Explaining EIA performance in the water sector in Ghana: the role of capacities of the main actors

Abstract

Through informed and participatory decision-making processes on large projects, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has the potential to contribute to sustainable development. EIA performance is often found to be weak in developing countries. The question arises whether the ambitions for the EIA system in those countries fit with the capacities of the actors involved in EIA, as well as with the local context of the EIA system. Capacity development initiatives are common, but often they do not tackle the underlying constraints of EIA performance. Even though it is essential for developing effective interventions for increasing the EIA performance in those countries, a thorough comprehension of EIA performance and the elements influencing it often is limited. Ghana has a highly ambitious EIA legislation in place. It is thus an interesting country to study EIA performance. This research seeks to contribute to a better understanding of EIA performance in Ghana and the way this EIA performance is influenced by actor capacities and the context of the EIA system. A framework has been developed to assess EIA performance comprehensively with the help of case studies. The research was focused on the water sector as a public sector in Ghana. Two water projects were selected and their EIA process was studied in detail. Results revealed that the ambitious goals for EIA in Ghana are only partly achieved in practice for the water sector. The EIA follow-up was found to be particularly weak. Knowledge, resources and network capacities were found to be essential for determining the quality of the information that arises from the EIA process. Furthermore, the actors’ commitment to EIA goals and the power-relations between the involved actors determine if this information is used in decision- making processes regarding the project and if they are implemented in practice. The context of the EIA system was found to be highly influential on these decision-making processes and needs to be increasingly considered for the development of effective strategies to enhance EIA performance.