8.4.1 Policies and Regulatory Frameworks
Ghana’s new STI policy has provided general and sectoral guidelines towards
achieving both regional (e.g. Africa Agenda 2063) and national sustainable development priorities. However, it has been criticized for viewing innovation only as an
off-shoot of science and technology (Oduro-Marfo 2015). Scholars have suggested
that national innovation policies and criteria could also promote processes and
innovations that are not necessarily only science based (Oduro-Marfo 2015) (see
Chap. 10 Vol. 1; Chaps. 3-4 Vol. 2). Such an example in the case of Ghana is the
National Friday Wear programme (a traditional dress code on Fridays) that has
created domestic demand for local prints and fabrics and has boosted the dying
textile manufacturing industry. Similarly, the celebration of the National Chocolate
Day has also had positive implications for cocoa-based industries in Ghana.
The STI policy can still have a far-reaching effect on both how academic research
can help solve current sustainability challenges as well as how Sustainability Science
research will be conducted in Ghana. However, the effectiveness and success of the
STI policy would require strong actions to address the (a) limitations related to its
implementation (e.g. lack of accurate budget estimates for actions) and the (b) broad
factors that have curtailed STI performance in developing countries, Ghana included
(e.g. constraints related to tertiary education institutions, intellectual property, innovation, productivity and competitiveness) (UNECA 2016) (Chap. 1 Vol. 1). As
discussed below, improving the performance of HEIs and enhancing innovation
would be critical for the effective implementation of the STI policy.
First, although there has been recognition of the importance of HEIs for sustainable development in numerous national policies, there is a lack of specific prescriptions on how exactly to achieve this. With an average of 6.75% tertiary school
enrollment in Ghana, minimum of 0.69% in 1971 and maximum of 16.01% in
2017 (Global Economy 2018), higher education programmes need to be restructured
in a way to attract more students. More importantly these programmes should aim at
fostering key competencies and capacity for critical thinking that can help solve
sustainability challenges (e.g., Weik et al. 2011; Filho et al. 2018). This could be
attained through specific policy interventions, such as a tertiary education policy on
STI, or increased spending on high quality tertiary education.
Second, SSA countries (including Ghana) are generally poorly performing in
global innovation indices
10 (Chap.1 Vol. 1), with only seven SSA countries ranking
in the top 100 in 2018 (Cornell University et al. 2018) (Chap. 1 Vol. 1). In order to
improve their ranks, SSA countries need to prioritize investment and data collection
for reporting (see Chaps. 1, 5 Vol. 1). Innovation is also linked to competitiveness
(i.e. the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine national productivity).
In terms of competitiveness Ghana performs rather poorly for business
10 It should be noted that IP-related indices have been criticised on the grounds of having been
developed to account for more Western-oriented modes of output, and inability to account for how
creativity actually occurs in SSA settings (de Beer et al. 2014).
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Ghana’s new STI policy has provided general and sectoral guidelines towards
achieving both regional (e.g. Africa Agenda 2063) and national sustainable development priorities. However, it has been criticized for viewing innovation only as an
off-shoot of science and technology (Oduro-Marfo 2015). Scholars have suggested
that national innovation policies and criteria could also promote processes and
innovations that are not necessarily only science based (Oduro-Marfo 2015) (see
Chap. 10 Vol. 1; Chaps. 3-4 Vol. 2). Such an example in the case of Ghana is the
National Friday Wear programme (a traditional dress code on Fridays) that has
created domestic demand for local prints and fabrics and has boosted the dying
textile manufacturing industry. Similarly, the celebration of the National Chocolate
Day has also had positive implications for cocoa-based industries in Ghana.
The STI policy can still have a far-reaching effect on both how academic research
can help solve current sustainability challenges as well as how Sustainability Science
research will be conducted in Ghana. However, the effectiveness and success of the
STI policy would require strong actions to address the (a) limitations related to its
implementation (e.g. lack of accurate budget estimates for actions) and the (b) broad
factors that have curtailed STI performance in developing countries, Ghana included
(e.g. constraints related to tertiary education institutions, intellectual property, innovation, productivity and competitiveness) (UNECA 2016) (Chap. 1 Vol. 1). As
discussed below, improving the performance of HEIs and enhancing innovation
would be critical for the effective implementation of the STI policy.
First, although there has been recognition of the importance of HEIs for sustainable development in numerous national policies, there is a lack of specific prescriptions on how exactly to achieve this. With an average of 6.75% tertiary school
enrollment in Ghana, minimum of 0.69% in 1971 and maximum of 16.01% in
2017 (Global Economy 2018), higher education programmes need to be restructured
in a way to attract more students. More importantly these programmes should aim at
fostering key competencies and capacity for critical thinking that can help solve
sustainability challenges (e.g., Weik et al. 2011; Filho et al. 2018). This could be
attained through specific policy interventions, such as a tertiary education policy on
STI, or increased spending on high quality tertiary education.
Second, SSA countries (including Ghana) are generally poorly performing in
global innovation indices
10 (Chap.1 Vol. 1), with only seven SSA countries ranking
in the top 100 in 2018 (Cornell University et al. 2018) (Chap. 1 Vol. 1). In order to
improve their ranks, SSA countries need to prioritize investment and data collection
for reporting (see Chaps. 1, 5 Vol. 1). Innovation is also linked to competitiveness
(i.e. the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine national productivity).
In terms of competitiveness Ghana performs rather poorly for business
10 It should be noted that IP-related indices have been criticised on the grounds of having been
developed to account for more Western-oriented modes of output, and inability to account for how
creativity actually occurs in SSA settings (de Beer et al. 2014).
266
A. M. Mensah and C. Gordon