CSPS researchers, Dr. Kwadwo Opoku and Dr. George Domfe, presented a new formula for allocation of the District Assembly Common Fund to members of the Special Parliamentary Committee on Poverty Reduction.  NDPC and UNICEF helped to organize this roundtable discussion on the District League Table and how it can be more effectively used to address the disparities among the districts. The meeting also provided an opportunity to examine the extent to which the existing District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) formula is able to address inequalities among the 261 Districts.

The "local turn" in devleopment planning is often traced to the late 1990s and 2000s. However, governments in Ghana made village-level projects a cornerstone of rural governance throughout the twentieth centure, particularly in regions considerd remote. Drawing on archival and oral historical research conducted in northern Ghana, the presentation traces this longer history in two ways.

The phrase “arresting the depreciation of Ghana Cedi” became popular among political pundits during the period between 2013 and 2016 when the cedi experienced persistent depreciation and became a talking point in the run-off to the general elections. Between 2016 and 2021, the Cedi’s performance improved.  However, in the last quarter of the year 2022, the Cedi was judged by Bloomberg to be the worst-performing currency among Africa’s top currencies. This reignited the old conversation on the volatility of our currency.

The presentation unpacks the complex decision-making processes amongst cocoa farmers who are giving away their farmlands for mining concessions in Southwestern Ghana. The study is premised on a qualitative research design involving primarily cocoa farmers, small-scale miners, and mining financiers. The discussion focuses on how and why state policies, land tenure, inheritance systems, and the decreasing value of cocoa relative to gold, influence farmers’ decisions to sacrifice the generational benefits of their farmlands for immediate wealth gains.

"Digital platforms are changing how individuals around the world find and do work, and how small enterprises and farmers connect with markets. What are the experiences of individual workers and sellers as their livelihoods change? And what are the opportunities for digital development?"
 

These questions motivated research done by CSPS (co-led by Prof. Nana Akua Anyidoho and Prof. Akosua Darkwah) which is now available https://www.platformlivelihoods.com