The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), the Centre for Data Archiving, Management, Analysis and Advocacy (CDAMAA) at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), and Mettalytics have held a stakeholder validation workshop to review the preliminary findings of a study on evidence use in national development planning and decision-making in Ghana.

The study focused on three ministries central to Ghana’s economic transformation agenda: the Ministry of Food and Agriculture; the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry; and the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition.

The workshop, held on Thursday, 5 November 2026, in Accra, brought together representatives of the three focal ministries, the Ghana Statistical Service, the International Growth Centre (IGC) Ghana, private-sector organisations, research institutions and other stakeholders who contributed to the study.

In her opening remarks, the Director-General of NDPC, Dr. Audrey Smock Amoah, said the validation exercise was important to ensure that the report accurately reflected stakeholders’ contributions before publication. She noted that research and institutional reviews were essential for assessing progress, identifying gaps and improving development planning.

The Ghana research team comprised Prof. William G. Cantah, Dr. Ralph Nordjo and Dr. Joshua Sebu, working in collaboration with researchers from Mettalytics.

Presenting the study, Prof. William G. Cantah explained that it examined how evidence is generated, accessed, assessed and used in national planning, particularly in shaping policy priorities and resource allocation, as well as how lessons from implementation feedback into planning. The study also considered the institutional, political, technical and stakeholder factors influencing evidence use.

In his closing remarks, the Director of Research at NDPC, Mr. Richard Tweneboah-Kodua thanked participants for their contributions and noted that their feedback would help strengthen the report. He added that the final draft would be shared with stakeholders for further engagement.