Optimizing Ghana’s Socioeconomic Metabolism Amid Urbanization from 2000 to 2019: An Emergy Synthesis

Abstract

This study assessed Ghana’s sustainability from 2000 to 2019 using emergy synthesis. This research study also explored the relationship between changes in Ghana’s socioeconomic metabolism and the expansion of urban areas. The results showed a significant increase of 126% in total emergy use during the study period. This increase was mainly due to a rise in import emergy, which went up from 2.90% to 37.47%, while Ghana’s self-sufficiency capacity decreased from 97.10% to 62.53%. This shift in total emergy utilization indicates that Ghana’s socioeconomic system is transitioning from relying heavily on indigenous resources to increasingly depending on purchased resources to drive economic growth. The emergy sustainability index (EmSI) suggests that Ghana’s socioeconomic system is resource-consuming and has low system performance. To address this situation, this study recommends restructuring Ghana’s socioeconomic system to optimize its indigenous renewable resources while reducing import dependency and environmental stress. Expanding urban areas contributes to resource consumption, especially refined fuels and construction materials. This underscores the importance of urban policies that take into account changes in socioeconomic metabolism as a reference for effective urban land administration.