Structural Adjustment Programs And Its Impact On Ghana 's Human Development

The concept of neoliberalism, for the past two decades, has not only been the centrepiece of formulating policies in the United States and United Kingdom but has further pitched its tentacles in Japan as well as a part of Europe. However, several moves has been taken to propagate the concept into ‘Third World’ countries in which it has being successful, although its influence is yet to spread completely across the globe, as severe resistance has been put up against it. Neoliberalism and globalisation are two separate phenomenons’ in which each has helped to facilitate the other.

There are many issues to be looked at when trying to better understand the development or underdevelopment of African countries such as Ghana. According to Todd Moss’, “African Development,” some of these issues are: economic reform and the politics of adjustment, the international aid system, debt burdens and debt relief, poverty, human development, and HIV/AIDS, the African Union and regional institutions, Africa and world trade, and private investment and the business environment (Moss 2007). One of the main issues that will be looked into is the interaction of Ghana and World Trade. Some themes that need to be discussed when talking about trade are geography, leadership, and institutions. These themes all play a huge part in how a country handles the resources or products they have and whether or not they effectively get them to the world trade market. Ghana is ahead of most other African countries in these categories. They are moving forward and using the resources they have been blessed with to continue to grow and develop their country.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth has increased rapidly since the turn of the 21st century. GDP growth in the region was expected to rise over 5% between 2013 and 2015 (Source: World Bank Database). This growth is largely driven by an increasing population, a commodity-price boom, rapid urbanization and rise in use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). Within Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana’s economy has expanded due to political stability, relatively liberal economic policies and a growing middle class.

Although Ghana has sought out financial and development support from the United States, other supportive sources from developed countries may be of an asset to developing country dealing with global

A process of neoliberal restructuring has been going on in many parts of the world in recent decades. The belief that domestic and international liberalization, privatization, and cutbacks in public spending are the route to economic success is firmly lodged, despite the absence of supporting evidence. In the 1980s and early 1990s the fastest growing economies in the world – such countries as South Korea, Taiwan, China, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia -- had institutions and policies that significantly departed from neoliberal prescriptions. The closest followers of the neoliberal agenda, such as the US since the late 1970s and the formerly Communist Party ruled states of Eastern and Central Europe since the end of the 1980s, registered economic performance ranging from poor to disastrous.

4. Read Annual Editions Article 4.1, "Africa's Hopeful Economies: The Sun Shines Bright", pp. 116-122, and Article 4.2, "Can Africa Turn from Recovery to Development?", pp. 122-127.

Martin Hart-Lansberg writes treaties like the World Trade Organization (WTO) contribute to the increasing unpredictability of the of the economy and has decreased the standard of living. Hart-Lansberg affirms that opponents of globalization must make a concerted effort to diminish the notion that free trade is a disguise to endorse capitalist interests. The article further claims neoliberalism works to undermine the international working class versus improving it.

Neoliberal globalization is an economic system that promotes free market policies of liberalization, deregulation, privatization, and the cutting of social support systems. The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank help promote these policies by making structural adjustment programs conditions for any aid or support. Unfortunately, once structural adjustment programs are put into place they tend to disrupt developing countries’ economies and end up making them even worse off than before. Before the 1980s, developing countries had a per capita growth rate of more than 3%, once these policies were put into place growth rates dropped to 1.7% (Hickel 2012: 7). This provides evidence that these programs are pushed at developing countries

I am highly motivated to pursue further studies in agricultural and resource economics at Kasetsart University. My strong interest in agriculture and the business of agriculture and its relation to economic development . Agriculture is the backbone of my country Ghana, supplying food for the nation's population. It is part of a massive business sector that provides many opportunities for the masses of people.

There were many economic struggles in Ghana that put sever stress on the residents. Because of the lack of money there are a huge number of people that are unemployed and will continue to be for a very long amount of time. Those between the ages of 18 and 35 are most commonly struggling through being jobless but this makes up so much of Ghana’s population. With a scarcity of money, infrastructural struggles begin to occur which is not easy to deal with. They barely have electricity, running water, heat, etc. and this can result in many uncomfortable results.

Even in the colonial times Ghana was seen as a country with prospects. From about 1945 to 1957 which is after the Second World War Gold Coast was a model colony of the British empire given that it was endowed with a relatively advanced network of infrastructure and social service institutions in health and education. These were facilities that had been financed with the proceeds of a previous cocoa boom in the 1920’s. The cocoa boom was so remunerative to the extent that the Governor Gordon Guggisberg felt confident enough as to write a long term development plan for the colony. As early as 1947 the colony

The World Bank has been a major contributor financially in aiding Ghana (Goldsmith, 2001) and the country has received 37 million dollars per year from 2004 to 2007 from U.S. Agency for international development alone (USAID, 2008). Even though the country has received large amounts of money, the external debt that the country has acquired has kept money being spent on social services and instead is going towards paying off the debt. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have allowed heavily indebted countries some debt relief which Ghana is one of them provided that they meet certain conditions (International Monetary Fund, 2008). This should have freed up resources to be spent on health, education and other social services but that is not evident in the reduction of the rate of infant and child mortality rate. Disparities do exist between regions and social classes, the richest which is comprised of 20 percent of the population have a 46 percent share of the overall consumption and income in the country (Human Development Report, 2007/2008). Ghana despite somewhat lower corruption levels, the elite class still controls the disbursement of funds. Women, especially among the poor in rural areas remain the most disadvantaged group with limited or little

The example of Dingxi’s anti poverty drive readily comes to mind and this paper highly recommends that Ghana should adopt a similar strategy designed along her unique characteristics.

The rise of globalization following WWII generated three important factors that define today’s world. McNeill and McNeill agree with Pollard, Rosenberg, and Tignor that multiple economic changes, such as the creation of financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) contributed to the globalization of the world economy. Carter and Warren further this argument by claiming that globalization has caused shifts in the modern economy, namely the rise of Asian economic powers. However, all three historians agree that the rise of globalization goes hand in hand with the rise of inequality in today’s world. Gaps in power, wealth, and access to information have only widened due to the trend of globalization. The final key factor defining our world today are the ongoing processes affecting development countries. McNeill and McNeill argue similarly to Carter and Warren that the end of imperialism generated new nations who quickly realized the free market was a pathway to stability. However, Pollard et al. and McNeill and McNeill place importance on financial institutions like the IMF forcing developing nations to reform their economies to be subservient to the world’s economy. Together, these historians argue that the trend of globalization following WWII caused factors like the modern global economy, the rise in inequality, and the development of new, decolonized nations to be key determiners in the world today.