Date of Award
2011
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Program
Geography
Supervisor
Dr. Isaac N. Luginaah
Second Advisor
Dr. Godwin Arku
Abstract
The history of labour migration between the northern and southern regions of Ghana has been dominated by movement of migrants from the north to work in mining towns, cash crop growing towns and major government administrative cities in the south. Increasing environmental degradation in northern Ghana in recent decades together with adoption of structural adjustment programs in the country has led to a decline in the agricultural sector, causing a further increase in migration away from the area including the Upper West Region (UWR). A declining mining sector has also led to migration away from mining centres. The receiving areas of these migrants are generally Ghana’s two biggest cities (Accra and Kumasi) and the fertile agricultural lands of the Brong Ahafo Region (BAR). What was a previously seasonal migratory pattern from the north to the south of Ghana has been replaced by a permanent form. Migrants in the BAR engage in food crop cultivation as their main means of livelihood to support their family that travelled with them and those left in their places of origin. Remittance to dependents in UWR from migrants in BAR is increasingly taking place in the form of food. Focus group discussions (n=3) and in-depth interviews with migrant farmers in the BAR (n=27) and their dependents in the UWR (n=20) reveal a strong dependence on these food remittances. Results from analysis of interviews and focus group discussions indicate food remittance from migrant farmers as important in influencing household coping strategies to food shortages in the UWR.
Recommended Citation
Kuuire, Vincent Zubedaar, "MIGRATION AND FOOD REMITTANCES - A STRATEGY FOR ENSURING HOUSEHOLD FOOD SECURITY IN NORTH-WESTERN GHANA" (2011). Digitized Theses. 3412.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/digitizedtheses/3412