Document Abstract
Published:
2007
Linking research and policy: the case of Ghana's rice trade policy
Research-policy linkages in Ghana's rice tariff reforms
Agricultural trade policies, in particular import tariffs to protect domestic production, constitute a highly contested field of agricultural policy. In view of the recent focus on “evidence-based policy making” in the international development debate, the question arises as to which extent research-based evidence is used in such policy decisions, and which role research plays as compared to other political factors. Against this background, this paper seeks to examine and explain research-policy linkages in the case of rice tariff reform in Ghana. It is based on literature reviews and 70 interviews.
The paper uses a historical cultural political economy approach, and reveals that in order to understand the actions of Ghana’s policy makers, there is a need to go beyond currently used approaches to understanding politics in order to reveal the complex factors that underlie such policy decisions.
The paper starts by locating the study in the framework of the recent interest of the international development community in agriculture on the one hand, and in evidence-based policy-making on the other. The paper then reviews the recent literature on the links between research and policy making. After briefly describing the study’s conceptual framework and methodology, the paper gives an overview of Ghana’s governance, political dynamics, socio-economic trends, agricultural policies, which provide the setting for research-policy linkages.
The study shows that research-policy linkages on the issue of rice trade are neither strong nor extensive and there are a wide range of reasons for this. Some proximate reasons have to do with the particular sorts of linkages identified, including personnel, conferences, media, publications, informal links, consultancy, libraries, and Parliament.
However, the study also finds that, in addition to these sorts fairly common proximate reasons already widely identified in the literature, part of the explanation also rests in prominent discourses and intricate politics in Ghana. Understanding these in turn rests on moving beyond such catchall explanations as urban bias or neo-patrimonialism, as well as beyond overly aggregate checklists
The paper uses a historical cultural political economy approach, and reveals that in order to understand the actions of Ghana’s policy makers, there is a need to go beyond currently used approaches to understanding politics in order to reveal the complex factors that underlie such policy decisions.
The paper starts by locating the study in the framework of the recent interest of the international development community in agriculture on the one hand, and in evidence-based policy-making on the other. The paper then reviews the recent literature on the links between research and policy making. After briefly describing the study’s conceptual framework and methodology, the paper gives an overview of Ghana’s governance, political dynamics, socio-economic trends, agricultural policies, which provide the setting for research-policy linkages.
The study shows that research-policy linkages on the issue of rice trade are neither strong nor extensive and there are a wide range of reasons for this. Some proximate reasons have to do with the particular sorts of linkages identified, including personnel, conferences, media, publications, informal links, consultancy, libraries, and Parliament.
However, the study also finds that, in addition to these sorts fairly common proximate reasons already widely identified in the literature, part of the explanation also rests in prominent discourses and intricate politics in Ghana. Understanding these in turn rests on moving beyond such catchall explanations as urban bias or neo-patrimonialism, as well as beyond overly aggregate checklists
