This policy brief takes a closer look at Ghana, considered a VPA frontrunner, to qualify the largely positive depiction painted of VPA processes. Drawing from a recent publication by Hansen, Rutt, and Acheampong (2018) and its review of the rich literature on forest governance as well as 160 semi-structured interviews with relevant actors in the country, the authors pose critical policy recommendations to move beyond business as usual in Ghanaian forest governance (as well as development interventions there), and toward more transformative change.