‘Informal Exceptionalism?’ Labour Migrants’ Creative Entrepreneurship for Sustainable Livelihoods in Accra, Ghana

Abstract

Intra- and inter-regional migration is widely described. Prior studies have attribute varied reasons for this development including the quest for greener pastures and unequal development in northern Ghana. What has escaped critical scrutiny is some migrants’ ability to escape extreme rural poverty, albeit in harsh urban environment. Such a missing gap can potentiate high policy failures, hence the need for academic attention. Using a mixed method, we focus on two informal daily livelihoods as exemplars – exceptionalism – in Accra. We see their embedded organisational vitality and dynamic networks as illuminating for good livelihood practices, proper city governance and fostering economic empowerment. We call on city authorities to take cognisance of such complexities and heterogeneity of production–labour relations, failure of which can spell doom for policies ostensibly initiated to curb migration, as they are likely to be underpinned by factual inaccuracies and may result in ill-fated interventions.

Migrant-based youth bulges and social conflict in urban sub-Saharan Africa

“…Migrants may also not be active in the formal job sector and therefore not participate in strikes (the preferred means of expressing economic-related grievances). This is particularly true in SSA, where the informal sector provides substantial employment for migrants, especially women, and serves as a basis for opportunity and innovation (Awumbila 2015;Calvès and Schoumaker 2004;Oteng-Ababio et al 2018;Potts 2008;Todaro 1997).…”

“…Other options for income have been employed within the rural sector rather than being sought after in the urban sector (Bryceson 1996(Bryceson , 2002. All the same, one key means of rural households in diversifying their livelihoods is sending a household member to the urban sector (Oteng-Ababio et al 2018). Despite the lower attraction the urban sector may have, cities provide the opportunity to distribute risks, and especially to maintain income that is not likely to be affected by climate shocks, as in agriculture (Pietrelli and Scaramozzino 2019).…”

“…All the same, rural-urban migration has persisted in SSA, despite high urban unemployment (Todaro 1997). The increasing informal sector in SSA absorbs surplus labour and provides alternative employment options for migrants (Calvès and Schoumaker 2004;Oteng-Ababio et al 2018;Potts 2008;Todaro 1997). In fact, notwithstanding the slowdown in urbanisation, lower net in-migration rates in SSA are not necessarily due to less mobility but rather higher rates of urban-to-rural and circular migration (Beauchemin and Bocquier 2004;Beauchemin 2011;Potts 1995Potts , 2009.…”

Using a Socio-Cultural Framework to Understand Leadership Structures Amongst the Urban Poor

“…Old Fadama is the largest informal settlement in Accra, and in 2002 a Ghanaian High Court issued an eviction order on the grounds of illegality. Civil organizations intervened and started a dialogue that led the community to be amenable to proper relocation in 2008 [26]. This however has not occurred, and instead, 17 years of eviction threats and community resistance have ensued.…”

“…The population of Old Fadama has been increasing rapidly because of an unprecedented rate of migration of young people, mostly girls between the ages of 10 and 30 years of age, who are in search of economic opportunities [25]. Informal labor contributes to the functioning and economy of the city by providing services to the community, such as collecting urban waste and recycling, as economic actors, as political actors, and as drivers of social change [26]. Street hawking is another form of informal labor and has been met by an aggressive response by city authorities who do not want hawkers in public urban space [27].…”