upon Dubbeling M., Van Veenhuizen, R., De Zeeuw H., 2011, „The

Role of Urban Agriculture in Building Resilient Cities in Developing

Countries‟, Journal of Agricultural Science , No. 149, pp. 153-163. This

interpretation of SUA shows how urban agriculture has the potential to

provide a significant source of local livelihoods, improve a city‟s vulnerabilityto food insecurity, mitigate the impacts of climate variability and flooding,

and overall help place Accra‟s urban planning on a more sustainable path.

18 See Appendix 7 for a more detailed breakdown of these criteria.

19 This has involved incorporating democratization, transparency and public

accountability, greater popular participation in decision making and effective

policy and development planning. For further details see Gough, K. and

Yankson, P., 2001, „The Role of Civil Society in Urban Management in Accra,

Ghana‟, in Tostensen, A., Tvedten, I. and Vaa M. (Eds.), Associated Life in

African Cities – Popular Responses to the Urban Crisis , Uppsala: Nordiska

Afrikainstitutet.

20 Gough, K. and Yankson, P., 2001, „The Role of Civil Society in Urban

Management in Accra, Ghana‟, in Tostensen, A., Tvedten, I. and Vaa M.

(Eds.), Associated Life in African Cities – Popular Responses to the Urban

Crisis , Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet.

21 Al-Khalifa K., Shahar Brinenberg S., Chi X., Egborge E., Jeffery T., Nwogu

A., Solomon V., Song J., and Tao Y., 2010, Promoting Sustainable Urban

Agriculture in Accra, Ghana - 2010 Case Study: Plant Pool and Roman Ridge ,

Development Planning Unit, UCL.



59

22 Gough, K. and Yankson, P., 2001, „The Role of Civil Society in Urban

Management in Accra, Ghana‟, in Tostensen, A., Tvedten, I. and Vaa M.

(Eds.), Associated Life in African Cities – Popular Responses to the Urban

Crisis , Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, p. 141.23 Previous years‟ studies found that Plant Pool farmers managed to self -

organize as a FA. However, Plant Pool farmers, MoFA, and the TCPU were all

found to agree that farmers needed to be better organized and more willing

to collaborate for them to improve their terms of recognition in relation to

urban planning processes. For further details see Al-Khalifa K., Shahar

Brinenberg S., Chi X., Egborge E., Jeffery T., Nwogu A., Solomon V., Song

J., and Tao Y., 2010, Promoting Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Accra,

Ghana - 2010 Case Study: Plant Pool and Roman Ridge, Development

Planning Unit, UCL.

24 During in-depth interviews, farmers Carlos Salasie and EmmanuelQuarshie pointed out that, because Muslims and Christians shared the

leadership roles in the association, the group was more cohesive and

conflicts were easily resolved.

25 The Department of Cooperative‟s mission is that cooperatives and farmer-

based organizations “operate as efficient member-owned and managed

business enterprises”.

26 One of many privatized inputs into UA in Accra; IWMI meeting at ABH,

9th May 2011

27

SAPs increase pressure on land in two main ways: firstly, raised interestrates make investment and speculation on land more attractive, and

secondly pressure to develop and urbanise creates even higher demand for

„undeveloped‟ land. See Yeboah, I. E. A., 2000, „Structural Adjustment and

Emerging Urban Form in Accra, Ghana‟, Africa Today , Vol. 47, No. 2 and his

follow-up article Yeboah, I. E. A., 2003, „Demographic and Housing Aspects

of Structural Adjustment and Emerging Urban Form in Accra, Ghana‟, Africa

Today , Vol. 50, No. 1 for a compelling explanation of how Ghana‟s SAPs

have contributed to the acceleration of Accra‟s urban expansion.

28 The National Building Regulation, Part II, Sub-Part I, Item 13 states that

“(3) No building shall be erected over a drain, culvert, watercourse, high

tension cable or sewer; except that a District Planning Authority may pass

the building plans if it considers that it can properly agree to the proposal in

the circumstances of the case.”

29 See in the notes reference from TCP meeting.

30 We drew heavily on the following works for our definitions of collective

action and co-production: Ostrom E, 1990, Governing the Commons: the

Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action , Cambridge; New York:

Cambridge University Press; Poteete A.R., Janssen M.A. and Ostrom E.,

2010, „Chapter 9: Pushing the Frontiers of the Theory of Collective Action

and the Commons‟, from Poteete A.R., Janssen M.A. and Ostrom E.,



Working Together: Collective Action, the Commons, and Multiple Methods in

Practice , pp. 215-247, Woodstock: Princeton University Press; and Ostrom,

E., 1996, „Crossing the Great Divide: Co-production, Synergy and

Development‟, World Development, Vol. 24, No. 6, pp. 1073-1087.31 Beckwith L., Chaware K., Coll F., Cowan L., Egeh B., Gitonga K., Guilbert-

Billetdoux A. and Musi S., Salazar D., Valerio A., Ziegler T., 2009, Promoting

Sustainable Livelihoods through Sustainable Urban Agriculture – Case Study:

Dzorwulu, Ghana , Development Planning Unit, UCL and Al-Khalifa K., Shahar

Brinenberg S., Chi X., Egborge E., Jeffery T., Nwogu A., Solomon V., Song

J., and Tao Y., 2010, Promoting Sustainable Urban Agriculture in Accra,

Ghana - 2010 Case Study: Plant Pool and Roman Ridge , Development

Planning Unit, UCL.

32 Joshi A. and Moore M., 2004, „Institutionalised Co-production: Unorthodox

Public Service Delivery in Challenging Environments‟, The Journal of Development Studies , Vol. 40, No. 4, April, pp. 31-49.

33 Nevertheless an effort has been done on understanding people‟s evaluation of the

current status of public services quality and administration efficiency, in a document

named Consultative Citizen‟s Report Card.

34 AMA, 2010, Accra declared Millennium City. Available from

http://ama.gov.gh/ama/page/5177/accra-declared-millennium-city. Published in 1st

March 2010. Accessed on May 19, 2011.

http://ama.gov.gh/ama/page/5177/accra-declared-millennium-city



Plant Pool: A case study for analysing wellbeing through sustainable urban agriculture

Documents