The case of Ghana's President's Special Initiative on Oil Palm (PSI-Oil Palm).

Abstract

How can a programme fail when it is initiated and instituted by the most powerful politico-administrative elites of a country? Launched under the auspices of the President and Government of Ghana in 2001 and monitored by an Inter-Ministerial Facilitation Team, programmes coming under the President's Special Initiatives (PSI) have grounded to a halt by the end of 2007. This study analyses the politics of policy formulation and implementation with regard to the President Special Initiative Oil Palm project under the NPP government. It focuses on the idea of 'political settlements' to illuminate how combinations of fractionalization, divided coalitions and/or consensus among different contenders for power combine with other structural limitations to accelerate the failure of pro-poor policies.