Urbanization In Ghana Research Articles

A multi-dimensional Sustainable Diet Index (SDI) for Ghanaian adults under transition: the RODAM Study

BackgroundThe sustainability of diets consumed by African populations under socio-economic transition remains to be determined. This study developed and characterized a multi-dimensional Sustainable Diet Index (SDI) reflecting healthfulness, climate-friendliness, sociocultural benefits, and financial affordability using individual-level data of adults in rural and urban Ghana and Ghanaian migrants in Europe to identify the role of living environment in dietary sustainability.MethodsWe used cross-sectional data from the multi-centre Research on Obesity and Diabetes among African Migrants Study (N = 3169; age range: 25–70 years). For the SDI construct (0–16 score points), we used the Diet Quality Index-International, food-related greenhouse gas emission, the ratio of natural to processed foods, and the proportion of food expenditure from income. In linear regression analyses, we estimated the adjusted ß-coefficients and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the differences in mean SDI across study sites (using rural Ghana as a reference), accounting for sociodemographic and lifestyle factors.ResultsThe overall mean SDI was 8.0 (95% CI: 7.9, 8.1). Participants in the highest SDI-quintile compared to lower quintiles were older, more often women, non-smokers, and alcohol abstainers. The highest mean SDI was seen in London (9.1; 95% CI: 8.9, 9.3), followed by rural Ghana (8.2; 95% CI: 8.0, 8.3), Amsterdam (7.9; 95% CI: 7.7, 8.1), Berlin (7.8; 95% CI: 7.6, 8.0), and urban Ghana (7.7; 95% CI: 7.5, 7.8). Compared to rural Ghana, the differences between study sites were attenuated after accounting for age, gender and energy intake. No further changes were observed after adjustment for lifestyle factors.ConclusionThe multi-dimensional SDI describes four dimensions of dietary sustainability in this Ghanaian population. Our findings suggest that living in Europe improved dietary sustainability, but the opposite seems true for urbanization in Ghana.

Assessing how rural-urban migration is incorporated in Ghana’s national urban policy: a qualitative content analysis

ABSTRACT Urbanisation is increasingly recognised as one of the pressing global issues. As a result, managing contemporary and future urban processes to produce sustainable outcomes has become a preoccupation of policy analysts, academics, and urban planners. Urbanisation can either produce positive or negative outcomes depending on how authorities and stakeholders at all levels manage it. In African context, several national governments have formulated and implemented National Urban Policies (NUPs) as a way of curbing urban challenges associated with urbanisation. This paper provides a content analysis of Ghana’s NUP. The objective of this paper is two-fold: to evaluate the (a) dominant themes that are covered in Ghana’s NUP and why the emphasis on those themes; and (b) the extent to which rural–urban migration is factored into the policy document. The latter is more critical because in Africa’s context, besides natural population increase and reclassification of rural settlements as urban areas, rural–urban migration is one of the fundamental drivers of urbanisation. Our analyses revealed that the dimension of rural–urban migration is ignored in the policy document. This neglect, we argue, is problematic because rural–urban migration is one of the drivers of urbanisation in Ghana. Policy recommendations, including the need to minimise the push and pull causes of rural–urban migration, the need to give proper meaning to the decentralisation concept, and the need for the government to focus on rural development interventions are proffered to strengthen the overall goal of Ghana’s NUP in the context of urbanisation.

The health-trash nexus in challenging environments: A spatial mixed methods analysis of Accra, Ghana

Increasing urbanization in Ghana has led to a waste management crisis with multiple public health consequences. The contextualized mapping of what is dumped, where and why might provide vital on-the-ground support to address the problem itself, as well as the spillover disease impacts. One of the biggest challenges, however, are the required spatial and temporal granular data. In this paper, we employ a spatial mixed methods approach to investigate the issue of waste management through the lens of health and disparity in Teshie, a suburb of Accra, Ghana.

The public's perspectives of urban sustainability: A comparative analysis of two urban areas in Ghana

In response to ongoing rapid urbanisation in Ghana, research has emerged to improve understanding of the urbanisation process. However, empirical evidence on the interactions between urbanisation and sustainability from the perspective of the public in Africa is limited. This study, through a face-to-face survey, comparatively explores the perceptions and attitudes of the public in two urban areas (Kumasi and Obuasi) in Ghana towards dimensions representing urban sustainability. This is important for improving understanding of the impacts of urbanisation in the context of sustainability. The results confirm both similar and diverging perceptions that are held by the public in Kumasi and Obuasi based on their priorities, values, and diversity; and also, the results show that the perceptions of the public are mainly influenced by socio-economic considerations compared with environmental concerns. Furthermore, the results highlight how the public is likely to adopt pro-sustainability practices under the right conditions (e.g., well-resourced recycling schemes). Overall, this study provides authentic insights into urban sustainability in Ghana and by extension, Africa, based on the experiential knowledge of the public, and it highlights the exigency of sufficiently engaging urban residents and incorporating their values and preferences into sustainability policy-making and planning.

Food Security in Ghanaian Urban Cities: A Scoping Review of the Literature.

Urbanisation in Ghana could be negatively impacting the state of food security, especially in economically vulnerable groups. Food supply, safety, and quality are all aspects of food security which could be impacted. We conducted a scoping literature review to understand the nature and magnitude of evidence available on the urban food security situation in Ghana. A literature search was conducted in Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, Scopus, Web of Science, Africa Wide Information and Google Scholar to identify relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature. 45 studies, mainly cross-sectional surveys/food samples analysis, met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were concentrated in the Greater Accra Region (n = 24). Most studies focused on food safety and quality (n = 31). Studies on supply and stability were, however, scarce. Qualitative research methods were uncommon in the included studies. The existing literature on food security are concentrated in two regions: The Greater Accra and Ashanti regions. Future studies exploring food security in urban Ghana should focus on exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of food insecurity and food stability by urban-dwellers using qualitative methods. The evidence suggesting that the safety/quality of foods sold in Ghanaian markets is poor should be a concern to consumers and policy makers.

Navigating Traditional and Modern Institutions in City Governance: The Role of Chieftaincy in Spatial Planning in Tamale, Ghana

ABSTRACT At a time of intensifying urbanisation in Ghana, ineffective spatial planning is one of the symptomatic challenges of urban growth in the country. In the Ghanaian context, traditional authorities (chiefs) play a disproportionate role in urban land management due to the fact that a vast proportion of the country’s land is held in customary tenurial arrangements. The role of the traditional authorities in (urban) land management is given legal status by national constitutional provisions that recognise chiefs as fiduciaries of the land held under customary tenure. The state-supported customary land secretariats (CLSs) perform these responsibilities in conjunction with the local government structures. They are largely being operationalised through urban land-use planning. However, the complex factors and processes of rapid urban growth have had unintended consequences. These include increased urban land values, speculative and informal land markets, and overlapping governance/power structures. The outcome has been the reported commodification and administration of urban land by chiefs for personal gain. These complex processes evolve at the intersection of traditional and modern governance structures which are opportunistically interpreted and applied to achieve certain ends. This article demonstrates how these changes in customary land administration are evolving in Tamale, Ghana. Qualitative interviews were undertaken with participants from relevant statutory land sector institutions, local government officials and traditional authorities. Using the lens of urban governance and planning practices, the article explores the outcomes of chief-led spatial planning and customary land administration practices and associated land markets in Tamale. These are social, economic and spatial inequalities, as well as urban governance challenges.

Highlighting the Sustainability Implications of Urbanisation: A Comparative Analysis of Two Urban Areas in Ghana

Ghana is urbanising rapidly, and over half of the country’s population have lived in urban areas since 2010. Although research has proliferated to explore Ghana’s urbanisation, there is a dearth of research that holistically explores the wider sustainability implications of urbanisation, offers comparative perspectives in the context of large and smaller urban areas, and provides a perspective of local level urbanisation in the context of resource extraction (mining). This study comparatively assesses two urban areas in Ghana (Kumasi and Obuasi), by conducting a spatio-temporal analysis of land cover change through remote sensing and by analysing demographic change through a synthesis of published population data, in order to highlight the sustainability implications of urbanisation. The results show that urbanisation has been rapid, and has resulted in changes in land cover and demography in Kumasi and Obuasi. The sustainability implications of urbanisation are identified to include limited economic opportunities, socio-spatial segregation, and destruction of natural vegetation. The evidence in this study provides insights into urbanisation in Ghana, and suggests that the positive sustainability impacts of urbanisation may be eroded by how factors such as market forces and land tenure interact at the local level.

Urbanisation of Hope or Despair? Urban Planning Dilemma in Ghana

Our reflections on recent treatment of African urbanisation begins with the assertion that implicit recognition and acceptance of “rapid urbanisation” as a legitimate and primary cause of urban management challenges—e.g. poverty, slum development, haphazard development, etc.—has impoverished the appreciation of other fundamental causes of poor urban functionality in Ghanaian cities. This article argues that urban planning practice in Ghana has contributed to the many urbanisation challenges in Ghanaian cities, yet remains critical if rapid urbanisation is to be effectively managed. The article provides some useful policy directions to managing rapid urbanisation in Ghana.

The Socio-Economic Conditions of Caretaker Families Living in Uncompleted Houses in the Awutu-Senya East Municipality, Ghana

Although housing is a fundamental human need, many lower income earning groups the world over continue to live in poor housing structures. Due to continuous urbanization in Ghana without a corresponding increase in decent or affordable rental housing, many urban dwellers are compelled to live in uncompleted housing units. Despite the increasing number of caretaker families residing in uncompleted houses in Ghana, there exists little or no well documented evidence of their plights. Consequently, this study was undertaken to assess the socio-economic conditions of families living in uncompleted houses as caretakers in the Awutu-Senya East Municipality of Ghana. The study revealed that about 56% of the sampled respondents earned between GH¢100 and GH¢200 as monthly incomes, while 27% earned between GH¢201 and GH¢400. It was realised that about 39 percent used torch lights for lightening, 31 percent used kerosene lamps and 8 percent used electricity. It was also observed that overcrowding was pervasive among respondents where about 85 percent with a family size of between three and four occupied just a single room while 15 percent with a family size of five or more dwelled in two rooms. In spite of the high overcrowding among respondents, 58 percent had lived in uncompleted houses for more than six (6) years while 42 percent had been occupying uncompleted houses between three and five years in the Municipality. To reduce the incidence of increasing habitation of uncompleted houses in the Municipality, a well-defined and comprehensive integrated system of housing finance should be instituted to enable low income earning households own decent but affordable housing, while pro-poor alternative strategies to mortgage financing arrangements are formulated.

Exploring the connections: mining and urbanisation in Ghana

Studies of mining and urbanisation have been primarily conducted independently of one another, with limited consideration of the inter-linkages between the two. This analysis seeks to fill this gap by exploring the links between mining and urbanisation in a Ghanaian context. Ghana is an interesting case as it is both endowed with significant mineral wealth and is highly urbanised, with a long history of urban settlement compared to most of sub-Saharan Africa. Mining and urbanisation are examined in four historical phases: pre-colonial; colonial; independence to the early 1980s; and from the early 1980s onward, before exploring the growth trends and employment characteristics of the large-scale and small-scale mining sectors, following which different types of urban mining settlements are discussed. The article shows that the fortunes of mining and the growth of urban settlements are interconnected but concludes that the relationship between the two is not one of simple cause and effect. The complex nature of the linkages between mining and urbanisation means that they require more attention than they have been afforded hitherto.

Virtue out of Necessity? Urbanisation, Urban Growth and Okada Services in Accra, Ghana

Rapid urbanisation in Ghana over the last two decades in particular is straining the capacity of the cities to provide basic infrastructure, degrading the quality of life and impoverishing the urban environment. In Accra, an obvious lack of co-ordinated land-use planning and the enforcement of appropriate regulations have made the challenges in the transport sector very daunting, with traffic congestion growing by the day. The situation has compelled some commuters to adopt strategies to navigate themselves in the city in order to avoid the traffic menace. Based on questionnaire and in-depth interviews with individuals and stakeholders engaged in and connected to one such strategy, ‘Okada transport’, the study demonstrates why the commercialisation of the motor-cycle still thrives though it is in conflict with and a clear violation of the existing road transport regulations. The findings confirm that the authorities’ inability to plan holistically has dislocated the urban system and indeed led to a virtual infrastructural systemic breakdown, compelling frustrated commuters to find adaptation strategies. The study posits that the trend is likely to continue and perhaps even accelerate unless a well planned policy intervention, such as the Rapid Bus Transit, is adopted and efficiently implemented.

The Future of our Cities

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences devoted its conference in 1989 to the discussion of urbanisation in Ghana. Its verdict was a report called The Future of Our Cities . This essay reviews the future of Ghanaian cities as seen 19 years ago in that book and attempts an assessment of contemporary Ghanaian urbanisation, drawing on the literature on urban planning and on newspaper and radio commentaries. It is argued that although there have been some achievements in resourcing the police force, for example, waste is mismanaged, unemployment is high and traffic congestion is more pervasive than ever. Some proposals for mitigating these hardships are presented.

Comparative urbanization in Ghana and Kenya in time and space

There are few inter-African country urban analyses because of the continent’s enormous size and socioeconomic diversity, language barriers, and wide variations in national and regional urban research capacity. Nevertheless, comparative urban studies are critical in understanding contemporary African urbanization. In this comparative spatial and temporal analysis of Ghana and Kenya’s urbanization, we find that both countries are urbanizing rapidly and are faced with many common urban problems. Moreover, Ghana is more urbanized than Kenya and has a larger indigenous urban imprint and a more widely dispersed urban pattern. Besides their physiographic and population conditions, we trace these countries’ convergent and divergent urban trends to their shared but unique experiences of colonialism, nationalism and globalization.