Unravelling the GMO Policy-Making Impasse - A Qualitative Content Analysis of the Perceptions of Ghana's Anti-GMO groups on Public Participation and Trust
(2018) SIMV29 20181Department of Political Science
Graduate School
Master of Science in Development Studies
- Abstract
- In many countries, GMO policy-making has been characterised with a lot of controversy, participation and trust being the most pressing issues. The ongoing Ghanaian GMO policy-making is not spared of the controversy. The GMO Bill which was introduced in the Ghanaian Parliament in 2013 remained unpassed amid accusations and counter-accusations between government-led groups and civil society-led anti-GMO groups. The entrenched positions taken by the pro-GMO groups and anti-GMO groups have stalled the policy-making process. This study was set out to examine through the lens of the anti-GMO groups how lack of public participation and trust contributed to the policy standoff.
A directed qualitative content analysis and critical discourse... (More) - In many countries, GMO policy-making has been characterised with a lot of controversy, participation and trust being the most pressing issues. The ongoing Ghanaian GMO policy-making is not spared of the controversy. The GMO Bill which was introduced in the Ghanaian Parliament in 2013 remained unpassed amid accusations and counter-accusations between government-led groups and civil society-led anti-GMO groups. The entrenched positions taken by the pro-GMO groups and anti-GMO groups have stalled the policy-making process. This study was set out to examine through the lens of the anti-GMO groups how lack of public participation and trust contributed to the policy standoff.
A directed qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis were conducted on twenty (20) news articles and publications on the activities of Ghana’s anti-GMO groups. Using the internet, text materials were gathered from media and anti-GMO sources. The analysis was enabled by a priori categories and coding scheme which were developed based on the study’s purpose, research questions and previous literature on public participation and trust. The analysis was based on the following categories: Ghanaians Being Misled or Misinformed to Accept GMOs; GMO Bill Making Non-inclusive or More Consultations Needed; Being Disregarded or Denied Access to Information; Decision-makers/GMO Policy-Making Violating or Disregarding Rules; GMO Bill Being Imposed on Ghanaians Despite Calls for More Consultations; and Being Open to Dialogue.
Findings from the analysis of anti-GMO groups’ perceptions on the policy-making included: lack of public and stakeholder education and engagement on GMOs; government officials and scientists were perceived to belittle contributions of anti-GMO groups; GMO Bill viewed as an illegality; anti-GMO groups showed confidence in Ghana’s law courts; and anti-GMO groups made contradictory demands of the government. The findings were consistent with previous research which showed that public education on Ghana’s GMO policy-making was lacking. Although the findings validated previous literature, generalised conclusions cannot be made about the policy standoff since the study examined only the perceptions of anti-GMO groups. The study contributed to studies on GMO policy-making and governance in Ghana. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8957166
- author
- Issifu, Rufai LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- SIMV29 20181
- year
- 2018
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- GMO Bill, GMO Policy-Making, Democracy, Governance, Government Officials, Public Participation, Trust, Development and Ghana
- language
- English
- id
- 8957166
- date added to LUP
- 2018-09-07 12:45:19
- date last changed
- 2018-09-07 12:45:19
@misc{8957166,
abstract = {{In many countries, GMO policy-making has been characterised with a lot of controversy, participation and trust being the most pressing issues. The ongoing Ghanaian GMO policy-making is not spared of the controversy. The GMO Bill which was introduced in the Ghanaian Parliament in 2013 remained unpassed amid accusations and counter-accusations between government-led groups and civil society-led anti-GMO groups. The entrenched positions taken by the pro-GMO groups and anti-GMO groups have stalled the policy-making process. This study was set out to examine through the lens of the anti-GMO groups how lack of public participation and trust contributed to the policy standoff.
A directed qualitative content analysis and critical discourse analysis were conducted on twenty (20) news articles and publications on the activities of Ghana’s anti-GMO groups. Using the internet, text materials were gathered from media and anti-GMO sources. The analysis was enabled by a priori categories and coding scheme which were developed based on the study’s purpose, research questions and previous literature on public participation and trust. The analysis was based on the following categories: Ghanaians Being Misled or Misinformed to Accept GMOs; GMO Bill Making Non-inclusive or More Consultations Needed; Being Disregarded or Denied Access to Information; Decision-makers/GMO Policy-Making Violating or Disregarding Rules; GMO Bill Being Imposed on Ghanaians Despite Calls for More Consultations; and Being Open to Dialogue.
Findings from the analysis of anti-GMO groups’ perceptions on the policy-making included: lack of public and stakeholder education and engagement on GMOs; government officials and scientists were perceived to belittle contributions of anti-GMO groups; GMO Bill viewed as an illegality; anti-GMO groups showed confidence in Ghana’s law courts; and anti-GMO groups made contradictory demands of the government. The findings were consistent with previous research which showed that public education on Ghana’s GMO policy-making was lacking. Although the findings validated previous literature, generalised conclusions cannot be made about the policy standoff since the study examined only the perceptions of anti-GMO groups. The study contributed to studies on GMO policy-making and governance in Ghana.}},
author = {{Issifu, Rufai}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Unravelling the GMO Policy-Making Impasse - A Qualitative Content Analysis of the Perceptions of Ghana's Anti-GMO groups on Public Participation and Trust}},
year = {{2018}},
}