tag:theconversation.com,2011:/institutions/kwame-nkrumah-university-of-science-and-technology-knust-3522/articlesKwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)2024-02-28T14:41:38Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2238692024-02-28T14:41:38Z2024-02-28T14:41:38ZGhana: Street vending helps migrants to survive in Accra, but it’s illegal – a solution for all is needed<p>Moving to the city is a common strategy for the rural poor in the global south. Economic hardship pushes individuals out of their rural communities in search of opportunities. These tend to be found in urban centres, where facilities and services are concentrated. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://worldmigrationreport.iom.int/wmr-2020-interactive/">World Migration Report</a> indicated that 740 million people were migrants in their own country in 2009. </p>
<p>Even in the city, there’s no guarantee of finding a job. Many people therefore resort to informal ways of making a living, like street vending. In Ghana, about <a href="https://library.fes.de/pdf-files/bueros/ghana/10496.pdf">80% of the workforce</a> are employed in the informal sector.</p>
<p>We were among a group of urban planning researchers who recently <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43545-023-00698-4">studied</a> the role of street vending in the lives of migrants in Ghana’s capital, Accra. In most <a href="https://www.wiego.org/sites/default/files/publications/files/IEMS-Sector-Report-Street-Vendors-Exec-Summary.pdf">African cities</a>, between 2% and 24% of informal workers are street vendors. </p>
<p>Our study showed that street sales were a source of jobs, income and survival for the urban poor in Ghana. This is even though street vending is illegal in the country.</p>
<p>We also assessed the effects of street vending from the lens of city authorities. Over the years, city authorities have failed to manage the activities of street vendors. Understanding all the relevant perspectives may help to find ways to meet people’s various needs in Ghanaian cities.</p>
<h2>Street vendors in Accra</h2>
<p>The study focused on street vending activities in the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Map-of-Accra-Central-Business-Area-Showing-the-Study-Area-Source-Survey-Dept_fig2_330913282">central business district</a> of Accra Metropolis. The area was selected due to the concentration of street vending activities such as the sale of hardware goods, electrical appliances, cosmetics, clothing, food and beverages, and the activities of financial institutions. </p>
<p>We interviewed 80 migrant street vendors and some city authorities. In assessing the socio-economic effects of street vending on the livelihoods of migrants, we monitored key livelihood indicators:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>income</p></li>
<li><p>access to social services (education and healthcare)</p></li>
<li><p>asset acquisition (property such as land)</p></li>
<li><p>social ties </p></li>
<li><p>educational assistance (helping relatives in their education) </p></li>
<li><p>family relationships. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>We found that a majority (60%) of the participants used to earn a monthly income of less than GH₵50.00 (US$4) before they took up street vending. After moving to Accra and entering into street vending, 72% of the respondents indicated that they earned over GH₵200 (US$16). </p>
<p>Over a third (68%) of the respondents indicated that their access to social services such as education, healthcare and recreational facilities had improved since migrating from their place of origin and starting street vending. This could be a result of the increased income coupled with the presence of social facilities and services in urban centres. </p>
<p>Half (50%) of the respondents had not acquired any assets for their family members since they started street vending. However, the other 50% had been able to acquire assets for their family members in their home of origin. These assets included land for residential and agricultural purposes. </p>
<p>Also, 58% of the respondents indicated that street vending enabled them to support family members’ education back home. </p>
<p>Most of the vendors said they were selling on the streets because they had limited skills. And the cost of living was high in the city. </p>
<p>The challenges they faced included: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>limited access to shelter</p></li>
<li><p>risk of arrest by city authorities (street vending is illegal in the capital)</p></li>
<li><p>limited access to food and related consumer items </p></li>
<li><p>inability to access social services by some street vendors</p></li>
<li><p>cultural shock and cultural difference.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>The city’s view</h2>
<p>City officials who took part in the research highlighted the challenges street vendors posed. These included: </p>
<ul>
<li><p>getting in the way of pedestrians and vehicles </p></li>
<li><p>forcing pedestrians to walk on the streets, increasing their chances of accidents </p></li>
<li><p>littering, which has environmental consequences and increases the cost of waste management.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The city authorities indicated that the most sustainable approach to managing the activities of street vendors was to allot portions of the pavements to them. One strategy suggested was to block specific roads on specified days to allow street vendors to sell their wares. </p>
<p>The Metropolitan Assembly <a href="https://ama.gov.gh/doc/bye-laws.pdf">bye-law</a> states that there should be no hawking by street vendors. The assembly monitors their activities and sometimes evicts them.</p>
<p>These management strategies are expensive and ineffective. Authorities lack political will to enforce them. Most mayors allow street vendors to operate without restrictions during election years. </p>
<h2>Next steps</h2>
<p>Street vendors believe their activities are legitimate and present social and economic opportunities. For example, they believe they can make a living and support their families by vending. They say relocating to Accra has strengthened their livelihoods and improved their access to healthcare services and other social facilities. </p>
<p>On the contrary, city authorities see street vending as an illegal activity that poses environmental threats to the city. They associate it with problems such as obstruction to pedestrians and vehicles, littering and petty crime. </p>
<p>Our study concludes that halting street vending without alternative livelihoods will mean denying thousands of people their livelihood. </p>
<p>Over the years, government skills training and growth <a href="https://thebftonline.com/2023/08/15/yea-exceeds-2023-youth-employment-target-by-16/">interventions</a> have excluded informal sector actors such as street vendors. The only way to get the vendors off the streets is to offer alternative sources of livelihood that will provide competitive income. </p>
<p>We propose that policymakers design skills training programmes for street vendors that will offer them sustainable and improved livelihoods. These programmes should be designed and carried out in a politically neutral way.</p>
<p>Also, institutions such as the Ministry of Roads and Highways, Transport Ministry, <a href="https://mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/pbb-estimates/2022/2022-PBB-NDPC.pdf">National Development Planning Commission</a> and local authorities should incorporate the activities of street vendors in the design of layouts, roads, plans and policies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223869/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Street sales are a source of jobs, income and survival for the urban poor in Ghana.Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Owusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207402024-02-07T13:26:16Z2024-02-07T13:26:16ZGhana: Kumasi city’s unplanned boom is destroying two rivers – sewage, heavy metals and chemical pollution detected<p>Ghana’s urban population has <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/opinion/2015/05/14/rising-through-cities-in-ghana-the-time-for-action-is-now-to-fully-benefit-from-the-gains-of-urbanization">more than tripled</a> in the past three decades, from 4 million to nearly 14 million people. Competition for land in cities has increased among various land uses. These trends have led to encroachment in ecologically sensitive areas such as wetlands.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Kumasi">Kumasi</a>, Ghana’s second largest city, has a high level of encroachment and this has led to the pollution of water bodies. Kumasi’s population growth has been rapid because of its central and strategic location and its functions as a major commercial, traditional and administrative centre. In 2022, the <a href="https://worldpopulationreview.com/world-cities/kumasi-population">population of Kumasi</a> was 3,630,326 with a growth rate of 4.02%. The city’s growth puts pressure on its natural assets.</p>
<p>As scholars of urban planning and chemistry, we conducted a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19463138.2022.2146121">study</a> in the <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/plan/EIJR13206_Greater_Kumasi_01.pdf">greater Kumasi metropolis</a> to understand the extent of encroachment and pollution of two rivers, Subin and Wiwi. We wanted to understand how cities can be developed and functional without destroying natural resources. We also wanted to know more about the extent of water pollution, land-use dynamics and water resources regulations, and how they influence the quality of water resources. </p>
<p>We found that people were building homes in informal settlements along the rivers. Liquid and solid waste was being dumped into the rivers. People were using land on the river banks for agriculture and industrial activities, which had a negative effect on water quality. </p>
<p>We recommend that the city authorities monitor what is happening better and do more to prevent degradation of Kumasi’s water bodies.</p>
<h2>Effects of land use on the quality of water bodies</h2>
<p>We discovered that, in the greater Kumasi metropolis, more land alongside the rivers was being used for industrial, residential and commercial purposes than for green spaces. City authorities were ineffective in controlling development in these areas despite the fact that <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/document/ZONING_GUIDELINES_final_DESIGN.pdf">Ghana’s zoning guidelines</a> say there should be a buffer of 100 feet (30 metres) along water bodies. </p>
<p>Land values in Kumasi are increasing due to rapid urban growth, but values are lower for wetlands. This difference has contributed to city residents building in wetlands. Also, the intense pressure of urbanisation on the available land has resulted in a <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/483045/wetlands-in-kumasi-metropolis-under-siege.html">high level of encroachment</a> in wetlands. The study revealed that 35.4% of the land uses within the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/figure/River-Wiwi-and-some-other-streams-that-drain-the-Kumasi-Metropolis-Department-of_fig2_257939998">River Wiwi</a> buffers were residential development. </p>
<p>This research further confirmed that the Wiwi and Subin rivers had been heavily polluted with faecal coliforms over the years. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/nursing-and-health-professions/fecal-coliform">Coliform counts</a> are an indicator of possible faecal contamination, and reflect hygiene standards. </p>
<p>The mean of the coliform counts surpassed the limits of 400 total coliforms/100ml and 10 faecal coliforms/100ml allowed by the <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9241546743">World Health Organization standard</a>. The two rivers are extremely polluted with faecal matter. </p>
<p>The research also confirmed that heavy metals in the water bodies were above the <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535301/table/ch8.tab2/">WHO’s recommended standard</a> of 0.01mg/litre. For example, the average concentration of lead (Pb) recorded in the Wiwi and Subin rivers was 0.018–0.031 mg/l and 0.035–0.055, respectively. Exposure to lead is <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health">dangerous</a> to health. </p>
<p>As a result of limited investment in sewage plants, most of the city’s untreated waste water is discharged into the surface water bodies. This has implications for the quality and sustainability of these water bodies. </p>
<p>The study also showed that some city residents dump their <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/Resolving-dying-water-bodies-Dealing-with-waste-pollutants-through-lucrative-means-569358">waste near the city’s wetlands</a>. During heavy rains, the refuse runs off into the water, affecting water quality and flow. </p>
<p>The inability of city authorities to enforce land-use regulations and legislation has allowed people to carry out agricultural activities close to the rivers. The use of agrochemicals threatens aquatic habitats. Chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers are likely to seep or be washed into the rivers. The use of polluted water from the rivers for irrigation also poses a threat to human health. </p>
<p>The industrial activities along the water bodies include washing bays, auto-mechanical activities, welding and wood processing. These pose a threat of chemical pollution due to likely seepage of petroleum products into the water.</p>
<h2>Time for Kumasi to wake up</h2>
<p>The development of sustainable cities relies on the ability of city authorities to plan for social, environmental and economic growth. Urban growth can coexist with natural resources if human activities located near water bodies don’t threaten their quality and continued existence. </p>
<p>Our study shows that Kumasi has developed with little regard for its natural assets. This is a threat to the city’s sustainability. City authorities ought to put in place measures to clean the water bodies and convert buffer areas into parks and green spaces. Environmentally friendly urban agriculture can also be promoted along the water bodies. </p>
<p>Activities such as disposal of liquid and solid waste must be stopped. <a href="https://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/explainers/what-is-the-polluter-pays-principle/#:%7E:text=The%20%27polluter%20pays%27%20principle%20is,human%20health%20or%20the%20environment">The “polluter must pay” principle</a> must be applied to people who contravene environmental regulations. </p>
<p>Urban centres in Ghana need a water resource management policy. Regulatory institutions such as the Physical Planning Department and the <a href="https://www.epa.gov.gh/epa/">Environmental Protection Agency</a> should be restructured and equipped to respond to emerging complex environmental problems in cities. There should be continuous environmental monitoring and regulations must be strictly enforced. The <a href="https://westindiacommittee.org/historyheritageculture/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Contents-and-Introduction.pdf">River Thames Policing model</a> in the UK can be adopted to ensure the continuous monitoring of the water bodies. To monitor and enforce the zoning regulations, city authorities and policy-makers must invest in technologies such as drones. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.luspa.gov.gh/media/document/ZONING_GUIDELINES_final_DESIGN.pdf">Zoning Guideline and Planning Standards</a> provide standard setback average distances for a buffer zone of 50–100 feet from the water bodies. We recommend that the buffer should rather be 100 feet (30 metres) away from the wetland. The wetlands are an important <a href="https://www.ramsar.org/sites/default/files/documents/library/services_00_e.pdf">ecosystem service</a> that needs to be protected. Ecologically sensitive areas that are 100 feet away from wetlands should be compulsorily acquired as natural assets for the public interest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The inability of city authorities to enforce land-use regulations has allowed people to carry out ecologically unfriendly activities along the water bodies.Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Owusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2221272024-01-29T13:09:18Z2024-01-29T13:09:18ZNeglected tropical diseases persist in the world’s poorest places: four reads about hurdles and progress<p>It’s sobering to reflect that “neglected tropical diseases” are referred to as “neglected” because they persist in the poorest, most marginalised communities even after being wiped out in more developed parts of the world.</p>
<p>A variety of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins, cause neglected tropical diseases, which include dengue, chikungunya, leprosy, lymphatic filariasis and yaws.</p>
<p>They inflict tremendous suffering because of their disfiguring, debilitating and sometimes deadly impact. Patients often experience stigma, social exclusion and superstition. </p>
<p>The good news is that there is reason for hope as some African countries have made significant progress in eradicating these diseases. </p>
<p>We have put together some essential reads from The Conversation Africa over the past year highlighting a scourge that still affects more than <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/neglected-tropical-diseases#:%7E:text=It%20is%20estimated%20that%20NTDs,often%20related%20to%20environmental%20conditions.">1 billion people </a> today. </p>
<h2>Patients’ beliefs about illness matter</h2>
<p>Would you take medication for an illness you didn’t believe you had? Or if you disagreed with healthcare workers about the cause of your condition?</p>
<p>This is the dilemma of many people who live in rural areas of Ghana where a mosquito-borne disease called lymphatic filariasis, often referred to as elephantiasis, continues to spread. Researchers found that only 18% of respondents understood lymphatic filariasis as a disease. Fewer than 7% believed it to be a disease spread by mosquitoes.</p>
<p>Instead, people held a range of alternative beliefs attributing the condition to spiritual causes (curses, witchcraft, evil spirits), cold or rainy weather, and other illnesses.</p>
<p>The team of experts, that carried out the research, suggest that understanding patients’ belief systems would help healthcare workers treat patients more effectively. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/patients-beliefs-about-illness-matter-the-case-of-elephantiasis-in-rural-ghana-216838">Patients' beliefs about illness matter: the case of elephantiasis in rural Ghana</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>100 million Nigerians are at risk</h2>
<p>A quarter of the people affected by neglected tropical diseases in Africa live in Nigeria. An estimated 100 million Nigerians are at risk for at least one of these diseases and there are several million cases of people being infected with more than one of them.</p>
<p>There has been progress, writes Uwem Friday Ekpo. By January 2023 the country had eradicated Guinea worm disease and two states had eliminated onchocerciasis. </p>
<p>One of the interventions was door-to-door visits by volunteers to administer medicines. Teachers also played a similar role when medicines were distributed in schools. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/100-million-nigerians-are-at-risk-of-neglected-tropical-diseases-what-the-country-is-doing-about-it-198320">100 million Nigerians are at risk of neglected tropical diseases: what the country is doing about it</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Leprosy, scabies and yaws: Togo’s neglected skin diseases</h2>
<p>Skin conditions caused by some bacteria, viruses, mosquitoes or mites are common neglected tropical diseases. </p>
<p>Research in schools and rural areas in Togo, west Africa, found a large number of these infections including scabies, leprosy, yaws and Buruli ulcer.</p>
<p>These are stigmatised and can be difficult to diagnose. There are typically few, if any, dermatologists in areas where they are common. Children with these diseases often refuse to go to school. </p>
<p>Michael Head, Bayaki Saka and Palokinam Pitche suggest authorities make the treatment of these diseases free of charge. Health promotion and education are also critical.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/leprosy-scabies-and-yaws-togos-neglected-tropical-skin-diseases-need-attention-201301">Leprosy, scabies and yaws - Togo's neglected tropical skin diseases need attention</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Reasons for hope</h2>
<p>Togo did have reason to celebrate though. In 2022 it became the first country in the world to have eliminated four neglected tropical diseases. The country stamped out Guinea worm disease in 2011, lymphatic filariasis in 2017, sleeping sickness in 2020 and trachoma in 2022.</p>
<p>It achieved its milestone through a combination of measures. These included door-to-door mass drug administration, training of healthcare staff, sustained financing and strong political support.</p>
<p>Other African countries also made significant progress in tackling neglected tropical diseases in 2022. Benin, Rwanda and Uganda managed to eliminate sleeping sickness. Malawi eliminated trachoma and the Democratic Republic of Congo eliminated Guinea worm disease.</p>
<p>But the global health community and African governments cannot rest on their laurels. There is still a long way to go, writes Monique Wasunna. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/eliminating-neglected-diseases-in-africa-there-are-good-reasons-for-hope-198543">Eliminating neglected diseases in Africa: there are good reasons for hope</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222127/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Neglected tropical diseases are often associated with social exclusion as well as physical suffering. One billion people around the world suffer from these diseases.Nadine Dreyer, Health & Medicine EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2168382023-11-22T14:35:36Z2023-11-22T14:35:36ZPatients’ beliefs about illness matter: the case of elephantiasis in rural Ghana<p>Would you take medication for an illness you didn’t believe you had? Or if you disagreed with healthcare workers about the cause of your condition? </p>
<p>This is the dilemma of many people who live in areas of Ghana where a mosquito-borne disease called <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lymphatic-filariasis#:%7E:text=Lymphatic%20filariasis%2C%20commonly%20known%20as,damage%20to%20the%20lymphatic%20system">lymphatic filariasis</a>, often referred to as elephantiasis, continues to spread. </p>
<p>Lymphatic filariasis, or LF as it is commonly known, is a neglected tropical disease which spreads through repeated bites by parasite-carrying mosquitoes. This infection results in the painful and debilitating swelling of legs, arms and genitals, and increases vulnerability to injury and secondary infections. </p>
<p>Although little known, lymphatic filariasis is a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3246437">significant</a>
and <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/article/PIIS2214-109X(20)30323-5/fulltext">under-addressed</a> global cause of disability. According to the World Health Organization at least<a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lymphatic-filariasis"> 51 million</a> people are infected with lymphatic filariasis. </p>
<p>The World Health Organization’s <a href="https://www.who.int/teams/control-of-neglected-tropical-diseases/lymphatic-filariasis/global-programme-to-eliminate-lymphatic-filariasis">Global Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis</a> has greatly reduced the burden of the disease through preventive mass drug campaigns, mosquito control, veterinary public health and sanitation and hygiene measures.</p>
<p>Despite this concerted effort, however, lymphatic filariasis continues to be endemic and require mass drug administration in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/article/13/Supplement_1/S22/6043665">31</a> African countries. The challenges to eradicating it are not well understood, and may hinge on better understanding how people with this disease view their condition. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-its-hard-to-end-elephantiasis-a-debilitating-disease-spread-by-mosquitoes-166627">Why it's hard to end elephantiasis, a debilitating disease spread by mosquitoes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Our research team brings together specialists in epidemiology, public health and human rights. In our recently published paper in <a href="https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0002476">PLOS Global Public Health</a> we take a different approach to the conventional medical focus that dominates research and interventions for this disease. </p>
<p>We examined the local perceptions and beliefs about the disease
and the personal experiences of those living with it in three rural communities in Ghana’s Ahanta West district. This coastal district in Ghana’s Western Region has a high rate of lymphatic filariasis infection and many people living with advanced stages of the disease. </p>
<p>Members of our research team had worked in this area for more than a decade, establishing the trust relationships that made this research possible.</p>
<p>Our findings may help provide insight into why lymphatic filariasis persists in certain settings and how best to tackle it.</p>
<h2>Cold, rain and curses</h2>
<p>We found that only <a href="https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0002476">18%</a> of respondents understood lymphatic filariasis as a disease. Fewer than 7% believed it to be a disease spread by mosquitoes. </p>
<p>Instead, people held a range of alternative beliefs attributing the condition to other sources, including spiritual causes (curses, witchcraft, evil spirits), cold or rainy weather, and other illnesses. In subsequent interviews, people described how, from their perspective, they encountered the disease. </p>
<p>One person explained, “When you are cold, then your leg gets swollen.” </p>
<p>Another noted, “There are some who just get jealous of and develop hatred for people for just walking and going about their normal duties and decide that they do not want this person or that person to progress, hence they buy the disease for them spiritually.” They added, “I strongly believe and have the conviction that someone bought mine for me spiritually.”</p>
<p>In contrast with these beliefs, which show very limited overlap with medical explanations, nearly half (<a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6709921">45.8%</a>) of respondents reported receiving information about the disease from healthcare workers or drug campaigns. </p>
<p>These findings suggest we need to learn more about local beliefs in health and wellbeing in order to achieve more effective communication with patients. </p>
<p>Our research also demonstrates lymphatic filariasis is not only a medical condition, but also a social and economic one. </p>
<h2>Ashamed and stigmatised</h2>
<p>Almost <a href="https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0002476">80%</a> of respondents reported feeling ashamed or stigmatised by their condition. Some said it restricted their social lives and their willingness to go out in public. </p>
<p>Infection also limited the ability to earn a living. More than a third (<a href="https://journals.plos.org/globalpublichealth/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgph.0002476">36.2%</a>) said they could no longer work due to their condition. Many reported a need to depend on others for financial support. </p>
<p>Among those surveyed less than 3% reported that they were “doing well”. </p>
<p>These findings show an urgent need to address the unmet social, mental health and economic impacts of lymphatic filariasis.</p>
<h2>What needs to be done</h2>
<p>Drug campaigns are important but cannot be done in isolation. Existing research shows us that these <a href="https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/article/13/Supplement_1/S55/6043672">are more successful when offered in a broader context of care</a>. </p>
<p>Healthcare workers must be trained to avoid stigmatising patients. But eliminating stigma is not a simple task, nor can it be left to healthcare workers alone.</p>
<p>Further research is needed to better understand local beliefs about lymphatic filariasis, and to understand how stigma affects patients’ access to treatment and quality of life. This must include the strong links between the disease and poverty. </p>
<p>Lymphatic filariasis follows <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/WHO-IER-CSDH-08.1">the “social gradient”</a>. Those who are poorest are most likely to be affected. Factors associated with poverty increase the chances of being infected and of developing complications. These factors include poor quality housing, limited access to methods of prevention (mosquito nets, good quality footwear), difficulty getting medical care, living in remote rural communities, and working as subsistence farmers.</p>
<p>The disease also pushes poor people <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10170-8">further into poverty</a> as it progresses.</p>
<p>As the number of people affected by it decreases, those who are left behind are more and more likely to be isolated, marginalised, stigmatised and impoverished. </p>
<p>As we argue in a <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003207672-15/examining-research-positionality-understanding-self-first-step-transnational-research-colleen-mcmillan-alexander-kwarteng-kristi-kenyon-mary-asirifi">recent book chapter</a>, these factors underscore the need for interdisciplinary research teams who are able to address lymphatic filariasis holistically. We need an approach that merges healthcare, health promotion, health systems, spiritual beliefs, social and cultural context, gender dynamics and economic impact. </p>
<p>We must put people with lymphatic filariasis – and their dignity – at the centre of research.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/216838/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristi Heather Kenyon receives funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Kwarteng receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Colleen McMillan receives funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mary Asirifi works for MacEwan University. She receives funding from CIHR. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Regiane Garcia receives funding from Canadian Health Institutes Research</span></em></p>In rural Ghana, only 18% of patients believe elephantiasis is a disease. Some others think it is caused by curses or even rain. Only by understanding local beliefs can it be treated effectively.Kristi Heather Kenyon, Associate Professor, Human Rights, University of WinnipegAlexander Kwarteng, Senior Lecturer in Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Colleen McMillan, Scientific Co-Director and Associate Professor, University of WaterlooMary Asirifi, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Foundations, MacEwan UniversityRegiane Garcia, Research Associate, focus on health rights, laws and policies, Simon Fraser UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2112912023-08-30T13:38:58Z2023-08-30T13:38:58ZKofi Ansah left Ghana to become a world famous fashion designer - how his return home boosted the industry<p>In the 1950s and 1960s, young Africans were assisted financially by their governments to study in western countries in the hope they would return to contribute to nation <a href="https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315623399">building</a>. Individuals who qualified abroad and returned home formed the educated elites of immediate post-independent <a href="https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1374329">Africa</a>. </p>
<p>Over the years, the demography of such migrants has changed to include professionals who after graduation at home move abroad in search of employment and remain there <a href="https://doi.org/10.1136%2Fbmj.331.7519.780-b">permanently</a>. This loss of human talent and skills – the “brain drain” – is arguably one of Africa’s key developmental <a href="https://suraadiq.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Skills-for-science-systems-in-Africa.pdf">challenges</a>. </p>
<p>The migration of highly skilled professionals such as doctors, nurses, engineers and academics from Africa has serious economic, political and social implications for <a href="https://www.proquest.com/openview/cef9a0e6f56bf9de0d6683c52c60c2c7/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&c%20bl=2026366&diss=y.">development</a>.</p>
<p>But there is another side to the migration of skilled people. That is “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/jofi.12198">brain gain</a>” – the return migration of professionals – and “<a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/brain-circulation-how-high-skill-immigration-makes-everyone-better-off/">brain circulation</a>” – temporary migration of professionals between countries. This is not well documented, especially in the case of African countries. </p>
<p>This is the gap we sought to fill, using a case study of the late Ghanaian fashion designer, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2236563">Kofi Ansah</a>. </p>
<p>Ansah’s impact on Ghanaian fashion was immense because of the timing and context of his return in 1992. He had built a successful career for 20 years in the UK and the future looked <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2023.2236563">promising</a>. On the other hand, the country he returned to was undergoing profound political and economic transformation. Ghana was transitioning from military rule to a civilian <a href="https://doi.org/10.2979/aft.2010.57.1.24">government</a>. Political tension was high, linked to an economic downturn following <a href="https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1310&context=hcoltheses">structural adjustment programmes</a> adopted in the 1980s. But Ansah chose to relocate his budding career to Ghana. </p>
<p>His case demonstrates how the knowledge and expertise migrants gather through international career mobility can be converted into assets at an individual, national and international level. Returning migrants can transform traditional industries into modern, globalised ones.</p>
<h2>Transforming Ghana’s fashion industry</h2>
<p>We are researchers in sociology, African studies and geography who have been studying how internal and external migration and spatial context influence cultural and creative practice in Ghana. For the Kofi Ansah case study we interviewed 31 Ghanaian fashion designers whose career journeys had been directly and indirectly influenced by him. These interviews are supplemented by information from social media dedicated to Ansah and his works. </p>
<p>Kofi Ansah, who <a href="https://www.peacefmonline.com/pages/showbiz/fashion/201405/198235.php">died in 2014</a>, was from a creative family. His elder sister, <a href="https://face2faceafrica.com/article/felicia-abban-ghanas-first-female-photographer-in-whose-lens-was-nkrumahs-mirror">Felicia Abban</a>, was the official photographer of Kwame Nkrumah, Ghana’s first president. His elder brother, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0030503/">Kwaw Ansah</a>, is an acclaimed film writer, director and producer. </p>
<p>After completing his secondary education, Kofi enrolled in the Chelsea School of Art in the United Kingdom to study fashion design. He made his first fashion headline after he designed a beaded dress for Princess Anne. Subsequently, he worked for several successful British fashion brands, including Gerald Austin and Guy Laroche, before establishing his own studio in central London in 1980. </p>
<p>Despite his early success on the UK fashion scene, Ansah returned to Ghana in 1992 to get fresh inspiration and “try to show people that we can use our fabrics for other things … We just have to work on it and make it commercial,” he explained during an <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B_FXwpwJMgV/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">interview</a>. </p>
<p>The way cloth was produced locally, using <a href="https://www.adireafricantextiles.com/textiles-resources-sub-saharan-africa/an-introduction-to-sub-saharan-african-textiles/loom-types-in-sub-saharan-africa/">strip loom</a> technology, limited the volume of production. And the conventional styling of clothes limited their patronage. These were some of the features Ansah sought to change.</p>
<p>Ansah transformed Ghana’s fashion industry in four areas: </p>
<ul>
<li><p><strong>Fabrics and design</strong>: His modern designs used African traditional cloth, such as kente and <a href="https://craftatlas.co/crafts/bogolan">bogolanfini</a>. Linked to these style changes was his collaboration with Woodin and the Ghana Textiles Production, two textile producing companies, to introduce the sale of fabric in single yards instead of the standard six yards. This made the cloth more accessible and functional. It led to the production of casual clothes, such as skirts, blouses, shirts, shorts and trousers, for men and women. He then introduced ready-to-wear clothing at Woodin.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Accessories</strong>: Ansah was also passionate about promoting fashion accessories made with local materials. These included wood, raffia and his personal favourite, calabash. His runway designs always included stunning accessories. The use of prominent accessories has now become an integral element of African fashion shows.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Production</strong>: Ansah was instrumental in the introduction of the <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/National-Friday-Wear-Programme-launched-69720">Friday African wear policy</a> in Ghana. This was aimed at promoting the wearing of local bespoke garments in workplaces on Fridays. Ansah used his friendship with then minister for trade and industry, Alan Kyeremanten, to push his idea to democratise and regularise the use of wax print. Ansah also influenced fashion production by employing international marketing strategies like fashion shows and exhibitions. He thus opened Ghanaian fashion to international audiences by using globally accepted techniques.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Human capital</strong>: More importantly, Ansah’s vision to grow a lasting and successful industry propelled him to mentor many of Ghana’s finest contemporary designers. He partnered with international agencies to launch mentorship programmes for young designers. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>One such programme was the <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/entertainment/Roberto-Cavalli-and-Vogue-Italia-Editor-In-Chief-visit-Ghana-and-Nigeria-227092">Web Young Designers Hub</a>, financed by the French Embassy and coordinated by Ansah and <a href="https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/franca-sozzani">Franca Sozzani</a>, former editor of Vogue Italia. Another project spearheaded by Ansah was the <a href="https://ethicalfashioninitiative.org/">Ethical Fashion Initiative</a>, a partnership between the United Nations and the Presidential Special Initiative programme. These programmes and the exposure that came with them positioned contemporary designers to engage in “brain circulation.”</p>
<p>By participating in projects, young designers had the opportunity to travel to other countries and learn about aspects of fashion such as fabric production and event organisation. Such travel was geared towards acquiring knowledge that would have an impact on Ghana’s fashion industry. </p>
<p>These engagements helped young fashion designers build networks with designers across the globe. </p>
<h2>Ansah’s impact</h2>
<p>The Ghanaian fashion industry is making its mark <a href="https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/51163/1/9781003148340_oachapter1.pdf">globally</a>. <a href="https://instagram.com/steviefrenchie?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==">Steve French</a> and other young designers are recognised for their creative works and talents. Garments made by Ghanaian designers like <a href="https://www.duabaserwastudios.com/">Duaba Serwaa</a> and <a href="https://christiebrownonline.com/en-gh">Christie Brown</a> are worn by stars such as Lupita Nyongo and Beyonce respectively. Young Ghanaians, too, proudly wear African clothes for all occasions. The current status of Ghana’s fashion industry is largely due to the efforts of Kofi Ansah.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/211291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie received funding from the Danish Foreign Ministry (DANIDA) for this research. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Akosua Keseboa Darkwah received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark grant number 18-05-CBS, Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana for this study. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katherine V. Gough received funding from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark grant number 18-05-CBS, Advancing Creative Industries for Development in Ghana, for this study.</span></em></p>International career mobility can give people valuable knowledge and expertise to be used in their home country.Adwoa Owusuaa Bobie, Research Fellow, Center for Cultural and African Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Akosua Keseboa Darkwah, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of GhanaKatherine V. Gough, Professor of Human Geography, Loughborough UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2014932023-03-21T13:15:02Z2023-03-21T13:15:02ZClimate change: farmers in Ghana can’t predict rainfall anymore, changing how they work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/514889/original/file-20230313-20-opxnhm.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Established practices of Ghanaian farmers have been affected by climate change.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bernard Keraita/Flickr</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/climate-change-and-health">Climate change</a> affects all spheres of life, particularly those aspects that depend on the environment. Farming communities are a case in point.</p>
<p>Most often the effects of climate change on farmers are classified into two categories – economic and non-economic. The economic effects are losses that can be quantified or measured in monetary terms. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212096321000656?via%3Dihub">Non-economic</a> effects are losses that cannot be quantified or measured in monetary terms. Examples include <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877343520300531?via%3Dihub">loss of indigenous knowledge,</a> cultural heritage and sense of place and belonging.</p>
<p>Research and policy strategies have focused on understanding and addressing the economic effects of climate change. Less so the non-economic aspects. I study food and agricultural systems in Ghana. In <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17565529.2023.2183074?src=&journalCode=tcld20">a recent paper</a> my colleagues and I sought to understand the non-economic effects of climate change on farmers in Ghana.</p>
<p>Our findings have implications for climate change adaptation strategies and policies across the global south. </p>
<p>It is important to note that our research is not in any way suggesting that climate change is the only process driving changes in the farming systems and local culture in Ghana. But, based on the interviews we did, we argue that climate change is playing a role.</p>
<h2>Our research and its findings</h2>
<p>We conducted 30 in-depth interviews and a focus group with farmers in <a href="https://mofa.gov.gh/site/directorates/district-directorates/ashanti-region/172-offinso-municipal">Offinso</a>, a farming area in southern Ghana. Offinso is traditionally known for both food and cash crops production in Ghana. Farmers in the area produce crops that include maize, vegetables, pawpaw and cocoa. Agriculture in the area is largely rain-fed. </p>
<p>Farmers were asked to describe the weather patterns over a 30-year period. Their responses showed that they had experienced variable weather patterns, a situation that is affecting their farming activities. </p>
<p>For example farmers were no longer able to predict rainfall patterns and farming seasons. Farmers indicated that 30 years ago, the rains were constant during specific months of the year. This enabled them to plan and organise themselves for their yearly farming activities, as they were able to predict rains and start of the farming season. </p>
<p>But rainfall patterns have become very variable. </p>
<p>A consequence of this was that farmers could no longer exchange labour in a system known as <em>Nnoboa</em>. Farmers explained that when they could predict the farming season, they organised themselves at the start of the farming season for <em>Nnoboa</em>. This is often based on the principle of helping one another on the farm as a way of building social bonds. <em>Nnoboa</em> was largely practised at the start of the rainy and farming seasons, when land preparation and planting of crops are required. </p>
<p>But the variable nature of the rains had distorted the farming seasons and organisation of <em>Nnoboa</em> - communal labour. Instead farmers were relying on their nuclear families or hired labour. This reflected a much more individualist – as opposed to a communal – approach to farming. </p>
<p>We also asked farmers to describe how climate change affected their mental well-being. We asked them to describe climate change effects that made them anxious, depressed, grief, helpless, hopeless and sad.</p>
<p>They explained that extreme weather events such as storms and droughts destroyed their crops, leaving them emotionally distressed, helpless and sad. It was clear from the responses that extreme weather events are not new to farmers. Nevertheless, they expressed the view that major changes in weather patterns had become more frequent.</p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/mission-2020-new-global-strategy-rapidly-reduce-carbon-emissions/">Global efforts</a> are underway to curb carbon emissions. Nevertheless changing weather patterns, drought and storm conditions continue to pose both economic and non-economic effects on <a href="https://unfccc.int/sites/default/files/resource/Considerations%20regarding%20vulnerable.pdf">vulnerable people</a>. </p>
<p>The neglect of the non-economic aspects of climate change in research and policy threatens to worsen the vulnerability of farmers. This gap needs to be filled so that appropriate conventional and local adaptation strategies and policies can be designed to address the effects of climate change in developing countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201493/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The effect of climate change on established lifestyles of farming communities are variedJames Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981792023-01-31T18:50:54Z2023-01-31T18:50:54ZAccra is congested, but relocating Ghana’s capital is not the only option<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/505824/original/file-20230123-22-yykqto.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Accra's population has doubled over the past decade</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Muntaka Chasant/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Capital cities play an important role in the socio-economic development of every country. People generally move to cities where there are opportunities. </p>
<p>Accra, Ghana’s capital, demonstrates this pull effect – and the problems it can create, like <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Over-population-of-Accra-putting-pressure-on-resources-GSS-1364164">congestion</a> and development planning issues. </p>
<p>One of the consequences has been regular <a href="https://www.mwh.gov.gh/addressing-the-increasing-risk-of-perennial-flooding-across-the-country-a-shared-responsibility/">flooding</a>, which has claimed lives and property. Over the years, the city authorities have tried to decongest Accra, without success. The city is now <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Demolish-illegal-structures-on-waterways-Akufo-Addo-1546295">demolishing illegal structures</a>, especially those close to waterways. </p>
<p>Some people have suggested that Accra’s congestion problem could be solved if the capital were to be <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/1072846/relocate-ghanas-capital-from-accra-omanhene.html">moved</a> to another city. Others <a href="https://www.pulse.com.gh/news/local/moving-ghanas-capital-away-from-accra-will-be-expensive-minister/ps8jx0l">disagree</a>. </p>
<p>Our position in this ongoing debate is informed by a six-year-old <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19376812.2015.1134335">study</a> one of us conducted comparing Accra with Nigeria’s capital, Abuja. Nigeria moved its administrative capital out of Lagos to Abuja <a href="https://bscholarly.com/why-the-capital-of-nigeria-was-moved-from-lagos-to-abuja/">in 1991</a>. </p>
<p>The goal of the research was to make recommendations for the effective functioning of capital cities. We believe the findings are still relevant.</p>
<p>The study found that Accra was congested because too many facilities and services were concentrated in the city. We conclude that, instead of relocating the capital from Accra, its various roles could be shared among various regional capitals. Accra could keep its political role, but some of its facilities and services should be distributed around the country. </p>
<h2>Accra’s many functions</h2>
<p>Ghana’s capital city has multiple functions: educational, commercial, entertainment and administrative.</p>
<p>As an <a href="https://www.4icu.org/gh/greater-accra/a-z/">educational centre</a>, Accra has about 40 tertiary institutions. The seat of government, parliament house and the supreme court of Ghana are also in Accra, giving it an administrative and political role. The major sporting activities in Ghana are soccer, athletics and boxing. The country’s only boxing arenas are in Accra. The city also has the Ohene Gyan Sports Stadium and the Olympic Stadium (under construction). </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=425&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506053/original/file-20230124-13-ieb3gv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=534&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ghana’s population by region.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Reputable research institutes such as Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research are located in Accra. The headquarters of major religious organisations – such as the Christian Council of Ghana and the Office of the National Chief Imam – are also located here. </p>
<p>Some facilities that could have been located in other cities are all concentrated in Accra. Overall, the city serves as the country’s commercial, manufacturing and communication centre. </p>
<p>This has attracted major private companies to locate their headquarters in the capital. Ghana Stock Exchange, the country’s principal facilitator of the development of the capital market, also has its headquarters in Accra. </p>
<p>The combination of its political role and all the other facilities and services in the city has attracted people from all parts of the country. According to the 2021 Population and Housing Census, the Greater Accra Region is the most populous region in Ghana, with a population of over <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/202109230279.html">5 million people</a>. The region, with a population density of 1,200 people per square kilometer, is also the <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/1275577/population-density-by-region-in-ghana/">most densely populated</a> region in Ghana. </p>
<p>This density has led to traffic congestion and overcrowding. On average, traffic across the major highways in the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area <a href="http://mlgrd.gov.gh/images/Ghana_Urban_Forum/er.pdf">grew</a> from 2.5% to 14.8% per annum. </p>
<p>The multi-functional nature of Accra has led to pressure on land resources which has also resulted in encroachment of green areas and wetlands. The result is that parts of the city are unsafe to live in. The perennial floods which claim human lives and destroy properties have been attributed to the city’s <a href="https://www.mwh.gov.gh/addressing-the-increasing-risk-of-perennial-flooding-across-the-country-a-shared-responsibility/">development and spatial planning problems</a>. </p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>Relocating capital cities does not necessarily solve the problem of congestion in the long term if the fundamental causes of the congestion are not addressed. For example, the relocation of Nigerian’s capital city to Abuja did not solve congestion in Lagos.</p>
<p>We argue that a more feasible option for Accra is to change the role of the city from a multi-functional role to a political role. </p>
<p>National policies should focus on de-concentration by relocating some of the facilities and services that are currently in the capital but do not require direct access to the executive. These may include the headquarters of some government institutions, nongovernmental organisations, universities and research institutes, religious organisations and private companies. </p>
<p>The relocation of the headquarters of the Ghana Cocoa Board from Accra, for example, could be taken into consideration as Accra is not a cocoa producing region. Such an institution could be moved to a place where cocoa is produced. </p>
<p>The headquarters of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation could be moved to the western region of Ghana, where oil is drilled. Universities located in Accra could be encouraged to establish branches in other parts of the country, thus reducing the number of students on the Accra campuses. This would help promote spatial equity in Ghana in terms of geographic access to university education. </p>
<p>There could be incentive packages for institutions to establish their headquarters outside the capital. Those in the capital could be charged a special congestion levy. Finally, there should be a conscious effort to give functional roles to all the 16 regional capitals in Ghana. The functional roles can include commercial capital, defence capital, entertainment capital and sports capital. The decentralisation of facilities and services would help distribute opportunities – and people – across the country.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198179/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Accra could keep its political role while some of its other functions are distributed around the country.Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Owusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1900122022-09-13T15:09:28Z2022-09-13T15:09:28ZGhana’s efforts to employ young people and regrow forests could work better<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482794/original/file-20220905-7608-fj41yr.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana has invested significant resources into regenerating lost forest cover.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Flickr/Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Deforestation has been an issue of global concern for many years. Deforestation is a major environmental concern because of its adverse effects on ecological sustainability, agricultural productivity and overall quality of life of the people. As populations increase, there is a higher demand for both forest products and forest lands for development activities. The Food and Agricultural Organization <a href="https://www.fao.org/state-of-forests/en/">reports</a> that only 4 billion hectares of the 6 billion hectares of forest that existed about 8,000 years ago are now available globally. Recent estimates by the FAO suggests that, globally, nearly 10 million hectares of forest was lost between 2015-2020. </p>
<p>World leaders have attempted to address this issue through <a href="https://unfccc.int/resource/docs/publications/rio_20_forests_brochure.pdf">global conventions</a> and goals, including the <a href="https://sdg.iisd.org/news/cifor-publication-analyzes-sdgs-for-forests-and-people/">sustainable development goals</a>.Unfortunately, these substantial global committments and investments in addressing deforestation have not been effective. </p>
<p>Ghana is one of the countries that has <a href="https://benjigyampoh.blogspot.com/2011/10/deforestation-in-ghana-governments.html">lost forest</a> cover at a high rate. Between 1990 and 2000, Ghana lost about 135,000 hectares of forest annually. From 2001 to 2021, Ghana lost 1.4 million hectares of tree cover, representing a <a href="https://www.globalforestwatch.org/dashboards/country/GHA/">20%</a> decrease in tree cover since 2000. </p>
<p>Global Forest Watch (GFW) <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/ghana-is-losing-its-rainforest-faster-than-any-other-country-in-the-world/">reports</a> that Ghana lost 60% of its primary rainforest in 2018, which was the highest in the world. </p>
<p>One third of Ghana’s land area of 238,500 km2 was forest at the <a href="https://www.osti.gov/biblio/6468764">start of the 1900s</a> . Between 1990 and 2005, 26 percent of that <a href="https://tradingeconomics.com/ghana/forest-area-percent-of-land-area-wb-data.html">cover</a> was lost. Forest resources are important in Ghana because most rural livelihoods are dependent on it for food and ecological balance.</p>
<p>The causes of the loss of forest cover are many. They include human activities such as logging, illegal mining and unsustainable farming practices.</p>
<p>The government of Ghana has over the years implemented a number of policies and programmes to reduce deforestation. Still, it has remained a major environmental problem. Programmes were poorly planned and carried out. They lacked sufficient logistics, funding and political commitment. Policies changed as governments did.</p>
<p>In 2018, Ghana <a href="https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2018/08/13/akufo-addo-launches-youth-in-afforestation-programme/">launched </a>the Youth in Afforestation programme. Its aim was to restore degraded forest cover through reforestation, rehabilitation and protection. The programme also sought to create jobs for some unemployed youth in Ghana. <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201808150504.html">The plan</a> was to employ 65,000 young people to plant about 10 million tree seedlings of different varieties across Ghana within two years, with the option of an extension based on satisfactory results.</p>
<p>Little research has been done on the Youth in Afforestation programme. We did our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08941920.2021.2019359?journalCode=usnr20">research</a> to provide information about what the programme had contributed to forest resources management. Our assessment of its prospects and challenges could be a guide for any necessary reforms to achieve the programme’s objectives.</p>
<p>In short, we found that the afforestation programme did create jobs in the agricultural, industrial and service sectors of the economy and help to conserve the natural environment. But there’s a need to minimise political interference and ensure that the requisite human, logistical and financial resources are in place. Otherwise the progress won’t be sustained.</p>
<h2>Youth in Afforestation</h2>
<p>The current government of Ghana introduced the Youth in Afforestation programme in 2018. Its challenges include financial, logistical, institutional and forest governance issues. </p>
<p>It has employed over 40,000 recruits since 2018. They are engaged in planting, tending, weeding, and thinning trees. But there are serious concerns about the sustainability of these jobs, because sustainable funding wasn’t planned. As per the initial plan, the youths engaged in the programme were to be employed for a period of two years, with the possibility of an extension contingent on satisfactory outcomes. </p>
<p>Most of the forest districts exceeded their targets from 2018 to 2019. Put together,<a href="https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2022/03/05/minister-says-over-67-million-seedlings-planted-in-afforestation-programmes/"> 67.4 million seedlings</a> were planted as part of the programme. This must be interpreted with caution, though, because it did not take into account the seedling survival rates. We found that the programme established about 525 hectares of forest in 2018 and 788 hectares in 2019. Put together, the programme restored about 1,313 hectares of forested areas within two years of its implementation. This indicates that the programme has been effective in restoring the country’s lost forest cover. </p>
<p>Other afforestation programmes in sub-Saharan Africa have been much more efficient. For example, the African Union’s <a href="https://www.greatgreenwall.org/about-great-green-wall">Green Wall</a> initiative rehabilitated 3 million hectares of land in Burkina Faso from 2007 to 2019 and 15 million hectares of degraded land in Ethiopia. The same initiative led to the restoration of 5 million hectares of land in Nigeria and Niger. </p>
<p>The lack of sustainable funding resulting from change of governments and a lack of political commitment has led to other problems such as inadequate logistics and untimely payment of salaries to employees. We interviewed beneficiaries of the programme and found that 40% of recruits and supervisors complained about inadequate logistics. Delayed salaries were a complaint among 38% of the beneficiaries interviewed. </p>
<p>Political interference appeared to be the major institutional and forest governance issue confronting the sustainable implementation of the Youth in Afforestation Programme. </p>
<p>The Forest Services Division is the implementing agency for the programme and is responsible for supervising the recruits. But the division is not involved in recruiting field officers. That’s done by the<a href="https://www.yea.gov.gh/"> Youth Employment Agency</a>, whose head is appointed by the ruling party. Also, 60% of the field officers interviewed said they got their appointments through their members of parliament, most of whom were members of the ruling party. </p>
<p>The politicised nature of the implementation process threaten its sustainability, especially when there is a change in government. </p>
<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>The rapid depletion of forest resource continues to threaten sustainable economic, social, and ecological development in Ghana. The current forest restoration strategy adopted by the government through the Youth in afforestation Programme is unsustainable. To move it from rhetoric to reality, there is a need to reduce political interference and put the necessary human, logistical and financial resources in place. </p>
<p>The current approach should shift to a community-based and voluntary approach to forest restoration and conservation. This has been shown to work in the <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/under-a-new-law-students-in-the-philippines-must-plant-10-trees-before-they-can-graduate-elementary-high-school-and-college">Philippines</a>, for example, where students at elementary and high school and college plant 10 trees as a graduation requirement. This initiative has resulted in 175 million new tree seedlings being planted every year in the country . </p>
<p><em>Kwadwo Nketia Sarpong Kumankuma,a graduate student at the University of Stavanger and Ata Yeboah Senior co-authored this article</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/190012/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana’s government should shift to a community-based and voluntary approach to forest restoration and conservationStephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Owusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1882342022-08-14T08:07:49Z2022-08-14T08:07:49ZYes, Africa’s informal sector has problems, but the answer isn’t to marginalise it<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/478087/original/file-20220808-1331-vy8036.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Informal workers are a key part of African economies</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>African leaders are increasingly aspiring to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12132-016-9294-8">“modernise”</a> their cities. That is to make them “globally competitive” and “smart”. The hope is to strategically position cities in Africa to drive the continent’s much-needed socio-economic transformation.</p>
<p>But these aspirations tend to marginalise and antagonise the informal sector. The sector encompasses the suite of economic activities by workers and economic units that are – in law or in practice – not covered (or insufficiently covered) by formal arrangements.</p>
<p>We are a team of international scholars researching sustainable cities in Africa. In our <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X21003971">latest paper</a>, we explore the dual role played by the informal sector in Africa’s urban economy. On the one hand, it plays a positive role. It provides employment, securing household income and savings, provides household basic needs and boosts civic engagement. </p>
<p>But the sector also plays a negative role. It contributes to social and gender inequality, insecurity, congestion and pollution. </p>
<p>Overall, we found that the informal sector has a lot to offer the future of African cities. We therefore recommend that public policy focuses more on regularising the sector, instead of displacing it. This is often done to make way for <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12132-016-9294-8">elitist big capital projects</a>. </p>
<p>Also, we warn that ignoring or marginalising the millions of people whose livelihoods depend on the sector could spell a social bloodbath on the continent.</p>
<h2>The ‘smart cities’ craze in Africa</h2>
<p>There has been a resurgent interest in building so-called “smart”, “modern”, “globally competitive” <a href="https://theconversation.com/building-new-cities-to-meet-africas-rapid-urbanisation-is-a-risky-bet-126099">cities in Africa</a>. Some are seeking to build entirely new cities. But, for the most part, most governments want to put cities on the “map” through large-scale redevelopment or by “modernising” existing city districts.</p>
<p>African cities have long been blamed for not serving as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X20302886">engines of growth and structural transformation</a> as their counterparts did during Europe’s Industrial Revolution. This makes it refreshing that leaders on the continent are seeking to turn things around. </p>
<p>The problem, however, is that these visions of city modernisation tend to heavily marginalise and antagonise the informal sector in their design and execution. Some even have a strong focus on displacing informal workers and activities – particularly hawkers and hawking, slum dwellers and slum settlements – from the central business districts of the cities.</p>
<p>For instance, early this year, the authorities in Nigeria sent a combined team of police, military and other law enforcement officials to <a href="https://dailytrust.com/anguish-tears-as-rivers-government-demolishes-port-harcourt-slum">destroy a Port Harcourt </a>informal settlement that housed some 15,000 families.</p>
<p>Their counterparts in Ghana are currently conducting <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/1170595/squatters-clash-with-police-during-demolition-exer.html">similar exercises</a>.</p>
<p>These decisions are often justified on the grounds that informal workers and their activities generate <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0169796X1102700406">“congestion”, “crime”, “filth/grime”, and “disorderliness”</a>. </p>
<p>In other words, they impede sustainable city-making, and hence, must be eradicated. </p>
<p>But is this premise backed by the evidence? This is the question our team <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305750X21003971">recently interrogated</a>.</p>
<p>We conclude that the informal sector is rather the goose laying Africa’s golden eggs.</p>
<h2>Unpacking the data</h2>
<p>We argue in our paper that African leaders must re-think the informal sector as a potential site for innovation and solutions. </p>
<p>Consider its employment creation potential for instance. In 2018, a study by the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang--en/index.htm">International Labour Organization (ILO)</a> found that the informal sector employs some 89.2% of the total labour force in sub-Saharan Africa if agriculture is included.</p>
<p>Even without agriculture, the share of informal employment is still significant: 76.8%. In central Africa, without agriculture, the sector’s share of employment hovered at 78.8% and 91% with agriculture. In east Africa, the contributions stood at 76.6% without agriculture and 91.6% with agriculture. The figures for southern and western Africa hovered around 36.1% and 87% without agriculture and 40.2% and 92.4% <a href="https://www.ilo.org/global/publications/books/WCMS_626831/lang--en/index.htm">when agriculture is included</a>.</p>
<p>The informal sector also makes other important contributions to Africa’s economy. In 2000, the gross value additions of Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal and Togo’s informal sector (including agriculture) hovered around 71.6%, 55.8%, 51.5%, and 72.5% of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097380101200600202">countries’ total GDPs</a>. </p>
<p>The sector’s contribution to housing too is <a href="https://researchrepository.rmit.edu.au/discovery/delivery/61RMIT_INST:ResearchRepository/9921864078801341#13248372790001341">substantial</a>. The most notable form of informal housing, popularly called “slums”, provide accommodation to millions of urban dwellers on the continent. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331176027_Habitat-III-Regional-Report-Africa_2017">United Nations’ data</a> suggest that Nigeria’s share of urban population that are accommodated in slums as of 2015 stood at 50.2%. That of Ethiopia was 73.9%; Uganda’s 53.6%; Tanzania’s 50.7%. Ghana and Rwanda’s hovered around 37.9% and 53.2%, respectively. </p>
<p>Clearly, the informal sector oils Africa’s urban economy in many important ways. This makes it highly unlikely that any visions of transforming lives on the continent can succeed without taking the sector into adequate account.</p>
<p>More importantly, the millions of working-class people whose lives depend on the sector have shown consistently that they won’t take their continuing marginalisation lying down. They frequently <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/097380101200600202">resist eviction orders</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps, their most profound <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanas-covid-lockdown-why-it-triggered-a-toxic-mix-of-mass-defiance-and-police-violence-176062">moment of resistance</a> was witnessed at the height of the COVID pandemic. </p>
<p>Many African governments imposed lockdowns to limit community transmission of the virus. However, after subjecting informal workers to extensive brutalities, they still refused to comply, forcing many governments to suspend the lockdowns. The pandemic has shown that the continuing systematic marginalisation of informal workers in city-making heralds more trouble for the future.</p>
<h2>Informality at the heart of city-making</h2>
<p>The issue is not that city authorities must allow informal workers and activities to go unchecked. They clearly have a responsibility to deal with the problems in the sector to ensure the security and health of the public. This includes the informal workers themselves. </p>
<p>The problem with current approaches is that they largely dispossess the workers and displace them to make way for <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/tran.12105">big capital projects </a> which serve the needs of a privileged few.</p>
<p>African leaders must recognise the enormous potentials of the continent’s informal workers and begin to integrate them better into their city-building visions and strategies. </p>
<p>The recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/poverty-matters/2014/mar/27/waste-egypt-refuse-collectors-zabaleen-cairo">integration of informal waste collectors/recyclers</a> – popularly called <em>Zabbaleen</em> – in waste management in Cairo, Egypt’s capital, offers great lessons.</p>
<p>The <em>Zabbaleen</em> had long been neglected for so-called “formal” private companies which, however, continued to prove inefficient and structurally unable to navigate the narrow streets of several neighbourhoods of Cairo.</p>
<p>When Cairo authorities finally recognised that the <em>Zabbaleen</em> are better suited for the job, they changed course and brought them onboard. The <a href="https://rtd.rt.com/stories/zabbaleen-cairos--rubbish-collectors-21st-century-change/">emerging evidence</a> suggests that the change is paying some fruitful dividends in improved sanitation.</p>
<p>Cairo’s progressive example paints a powerful image of how the capabilities of informal workers could be seriously incorporated and integrated into building African cities. Hopefully, more of such interventions will be replicated in other sectors of the continent’s urban economy.</p>
<p><em>Dr Henry Mensah and Professor Imoro Braimah of KNUST’s Centre for Settlements Studies, and Department of Planning contributed to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21003971#bb0970">original article</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/188234/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Informal workers are victims of the smart city drive in Africa.Gideon Abagna Azunre, PhD student, Concordia UniversityFestival Godwin Boateng, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Centre for Sustainable Urban Development, The Earth Institute, Columbia UniversityOwusu Amponsah, Senior Lecturer, Department of planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Stephen Appiah Takyi, Senior Lecturer, Department of Planning, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1824642022-05-31T13:34:30Z2022-05-31T13:34:30ZPower demand in Ghana has dipped after every crisis: the drivers and consequences<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462423/original/file-20220511-25-e3dc80.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Akosombo Dam in Ghana has been a reliable source of power for decades.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recurring electricity supply crises in Ghana over an extended period have driven consumers to turn alternative sources of energy. In turn, this resulted in a sharp decline in demand for electricity.</p>
<p>Ghana has had several periods of power shortfalls, particularly in 1984, 1994, 1998, 2007 and 2012-2015. The reasons have been given as losses in the distribution system, a tariff structure that makes it difficult for electricity producers to recover their costs, and the non-payment of electricity bills by consumers. </p>
<p>Demand is always expected to increase due to factors like population growth, economic growth and increasing incomes. But demand can fall too. In Ghana, electricity demand or consumption <a href="https://www.energycom.gov.gh/files/ENEERGY_STATISTICS_2017_Revised.pdf">increased</a> from 10,583 gigawatt hours in 2013 to 10,695 gigawatt hours in 2014 but <a href="https://www.energycom.gov.gh/files/ENEERGY_STATISTICS_2017_Revised.pdf">fell</a> to 9,685 gigawatt hours in 2015 . </p>
<p>Ghana’s electricity supply <a href="https://www.energycom.gov.gh/files/ENEERGY_STATISTICS_2017_Revised.pdf">fell</a> by 12% in the period 2013-2015. In the same period, electricity demand <a href="https://www.energycom.gov.gh/files/ENEERGY_STATISTICS_2017_Revised.pdf">declined</a> by 8.49%. Demand from residential consumers fell the most: by 20.39%.</p>
<p>In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/14786451.2021.1974440">study</a> we looked at the association between power crises and electricity demand in Ghana. We used data from 1980 to 2018 and in particular, the severe power crisis of 2012–2015. We found that power crises are sometimes followed by a fall in demand for electricity from the grid. Consumers appear to reconsider their sources of energy.</p>
<p>Our study results showed that the short term effects were smaller than the long-term effects. This suggests that the adverse impact of the crisis was so severe that economic agents did not respond only in the short term but also in the long term. This indicates that the over reliance on grid electricity was reduced forcing economic agents to resort to other alternatives. </p>
<p>Due to the adverse effects that power crisis has on economic agents, successive experiences of power crisis lead them to find long-term alternatives to reduce the impact of future power crisis. The switch to other alternatives has a potential financial impact on electricity consumers, especially for those switching to renewables such as solar energy whose costs <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/07/renewables-cheapest-energy-source/">continue to significantly decline</a>. </p>
<p>The insights from our research into the effect of power crises on electricity demand provide planners with precise estimates based on scientific evidence. </p>
<p>The study also provides evidence for the need to pay equal attention to supply side policies. Over the years, Ghana has paid more attention to the demand side of electricity. </p>
<h2>Big fall in demand</h2>
<p>Our main data sources were the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, the Volta River Authority and Ghana’s Energy Commission.</p>
<p>We first considered the cumulative impact of all the power crises in Ghana (1984, 1997-1998, 2007-2008, 2012-2015) on electricity demand. Then we isolated the effect of the 2012-2015 crisis. Power crises in Ghana from 1984 to 2015 reduced electricity demand by 31.4% overall. The 2012-2015 crisis alone reduced demand by 27.6%, giving an indication of its severity. </p>
<p>Constraints on the power that could be supplied on the grid translated into lower demand for grid electricity. People could meet their potential demand from other sources such as solar and generators.</p>
<p>The demand reductions were huge, considering the key role of electricity in households, firms and industries and the associated spillover impacts on the economy. </p>
<p>The 2012-2015 power crisis was the most intense and protracted in the history of Ghana. It started with inadequate gas supply to power thermal plants and inability to supply electricity from hydro sources due to poor rainfall. At the end of 2011, Ghana’s electricity generation mix stood at 67% hydro sources against 33% thermal. </p>
<p>In 2012, the utility companies announced a power rationing programme which ended in 2015. At the peak of the rationing, customers were provided with an average of 12.5 hours of electricity every three days. Ghana experienced about 159 days of blackout in 2014 alone. To add to that, equipment failures sometimes caused unscheduled power outages. </p>
<p>Power crises in Ghana had several impacts on households, businesses, industries and the country at large. One <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/485911468029951116/pdf/796560WP0P13140Box0377384B00PUBLIC0.pdf">estimate</a> is that Ghana lost about 1.8% of its gross domestic product due to the 2007-2008 power crisis. Another <a href="https://www.theigc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Asuming-et-al-2017-policy-brief.pdf">finding</a> was that the 2012-2015 power crisis reduced labour productivity and total productivity of small and medium manufacturing firms in Ghana.</p>
<p>There have not been any studies to establish exactly what caused households, businesses and industries to search for alternative sources of electricity. But supply crises may have been a factor in reducing demand for grid electricity. </p>
<p>Users took both short-term and long-term decisions to reduce their reliance on electricity in favour of alternative fuels. Our study did not measure the uptake of alternatives. But a decision to use alternatives would insulate users from the adverse effects of future power crises.</p>
<p>Some kinds of alternative fuels used in Ghana, such as kerosene lamps, crop residue and candles, can have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/320911262_Ghana%27s_Off-Grid_Lighting_Market">serious environment</a> and <a href="https://rightforeducation.org/2018/03/16/kerosene-fuel-and-associated-risks-2/">health implications</a>. </p>
<h2>Recommendations</h2>
<p>Our study led us to make the following recommendations.</p>
<p>Government should not overemphasise demand side policies, but augment them with supply-side policies. In the past its focus has been on efforts to reduce peak electricity demand. This has included the Energy Commission and the Ministry of Energy rolling out several policies and standards designed to improve energy efficiency. Air conditioners, lighting and refrigeration appliances have all been subjected to regulations and standards.</p>
<p>Efforts should also be made to eliminate power crises, to give households, businesses and industries the confidence to rely on electric power. Policies and incentives for other sustainable sources of power such as renewable energy should be firmed up too.</p>
<p>And finally, it’s important to investigate the alternative sources of electricity that households and firms were switching to. They may have environmental and health implications.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182464/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frank Adusah-Poku does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The 2012-2015 power crisis was the most intense, protracted and severe in the history of Ghana.Frank Adusah-Poku, Lecturer, Department of Economics, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1747272022-01-13T14:46:31Z2022-01-13T14:46:31ZFast food doesn’t improve food security in urban Ghana: it’s too costly<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/440609/original/file-20220113-25-gp1b39.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fast food in Ghana is expensive</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons/Flickr/Marco Verch</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Close to 690 million people, or about 9% of the world population, are hungry. That’s according to the <a href="https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000117812/download/?_ga=2.63507055.1743807285.1641912061-118935216.1641753755">2020 State of Food and Nutrition Security in the World report</a> – and the numbers are trending upwards. </p>
<p>Urban areas are generally perceived as having less food insecurity than rural areas, because of the variety of foods available in supermarkets, traditional food markets, restaurants and fast-food outlets. But abundance of food in urban areas does not mean that everyone has equal economic access and can afford healthy foods. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.fao.org/3/w3548e/w3548e00.htm#adopt05">1996 World Food Summit</a> defined food security as “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, and nutritious foods that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.” </p>
<p>In Ghana, urban <a href="https://www.unicef.org/ghana/media/531/file/The%20Ghana%20Poverty%20and%20Inequality%20Report.pdf">poverty</a> is lower than the national average – 10.6% against 24.2% – but many city dwellers cannot afford to eat enough. One <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032719329635">study</a> found that 36% of urban households suffered from hunger, and 29% and 5% skipped meals or had delayed meals respectively.</p>
<p>Currently, the culture of food in urban Ghana is changing towards the consumption of fast food, with implications for local food culture. But few <a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/fast-food-in-the-greater-accra-region-of-ghana">studies</a> have analysed those implications. </p>
<p>I study food systems and emerging cultures of food consumption in Ghana. In a <a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/from-the-kitchen-to-fast-food-restaurants">study</a> published last year, my colleagues and I sought to understand the social and demographic dynamics of fast food consumption in Ghana. </p>
<p>We found that consumption of fast food was shaped by many factors including gender, age, marital status, time constraints, ability to cook and income levels. Our study contributes to understanding the socio-cultural dynamics of fast food consumption in Ghana. </p>
<h2>Fast food in urban Ghana</h2>
<p>Our study was based on a review of existing studies on fast food in Ghana. We reviewed literature on the socio-cultural dynamics and characteristics of fast food consumers in Ghana. </p>
<p>Fast foods are becoming more widely <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghanaians-are-eating-more-fast-food-the-who-and-the-why-153810">available</a> in urban Ghana through dine-in, takeaway and delivery services. </p>
<p>The <a href="http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/v5art13.pdf#page=3">restaurant sector</a> in general represents the largest and fastest growing part of the Ghanaian domestic economy, increasing at a rate of 20% annually. While this growth rate is predicted to continue, the presence of food is not the only thing that matters when it comes to food security. Affordability and healthy diets are other considerations. </p>
<p>Our study found that income levels determined the rate at which Ghanaians patronised fast food outlets. We found that middle- and high-income earners were key consumers of fast food. These are Ghanaians who are employed or run a business and often have disposable incomes to spend on emerging lifestyles including consumption of fast food. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343224223_Analysis_of_Street_Food_Consumption_Across_Various_Income_Groups_in_the_Kumasi_Metropolis_of_Ghana">High income earners</a> were able to consume fast food at least once a week, including on special occasions and festive days, regardless of the cost. </p>
<p><a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/fast-food-in-the-greater-accra-region-of-ghana">Low income earners</a> mostly consumed fast food on festive and special occasions only. The very poor were unable to consume fast food even on festive days unless they received it as a gift, primarily because fast food is expensive in Ghana. </p>
<p>For instance, a medium size pizza costs on average 50 Ghana cedis (US$8) in most fast food restaurants in Ghana. The country’s daily minimum wage is <a href="https://www.myjoyonline.com/national-daily-minimum-wage-for-2021-increased-by-6-now-%C2%A212-53/">12.53 Ghana cedis</a> (US$2.07). </p>
<p>The high cost is largely attributed to <a href="https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/478260">investment and overhead costs</a> such as taxes, electricity, newspapers, advertising, rent, air conditioners and security borne by the restaurants. Besides, fast food restaurants largely depend on imported raw materials such as rice, chicken, tomato paste, flour and other ingredients. </p>
<p>Based on findings from our study, it is important to note that, although fast food is physically available and accessible in urban areas, not all Ghanaians have equal economic access. Thus, proliferation of fast food in Ghana would not enable the poor to become food secure. Our study has implications for policies seeking to promote food security in urban Ghana.</p>
<h2>Conclusion</h2>
<p>In the developed world, fast food is <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180222-how-can-a-fast-food-chain-ever-make-money-from-a-1-burger">cheaper</a> than in the developing world. Fast food brands in developed countries often target people in low <a href="https://theconversation.com/fast-food-is-comforting-but-in-low-income-areas-it-crowds-out-fresher-options-136227">socio-economic brackets</a> by rolling out heavily <a href="https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20180222-how-can-a-fast-food-chain-ever-make-money-from-a-1-burger">discounted menus</a>. </p>
<p>The situation is different in Ghana. Fast food brands target high- and middle-income groups who have incomes to adopt so-called modern lifestyles, including consuming fast food regularly. Thus, in Ghana, people who are already food secure are those who can afford fast food. </p>
<p>Drawing on the cultural changes that fast food has brought to <a href="https://theconversation.com/do-poor-people-eat-more-junk-food-than-wealthier-americans-79154">developed countries</a>, I foresee that poor people in Ghana will be able to afford fast food in future. This will happen because prices will go down as fast food restaurants compete against each other. That will expand economic access to fast food in Ghana – but also increase the number of people exposed to the health risks of fast food.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174727/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fast food brands target high- and middle-income groups who have incomes to adopt so-called modern lifestyles, including consuming fast food regularly.James Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1674052021-09-20T14:20:29Z2021-09-20T14:20:29ZGlobal demand for cashews is booming. How Ghana can take advantage to create jobs<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/419790/original/file-20210907-19-11zj5ct.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Key cashew producing countries in Africa are rolling out strategies to increase production and processing of raw cashew nuts.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pxfuel.com/en/search?q=salted+nuts">Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://unctad.org/news/cashing-cashews-africa-must-add-value-its-nuts">global cashew industry</a> has grown rapidly over the last decade, driven by increasing consumption of cashew nuts around the world. And the market for raw cashews is <a href="https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2021/01/12/2156832/28124/en/Outlook-on-the-Cashew-Kernel-Global-Market-Industry-Expected-to-Grow-at-a-CAGR-of-4-27-Between-2020-to-2025.html">forecast</a> to continue growing at an annual rate of 4.27% between 2020 and 2025. It is expected to reach almost US$7 billion by 2025.</p>
<p>The growing demand for cashew nuts around the world, particularly in developed and emerging economies, is driven by a number of factors. They include recognition of their <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts/cashew-nuts/market-potential">health and nutritional benefits</a> and the growth in plant based diets. Cashew nuts are also considered a substitute for <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts/cashew-nuts/market-potential">dairy products</a> and they represent a popular <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts/cashew-nuts/market-potential">savoury snack</a>. They are also a substitute for the ever popular <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/market-information/processed-fruit-vegetables-edible-nuts/cashew-nuts/market-potential">peanut butter</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2020d1_en.pdf#page=22">African countries</a> are at the forefront in responding to this growing demand. They have increased production.</p>
<p>Demonstrating this, the African continent now <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2020d1_en.pdf#page=23">accounts for over 50% of raw cashew nut</a>. <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2020d1_en.pdf">About 90%</a> of all Africa’s production is exported, mainly to Vietnam and India. These two countries account for 98% of the world’s raw cashew nut imports. Vietnam and India deshell and process cashews before re-exporting them to the US, Europe, the Middle East, China and Australia, where they are in turn roasted, salted and packaged prior to consumption.</p>
<p>The low rates of cashew nut processing in Africa’s cashew producing nations is driven by a number of factors. These include limited infrastructure and local processors. But a number of African governments have recently put in place policies and measures to address these shortfalls. There are still gaps though. Research is needed to understand better the structural challenges that constrain local processors.</p>
<p>Ghana is among Africa’s major producers of cashew nuts. Ghana currently produces around <a href="http://www.ijsaf.org/index.php/ijsaf/article/view/37">85,000 metric tonnes</a> of raw cashew nuts each year, which accounts for about one percent of the worlds’ total production. Of this, over 90% is exported to India and Vietnam by Asian exporters and processors.</p>
<p>Cashew production in Ghana dates back to the <a href="https://www.gardja.org/story-behind-cashew-production-ghana-2/">1960s</a>, with production for export markets expanding significantly in the last decade. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://ijsaf.org/index.php/ijsaf/article/view/37">research</a> focused on the Brong Ahafo Region – now Bono East, Bono and the Ahafo regions. Here we sought to better understand dynamics and issues associated with Ghana’s growing cashew nut sector, including the particular challenges facing local processors.</p>
<h2>Local processors face many challenges</h2>
<p>Ghana has 14 cashew processing plants, with a total annual capacity of <a href="https://thebftonline.com/17/09/2020/govt-exploring-international-collaboration-to-boost-local-cashew-processing/">65,000</a> metric tonnes of raw cashews. While 10 of these plants are active, they process less than 10% of total annual cashew production. The remaining processing plants have either ceased operation, or have completely shut down.</p>
<p>There are a number of challenges that hinder local processing of cashew nuts in Ghana. Key amongst these is a lack of capital to maintain operations, alongside the inability of local processors to access raw cashew nuts from farmers - the latter of which is exacerbated by poor transport infrastructure. Although local processors are able to access loan and credit facilities from commercial banks, high interest rates leave this an unviable option, especially for small domestic operators.</p>
<p>Shortfalls in capital also limit the ability of local processors to purchase raw cashew nuts from farmers. Local processors also face intense competition from foreign processors and exporters – most notably from Asia – who drive up cashew nut prices. While Asian processors and exporters are able to afford high farmgate prices due to their access to preferential <a href="https://afsaap.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/vol40no1june2019_boafo-et-al_pp31-52.pdf">interest rates</a> in their home countries, local processors are unable to compete, leaving them simply unable to afford to purchase raw cashew nuts. </p>
<p>Cashew farmers also demonstrate a preference for selling their nuts to Asian processors and exporters who pay them immediately in cash. Local processors, in contrast, often purchase cashew nuts on credit.</p>
<p>These conditions leave Ghana off the field, thereby missing out on the significant opportunities for jobs and revenue generation via the booming global cashew industry. Recent estimates indicate this loss at about <a href="https://thebftonline.com/01/09/2021/economy-loses-us100m-revenues-annually-on-cashew-nuts-expert/">$100 million</a> each year. This loss is primarily tied to Ghana’s inability to process - and thereby add value to - its raw cashew nuts.</p>
<h2>The way forward: Ghana should learn from other countries</h2>
<p>Governments in key cashew producing countries across Africa are increasingly rolling out strategies to increase both the production and processing of raw cashew nuts. For example, in Cote d'Ivoire, the largest exporter of raw cashew nuts in the world, an <a href="https://www.cbi.eu/sites/default/files/vca-cashew-west-africa_0.pdf">export tax of FCFA 30 per kg</a> of raw cashew nuts has recently been introduced. Revenue from this tax is then used to subsidise and support local processors. This has incentivised local processing, making Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana’s neighbour, <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/ditccom2020d1_en.pdf">the largest cashew processor in Africa</a>, with a capacity of 70,000 metric tonnes annually.</p>
<p>Similarly, Mozambique and Tanzania have <a href="https://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Blogs/Cashew_Nuts_-_Main/Cashew%20quarterly%20bulletin%20Q2%20Final.pdf">adopted a range of measures</a> to protect and incentivise local cashew processors. These include granting local processors preferential access to raw cashew nuts. It also includes imposing export duties on raw cashew nuts. Meanwhile, since 2009 Kenya has introduced a <a href="https://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Blogs/Cashew_Nuts_-_Main/Cashew%20quarterly%20bulletin%20Q2%20Final.pdf">ban on the export of raw cashew nuts</a>, a strategy which has increased local processing from <a href="https://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Blogs/Cashew_Nuts_-_Main/Cashew%20quarterly%20bulletin%20Q2%20Final.pdf">30% in 2009 to 80%</a>in 2012.</p>
<p>The Ghana Export Promotion Authority is currently working with Cashew Industry Association of Ghana to increase local processing. This collaboration may benefit by drawing from the experiences of other African countries, including to guide a national cashew processing strategy. </p>
<p>Importantly, local processors must be protected against Asian competitors who come to Ghana to buy cashew nuts during cashew harvesting season. They also need tax incentives, affordable credit facilities and modern technology to thrive. </p>
<p>With appropriate support, Ghana may be able to take advantage of the growing demand and consumption of cashew nuts in the developed and emerging economies, with outcomes that will generate jobs and revenue.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/167405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Lyons is a senior research fellow with The Oakland Institute, and member of the Australian Greens. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghana is losing out the booming global cashew industry in terms
of job and revenue generations.James Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Kristen Lyons, Professor Environment and Development Sociology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1666272021-08-30T15:30:15Z2021-08-30T15:30:15ZWhy it’s hard to end elephantiasis, a debilitating disease spread by mosquitoes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/417777/original/file-20210825-17-1irjp2u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The swelling affects people’s lives in a multitude of ways.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Maggie Steber for The Washington Post via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Lymphatic filariasis is one of the world’s leading causes of permanent and long-term disability. Sometimes referred to as Elephantiasis tropica, it is a <a href="https://www.afro.who.int/node/8924">neglected</a> and stigmatised mosquito-borne disease. It damages the human lymphatic system, leading to disfiguring swelling of limbs, breasts and genitals. Despite a decade of World Health Organisation (WHO)-led drug administration to halt its spread, the disease is endemic in 72 countries, puts about 1.4 billion at risk and affects about 120 million people. Alexander Kwarteng, Kristi Heather Kenyon, Jonathan Roberts and Mary Asirifi are doing extensive research on lymphatic filariasis. Here they tell The Conversation Africa more about the illness and the challenge of eradicating it.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>How do people get lymphatic filariasis?</h2>
<p>People are primarily infected with the disease through mosquito bites. In Africa, the Anopheles mosquito is the main vector. The female Anopheles mosquito transmits microscopic filarial parasitic worms (<em>Wuchereria bancrofti</em>, <em>Brugia timori</em> and <em>Brugia malayi</em>) from one person to another during its feeding process. These worms then live and grow in the human lymphatic system, causing disruption and damage. The lymphatic system is part of the immune system – it works primarily to maintain the body fluid levels and protects the body from pathogens. </p>
<p>The primary method of prevention is to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes in endemic areas. The disease is common in tropical regions of the world, where water collects outdoors and there are poor sanitary conditions. Infection takes more than one bite – those most at risk are people who are bitten repeatedly over time. <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-4084-2">Research in Ghana</a>, for example, shows that risk factors include a mixture of environmental and economic conditions. These include proximity to the coast or short savanna grass areas, rainfall and temperature, season, and poverty and poor housing. </p>
<h2>What is it like to live with lymphatic filariasis?</h2>
<p>People with lymphatic filariasis experience acute filarial attacks. Filarial attacks involve a fever, and swelling and peeling skin on the affected areas of the body. The causes of the attacks are believed to include microbial contamination and immune reactions to the presence of the live or dead adult worms. The main visible sign of the illness is disfiguring swelling, followed by peeling of the affected area. In women this swelling, called lymphedema or elephantiasis, mainly affects arms and legs. In men it can also cause enlargement of the scrotum, referred to as hydrocele.</p>
<p>The swelling affects people’s lives in a multitude of ways. It can interfere with the fit of clothing and shoes, impair mobility, and affect sexual function. The harm is more than physical. It can also result in <a href="https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-10170-8">serious economic</a>, social and interpersonal consequences. </p>
<p>As a former UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health, Paul Hunt, has <a href="https://www.who.int/tdr/publications/tdr-research-publications/neglected-diseases-human-right-analysis/en/">argued</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>the human rights implications of neglected diseases have not been given the attention they deserve. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Due to a combination of disability, stigma and discrimination, people with lymphatic filariasis often lose their jobs, are shunned from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/lymphaticfilariasis/index.html#:%7E:text=Lymphatic%20filariasis%2C%20considered%20globally%20as,fluid%20balance%20and%20fights%20infections">their communities</a> and have difficulty starting or maintaining relationships. The stigma, ill-treatment and isolation that results from this condition can, in turn, lead to negative <a href="https://webapps.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/cris/detail_e?pResearchId=9301685&p_version=CRIS&p_language=E&p_session_id=1333597">mental health outcomes</a>. </p>
<h2>How is it being addressed?</h2>
<p>Lymphatic filariasis cannot be cured. However, recent <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plospathogens/article?id=10.1371/journal.ppat.0020092">studies</a> show tetracycline-based antibiotics could be helpful, particularly in the early stages. Given the issue of multidrug resistance to antibiotics, however, this is not normally encouraged on a large scale. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-wer9441-457-472">Global Programme for Elimination of Lymphatic Filariasis</a> aims to interrupt the transmission of the infection and manage the conditions that accompany it by mass drug administration in endemic communities. The programme has achieved some <a href="https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/who-wer9441-457-472">notable successes</a>, but it continues to face challenges. Despite more than a decade of work, lymphatic filariasis remains endemic in <a href="https://academic.oup.com/inthealth/article/13/Supplement_1/S22/6043665">31 African countries</a>.</p>
<p>Public awareness campaigns and strict adherence to mass drug administration campaigns are important tools of prevention and eradication. It is also necessary to ensure the clearing of bushes, dredging of choked gutters, and proper disposal of refuse in endemic communities to interrupt mosquito breeding sites.</p>
<h2>What are the barriers to eradicating it?</h2>
<p>Barriers to eradication are not straightforward. Research and interventions have been overwhelmingly biomedical, focusing largely on mass drug administration (ivermectin, albendazole, diethycarbarmazine). Drugs work by killing the larval stages of the parasites. They have little effect on the adult worms, so they need to be given yearly. However, these drugs can only save a person from disfigurement if they are taken early and regularly. </p>
<p>Placing the illness in the context of the local culture is still a major challenge for health practitioners. The lack of cultural engagement in eradication programmes is in itself a barrier. People with lymphatic filariasis view the illness through their <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1805494/">cultural</a> <a href="https://bmcinfectdis.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12879-019-3959-6">traditions</a>. Often they blame outside invisible forces such as witchcraft, sorcery or ancestral curses when they contract the disease. Logically, they may spend as much time seeking help from ritualists and priests to fight off these dangerous spirits as they might spend following a western medical regimen. They may understand healing the spiritual and social self to be as important as healing the bodily self. </p>
<p><a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/18233356.pdf">Gender dynamics</a> can also be an important factor in seeking treatment. Women may face social and financial barriers in accessing treatment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/166627/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristi Heather Kenyon receives funding from Canadian Institutes for Health Research for a related project titled, "Combating Stigma and Social Isolation Among People Living with Lymphatic Filariasis in Ghana through Culturally Appropriate Interventions."
Alexander Kwarteng and Kristi Heather Kenyon are co-PI on this project. Mary Asirifi is a co-applicant and Jonathan Roberts is a collaborator. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alexander Kwarteng, Jonathan Roberts, and Mary Asirifi do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The main sign of the illness is disfiguring swelling followed by peeling of the affected area. In women this swelling mainly affects arms and legs. In men it can cause enlargement of the scrotum.Alexander Kwarteng, Lecturer in Immunology of Infectious Diseases, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Jonathan Roberts, Associate Professor, Mount Saint Vincent UniversityKristi Heather Kenyon, Associate Professor, University of WinnipegMary Asirifi, Assistant Professor, Department of Nursing Foundations, MacEwan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1623452021-06-14T15:05:49Z2021-06-14T15:05:49ZGhana’s farmers aren’t all seeing the fruits of a Green Revolution<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405891/original/file-20210611-17-1wg4uxe.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ghana's Green Revolution has not been as successful as portrayed.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cta-eu/48742492442/">Wikimedia Commons/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Global businesses, donors and governments have each pursued a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">Green Revolution agenda</a> in Africa, Asia and South America since the 1960s. Its aim was, in theory, to produce more food, reducing food insecurity and poverty. This was done via improved seed varieties, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>However, rates of hunger continued to increase alongside the uptake of these <a href="https://civileats.com/2008/07/20/seeking-global-food-justice-an-interview-with-raj-patel/">agricultural technologies</a>. They have also been <a href="https://www.nathab.com/blog/when-going-green-isnt-good-climate-change-and-the-green-revolution/">criticised</a> for the carbon they produce and the amount of water they use.</p>
<p>Despite the failings of the first Green Revolution, a second wave emerged in the early 21st century, this time primarily targeting the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15002302">African continent</a>. National policies across a number of African countries have supported this agenda. In Ghana, for example, the government worked with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063?journalCode=jasa">donor organisations and the private sector</a> to extend the Green Revolution throughout its major food producing areas. </p>
<p>The Brong Ahafo region, now divided into Bono, Bono East and Ahafo regions, is one such area. This <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">zone</a> is often referred to as the “food basket” of Ghana. It <a href="https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1480&context=abe_eng_conf">leads</a> the production of maize and other major staple crops. It is also a favoured location for experiments with agricultural modernisation, because its ecological conditions suit food crop cultivation.</p>
<p>We designed a <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">study</a> to analyse drivers of this second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region. It included key champions of this agricultural transformation agenda. We also aimed to assess its impacts at the local level and on different categories of farmers. </p>
<p>Our study found that international donors and philanthropic organisations were central in driving Green Revolution technologies in this region. Despite the hopes – and hype – pinned on this second Green Revolution, it has failed to address the needs of poor farmers. It hasn’t reduced poverty. Rather, it has increased farm input costs, farmer indebtedness and inequalities among farmers. </p>
<p>Given these outcomes, there is an urgent need to re-imagine agricultural transformation. It is farmers – not donors and philanthropists - who are best placed to lead a socially just and environmentally responsible farming future in Ghana. </p>
<h2>Drivers of farming technologies</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://www.fao.org/3/i6583e/i6583e.pdf">dominant view</a> among government and industry stakeholders is that the current Green Revolution is vital to make smallholder farming more productive. They call for access to farm inputs and innovations, financial and agricultural services and support, and access to markets.</p>
<p>Our study found many actors in farming communities also shared this view. For instance, representatives from donor organisations such as the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) championed the uptake of external inputs for increasing agricultural production. </p>
<p>Similarly, agricultural extension officers and representatives from local NGOs encouraged farmers to adopt these technologies. Pressure also came from commercial providers of “improved” seeds, chemical fertilisers and other agrochemicals. </p>
<p>Through the uptake of these commercial inputs, farmers have become integrated within global agro-input chains. This is unlike the first Green Revolution, when farm inputs were most commonly freely exchanged among farmers. </p>
<p>Our study shows that farmers in the Brong Ahafo region are reluctantly adopting these inputs. They are being told that doing so will help them adapt to <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/00219096211019063">changing ecological</a> conditions – including shortened rainfall periods and diminished soil fertility. Such claims are not necessarily matched by farmers’ experiences. </p>
<h2>Different outcomes</h2>
<p>The first Green Revolution has been widely <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/146499341101200308">criticised</a> on the basis of its adverse social and environmental impacts at the local level. Our study of the second Green Revolution in the Brong Ahafo region demonstrates similar trends. These practices of farming have increased the costs of production and put farmers further in debt. Poor and landless migrant farmers are hit hardest. </p>
<p>Although new technologies may have increased yields, they have also raised costs of production – and there are no assured markets for produce. The region has no structured market systems that can ensure farmers generate an income from crops. With bargaining power skewed in favour of buyers, the prices of produce often disadvantage farmers – especially when farm produce is abundant. </p>
<p>But the outcomes are not the same for all farmers. </p>
<p>Commercial farmers who are able to produce in large quantities are often linked to markets through contract buyers who purchase direct from their farms. Their financial and social capital puts these large scale farmers in the best position to benefit from any Green Revolution interventions. Poor and small scale farmers are unable to reap the same rewards. </p>
<p>The high costs of production – through dependence on costly off-farm inputs – and lack of access to ready markets are driving farmers away from food crops and towards <a href="https://theconversation.com/ghana-wants-to-grow-more-cashews-but-what-about-unintended-consequences-93162">cash crops for export</a>. Such conditions have already threatened local food systems and will continue to do so. </p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-ghanas-smallholders-arent-excited-by-the-latest-green-revolution-134804">Why Ghana's smallholders aren't excited by the latest 'Green Revolution'</a>
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<h2>Way forward</h2>
<p>Champions of the second Green Revolution in Africa – including national governments, donors and philanthropists – promise its technologies are the answer for feeding the world, even in an era of climate constraint. Yet the reality on the ground – as borne out in our study with farmers in the Brong Ahafo region in Ghana – tells a different story. </p>
<p>Faced with the challenges of land shortages and changing ecological conditions, alongside insecure and unfair markets, technological interventions alone will not ensure a socially just and environmentally responsible food system. </p>
<p>The many diverse challenges facing farmers in Ghana – and many other parts of Africa – must be met by taking local approaches. These consider the lived experiences and expertise of farmers themselves, and are supported by national agricultural policies and planning. Farmers need space to shape their own livelihoods and to innovate in response to changing ecological conditions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162345/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kristen Lyons is a senior research fellow with the Oakland Institute and member of the Australian Greens</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Realities on the ground tell a different story from the claim that a Green Revolution ensures food security and increased income for smallholder farmers in Ghana.James Boafo, Lecturer in Geography and Sustainable Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Kristen Lyons, Professor Environment and Development Sociology, The University of QueenslandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1583222021-05-04T13:18:54Z2021-05-04T13:18:54ZGhana’s new rental scheme won’t fix the real problem: a housing shortage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393662/original/file-20210406-21-1tpjd5n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Renters in Ghana are at the mercy of landlords</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/globalhort/8029767372">Remi Kahane/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ghana’s government has <a href="https://www.graphic.com.gh/news/general-news/budget-2021-govt-to-offer-loans-to-enable-ghanaians-pay-rent-advance.html">announced</a> a loan scheme to help tenants pay the hefty advance rent (often covering two years) to private landlords. Advance rent is also prevalent in several other <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/26144136?seq=1">African countries</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2020.1823331">Scholars have highlighted</a> several problems this advance rent payment poses to renters. They include psychological distress over difficulty in raising the funds, and forgoing basic necessities such as food, healthcare and leisure in order to save for the advance rent. Evidence so far suggests that it is the period over which tenants have to pay the advance rent that is the problem. It is not the rent charged that is the problem but the period over which it is multiplied to arrive at the advance rent. This also suggests that the problem is largely a housing supply problem.</p>
<p>Ahead of the <a href="https://www.ndi.org/publications/ghana-election-watch-december-2020-general-elections">December 2020 presidential election</a>, the issue of affordable housing was on the agenda of the two major parties – the <a href="https://www.codeoghana.org/lib-manifestos.php">New Patriotic Party</a> and the <a href="https://www.codeoghana.org/lib-manifestos.php">National Democratic Congress</a>. On 12 March the re-elected government <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Government-to-establish-GHC100M-National-Rental-Assistance-Scheme-1040944">announced</a> details of its scheme. The scheme is available to those in formal employment with identifiable and regular income.</p>
<p>As a team of international housing academics, we agree with the Ghanaian government that tenants need assistance, but our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2020.1782451">research</a> concludes that the approach needs to be vastly different to what government has announced. The <a href="https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Government-to-establish-GHC100M-National-Rental-Assistance-Scheme-1040944">National Rental Assistance Scheme</a> will only further legitimise and prolong the demand for advance rent, an illegal practice.</p>
<h2>A financial burden</h2>
<p>Ghana’s rental system is broken. Our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2020.1782451">research</a> has over time scrutinised the practice of demanding a two-year deposit. Its impact is felt most acutely in Ghana’s informal rental sector, which makes up 80% of the country’s housing stock.</p>
<p>The research is based on an original survey of tenants in the informal sector in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10511482.2020.1782451">Dansoman</a>, a municipal capital in the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/ghana/media/2891/file/CP%20Profile%20-%20Greater%20Accra%20Region.pdf">Greater Accra region</a> of Ghana. It started as a neighbourhood of state-owned estates for public sector workers in Accra. It is located close to the trading hubs of <a href="https://www.wantedinafrica.com/area/kaneshie">Kaneshie</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-potential-of-massive-e-waste-dump-in-ghana-can-be-harnessed-121953">Agbogbloshie</a> and <a href="http://www.freyssinet.com/freyssinet/fpc-italia_en.nsf/sb/new-structures.doctor-kwame-nkrumah-circle-interchange-in-accra-ghana">Kwame Nkrumah Circle</a>, making it a preferred residential location for the informal sector. The social composition of Dansoman is a blend of low, middle and high income groups. </p>
<p>By our estimates, no more than one in five tenants paying the two-year advance rent will be eligible to receive support from the government’s advance rent assistance scheme. Rather than resolving the issue, the government’s new scheme is in danger of legitimising an illegal practice that won’t fix Ghana’s housing crisis.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://bcp.gov.gh/acc/registry/docs/RENT%20ACT,%201963%20(ACT%20220)%20.pdf">Ghana Rent Act of 1963 </a>(as amended) states that a deposit of six months is the maximum that a landlord can request from a tenant. This national rental assistance scheme will embolden landlords to keep charging the two-year advance rent which is illegal in terms of the Rent Act.</p>
<p>The Ghanaian government presents the rental assistance scheme as a way of assisting tenants struggling to pay the advance rent. In reality it’s a scheme that is danger of entrenching a divisive social norm. Our research highlighted how Ghana’s rental problem exacerbates inequality. This is because some tenants are able to draw upon relatives living abroad, friends, or employers to help them pay their loan. The majority end up impoverishing themselves just to remain in the rental sector. </p>
<h2>Reduced labour mobility</h2>
<p>Young people on low incomes are especially vulnerable. They have little choice but to accept these punitive terms. As a consequence, they become saddled with enormous debts. The two year deposit is not a property bond. Unlike a rent deposit or bond in more regulated markets, the tenant does not get back this lump sum. It is two years’ worth of rent paid upfront. This means the lump sum the tenant pays freezes the payment of rent for two years. </p>
<p>We found that first-time renters had to save their monthly incomes for a little over nine months and regular renters for a period of seven months in order to take up the tenancy.</p>
<p>Our research revealed that this system has an impact on young people’s labour mobility in Ghana. This is significant considering that 21.3% and 22.5% of the <a href="https://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/publications/Labour_Force/LFS%20REPORT_fianl_21-3-17.pdf">unemployed population</a> in Ghana respectively live in the <a href="https://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/publications/Labour_Force/LFS%20REPORT_fianl_21-3-17.pdf">Greater Accra</a> and <a href="https://www2.statsghana.gov.gh/docfiles/publications/Labour_Force/LFS%20REPORT_fianl_21-3-17.pdf">Ashanti Region</a> where most jobs are concentrated. The general housing deficit in the country and the potential lock-in effect of the rent advance system make it difficult for tenants to easily move to where jobs are, even within big cities. </p>
<p>Proponents of the rental sector say that it gives tenants flexibility to manage personal budgets, allowing them to have mobility as they search for work. But the burden of finding two years’ rent in advance results in regular tenants, in particular, remaining in their properties for around 10 years. This suggests that tenants are anything but mobile.</p>
<h2>A two-fold challenge</h2>
<p>Ghana has a two-fold housing challenge. In the absence of a functioning insurance scheme for landlords, they pass risk on to tenants. There is also inadequate provision of affordable housing in Ghana. So, demand outstrips supply and landlords can sk for, and receive, two years’ rent in advance.</p>
<p>The new scheme is only available to people with regular income in both formal and informal employment. Loans will be offered when employment is with a formally registered company and a salary is involved. This risks exacerbating inequality. Many will not be eligible as they make ends meet in the informal employment sector where their income streams are not typically viewed as regular. This is despite the fact that in some cases regularity can be established for informal sector employees. It could also lead to exploitation of those receiving the loans, as employers could abuse the fact that continued residence in their homes is dependent on continued employment.</p>
<h2>A way forward</h2>
<p>Ghana needs an overhaul of its broken rental sector. Rather than a national scheme to help private landlords mitigate risk, there should be a push to work with district assemblies and chiefs who play a critical role in local governance and development. For example, chiefs are the custodians of valuable land that could be released to create low cost housing schemes. </p>
<p>Government can support this bottom-up approach to the housing problem by empowering District Assemblies to make housing provision a key part of their mandate while exploring innovative models to access land and finance housing development. We believe it is by increasing the supply of rental housing that the monopoly power of private landlords who charge longer periods of advance rent can be broken.</p>
<p>_Access to 150 free e-prints of the article are available here:<br>
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/4GJ9PHVT5P9IVNMXFWT4/full?target=10.1080/10511482.2020.1782451 _</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/158322/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The government of Ghana needs a more creative solution to the problem of advance rent paymentNicky Morrison, Professor of Planning, Western Sydney UniversityEmmanuel Kofi Gavu, Lecturer, Land Economy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Lewis Abedi Asante, Lecturer, Kumasi Technical UniversityRichmond Juvenile Ehwi, Research Associate, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1538102021-02-04T16:05:04Z2021-02-04T16:05:04ZGhanaians are eating more fast food: the who and the why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/381049/original/file-20210128-17-d8slnw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Fast food is growing in popularity with Ghanaians</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fast food – food sold in an outlet, drive-through, or restaurant either as preheated or precooked, and served or packaged as take-away – is ubiquitous in developed countries. For instance, in the US, 45% of adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years and 37.7% of those between the ages of 40 and 59 <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db322.htm">consume fast food daily</a>. Over 40% of higher-income earners eat fast food on a given day, 36.4% of middle-income, and 31.7% of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db322.htm">lower-income earners</a>. </p>
<p>Over the past two decades fast food brands have expanded to many developing countries. Across <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/insider/fast-food-kfc-ghana-africa.html">Africa</a> fast food restaurants have spread at a rapid rate, driven by rising income levels, rapid urbanisation and changing eating habits and lifestyles.</p>
<p>In Ghana the restaurant sector represents the largest and fastest growing part of the domestic economy, increasing at an annual rate of <a href="http://cssc.uscannenberg.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/v5art13.pdf">20%</a>. Alongside foreign brands, there has also been expansion of informal fast food outlets that sell fried and jollof rice with fried chicken on the streets of many urban areas in Ghana. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/from-the-kitchen-to-fast-food-restaurants">research</a> we set out to analyse the social and demographic characteristics of fast food consumers in Ghana. We also examined the cultural and health implications of emerging fast food culture. Our study was based substantially on a review of existing research on fast food in Ghana.</p>
<p>Our aim was to help create awareness about the implications of emerging fast food culture in Ghana.</p>
<h2>Who are the consumers of fast food in Ghana?</h2>
<p>We reviewed literature on the demographics of consumers of fast food in Ghana. The <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21515581.2017.1289099">literature</a> we reviewed showed that young adults – 15 to 45 years – were the biggest consumers of fast food in Ghana. </p>
<p>Our review also found that more <a href="https://www.irmbrjournal.com/papers/1384877895.pdf">men</a> consumed fast food than women because men do not often cook or lack basic cooking skills. Although more men than women eat in fast food restaurants, women are increasingly patronising fast food restaurants as traditional gender perceptions are changing.</p>
<p>It is important to note that eating out is not new in Ghana. But the proliferation of fast food restaurants in recent years has reinforced the habit. </p>
<p>Finally, the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0195666315301161?via%3Dihub">literature</a> we reviewed showed that it was mostly unmarried or single men and women that frequently visit fast food restaurants.</p>
<p>We found that consuming fast food is also a display of social status. Internationally branded fast foods are expensive in Ghana which means that they are consumed by middle and high-income classes. For some <a href="https://library.wur.nl/WebQuery/wurpubs/fulltext/318667">Ghanaians</a>, consuming fast food means identifying with Western culture. It also means identifying with modern ways of life. </p>
<p>We found that fast food brands played on long-held beliefs in which Ghanaians largely associate fast food with Western culture to capture the affluent class who want to display their wealth by consuming fast food.</p>
<p>We also reviewed literature on the health implications of fast food in Ghana. The literature around the health implications is unequivocal. The consumption of energy-dense and fatty fast food, alongside sedentary lifestyles, poses severe health risks to consumers. <a href="https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-016-0709-0">Studies</a> show that obesity, diabetes and hypertension as well as other diet-related diseases are on the rise in urban Ghana.</p>
<p>In a 2012 report Ghana’s <a href="https://www.iccp-portal.org/sites/default/files/plans/national_policy_for_the_prevention_and_control_of_chronic_non-communicable_diseases_in_ghana(1).pdf">Ministry of Health</a> stated that about 48% of Ghanaian adults had hypertension and that it is prevalent among higher income groups. It is therefore not surprising that <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1757975915583636">hypertension</a> is the number-one killer disease in Ghana. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>We concluded that the proliferation of fast food restaurants in Ghana is set to continue, and that the increasing consumption of fast food by local elites will undermine the local food culture. This, in turn, will pose severe health challenges to the public. </p>
<p>We also anticipate that poor people will increasingly turn to fast foods as prices go down because of competition. This means that the health risks will increasingly affect poor people too. </p>
<p>We argue that it’s imperative that public health policies should be directed towards giving health and nutrition information about fast food to the public. There is also an urgent need to increase public pressure to demand fast food restaurants in Ghana offer healthier options. </p>
<p>The health effects of COVID-19 have heightened the urgency to adopt healthier food and lifestyle practices to prevent noncommunicable diseases. This is because people with certain underlying medical conditions such as obesity, diabetes, hypertension and high blood pressure are at increased risk of severe illness and even death from <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-with-medical-conditions.html">COVID-19</a>.</p>
<p>Reflecting the worrying trend, the president of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, in the <a href="https://eveningmailgh.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/SONA2020.pdf">state of the nation address</a> delivered on February 20, 2020 reiterated that obesity has become a serious public health concern due to the food Ghanaians eat as well as lack of physical exercise.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Rebecca Sarku and Jacob Obodai, PhD researchers, Wageningen University and Research, The Netherlands and The Open University, UK, respectively.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/153810/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>James Boafo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Ghanaian consumption patterns towards fast food are evolving.James Boafo, Lecturer, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1485642020-11-17T14:15:51Z2020-11-17T14:15:51ZAcute poverty affects Ghana’s savanna region: how oilseeds could help boost local diets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/368859/original/file-20201111-23-kwulu1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sesame seeds could help boost local diets in Ghana </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/fresh-sesame-plant-field-365095964">Shutterstock </a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In parts of <a href="https://docs.wfp.org/api/documents/WFP-0000113404/download/">Ghana</a> there are still persistently high rates of acute malnutrition. This is despite the fact that there has been <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5419825/">significant progress</a> in reducing these at the national level. </p>
<p>The area most affected by malnutrition is the savanna region of Ghana. Most people who live in the area eat monotonous, staple-based diets that are deficient in essential micro-nutrients. Promoting the use of plant resources, specifically oilseeds and nuts, which are among the cheapest food resources in Ghana, could address sustainable food security in the country. </p>
<p>The region is rich in different species of oilseed bearing fruit plants. Various <a href="http://udsspace.uds.edu.gh/jspui/bitstream/123456789/185/1/Exploitation%20and%20use%20of%20medicinal%20plants%2C%20Northern.pdf">parts</a> of these plants are used for <a href="https://avrdc.org/download/publications/recipes/ghana-cook-book_final_web.pdf">different purposes </a>,but the seeds are usually left as waste and not used. </p>
<p>We conducted <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/figure/10.1080/10496475.2020.1747581?scroll=top&needAccess=true">research</a> on the nutritional value of a range of seeds from plants grown in the region. We found that the seeds of a large number of plant species were rich in oil. </p>
<p>Oilseeds have been shown to be a <a href="https://academicjournals.org/article/article1382541802_Sarwar%20et%20al.pdf">leading source</a> of superior quality and speciality vegetable oils. We also found that some of the seeds contained significant levels of mineral elements including zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium, calcium, and sodium.</p>
<p>It is accepted world over that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6865449_Food_Variety_and_Dietary_Diversity_Scores_in_Children_Are_they_Good_Indicators_of_Dietary_Adequacy">consuming diverse diets</a> contribute to the overall macro and micro-nutrient adequacy, and improve the nutritional status of individuals. </p>
<p>It is also important because the United Nations Sustainable Development <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/">Goal 2</a> aims to end hunger, achieve food security, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture in every part of the world. </p>
<p>Evaluating the nutritional and medicinal value of the native, drought tolerant oilseeds is timely. Once the potential of the identified oilseeds and nuts has been established, their consumption should be promoted to improve the nutritional status of people.</p>
<h2>What did we do?</h2>
<p>We <em>Sesamum Indicum</em> commonly called sesame, melon seeds <em>Cucumeropsis edulis</em> known in Ghana as Wrewre, and pumpkin seeds, <em>Cucurbita pepo</em>. All are native to the people in the savanna regions of Ghana and thrive despite the harsh climatic conditions. </p>
<p>We evaluated the nutritional and medicinal value of the seeds and then set about measuring the levels of macro-nutrients such as proteins, fats or oils, fibre and carbohydrates in the seeds. We also established the presence of a range of minerals. These represent the micro-nutrients present in the seeds. </p>
<p>We also estimated the seeds’ antioxidant compounds as well as their medicinal value. </p>
<p>We found that sesame seeds gave a high energy value followed by melon seeds and pumpkin seed. </p>
<p>The same trend was observed for the crude fat or oil content of the seeds. Sesame seeds gave more than 50% fat or oil content while melon gave 48% and pumpkin seeds 44% fat. </p>
<p>Pumpkin seeds had the highest protein content while sesame seeds gave the least. </p>
<p>Mineral elements such as calcium, zinc, iron, magnesium, potassium and sodium were also evaluated. They are essential elements and contribute to the proper functioning of the human body. For instance, an adequate supply of calcium helps in the prevention of many diseases. Iron in diet is required for the proper functioning of the immune system, electron transfer reactions, gene regulation, cell growth, and transport of oxygen. </p>
<p>Data from the quantification of the mineral elements showed that the seeds may contribute significantly to the daily requirement for an adult human being with an average body weight. </p>
<h2>What next</h2>
<p>Our findings show that the seeds promise to be a valuable source of food and could contribute to food security in the region. They have good nutritional value and are high in energy, protein and minerals, and low in anti-nutritional factors. They also serve as immune boosters and protective food against autoimmune diseases triggered by excess free radicals in our systems. </p>
<p>The government may include some of these underutilised but nutritious seeds in the flagship agricultural revitalisation programme, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19452829.2020.1745162?journalCode=cjhd20">planting for food and jobs</a>. The government may also provide support for farmers who cultivate and gather these seeds to ensure their availability.</p>
<p>Pumpkin seeds are currently used for planting with less contribution to dietary nutritional enhancement, melon seeds and the sesame seeds are used by some of the community members as thickeners for soups and stews with little emphasis on the nutritional and medicinal value of the seeds.</p>
<p>There is the need to increase awareness on the nutritional value of seeds and how they could be used in food formulations and to fortify the usual diets to reduce malnutrition in communities. Increasing awareness about the availability and quantities of oilseeds in the different communities found in the northern savanna regions of Ghana will also be a crucial step. There is also the need to come up with improved methods of seed processing to facilitate utilisation. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/369183/original/file-20201112-17-nwii03.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Market scene showing the availability and variety of oilseeds.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/148564/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mercy Badu received funding for this research from UK Aid through the Climate Impacts Research Capacity and Leadership Enhancement (CIRCLE) programme implemented by the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS)
</span></em></p>Oilseeds in local diets could be the answer to poverty in Ghana’s savanna region.Mercy Badu, Lecturer, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1437062020-08-11T14:41:51Z2020-08-11T14:41:51ZVegetable farmers in urban Ghana don’t worry much about food safety - but they should<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/351851/original/file-20200809-22-1x7s93o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Urban farmers in Ghana need to take greater interest in the health of consumers</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United Nations projects that by 2050, <a href="https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/integration/pdf/fact_sheet.pdf">70%</a> of the world’s population will live in urban areas. Ensuring sustainable food supply in a rapidly growing city becomes a matter of concern. One solution could be to grow food closer to where people live – but rapid urban expansion poses a <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19463138.2019.1691560">threat</a> to urban agriculture in most African cities.</p>
<p>The availability of land is one issue. Another is water. In urban Ghana, access to safe or treated water for urban vegetable farming is limited. Consequently, farmers have been pushed into using wastewater and urban streams for their vegetable farming operations. </p>
<p>A number of <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10900-015-0109-y.pdf">studies</a> have <a href="https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJFSNPH.2011.044544">shown</a> the potential health risks of unsafe vegetable farming practices in Ghana, but the farmers’ perceptions of those risks has not received as much attention. It is important to know how farmers see the situation so as to encourage positive changes. </p>
<p>In our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-019-10003-7"> study</a> we asked urban vegetable farmers in Kumasi, Ghana about their use of contaminated water, pesticides and manures to grow vegetables. We found that farming was largely unsafe as a result of over-reliance on contaminated wastewater, manure and pesticides, even though most of the farmers said their produce was safe for people to eat.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/451">Research</a> however has shown a link between urban agricultural practices and health problems like diarrhoea, typhoid and cholera. </p>
<h2>Farmers’ views of health risks</h2>
<p>The study area is dotted with vegetable farming sites, cultivated throughout the year. Most of these farmers depend on polluted streams to <a href="https://www.iwmi.cgiar.org/Publications/Books/PDF/irrigated_urban_vegetable_production_in_ghana.pdf">irrigate</a> their crops. Laboratory testing of sampled irrigation water and vegetables showed contamination beyond the acceptable level for human consumption.</p>
<p>The farmers in our study did not accept that the quality of water they used could potentially cause diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera. One of them had this to say:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There are no contaminants or germs in the water. We have been using this water for a long time without any problem … Contaminated water can’t produce healthy crops like these ones.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The study participants all agreed that wastewater for vegetable irrigation could compromise the quality of the crops and affect human health. Yet, the majority said they would water their crops with contaminated water if they had no other options. This response was not surprising. It was clear from what they said that they would do what they had to in order to survive. A respondent stated:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I have a wife and four children. My source of livelihood is this vegetable farming. This is all I do for a living. If dirty water is the only one available, I would have no option but to use it.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another worrying aspect of their farming practices was the misapplication of pesticides and fertiliser. Respondents agreed that wrong application of agrochemicals can pose negative health consequences. But this knowledge did not match the actual practice in the field. A respondent put it this way: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Since I have been in this business for long, it is the experience that counts. We don’t follow strictly any standard measure when applying chemical and manure to our crops. Yet, we produce good-looking vegetables. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Ideally, poultry droppings should be dried before they are applied to the vegetable beds as fertiliser. This was not always the case at the farms we studied. The application of fresh poultry droppings to vegetable beds, a practice we observed, could promote pathogenic <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/4/1/1">contamination</a> of vegetables. The use of top-dressing methods in the application of manures also exposes the vegetables to further contamination. </p>
<p>On the question of whether manures or fertilisers could have negative environmental and health effects, no respondent in the study could identify any specific effect. But the general perception was that excessive use could bring undesirable consequences.</p>
<p>The farmers justified their practices by saying that they themselves did not experience health problems relating to contaminated vegetables and had never received any negative feedback from the public. Besides, since consumers are expected to wash vegetables, they said, any potential on-farm contamination was unlikely to put the health of the consuming public at risk. A respondent said:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have been doing this for several years and no one has ever complained about any illness. I eat the vegetables myself, you just have to wash it to remove the contaminants. If our vegetables were unsafe, we would have been the first victims. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Washing vegetables with ordinary water is unlikely, though, to solve the problem when vegetables have <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-016-9747-6">absorbed chemicals</a>. </p>
<p>The farmers’ position that both the water they use and the vegetables are free from any contaminants may be interpreted as a defence against public disapproval of their unsafe methods of vegetable cultivation and, in particular, media campaigns against wastewater use. It is also true that ailments could be attributed to other causes, not just contaminated vegetables. Like most city dwellers, the farmers in our study are beset daily with many potentially health-affecting conditions. Unsanitary conditions and associated ailments are routine parts of their lives. </p>
<h2>What to do about it</h2>
<p>Vegetable farming practices in Kumasi are potential threats to public health. The continuous use of polluted water and incorrect application of agrochemicals and manures creates a worrying situation. But more worrying is farmers’ limited knowledge of the risks their practices pose to their health and that of the public at large. </p>
<p>Legislative enforcement to ensure that farmers comply with food safety standards is key to protecting public health. The Environmental Health Department of Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture should intensify their monitoring operations to ensure that vegetable farming is carried out in a safe manner.</p>
<p>Efforts are needed to make the public aware of the health risks of using contaminated water and the wrong use of pesticides and manures. This message could be conveyed through the mass media and agricultural extension services, targeting farmers, market sellers, food vendors and consumers. </p>
<p>Finally, the city must manage waste properly to improve environmental sanitation.</p>
<p><em>Abdul Wahid Arimiyaw of the Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d'Ivoire contributed to writing this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/143706/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kabila Abass does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Most local farmers are indifferent to the effect of chemicals on consumers.Kabila Abass, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1390572020-05-26T14:14:20Z2020-05-26T14:14:20ZUrban spread is turning the lives of Ghanaian farmers upside down<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336872/original/file-20200521-102642-jx8y8t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A cabbage farmer in Kumasi prepares his land</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/kbprize/34449506484">kbprize/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world’s urban population grew from 751 million in 1950 to 4.2 billion in 2018. Over half of the world’s current population – 55% – live in urban areas. But this is <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html">projected</a> to reach 68% by 2050. </p>
<p>The global share of African urban residents is <a href="https://www.csis.org/analysis/urbanization-sub-saharan-africa">projected</a> to grow from 11.3% in 2010 to 20.2% by 2050.</p>
<p>A major feature of African cities is their unplanned and outward expansion. This has led to a loss of productive peri-urban agricultural land. While various <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0143622816300509">studies</a> of Ghana have reported on the effects of urban expansion on land use and cover change around cities, not much is known about its effects on agricultural livelihoods and farmers’ responses. </p>
<p>To fill this gap, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19463138.2019.1691560">we examined</a> the livelihood effects of expansion of Greater Kumasi and households’ response. <a href="https://statsghana.gov.gh/regionalpopulation.php?population=MTI5MzE3OTU5OC40NDg1&&Ashanti&regid=1">Kumasi</a> is an important commercial hub situated in the Ashanti region of Ghana. It is the second largest city in the country and is growing rapidly. Greater Kumasi has expanded over time, mainly because of migrants arriving from other parts of the country. This has reduced the amount of arable land on the outskirts, which has affected households in varying ways. </p>
<p>Our research looked at the ways farmers have responded, including agricultural intensification, extensification, diversification and adoption of off-farm livelihood strategies. The research shows how city sprawl leads to changing land use patterns and how this affects livelihoods of urban fringe communities. </p>
<h2>The impact of urban expansion</h2>
<p>We studied households and traditional leaders in five peri-urban communities in Greater Kumasi, including Adarko Jachie, Breman, Apatrapa, Afrancho and Appiadu.</p>
<p>The expansion of urban Kumasi presents both challenges and opportunities. </p>
<p>On the negative side, expansion has led to a reduction in productive agricultural land on the periphery and a decline in cropped areas. As a consequence, output of major staples such as maize, rice, cassava, yam, cocoyam and plantain have fallen. This has hurt the livelihoods of urban and peri-urban households. </p>
<p>Many of the peri-urban households noted that the reduction in arable land had undermined their agricultural output and income levels. At the same time, the cost of living has kept increasing. Rising food prices, high utility charges, the high cost of social services and high rental charges, among others, present a livelihood threat to these peri-urban households. </p>
<p>A male participant at Appiadu told us: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We are farmers and that is what we do to survive and to take care of our children because our level of formal education is low…All these areas that have been taken over by buildings used to be open spaces and farmlands some years ago. The future of those of us whose livelihoods are tied to the land is bleak. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Another respondent remarked: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>We have lost most of our arable lands to the wealthy who are even not natives of this place…This has negatively affected our farming activities. We used to make huge gains from farming but our output and gains have declined over the years. Life is really tough. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Respondents noted that most of the land has been acquired by wealthy people, most of whom live outside these communities. The implication is that the majority of the local people eventually lose out because they can’t afford to acquire land.</p>
<p>Some of the chiefs who were interviewed pointed out that development could not have been brought to their people without the sale of the land. But residents also noted the apparent failure on the part of some traditional leaders to plough back or invest proceeds from the sale of land in their respective communities. </p>
<p>To some peri-urban dwellers, the urban expansion had been beneficial. They mentioned the opening up of rural areas, access to urban markets and non-farm livelihood portfolios. </p>
<p>Farmers responded differently to the reduction in arable land. Some farmed more intensively – using more inputs per land area – and others did the opposite. Some diversified their farming. Some found other ways to make a living. We found that some households made livelihood gains, some made losses and others neither gained nor lost. </p>
<h2>Policy implications</h2>
<p>To protect arable land from urban encroachment and reduce peri-urban households’ vulnerabilities, a number of policy interventions are necessary. </p>
<p>Firstly, horizontal urban expansion can be controlled through more efficient use of already developed urban areas. This “smart growth” has been used as an approach to regional planning in countries like the US. </p>
<p>Another key area to focus attention on is institutional strengthening to ensure that policies are enforced. Since land deals normally respond to market forces of demand and supply, with chiefs being major actors, exercising effective control over land use and city spread by city authorities may be difficult. But effective key stakeholder collaboration can help. </p>
<p>Finally, policy intervention should recognise urban agriculture as an integral part of the spatial structure of the city. Urban and peri-urban farmers should receive technical and input supplies via the assemblies to ensure sustainability of their agriculture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/139057/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Policies should protect arable land from urban encroachment and make peri-urban households less vulnerable.Kabila Abass, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Kwadwo Afriyie, Senior Lecturer, Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1383572020-05-17T08:49:24Z2020-05-17T08:49:24ZHow water scarcity adds to women’s burden in northern Ghana<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334512/original/file-20200512-82375-115a3ti.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women spend considerable time finding water for their homes</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/melanieandjohn/72055739">John and Melanie/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Achieving universal and equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by the year 2030 is considered fundamental in attaining the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0956247816628435">Sustainable Development Goal 6</a>. But about <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/2/e1500323">4 billion people</a>, nearly two-thirds of the population of the world, face severe water scarcity and over 2 billion people live in countries experiencing high water stress.</p>
<p>Water supply is not equitably distributed across the globe. In sub-Saharan Africa, about <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/water-inequality/">40%</a> of the population lacks safe drinking water.</p>
<p>Another dimension of water inequality is gender. A <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/water/wwap/">study</a> conducted in 25 sub-Saharan African countries by UNESCO World Water Assessment Programme in 2019 estimated that women spend not less than 16 million hours daily to collect drinking water, whereas their male counterparts spend 6 million hours.</p>
<p>These inequalities are evident in Ghana. About <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222514952_Water_and_sanitation_in_Ghana">38%</a> of the population lack access to potable water and there are regional <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-local-solutions-are-best-for-urban-water-supply-in-ghana-133236">disparities</a> and urban-rural dichotomies in water supply. Discussions about supply have paid little attention, though, to the disproportionate effects of water insecurity on women. </p>
<p>To fill the gap, our <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13549839.2020.1744118">study</a> examined the gendered implications of sporadic water supply for livelihoods in Tatale-Sanguli District.</p>
<p>We discovered that water shortages affected both men and women in the district, but weighed more on women than men. Women and girls were found to be the primary drawers of water for household needs, because of patriarchal cultural norms. </p>
<p>Our findings should inform policy intervention through the district assembly. Interventions that diversify livelihoods could reduce the vulnerability
of women to water shortages. </p>
<h2>Water supply in the district</h2>
<p>The study was conducted in the Tatale Township and two neighbouring communities of Yachado and Kpalbutabo in the Tatale-Sanguli District of the northern region of Ghana. Subsistence agriculture is the predominant economic activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=398&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/334517/original/file-20200512-82393-4w4ynv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Potable water is just a dream for many women in sub-Saharan Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/hancindex/10727426273">Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The district experiences a short rainy season and a long and more pronounced dry season. The main sources of water supply are streams, rivers, shallow ponds, hand-dug wells, boreholes and rainwater. While water supply systems are generally inadequate, the problem worsens during the dry season, when most of the streams dry up. </p>
<p>Although technologies such as rooftop harvesting for rainwater for domestic use and agriculture exist, storage facilities are lacking. Consequently, supply is sporadic in the dry season from November to May.</p>
<h2>Who is more burdened, how and why?</h2>
<p>The population of the district is 60,039 and females constitute 50.4% of it. Most women are engaged in some form of agricultural activity. </p>
<p>Water is required for different productive activities pursued by both men and women. But the responsibility of fetching water in the study communities rests heavily on girls and older women. The strict gender roles and cultural norms in the Tatale-Sanguli District make the collection and use of water a gendered issue. </p>
<p>A male participant in Kpalbutabo put it this way:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Men don’t suffer like women when the entire household lacks water … women are more concerned about water because they take care of children. Women don’t expect their husbands to bath children or wash their clothing. It is their responsibility. So when water becomes scarce, women tend to have no peace of mind. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>A combination of reproductive and productive workload makes women more susceptible to the drudgery of sporadic water supply than men. According to 65% of female participants who took part in the survey, they spent about three to four hours travelling over a long distance daily to fetch water.</p>
<p>Water shortage often creates rancour and tension at home and with neighbours at public water supply points. One woman in the study noted that when water is scarce women have less sleep and go to farm late; life generally becomes difficult for them.</p>
<p>When the water supply becomes critical, men and boys sometimes help by fetching it on bicycles, motor bikes or tricycles. Women lack these assets. Thus, disparities in access to physical assets in favour of men add to women’s burden.</p>
<p>Another aspect of gender disparities is that during menstruation, the cultural norm is that women must have a separate container of water for their own use. They have to fetch enough water for men to use before their period starts because it is a taboo for some men to drink water collected by women who are menstruating. </p>
<p>When water supply for agriculture is limited, some younger women and men move away temporarily to find different ways of earning a living, leaving older family members behind. </p>
<h2>How to relieve women’s burden</h2>
<p>To relieve the people of the Tatale-Sanguli District from the drudgery of limited water supply, we recommend that the local government and non-governmental organisations should intensify their water provision efforts in the district. They can do this by expanding systems of pipes, boreholes and hand pumps to reach communities.</p>
<p>Their efforts should recognise the gendered effects and differentiated burdens of water use. One way would be for the district assembly to aim at diversifying livelihoods.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored with Emmanuel Bintaayi Jeil. He holds an MPhil in Geography and Rural Development from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi-Ghana.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/138357/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kabila Abass does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The study confirms that collecting water for daily use weighs more heavily on women, making life more difficult for especially older women.Kabila Abass, Senior Lecturer, Department of Geography and Rural Development, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.