Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana carried out health financing reforms in their respective periods and adopted policy choices that were in opposition to their known ideological preferences. Although Rawlings subscribes to the tenets of socialism he introduced a cash-and-carry health financing policy that required citizens to pay for health services at the point of delivery. Kufuor on the other hand opted for socially inclusive health insurance scheme based on risk and resource pooling against his party’s ideological preference for market solutions to service provision. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the choices made during the time of these two leaders in the area of health financing and points to a complex interaction between (a) variants of dominant ideological beliefs at the foreground of global policy discourses in their respective years–(Rawlings 1981-2000 & Kufuor 2000- 2008); and (b) a configuration of domestic political exigencies. In particular, the analyses show that (a) global neo-liberal policy discourse with its high emphasis on commodification of social services was instrumental in shaping the choice of cash-and-carry under Rawlings, notwithstanding his socialist posturing; while (b) the rise of inclusive growth based on global narratives wrapped in the language of poverty reduction in the early 2000s enhanced the opportunity structures for the adoption of national health insurance policy under Kufuor, much against his preference for free market approach to public policy. The analysis has implications for the extent of commitment to party ideology and autonomy of actors in the decision-making processes in developing countries.
Item
Title
Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana carried out health financing reforms in their respective periods and adopted policy choices that were in opposition to their known ideological preferences. Although Rawlings subscribes to the tenets of socialism he introduced a cash-and-carry health financing policy that required citizens to pay for health services at the point of delivery. Kufuor on the other hand opted for socially inclusive health insurance scheme based on risk and resource pooling against his party’s ideological preference for market solutions to service provision. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the choices made during the time of these two leaders in the area of health financing and points to a complex interaction between (a) variants of dominant ideological beliefs at the foreground of global policy discourses in their respective years–(Rawlings 1981-2000 & Kufuor 2000- 2008); and (b) a configuration of domestic political exigencies. In particular, the analyses show that (a) global neo-liberal policy discourse with its high emphasis on commodification of social services was instrumental in shaping the choice of cash-and-carry under Rawlings, notwithstanding his socialist posturing; while (b) the rise of inclusive growth based on global narratives wrapped in the language of poverty reduction in the early 2000s enhanced the opportunity structures for the adoption of national health insurance policy under Kufuor, much against his preference for free market approach to public policy. The analysis has implications for the extent of commitment to party ideology and autonomy of actors in the decision-making processes in developing countries.
Date
2018
Language
English
Abstract
Yam production in Ghana and other West African countries are characterized by annual shift from land to land in search for fertile soils contributing to deforestation and land degradation. There is therefore the need to address this challenge with innovative land use technology that would sustain production in the face of this challenge. The specific objective of the study was to verify and demonstrate improved agronomic package for sustainable yam production in yam growing communities of Ejura and Atebubu in the forest-savannah transitional ecology of Ghana. Two treatment packages of improved agronomic practices and farmers' practices were arranged in Randomised Complete Block Design on a total of 8 farmers' fields consisting of 4 each from Ejura and Atebubu. The improved agronomic package consisted of ridging as seedbed, seed treatment with insecticide and fungicide, fertilizer application at a rate of 45:45:60 N: P 0 : K 0 kg/ha and the use of minimum staking (trellis; 30-50% number 2 5 2 of stakes used in farmers staking). This was compared with farmers' practice, which consisted of mounding, no fertilizer application and no seed treatment. The results revealed high yam tuber yields of 196% and 205% on the improved agronomic fields over farmers' practice fields in Ejura and Atebubu farming communities respectively. The study had demonstrated that out-scaling of improved agronomic packages would sustain yam production on continuously cropped fields and address the problem of deforestation associated with yam production.
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Citation
“Presidents Jerry John Rawlings and John Agyekum Kufuor of Ghana carried out health financing reforms in their respective periods and adopted policy choices that were in opposition to their known ideological preferences. Although Rawlings subscribes to the tenets of socialism he introduced a cash-and-carry health financing policy that required citizens to pay for health services at the point of delivery. Kufuor on the other hand opted for socially inclusive health insurance scheme based on risk and resource pooling against his party’s ideological preference for market solutions to service provision. This paper provides a comparative analysis of the choices made during the time of these two leaders in the area of health financing and points to a complex interaction between (a) variants of dominant ideological beliefs at the foreground of global policy discourses in their respective years–(Rawlings 1981-2000 & Kufuor 2000- 2008); and (b) a configuration of domestic political exigencies. In particular, the analyses show that (a) global neo-liberal policy discourse with its high emphasis on commodification of social services was instrumental in shaping the choice of cash-and-carry under Rawlings, notwithstanding his socialist posturing; while (b) the rise of inclusive growth based on global narratives wrapped in the language of poverty reduction in the early 2000s enhanced the opportunity structures for the adoption of national health insurance policy under Kufuor, much against his preference for free market approach to public policy. The analysis has implications for the extent of commitment to party ideology and autonomy of actors in the decision-making processes in developing countries.,” CSIRSpace, accessed September 19, 2024, http://cspace.csirgh.com/items/show/168.