The crisis of the African state has been a dominant feature of the continent's socio‐political and development discourse in the last two decades. In a region where agriculture is the engine of development and the state plays an active role in agriculture, the crisis of the state has created a vacuum in the institutional framework required for agricultural development. Nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), consistent with globalisation, have emerged and filled the vacuum as viable institutions for agricultural development. This study examines State‐NGO relations during globalisation and the implications of that relationship for agricultural development in Africa. Exploring the socio‐political context of such relations, especially the nature of investment in the agricultural sector, the study shows how the uncertain outcomes of State‐NGO relations, exacerbated by global forces, affect the long‐term prospects of agricultural development in Africa.
Alderman H. . 1994. . “Ghana: Adjustment's Star Pupil?’. ”. In Adjusting to Policy Failure in African Economies . , Edited by: Sahn D E. . p. 23––52. . Ithaca and London : : Cornell University Press. .
Amanor K S, Denkabe A and Wellard K. . 1993. . “‘Ghana Country Overview’. ”. In Non‐Governmental Organizations and the State in Africa: Rethinking Roles in Sustainable Agricultural Development . , Edited by: Wellard K and Copestake J G. . p. 183––194. . London and New York for ODI : : Routledge. .
Amara H A and Founou‐Tchuigoua B. , eds. 1990. . African Agriculture The Critical Choices . , London : : Zed Books. .
Arhin K, Hesp P and van der Laan L. , eds. 1985. . Marketing Boards in Tropical Africa . , London : : KPI. .
Atampugre N. . 1997. . ‘Aid, NGOs and Grassroots Development: Northern Burkina Faso’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 71:: 57––73. .
Bates R H. . 1981. . Markets and States in Tropical Africa: The Political Basis of Agricultural Policies . , Berkeley : : University of California Press. .
Bauer P T. . 1963. . West African Trade: A Study of Competition, Oligopoly, Monopoly in a Changing Economy . , London : : Routledge and Kegan Paul. .
Bebbington A and Farrington J. . 1993. . ‘Governments, NGOs and Agricultural Development: Perspectives on Changing Inter‐Organisational Relationships’. . The Journal of Development Studies . , Vol. 29((2)): 199––219. .
Berman B. . 1984. . ‘Structure and Process in the Bureaucratic States of Colonial Africa’. . Development and Change . , Vol. 15:: 161––202. .
Berry S S. . 1997. . Tomatoes, Land and Hearsay: Property and History in Asante in the Time of Structural Adjustment’. . World Development . , Vol. 25((8)): 1225––1241. .
1993a. . No Condition is Permanent: The Social Dynamics of Agrarian Change in Sub‐Saharan Africa . , Madison , Wisconsin : : The University of Madison Press. .
Callaghy T M and Ravenhill J. , eds. 1993b. . “’Coping with Confusion: African Farmers’ Responses to Economic Instability in the 1970s and 1980s’. ”. In Hemmed In: Responses to Africa's Economic Decline . , p. 248––278. . New York : : Columbia University Press. .
Biggs S and Farrington J. . 1991. . Agricultural Research and the Rural Poor: A Review of Social Science Analysis . , Ottawa : : International Development and Research Council. .
Bourenane N and Mkandawire T. , eds. 1987. . The State and Agriculture in Africa . , London : : CODESRIA. .
Bratton M. . 1994. . “‘Non‐Governmental Organizations in Africa: Can They Influence Public Policy?’. ”. In The Changing Politics of Non‐Governmental Organizations and African States . , Edited by: Sandberg E. . p. 33––58. . Westport , CT : : Praeger. .
1989. . ‘The Politics of Government‐NGO Relations in Africa’. . World Development . , Vol. 17((4)): 569––587. .
Brautigam D. . 1994. . “‘State, NGOs and International Aid in The Gambia’. ”. Edited by: Sandberg E. . p. 59––82. .
Brown M B. . 1995. . Africa's Choices After Thirty Years of the World Bank . , Harmondsworth : : Penguin Books. .
Buttel F H. . 1996. . “‘Theoretical Issues in Global Agri‐Food Restructuring’. ”. In Globalization and Agri‐Food Restructuring ‐ Perspectives from the Australasia Region . , Edited by: Burch D, Rickson R E and Lawrence G. . p. 17––44. . Aldershot, Hants : : Avebury Publishing. .
Bernstein H. , eds. 1990. . “‘Biotechnology and Agricultural Development in the Third World’. ”. In The Food Question . , p. 163––180. . London : : Earthscan. .
Carroll T F. . 1992. . Intermediary NGOs: The Supporting Link in Grassroots Development . , West Hartford , CT : : Kumarian Press. .
CGIAR. . 1991. . “‘The CGIAR at Twenty: Relevance Reaffirmed’. ”. Washington DC : : CGIAR. .
Charlton R and May R. . 1995. . ‘NGOs, Politics, Projects and Probity: A Policy Implementation Perspective’. . Third World Quarterly . , Vol. 16((2)): 237––255. .
Chazan N and Shaw T M. , eds. 1988. . Coping with Africa's Food Crisis . , p. 1––37. . Boulder and London : : Lynne Rienner. .
Commander S, Howell J and Seini W. . 1989. . “‘Ghana 1983–7’. ”. In Structural Adjustment and Agriculture: Theory and Practice in Africa and Latin America . , Edited by: Commander S. . p. 107––162. . London : : Overseas Development Institute. .
Commins S, Lofchie M F and Payne R. , eds. 1986. . Africa's Agrarian Crisis The Roots of Famine . , Boulder : : Lynne Rienner. .
Clark J. . 1991. . Democratizing Development . , London : : Earthscan Publications. .
CSIR/ISNAR. . 1991. . A Review of the Ghana Agricultural Research System . , The Hague : : ISNAR. .
Daddieh C K. . 1994. . “‘Contract Farming and Palm Oil Production in Cote d'lvoire and Ghana’. ”. In Living Under Contract ‐ Contract Farming and Agrarian Transformation in Sub‐Saharan Africa . , Edited by: Little P D and Watts M J. . p. 188––215. . Madison : : The University of Wisconsin Press. .
de Alcantara C H. . 1993. . “‘Introduction: Markets in Principle and Practice’. ”. In Real Markets: Social and Political Issues in Food Policy Reform . , Edited by: de Alcantara C H. . p. l––16. . London : : Frank Cass. .
Deo S D and Swanson L E. . 1991. . “The Political Economy of Agricultural Research in the Third World’. ”. In Towards a New Political Economy of Agriculture . , Edited by: Friedland W H. . p. 189––212. . Boulder : : Westview Press. .
Dewey C and Hopkins A G. , eds. 1978. . The Imperial Impact: Studies in the Economic History of Africa and India . , London : : Athlone Press for the Institute of Commonwealth Studies. .
Dinham B and Hines C. . 1983. . Agribusiness in Africa . , London : : Earth Resources Research. .
Dowswell C R. . 1993. . “‘Achieving More Effective Transfer of Crop Technology in Sub‐Saharan Africa’. ”. In Policy Options for Agricultural Development in Sub‐Saharan Africa . , Edited by: Russell N C and Dowswell C R. . p. 63––74. . Mexico, D.F. : : CASIN/SAA/Global 2000. .
Drache D and Gertler M S. , eds. 1991. . The New Era of Global Competition: State Policy and Market Power . , Montreal : : McGill‐Queen's University Press. .
Drunen L van and vad der Kraaij F. , eds. 1994. . Structural Adjustment in Sub‐Saharan Africa ‐Research and Policy Issues . , The Hague : : Development Cooperation Information Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. .
Edwards M and Hulme D. . 1996. . “‘NGO Performance and Accountability: Introduction and Overview’. ”. In Non‐Governmental Organisations ‐ Performance and Accoutability: Beyond the Magic Bullet . , Edited by: Edwards M and Hulme D. . p. 3––16. . London : : Earthscan Publications. .
Eicher C K. . 1989. . Sustainable Institutions for African Agricultural Development . , The Hague : : ISNAR. .
1982. . ‘Facing Up to Africa's Food Crisis’. . Foreign Affairs . , Vol. 61((1)) Fall;: 151––174. .
Eicher C K and Staatz J M. , eds. 1990. . Agricultural Development in the Third World . , Baltimore : : Johns Hopkins University Press. .
Faaland J and Parkinson J. . 1991. . “‘The Nature of the State and the Role of Government in Agricultural Development’. ”. In Agriculture and the State: Growth, Employment and Poverty in Developing Countries . , Edited by: Timmer C P. . p. 247––274. . Ithaca and London : : Cornell University Press. .
Farrington J. , eds. 1993. . Reluctant Partners? Non‐Governmental Organizations, the State and Sustainable Agricultural Development . , London : : Routledge. .
Farrington J and Biggs S D. . 1990. . ‘NGOs, Agricultural Technology and the Rural Poor’. . Food Policy . , December;: 479––491. .
Fatton R J. 1992. . Predatory Rule, State and Civil Society in Africa . , Boulder and London : : Lynne Rienner Publishers. .
Fowler A. . 1991. . ‘The Role of NGOs in Changing State‐Society Relations: Perspectives from Eastern and Southern Africa’. . Development Policy Review . , Vol. 9((1)): 53––84. .
Frankel R R. . 1971. . India's Green Revolution: Economic Gains and Political Costs . , Princeton : : Princeton University Press. .
Friedland W. . 1994. . “The Global Fresh Fruit and Vegetable System: An Industrial Organizational Analysis’. ”. In The Global Restructuring of Agro‐Food Systems . , Edited by: McMichael P. . p. 173––189. . Ithaca and London : : Cornell University Press. .
Friedman H. . 1993. . ‘The Political Economy of Food: A Global Crisis’. . New Left Review . , Vol. 197: January/February;: 29––57. .
Gakou M L. . 1987. . The Crisis in African Agriculture . , London : : Zed Books. .
Galli R E. . 1992. . “‘Winners and Losers in Development and Anti‐Development Theory’. ”. In Rethinking the Third World: Contributions Towards a New Conceptualization . , Edited by: Galli R E. . p. 1––27. . New York : : Crane Russak. .
Gariyo Z. . 1996. . “‘NGOs and Development in East Africa: a View from Below’. ”. Edited by: Edwards M and Hulme D. . p. 131––139. .
Gary I. . 1996. . ‘Confrontation, Co‐operation or Co‐optation: NGOs and the Ghanaian State During Structural Adjustment’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 68:: 149––168. .
George S. . 1986. . How the Other Half Dies . , Harmondsworth : : Penguin Books. .
Ghana. . 1994. . National Agricultural Research Strategic Plan‐Final Report . , Accra : : CSIR. .
Gibbon P, Havnevik K J and Hermele K. . 1993. . A Blighted Harvest: The World Bank and African Agriculture in the 1980s . , Trenton , New Jersey : : Africa World Press. .
Glover D J and Kusterer K C. . 1990. . Small Farmers, Big Business: Contract Farming and Rural Development . , London : : Macmillan. .
Griffin K. . 1979. . The Political Economy of Agrarian Change: An Essay on the Green Revolution . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Hearn J. . 1998. . ‘The NGO‐isation of Kenyan Society: US AID and the Restructuring of Health Care’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 75:: 89––100. .
Heffernan W D and Constance D H. . 1994. . “‘Transnational Corporations and the Globalization of the Food System’. ”. In From Columbus to ConAgra ‐ The Globalization of Agriculture and Food . , Edited by: Bonanno A. . p. 29––51. . Lawrence , Kansas : : University Press of Kansas. .
Herbst J. . 1993. . “‘The Politics of Sustained Agricultural Reform in Africa’. ”. Edited by: Callaghy T M and Ravenhill J. . p. 332––356. .
Hettne B. . 1991. . Development Theory and the Three Worlds . , New York : : Wiley. .
Hobbs S H and Taylor T A. . 1987. . Agricultural Research in the Private Sector in Africa: The Case of Kenya . , The Hague : : ISNAR. .
Hoogvelt A M. . 1997. . Globalization and the Post‐colonial World ‐ The New Political Economy of Development . , Baltimore , Maryland : : The Johns Hopkins University Press. .
Huntington S P. . 1968. . Political Order in Changing Societies . , New Haven : : Yale University Press. .
International Service of National Agricultural Research (ISNAR). . 1981. . “Kenya's National Agricultural Research System. ”. The Hague : : ISNAR. .
Jaffe S M. . 1994. . “‘Contract Farming in the Shadow of Competitive Markets: The Experience of Kenyan Horticulture’. ”. Edited by: Little P D and Watts M J. . p. 97––139. .
Jamal V. . 1993. . “‘Surplus extraction and the African agrarian crisis in a historical perspective’. ”. In Economic Crisis and Third World Agriculture . , Edited by: Singh A and Tabatabai H. . p. 65––90. . Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Jebuni C D and Seini W. . 1992. . Agricultural Input Policies Under Structural Adjustment: Their Distributional Implications . , Ithaca : : Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program. .
Johnson D G. . 1993. . ‘Role of Agriculture in Economic Development Revisited’. . Agricultural Economics . , Vol. 8:: 421––434. .
Johnston B F and Mellor J W. . 1961. . ‘The Role of Agriculture in Economic Development’. . American Economic Review . , Vol. 51((4)): 544––593. .
Kay G B. . 1975. . Development and Under‐development: A Marxist Analysis . , New York : : St. Martin's Press. .
1972. . The Political Economy of Colonialism in Ghana ‐ Documents and Statistics 1900–1960 . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Keen D. . 1994. . The Benefits of Famine A Political Economy of Famine and Relief in Southwestern Sudan, 1983–1989 . , Princeton : : Princeton University Press. .
Krut R. . 1997. . Globalization and Civil Society ‐NGO Influence in International Decision‐Making . , Geneva : : United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. .
Kulick H. . 1979. . The Imperial Bureaucrat: The Colonial Administrative Service in the Gold Coast, 1920–1939 . , Stanford , California : : Stanford University Press. .
Little P D and Watts M J. . 1994. . “‘Introduction’. ”. Edited by: Little P D and Watts W J. . p. 3––17. .
Londoño N O. . 1998. . Implementation of the Agreement on Agriculture . , St. Pauls : : University of Minnesota. .
Lonsdale J M. . 1981. . ‘States and Social Processes in Africa: A Histographical Survey’. . African Studies Review . , Vol. 24((2–3)) June‐Sept.;: 139––225. .
Loxley J. . 1991. . Ghana: The Long Road to Recovery 1983–90 . , Ottawa : : North‐South Institute. .
Mackintosh M. . 1990. . “‘Abstract Markets and Real Needs’. ”. Edited by: Bernstein H. . p. 43––53. .
Malena C. . 1995. . ‘Relations Between Northern and Southern Non‐Governmental Development Organizations’. . Canadian Journal of Development Studies . , Vol. 16((1)): 7––29. .
McMichael P. . 1994. . “‘Introduction: Agro‐Food System Restructuring ‐ Unity in Diversity’. ”. Edited by: McMichael P. . p. 1––17. .
Mengisteab K. . 1996. . Globalization and Autocentricity In Africa's Development in the 21st Century . , Trenton , NJ : : Africa World Press. .
Micah R G. . 1989. . ‘The Food Question in Ghana: Development Strategies and Policies’. . Review . , Vol. 12: Fall;: 457––501. .
Mittleman J H. , ed. 1996. . Globalization: Critical Reflections . , Boulder : : Lynne Rienner Publishers. .
Mkandawire T. . 1989. . Structural Adjustment and Agrarian Crisis in Africa: A Research Agenda . , Dakar : : CODESRIA. .
Mkandawire T and Soludo C C. . 1999. . Our Continent, Our Future: African Perspectives on Structural Adjustment . , Ottawa : : CODESRIA. .
Najam A. . 1996. . ‘NGO Accountability: A Conceptual Framework’. . Development Policy Review . , Vol. 14:: 339––353. .
Natsios A. . 1997. . “‘NGOs and the UN System in Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Conflict or Cooperation?’. ”. In The Politics of Global Governance ‐ International Organizations in an Interdependent World . , Edited by: Diehl P F. . p. 287––303. . Boulder : : Lynne Rienner. .
Ndegwa S N. . 1996. . The Two Faces of Civil Society ‐ NGOs and Politics in Africa . , West Hartford , CT : : Kumarian Press. .
Nweke F I. . 1979. . ‘The Organization of Agricultural Research in Ghana: Priorities, Problems, Implications for Domestic Food Production and Policy Issues’. . Agricultural Administration . , Vol. 6((1)): 19––29. .
OECD. . 1994. . Development Assistance Committee Report . , Paris : : OECD. .
Osaghae E E. . 1985. . ‘The African Food Crisis and the Crisis of Development in Africa: A Theoretical Exploration’. . Africa Quarterly . , Vol. 24((3–4)): 34––51. .
Pardey P G, Roseboom J and Anderson J R. , eds. 1991a. . Agricultural Research Policy ‐International Quantitative Perspectives . , Cambridge : : Cambridge University Press. .
Pardey Roseboom and Anderson. , eds. 1991b. . “‘Topical Perspectives on National Agricultural Research’. ”. p. 265––308. .
Phillips A. . 1989. . The Enigma of Colonialism: British Policy in West Africa . , London : : James Currey. .
Pray C E and Umali‐Deininger D. . 1998. . ‘The Private Sector in Agricultural Research Systems: Will it Fill the Gap?’. . World Development . , Vol. 26((6)): 1127––1148. .
RAFI. . 1999. . The Gene Giants ‐ Masters of the Universe? . , Winnepeg , MB : : RAFI. .
1997a. . Sovereignty or Hegemony? Africa and Security ‐ Negotiating from Reality . , Winnepeg , MB : : RAFI. .
1997b. . Biopiracy Update: The Inequitable Sharing of Benefits . , Winnepeg , MB : : RAFI. .
Salamon L M. . 1994. . The Rise of the Nonprofit Sector’. . Foreign Affairs . , Vol. 73((4)): 109––122. .
Schultz T W. . 1964. . Transforming Traditional Agriculture . , New Haven : : Yale University Press. .
SG 2000. . 1993. . The SG 2000 Agricultural Project in Ghana . , Accra : : SG 2000. .
Smillie I. . 1996. . “‘Painting Canadian Roses Red’. ”. Edited by: Edwards M and Hulme D. . p. 157––166. .
Staatz J M and Eicher C K. . 1990. . “‘Agricultural Development Ideas in Historical Perspective’. ”. Edited by: Eicher C K and Staatz J M. . p. 3––38. .
Stewart S. . 1997. . ‘Happy Ever After in the Marketplace: Non‐Government Organisations and Uncivil Society’. . Review of African Political Economy . , Vol. 71:: 11––34. .
Strong M. . 1996. . The CGIAR at Twenty‐Five: Looking Back and Looking Forward, Sir John Crawford Memorial Lecture . , Washington , D C : : CGIAR. .
Tabor S, Quartey‐Papafio H K and Haizel K A. . 1993. . Structural Adjustment and Its Impact on Agricultural Research . , The Hague : : ISNAR. .
Tandon Y. . 1991. . ‘Foreign NGO, Uses and Abuses: An African Perspective’. . Transnational Associations . , Vol. 3:: 141––145. .
TechnoServe. . Dec. 1. 1990 . Boafo . , Dec. 1. , Accra : : TechnoServe /Ghana. .
1995. . ‘Ghana Banana Drama’. . The Economist . , December 23;: 51––52. .
Thirtle C and Echeverria R G. . 1994. . ‘Privatization and the Roles of Public and Private Institutions in Agricultural Research in Sub‐Saharan Africa’. . Food Policy . , Vol. 19((1)): 31––44. .
Thomas C. . 1997. . “‘Globalization and the South’. ”. In Globalization and the South . , Edited by: Thomas C and Wilkin P. . p. 1––17. . New York : : St Martin's Press. .
Tripp R. . 1993. . ‘Invisible Hands, Indigenous Knowledge and Inevitable Fads: Challenges to Public Sector Agricultural Research in Ghana’. . World Development . , Vol. 21((12)): 2003––2016. .
Vivian J. . 1994. . ‘NGOs and Sustainable Development in Zimbabwe: No Magic Bullets’. . Development and Change . , Vol. 25:: 181––209. .
Vivian J and Maseko G. . 1994. . NGOs, Participation and Rural Development ‐ Testing the Assumptions with Evidence from Zimbabwe . , Geneva : : United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. .
Watts M. . 1990. . “‘Peasants Under Contract: Agro‐Food Complexes in the Third World’. ”. Edited by: Bernstein H. . p. 149––162. .
WEDO. . 1995. . “Transnational Corporations in the United Nations: Using or Abusing Their Access? ”. New York :
Wellard K and Copestake J G. , eds. 1993. . Non‐Governmental Organizations and the State in Africa ‐ Rethinking Roles in Sustainable Agricultural Development . , London and New York : : Routledge. .
Widner J. . 1993. . “‘The Discovery of ‘Politics’: Smallholder Reactions to the Cocoa Crisis of 1988–1990 in Côte d'lvoire’. ”. Edited by: Callaghy J M and Ravenhill J. . p. 279––331. .
Wolfensohn J D. . September 23. 1997 . The Challenge of Inclusion . September 23. , Hong Kong :
World Bank. . 1997. . World Development Report . , New York : : Oxford University Press for the World Bank. .
1995. . Ghana: Growth, Private Sector, and Poverty Reduction . , (Report No. 14111‐GH). Washington , DC : : World Bank, Mimeographed. .
1994. . Adjustment in Africa Reforms, Results and the Road Ahead . , Washington , DC : : World Bank. .
1989. . Sub‐Saharan Africa: From Crisis to Sustainable Growth A Long Term Perspective Study . , Washington , DC : : World Bank. .
1981. . Accelerated Development in Sub‐Saharan Africa: An Agenda for Action . , Washington , DC : : World Bank. .
Young C. . 1988. . “‘The African Colonial State and Its Political Legacy’. ”. In The Precarious Balance: State and Society in Africa . , Edited by: Rothchild D, D and Chazan N. . p. 25––66. . Boulder and London : : Westview Press. .