A sand-security nexus: Insights from peri-urban Accra, Ghana

Abstract

An expanding sphere of research engaging with the diverse geographies of sand, points to connections between sand extraction and the multiple forms of livelihood, food, health and ecological insecurities engendered therein. In conversation with this work, we suggest that the notion of security might be just one possible way of discussing the multiple relationships between sand and socio-ecological conditions. In this paper, we put forward the notion of a sand-security nexus, as a space for dialogue pertaining to the relationships between sand and [in]security. Drawing on data from the peripheral spaces of Accra and its surrounds - spaces from which sand is extracted to supply the growing city with construction material - we unpack the ood, livelihood, water and health insecurities that emanate from sand extraction and the ways these are experienced by inhabitants in these places. While we suggest that in peri-urban Accra the sand-security nexus cannot be separated from questions of tenure security and broader land use change, we advocate for a view that considers the distinct [in]securities stemming from sand extraction, experienced by inhabitants as a closing down of options, an anxious view of the future and managed, where possible, through practices of shifting time, energy and resources to alternative income making activities.