Emmanuel Morgan Attua

Historical and Future Land-Cover Change in a Municipality of Ghana

Abstract Urban land-cover change is increasing dramatically in most developing nations. In Africa and in the New Juaben municipality of Ghana in particular, political stability and active socioeconomic progress has pushed the urban frontier into the countryside at the expense of the natural ecosystems at ever-increasing rates. Using Landsat satellite imagery from 1985 to 2003, the study found that the urban core expanded by 10% and the peri-urban areas expanded by 25% over the period. Projecting forward to 2015, it is expected that urban infrastructure will constitute 70% of the total land area in the municipality. Giving way to urban expansion were losses in open woodlands (19%), tree fallow (9%), croplands (4%), and grass fallow (3%), with further declines expected for 2015. Major drivers of land-cover changes are attributed to demographic changes and past microeconomic policies, particularly the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP); the Economic Recovery Programme (ERP); and, more recently, the Ghana ...

Relating land use and land cover to surface water quality in the Densu River basin, Ghana

Abstract The Densu River basin is one of Ghanas most reliable freshwater sources, though greatly stressed through pervasive land-use activities. This warrants that water quality variability be understood in relation to land use and land cover (LULC) processes in the basin. In this paper, water quality variables and LULC attributes were evaluated using multivariate techniques such as Pearsons correlation and linear regression to decipher the relationship between them. The study found water quality variability to be influenced by both seasonality and geographical location. While water quality variables such as pH, turbidity, DO, total suspended solids, Ca2+, K+ and -N relatively were increasing during the rains, T, electrical conductivity, TDS, Cl− and -P were conversely higher in the dry season. Consistent with other studies, spatial differences observed for water quality variables probably reflect local variability in land use, geology, lithology and soil properties across the basin. Adequately vegetated sub-basins experienced minimal load of nutrients compared with other land cover types. Temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, phosphate-phosphorus and nitrate-nitrogen in surface water could be estimated from multiple regression analyses, using land cover information. We recommend that riparian vegetation of the basin is conserved while urban effluent discharges into running water are minimized, under an integrated water management programme.

Affordable housing options for all in a context of developing capitalism: can housing transformations play a role in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana?

Sixty-one percent of households in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana (GAR), with an average size of 3.8 persons, occupy single bedrooms. Addressing their housing needs would require strategies of unleashing room supply through new housing and from existing housing through housing transformations (HT). Extant literature on HT in Ghana has generally focused on immediate empirical questions such as who are the housing transformers and their socio-economic identities and characteristics, and how to predict the occurrence of HT. Consumer sovereignty and utility maximization – the autonomous preferences of transformers – within the market context, as the determinant of the production and consumption of rooms, are implicit in these discussions, which are reminiscent of the ‘self-help’ housing thesis. This study’s alternative model employs primary data to identify the transformers and non-transformers as social classes with specific housing market capacities, and HT as enmeshed in broader processes of production and consumption of housing within the developing capitalist mode of production and its petty commodity production sector in GAR. The findings leave little optimism about a potential role of HT in making a significant dent in the staggering housing deficit.

Mapping vulnerability to multiple hazards in the savannah Ecosystem in Ghana

The interior savannah ecosystem in Ghana is subjected to a number of hazards, including droughts, windstorms, high temperatures and heavy rainfall. The frequency and intensity of these hazards are projected to increase during the twenty-first century as a result of climate variability and change. Vulnerabilities to these hazards vary, both spatially and temporally, due to differences in susceptibilities and adaptive capacities. Many mapping exercises in Ghana have considered the impacts of single hazards on single sectors, particularly agriculture. But the hazards often occur concurrently or alternately and have varying degrees of impacts on different sectors. The impacts also interact. These interactions make mapping of the vulnerabilities of multiple sectors to multiple hazards imperative. This paper presents an analysis of the spatial dimension of vulnerabilities by mapping vulnerability of sectors that support livelihood activities at a single point in time, using the Upper East Region of Ghana as a case study. Data collected to develop the maps were largely quantitative and from secondary sources. Other data drew on fieldwork undertaken in the region from July to September 2013. Quantitative values were assigned to qualitative categorical data as the mapping process is necessarily quantitative. Data were divided into susceptibility and adaptive capacity indicators and mapped in ArcGIS 10.2 using weighted linear sum aggregation. Agriculture was found to be the most vulnerable sector in all districts of the Upper East Region and experienced the greatest shocks from all hazards. Although all districts were vulnerable, the Talensi, Nabdam, Garu-Temapane and Kassena-Nankana West Districts were most vulnerable. Findings highlight the need for more targeted interventions to build adaptive capacity in light of the spatial distributions of vulnerabilities to hazards across sectors.

A paradox of three decades of neoliberal economic reforms in Ghana: a tale of economic growth and uneven regional development

Thirty years of neoliberalization in Ghana is an enigma. On the one hand it is associated with sustained economic growth and decline in the national incidence of poverty, and on the other hand it is characterized by uneven regional development that concentrates growth in historically favored regions and leaves persistently high levels of poverty in certain regions. Informed by primary and secondary research, the paper interprets this enigma as inextricably tied to the reestablishment of incentives and benefits in favor of external capital and particular regional/territorial divisions of labor and capital under neoliberal market reforms. Neoliberalization is portrayed as highlighting capitalism’s opposing tendencies of primarily reinforcing the historical concentration of capital and socioeconomic advantage in the Greater Accra and Ashanti Regions, while sustaining the concentration of poverty in the northern regions, and yet to some degree, dispersing capital and socioeconomic benefits to other regions, and reconfiguring broad patterns of uneven regional development.

Poverty and socio-economic consequences of Buruli ulcer (Mycobacterium ulcerans) in the Ga West District of Ghana

The paper examines Buruli ulcer and its poverty and socio-economic ramifications in the Ga West District of Ghana. Although the disease has received public health attention, its impact on individuals, families and communities has not been given critical attention. The study found Buruli ulcer to be associated with deprived areas where poor socio-economic and infrastructural conditions are manifested in the lack of employable skills and low incomes. Also associated with the disease are those activities that interfere with the environment and make it a habitat for disease causing organisms. The study recommends good environmental management, improved water sources, early detection and treatment, and education, as the best measures to reduce morbidity and costs in the management of the disease.

Assessing Land and Ecosystem Management at the Local Level in the Savannah Ecological Zone and the Implications for Sustainability

Biodiversity remains valuable life-supporting resources for mankind. However, in the semi-arid Savannah ecological zone of West Africa, our understanding of the stock, utilization, and management of biodiversity is less understood. This study seeks to (1) profile the distribution, management, and utilization of woody plant species under different land uses; (2) identify factors affecting plant biological resources; and (3) assess the state of a community’s ecological vulnerability. Both quantitative and qualitative research strategies including surveys, interviews, and focus group discussions were used to collect data. Field assessments were undertaken in purposively selected major land use types. The Sorensen index was used to assess species similarity levels and family importance value was used to determine the most important plant families. The Shannon–Weiner index was used to determine species diversity and evenness, whereas the ecological vulnerability index was used to estimate the communities’ vulnerability levels. Total of 67 woody plant species belonging to 27 families and 55 genera were identified, with Fabaceae and Compositaceae being the most important plant families. Species diversity was highest in sacred groves followed by fallow fields, crop fields, and grazed fields. The most resilient ecological communities were found to be Zagua and Kpalgun, whereas Daboshe emerged as the most vulnerable ecological community. In all communities, we found that species overexploitation for productive purposes and loss of traditional values contribute to biodiversity loss. Ecological resilience could be enhanced through the enforcement of taboos, implementation of afforestation, and educational programs. The study contributes to address the rarity of plant species distribution–assessment in the semi-arid areas of West Africa.

Breaking the silence: housing and psychosocial health inequalities in three urban neighbourhoods of Accra, Ghana

Housing and health inequalities scholarship in Ghana, as in many developing countries, has mainly focused on the urban environmental health aspects of human settlements, and related health inequalities. Studies about housing-related psychosocial health inequalities of residents are scant. This study is a contribution to addressing this gap. It investigates the pathways between housing and the psychosocial health status of residents in three contrasting urban neighbourhoods in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Survey and narrative inquiry research provide insights into the stark contrast in reported psychosocial health among the neighbourhoods. Differences in psychosocial health are then related to the mechanisms of differentiation in housing-market capacities; the mechanisms of differentiation in housing needs gaps, arising from discrepancies between achieved housing spaces and desired housing space needs; and the mechanisms of differentiation in coping and adjustment strategies of housing. The policy im...