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

Abstract

This paper reviews the state of the environment in Ghana and explores the potential for the use of institutional, legal and economic instruments in environmental management in the specific context of this developing country. The environmental situation in Ghana is characterised by desertification, land degradation, deforestation, soil erosion, desertification 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 suburbanised area. Water quality is particularly threatened in the urban and industrialised 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 away by the sea. The obvious environmental consequences of the mining sector are illustrative of the environmental threats caused by a fast growing industry and industrialising 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.