Institutional, Legal, and Economic Instruments in Ghana's Environmental Policy

The environmental situation in Ghana is characterized by desertification, land degradation, deforestation, soil erosion, and inadequate water supply in the northern regions of the country. The population as a whole is growing at a rate of 3% per annum, with even greater urban growth rates, due to rural out-migration. Large parts of the coastal zone in the south are rapidly developing to become one large suburbanized area. Water quality is particularly threatened in the urban and industrialized areas, which are mainly located in the southern part of the country. The coastal lagoons and coastal waters are moderately to heavily polluted. Erosion extends along the whole Ghanaian coast with excesses, for example, in the Keta area, where during the last century over 90% of the original buildings have been washed awayby the sea. The obvious environmental consequences of the mining sector are illustrative of the environmental threats caused by a fast growing industry and industrializing agriculture, in a country where environmental policy is only in its formative years. Desertification, food insecurity and coastal erosion all contribute to an increasing number of environmental refugees. Environmental policy in Ghana is a post-Rio phenomenon. Environmental laws, a Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology, an advisory National Committee for the Implementation of Agenda 21, and a fully mandated environmental administration have been established. This administration advocates a progressive attitude towards environmental legislation and points out the specific utility of economic and legal instruments in environmental management in this relatively fast developing country. The choice of instruments for environmental management is increasingly influenced by the specific state of African environmental and technological capacity and by a call for the recognition of the role of traditional customs in nature conservation. This African perspective on environmental management is further intensified by an unmet need for regional, transboundary cooperation in the West African subcontinent. This specific West African context calls for an elaboration of an effective capacity-building program for environmental management in the area.