This article uses the example of environmental management issues being raised in the context of intensive, small-scale tomato production in Ghana to explore one of the key challenges of decentralization, how to reconcile the potential conflicting interests of local populations and stakeholders at other levels. It explores the contradiction between the push for more local natural resource management and the continuing role of central government in the setting of environmental policy. The article argues for a flexible, coevolutionary approach to environmental regulation so that rural residents whose livelihoods are directly dependent on natural resources are not unduly disadvantaged by policy and regulations that may have limited immediate relevance to their locality.
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