NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC

CONGRESS

2000 MANIFESTO

GHANA:

Spreading The Benefits

Of Development

NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS

2000 MANIFESTO

GHANA: SPREADING THE BENEFITS OF

DEVELOPMENT

FOREWORD - By the Founder and leader of

The NDC, Flt. Lt. J.J. Rawlings iv

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PREFACE - By the NDC Presidential

Candidate, Professor Atta-Mills ix

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INTRODUCTION: … … …. … … … … … 1

i. The National Democratic Congress … … … … 1

ii. Development of Freedom … … … … … 2

iii. Decentralisation For Development … … … … 3

iv. A New Anti Poverty Focus … … … … … 4

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A MORAL AND JUST SOCIETY … … … … … … 6

i. The Fight against Corruption … … … … … 6

ii. Human Rights … … … … … … … 6

iii. Affirmative Action for Women … … … … 8

iv. A New Political Culture … … … … … 9

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THE ECONOMY … … … … … … … … 11

i. Macro-Economic Stability … … … … … 11

ii. Production and Productivity … … … … … 14

iii. The Investment Drive … … … … … … 15

iv. Balanced Development … … … … … 16

v. A Strategic Industrial Thrust … … … … … 16

vi. New International Trading Relationships … … … 19

vii. Regional Economic Integration … … … … 20

viii. Agriculture and Food Security … … … … 20

ix. Cocoa - The Old Faithful … … … … … 25

x. Diversifying our Exports … … … … … 27

xi. Our Forests … … … … … … … 28

xii. Adding Value to our Minerals … … … … 30

xiii. Energy for Growth … … … … … … 31

xiv. The Tourists are coming … … … … … 35

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THE SOCIAL CONTRACT … … … … … … 37

i. Promoting employment … … … … … 37

ii. Social Security … … … … … … 40

iii. Health Happiness … … … … … … 40

iv. Education for All … … … … … … 42

v. Every Ghanaian must have a Home … … … … 45

vi. Water - a Human need … … … … … 47

vii. Transportation … … … … … … 48

viii. Roads … … … … … … … … 50

ix. Urban Planning and Development Strategy … … … 51

x. Our Land, Our Basic Resource … … … … 53

xi. Too Many People? … … … … … … 54

xii. The Environment … … … … … … 55

xiii. Science and Technology for Development … … … 56

xv. The Media … … … … … … … 59

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MIND, BODY AND SPIRIT … … … … … … 61

i. Our Cultural Values … … … … … … 61

ii. Religion and Morality … … … … … … 62

iii. Sports and Recreation … … … … … … 62

iv. The Future Belongs to the Youth … … … … 64

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SECURITY … … … … … … … … … 66

i. Our Territory Integrity … … … … … 66

ii. Law and Order … … … … … … 67

iii. A New Image for the Police … … … … … 69

iv. Justice - Our National Motto … … … … … 70

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GHANA AND THE WORLD … … … … … … 72

i. West Africa … … … … … … … 72

ii. Africa … … … … … … … … 72

iii. Ties with Fraternal Parties … … … … … 72

iv. South-South Commitment … … … … … 73

v. The NDC Ghana and the World … … … … 74

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CONCLUSION … … … … … … … … 75

FOREWORD

BY THE FOUNDER AND LEADER OF NDC

Seven years ago, the NDC took over the very solid foundations for the development of our country that had been laid in the revolutionary period of the PNDC. The NDC not only continued with the pragmatic economic and political policies of the PNDC but also has actually succeeded in the translation of the policies into real development structures that any developing country can be proud of.

Today, the advances we have made in social, cultural, economic and political circumstances have become the standard beacons of development that the international community point out to other countries in need of reconstruction.

Our continued success in ensuring national development, peace and stability are a reflection of the Party's ability to respond effectively to the emerging challenges.

Ghana's new votes, especially the youth, who we expect to critically analyze and appreciate the contents of this Manifesto, must realize that they have grown up with, and have taken for granted, the world of communication centres, the IDD, mobile telephones, internet services, asphalt roads and holidays abroad for the more privileged ones among them.

They must realize that the generation before them, for whom the PNDC/NDC revolution was launched, had to travel from every part of the country to the Accra Central Post Office before they could make overseas telephone calls to relatives and friends, and such calls had to be booked three days in advance!

Apart from the Accra-Tema motorway, virtually no road in the country was considered vehicle-worthy. You could count the number of vehicles on the roads because there was no fuel to power them.

"Kalabule" was the term used to describe the phenomenon of acute shortages of basic consumables.

To get a tin of milk, a kilo of sugar or a cake of toilet soap, you had to know somebody who could then see the manager of a "Designated Supermarket" who, if you were lucky, could get you what were then referred to as "Essencos" or essential commodities.

And all because we had at the time, politicians and bureaucrats who worked and lived for only themselves and their immediate families while the ordinary person and the national economy suffered.

Today, as a result of the responsible and progressive PNDC/NDC governance, the image of Ghana as a morally rotten, economically bankrupt and politically unstable country has disappeared. The new image and, indeed reality, is that of a successfully reconstructed society that serves as the model of emulation by other countries.

In place of narrow, pot-holed roads we now have wide long-stretching asphalted roads. The number of schools, from kindergarten through primary to JSS, SSS, polytechnics and universities, have increased. Clinics are at the doorsteps of many villages. Electricity is extended to remote rural communities. The water is not only of better quality than before but is accessible to many who previously lacked it.

Even though we do not produce oil, we do not have to queue for petrol. The consumer goods that previously required a "purchasing chit" from a Minister of State are now available to all.

What the PNDC/NDC governments have done is simply this. We have rebuilt the social, economic and political infrastructure of development that was irresponsibly destroyed.

We have also created the conditions for gainful employment for all for real and meaningful grassroots political participation and representation. The political representation ratio of 1:50 in the combined local and central government systems puts us in the top bracket in world-wide democratic practice.

What our achievements mean for every Ghanaian is that through hard work, each individual can increase his or her income and better his or her lot.

The call to work is a call to the youth in particular, for they it were who did not witness the deprivations of the 1970s when our country was sent crawling on its knees.

As we get ready to cast our votes in December 2000 elections, I make a call on all Ghanaians of goodwill and truth who acknowledge the changes that have occurred in our country, to VOTE for the NDC; to VOTE for the TRUTH.

The Manifesto of our Party is a testimony of what the NDC and its political allies have achieved. It is a social contract that the NDC is signing with the people of Ghana to deliver peaceful political relations and real economic welfare to all, without discrimination.

The Manifesto is particularly a signal for our womenfolk to be recognised, respected and given their due places in the Party, in Parliament and in Government. As the section in the Manifesto on "Affirmative Action for Women" makes clear, we are committed to "forty percent women's representative at all levels of Government". We believe that "women's" rights are natural rights" and we will work to ensure that "men and women stand side by side as equal partners in progress".

The Manifesto is also a signal to the media that the period of "NDC - bashing" is over. We have to work to create a new era of partnership in development between the NDC government and the media so that there will be less need for legislation.

We ask you to read this Manifesto because we want you to judge us by it at the end of our tenure. Read it, and judge for yourself that we have been modest because we are pragmatic in what we say and do.

Read it and see for yourself that we have promised nothing more than gainful hard work that you the electorate and us the Party must understand to make our individual and collective lives better.

And better, we can make it. For a lot of development has taken place. What has to happen is that its benefits must be spread to all. This is the meaning of the theme of our Manifesto - "Ghana: Spreading the benefits of Development".

So as you cast your vote in December, remember that the NDC is the Party to vote for because it seeks, in the next four years, to make a beneficiary of the country's development.

In voting for the NDC, you vote for yourself.

Vote NDC.

Vote for Unity, Stability and Development.

J.J. RAWLINGS

PREFACE

BY THE NDC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE

In this Manifesto, we have summarised what we will do as a Government after we have won the elections in December, 2000.

We will do these things because they will provide for the expressed needs of the people of this country. We can do them because they are polices and programmes that have been carefully considered and planned for and for which we know we will be able to obtain the required human and material resources.

The national agenda for the 21^st century is not so much a political agenda as an economic, development and technological agenda. That challenge we are prepared to meet, because we have tried and tested and we have the dedicated men and women capable of carrying the process forward.

We need all on board to help us meet the challenges. The help you can give is by giving us your vote. But the help does not end there. After that, we need you to work hard in your chosen field of endeavour.

Hard work, discipline and openness are what will rescue our economy from the prison where she has been kept by a combination of unfair international commodity prices and unfair international terms of trade.

We have to be productive if we are to enjoy the fruits of our years of sacrifice. This Manifesto rightly states that, "what determines the ability of the economy to provide fair and sustainable rewards for our work is not our desires or even our needs but our productivity".

Vote for the Akatamanso on Election Day, for in voting for the NDC you are voting for yourself.

Vote NDC.

Vote Unity, Stability, Development.

J.E. ATTA-MILLS

INTRODUCTION:

THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC CONGRESS

The NDC has come a long way since 1992 when this Party was launched. We have won two significant victories at elections in 1992 and in 1996. We have succeeded in building one big political family and in establishing one great political tradition.

We are the first government in the history of the country to have successfully completed its term of office and led the process of changing government through the ballot box.

Of course we have had problems. In order to address those problems in the future, we need to constantly remind ourselves of how we conceived of the NDC at its birth in 1992.

We stated in our first Manifesto:

"Our Party is NATIONAL because it knows no regional, ethnic or religious boundaries but encompasses all Ghanaians who are united in the conviction that the only way to a peaceful and prosperous future is to build upon the achievements of the past (nineteen) years (including the revolutionary era of the PNDC).

"Our Party is DEMOCRATIC because it has its origins in the grassroots participation and the involvement of the ordinary citizens in the responsibility of decision making at the local and national levels".

"Our Party is a CONGRESS because it is the coming together of groups and individuals from diverse backgrounds and political philosophies who share a common determination to build a stable, just and democratic society, and who all believe that the principle of development through the united participation of all Ghanaians remains the foundation of our national democratic programme."

2000 is a year of change: change for the NDC and change for Ghana. A new political leader, Professor Atta Mills, replaces the indefatigable Flt. Lt. Rawlings as our flag bearer for the 2000 elections. But it is continuity in change, because it heralds an opportunity to continue with the polices which have found favour with the electorate in two successive elections.

It also offers us all the chance to do new things and to do things anew. Therein lies the challenge of the 2000 elections.

DEVELOPMENT IS FREEDOM

Our geopolitical situation in the politically volatile and comparatively under developed West Africa sub-region, the nature of our economy and its relationship with the economies of the developed world, as well as the unacceptable rate of illiteracy combines to put the issue of development in its fullest sense at the top the governance agenda.

For the NDC, Ghana can never be said to be free unless we have the infrastructure, the human resources and technology that it takes to enjoy any freedoms or rights in the 21^st century. We need water and food to enjoy the right to life. We need roads to enjoy the right to freedom of movement and the right to full employment. We need education and familiarity with information technology to have access to information and knowledge. We need to be healthy to enjoy the right to the pursuit of happiness. In short, we need to be developed in order to be free.

In the 21^st century, we risk anarchy if we only believe in development in freedom. That is why for us in the NDC, we believe that real Development is Freedom.

DECENTRALISATION FOR DEVELOPMENT

The District Assemblies will remain a major channel through which we shall seek to achieve our national Constitution's Directive Principle of State Policy "to ensure fair development throughout Ghana, with special attention to disadvantaged areas and deprived sections of society".

The next four years will be the "Period of Empowerment" for the District Assemblies. The integration of the District Decentralisation will be high on the agenda. We will increase the percentage of total national revenue available to the Common Fund for the District Assemblies. This should secure for them the transfer of functions, competence and the means so essential for effective decentralisation.

We go into these elections determined to preserve the most cherished and innovative features of the constitution on local government, including the non-partisan nature of the District Assemblies, the allocation of 30% of the seats to chiefs, women and other interest groups, the mode of appointment of District Chief Executives and the concept of the Common Fund.

We have worked with these features for the past 8 years and they have served the country well. There is no reason to abandon them.

A NEW ANTI-POVERTY FOCUS

Our poverty-reduction programmes have been fairly successful as the percentage of Ghanaians classified as poor fell by 8.2 percentage points between 1992 and 1998.

For 2001 - 2005, we will expand and deepen the implementation of our integrated approach to poverty alleviation. In particular, we will continue to design and implement programmes emanating from the Government's Policy Focus for Poverty Reduction Programme such as the Poverty Reduction Project and the Social Investment Fund. These aim at increasing the availability of social facilities, education, jobs and income generation ventures for the poor.

Complementary programmes will cover agriculture and food security, small business, rural and urban development and social safety nets.

New releases into the "Poverty Alleviation Fund" of the District Assemblies Common Fund will be frozen at the end of 2001 and the moneys already loaned out recovered and used as revolving funds to continue the Fund's operation.

Ghana has already subscribed to the idea of a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) to replace the Enhanced Structure Adjustment Facility (ESAF) as the main lending instrument of the World Bank and the IMF. Our target is to make Ghana the first beneficiary of the new lending instrument for timely access to the resources so much needed for our anti-poverty-focused programmes.

A MORAL AND JUST SOCIETY

A moral and just society is a bench-mark of good governance.

This is the NDC's objective.

THE FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION

The anti-corruption institutions will be strengthened and their powers enhance.

Public, moral and religious education will be major weapons in the battle against corruption.

We will make the price of corruption so high that it will be a commodity very few people will want.

The fight against corruption is only an aspect of the struggle to ensure accountability, which is the responsibilities which go with the exercise of those rights.

We will continue to lead the fight against bribery and corruption of any kind, anywhere, anytime - giver and taker alike - but we will need the cooperation of everyone.

HUMAN RIGHTS

It bears repeating that the most basic human rights are the necessities of existence - food, shelter, clothing, education, medical care, security of life and property, work and the opportunity to live and develop in peace and dignity.

The NDC's policies and programmes are designed to achieve all these.

Political rights as enshrined in our national constitution will be protected. In particular the right to life, to property, freedom of speech and of movement, individual liberty and human dignity will also be enforced.

The limitations of these rights will be made clear. The NDC's show of tolerance even in the face of extreme provocation by some of those who enjoy these rights will not be allowed to be exploited to the detriment and disadvantage of other citizens.

All who enjoy constitutional rights must respect the constitutional limits to those rights and accept the social and moral responsibilities, which go with the exercise of those rights.

We have already implemented programmes to actualise the rights of children, the aged, the sick and the disabled. Ghana under the PNDC was the first country in the world to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Subsequently, the NDC government had the Children's Act passed.

Persons over 70 years of age are now exempted from the payment of basic rate. Republic Day, 1^st July, is dedicated to them.

Certain categories of sick persons are exempted from paying hospital fees.

A National Policy on the Disabled is in the offing.

All these programmes will be continued and others developed to further concretise these rights which, though provided for in the Constitution, could easily remain "paper rights".

AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR WOMEN

In 1998, the NDC Government adopted the programme of Affirmative Action for Women which among other things makes a commitment to forty percent women's representation in executive positions and at all levels of Government. A Women's Desk was also established in the Presidency.

We are already implementing the Beijing Plan of Action, the African Plan for Action and the National Affirmative Action Policy, including aiming for a 40% representation of women at Conferences and Congresses of the Party and in government and public service.

In the next four years, we will continue to implement polices aimed at mainstreaming women into national affairs.

Among other things, an NDC Government will promote increased female access to educational, health, nutrition, employment and other socio-economic infrastructure and services and improve the institutional capacities of key women-oriented organisations.

An NDC Government will also intensify public education against negative socio-cultural practices that discriminate against women and enact legislation to safeguard the dignity of women and create conditions to enable their advancement.

The NDC believes that "Women's Rights are Natural rights" and will work to ensure, as stated in our 1996 Manifesto, that "men and women stand side by side as equal partners in progress".

A NEW POLITICAL CULTURE:

We restate our commitment to good and participatory government for the benefit of all our people and for the stable development of our country.

We recognise that the political upheavals of the past have left in their wake bruises and scars, which need to be healed.

Healing will take time, but we will preserve with the reconciliation policy already initiated.

It is the conviction of the NDC that partisan politics can become one of friendly competition and not a contest in insults bordering on incitement to violence and public disorder. The NDC will work towards this end.

The NDC government will strengthen Parliament with appropriate resources to undertake research, training and human resource development to enable it link up more effectively with the executive and other constitutional bodies.

With Parliament itself, our Parliamentary Group will be enjoined to ensure cordial relationships between the majority and minority sides and work to create the necessary atmosphere for good national governance.

THE ECONOMY

MACRO ECONOMIC STABILITY

Ghana's macroeconomic performance was broadly on course up to the middle of 1999. The overall budget deficit in 1998 declined to 6.1% and Central Bank financing of the budget deficit was completely eliminated in 1998. Broad money supply consequently increased by only 17.6%, the exchange rate remained fairly stable and the cedi depreciated against the dollar by only 4.1%. Consequently, inflation declined, reaching the single digit figure of 9.4% in May 1999 as programmed.

However, the economy experienced major shocks from the second half of 1999.

The steep decline in the world market price of cocoa, the confusion on the gold market and the astronomical rise in the world market price of crude oil are at the heart of the problem of the falling value of the cedi.

In 1998, we sold a ton of cocoa for $1,600.00. We bought a barrel of crude oil at $11.00.

Today, we are selling a ton of cocoa at $800.00 and buying a barrel of crude oil at about $28.00.

This is how the gains we made in improved economic management have come to be so severely eroded.

Clearly, the country's export earnings have so steeply declined that we are no longer able to sustain the level and types of imports that we previously brought into the country.

Therefore, we must import less and export more. But we must export things other than cocoa, gold and timber, or we must add value to them before exporting them rather than export them in their raw state.

Matters have not been helped much by the attitude of our foreign creditors who insist on holding us to the same terms and conditions under which they lent us money when things were not so bad.

We have to restore the required macro-economic environment for economic growth and poverty reduction.

But to do so successfully, we join hands with other countries of the third world in demanding of our foreign creditors that they review their lending policies and instruments as well as their terms and conditionalities.

We must carry to them the message of recent G77 summit held in Havana, Cuba, that we need improved terms of trade, we need more access to the markets of the developed world, we need affordable technologies and we need debt relief.

We see in the street demonstrations in Seattle against the WTO and in Washington DC against the IMF and the World Bank, signs that we are not alone in raising our voices against the unfair world trading relationships and the onerous lending conditionalities of these institutions. We feel fortified in our stance by this support from the ordinary people of the developed world.

In accordance with the agreed macroeconomic convergence criteria required to achieve a Second ECOWAS Monetary Zone by 2003 and a Single Monetary Zone by 2004, we shall work to achieve a single digit rate of inflation, gross foreign reserves to cover six months of imports, a limit to the Central Bank's financing of budget deficits to not more than 10% of the previous year's tax revenue, and a limit of 4% to the budget/GDP ratio.

To achieve these targets, we will revise strategies to ensure growth in employment opportunities, growth in output of our domestic products and an improvement in the delivery of social services.

We will continue our constructive dialogue and consultation with the private sector to agree on strategies that will improve the sector's production and marketing capacities.

The impact of the external shocks to the economy merely reinforce the correctness of our policy to diversify our export base and to concentrate on value-added processing.

We shall expand existing action programmes to support this policy.

Our policies on taxation, industry and agriculture will all continue to be geared towards the attainment of a stable macroeconomic environment for sustainable economic growth.

The newly introduced MTEF approach to budgeting will ensure effective planning and monitoring of expenditure and much more dependable information on revenue and cash flows.

PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY

To achieve the macro-economic targets, we must work hard and we must produce what the markets demand. We must be competitive and also demand in return just what our work is worth.

There is real danger in being tempted to hold the economy to ransom for short-term gains. The ability of the economy to provide fair and sustainable rewards for our work is determined not by our desires or even our needs, but by our productivity.

We shall work in partnership with both labour and employers to ensure that all Ghanaians get this message, for that is what will create the wealth that can then be equitably shared.

THE INVESTMENT DRIVE

During our second term, we accelerated the momentum to promote Ghana's investment opportunities. Actual investments increased remarkably with the commencement of implementation of the various investor-friendly programmes such as the Gateway Project, the Free Zones, Free Ports and Liberalised Skies Programmes and the continued improvement of the country's economic infrastructure.

In 1997, 237 new projects took off with foreign direct investments totalling $479.6 million. The energy crisis of 1998 slowed down the pace of foreign investment, with the year registering only 187 projects with the foreign direct investment of $167.74 million. In 1999, the pace picked up. 192 projects were commenced at a foreign direct investment cost of $226.72 million.

The programmes that have made these investments possible will continue in the third term of the NDC government.

We will also continue to promote Ghana as the desired destination in West Africa for both foreign and local investment - the latter to be boosted by the implementation of the Export Development and Investment Fund and other financial interventions.

BALANCED DEVELOPMENT

The NDC remains committed to undertake "even and balanced development of all regions and every part of each region of Ghana, and in particular, improving the conditions of life in the rural areas and generally, redressing any imbalance in development between the rural and the urban areas", as required in our national Constitution.

Our record in the countrywide provision of electricity, water, schools, clinics, roads, etc. speaks volumes for our claim.

We will continue, through the District Assemblies and their sub-structures and using the mechanism of the Common Fund, to ensure that communities not only have a say in what they need, but also have the resources to provide what they need.

And we will make strategic interventions to ensure that the most deprived communities and the most vulnerable groups in society receive their fair share to development and welfare.

The various poverty reduction programmes already in existence and others in the pipeline will continue to be so targeted as to ensure balanced development and material satisfaction for all.

A STRATEGIC INDUSTRIAL THRUST

Our experiences with primary commodities exports compel us to make a strategic thrust into industry to make Ghanaian industry serve domestic needs, be internationally competitive and the largest contributor to the GDP. To achieve these, the major problems of the industrial sector must continue to be addressed and this we will do.

Industry's constraints are mainly finance, the high cost of domestic inputs, excessive bureaucracy, standards and markets.

On finance, we will expand our support to small and medium scale enterprises, provide incentives for the banks to lend to the industry sector, encourage the increased use of the Ghana Stock Exchange to raise capital, urgently complete the establishment of the Export Development and Investment Fund (EDIF) to provide credit guarantees, enhance the operations of the Export Finance Company and the Exim Guaranty Company and increase disbursements under the Private Enterprise and Export Development Programme.

We will promote the establishment and expansion of industries processing local raw materials, especially food, chemicals, textiles, paper products and construction materials.

We will take a critical look at the cost of inputs to the food-processing sector and of utilities to industry, especially electricity.

We will review corporate tax rates to provide the necessary incentives to local industry.

To ensure increased domestic production and protect local industry, the NDC government will review our established patterns of international trade and rationalise laws regulations, tax and tariff policies and customs procedures.

We will continue the recently announced programme for public sector organizations to buy Made-in-Ghana goods and monitor it closely as well as enforce the approved standards for all imported goods.

We will take more vigorous measures to prohibit unfair practices bordering on "dumping" by some foreign companies.

Our mission in the next four years will be to continue, expand and develop programmes to enable industrial exporters to meet emerging challenges of the global market by assisting them to penetrate and be more competitive in foreign markets.

One specific strategy will be the vigorous promotion of non-traditional exports to the West Africa sub-region under the "fast-track" approach to integration. This involves the implementation of the ECOWAS protocols relating to the Trade Liberalisation Scheme, the Borderless Zone and the free movement of goods and services.

NEW INTERNATIONAL TRADING RELATIONSHIPS

The NDC acknowledges the reality of today's globalisation trend and intends to position Ghana to take maximum advantage of it.

We will work with the private sector to activate fully the Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) project being implemented under the Gateway Project towards the creation of a true knowledge and skills-based economy and thus guarantee the competitiveness of Ghanaian entrepreneurs in the global market place.

Through our energized regional integration efforts, we are working to open up the markets of the ECOWAS sub-region to Ghanaian products and at the same time ensure their competitiveness in those markets.

The NDC government will ensure the prompt and full implementation of the ongoing Gateway Project by removing administration and regulatory constraints in order to enhance our international competitiveness in the global market place.

We are determined to transform Ghana into a major base for manufacturing and distributing goods to the West African sub-region.

REGIONAL ECONOMIC INTEGRATION

The Ghana-Nigeria "fast track" approach to ECOWAS regional integration is an important aspect of our new international trading relationships.

The NDC Government will work to ensure that the specifics of all ECOWAS protocols are faithfully implemented, especially those relating to the Community Levy for the Compensation Fund, the Common External Tariff, the removal of roadblocks that are used by some unscrupulous security agents to harass and extort monies from ECOWAS citizens, the Second Monetary Zone and regional infrastructure projects such as the Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra Railway Project, the Abidjan-Accra-Lome-Cotonou-Lagos electricity interconnection, the Lagos-Cotonou-Lome-Accra Gas Pipeline and the West Africa Power Pool Project.

Regional integration is the West African response to the globalisation phenomenon and the creation of the new Ministry of Planning Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration is designed to ensure that Ghana is not left behind in this inevitable development of the 21^st century.

AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY

Agriculture growth in the last three years has played a critical role in lowering inflation, increasing national income, earning foreign exchange, creating employment and generally reducing poverty.

Our objective in the next four years is to raise the annual growth rate of agriculture from 4% to 6% through modernisation, commercialisation and diversification.

To achieve this, we will support the private sector to develop medium and large-scale agricultural operations, and facilitate the improvement of the productivity of small-scale operators.

Existing programmes will be vigorously pursued. These include the Programme for Sustainable Food Security, the Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Development Strategy (AAGDS), the Agricultural Services Sub-Sector Investment Programme (AgSSIP), the Youth in Agriculture Programme (YAP), the Accelerated Non-Traditional Exports Programme and the Agro-Processing Promotion Programme.

To ensure the needed institutional support for agriculture, we will provide the facilities and resources required to improve the extension/farmer ratio to ensure more effective result-oriented delivery of extension services to farmers.

An Agricultural Development Fund will be established partly with funding from taxes on imported food items to accelerate the pace of provision of agricultural related infrastructure and services such as feeder roads, markets, assembly points and fish landing sites. The Fund will also be used to increase the land under irrigation from the present 10,000 hectares to 20,000 hectares in order to reduce our heavy dependence on rain-fed agriculture.

Already, a programme to rehabilitate existing irrigation facilities throughout the country in order to make them more productive and effective is under way.

Special facilities such as cold store chains, park houses and fumigation will be developed at the airports and seaports to aid the export of non-traditional agricultural products.

We shall tackle head on the problem of land acquisition and security of title by getting the District Assemblies in collaboration with the landowning families and stools to establish land banks and by encouraging the participation of landowners in agricultural ventures through capitalisation of land and more nucleus outgrower schemes.

We shall also implement the new National Land Policy to rationalise land allocation and consolidate small plots.

Our agricultural diversification strategy will take the form of support for the development of specified industrial and food crops such as roots and tubers, fresh and processed fruits, cotton, cashew and vegetables for export and rice and plantain for domestic consumption.

We intend to achieve at least 50% self-sufficiency in rice production by 2004.

We will pursue measures to revamp the commercial poultry sector by promoting domestic production of poultry feed and other inputs. We will counteract the Newcastle disease with a view to achieving 100% increase in village chicken production, 50% of which is currently lost as a result of the disease.