Is deagrarianisation real? A study of livelihood activities in rural northern Ghana

Abstract

This article examines the livelihoods, portfolios and degree of deagrarianisation of the peasantry in three villages in northern Ghana. It argues that deagrarianisation should be seen as a process embedded in social change, bearing in mind the reversibility between farm and non-farm livelihood strategies used by households (reagrarianisation?). A livelihoods research approach involving qualitative household interviews and quantitative surveys in three villages in the Kassena-Nankani district constitute primary data for this study. Contrary to the deagrarianisation thesis, this study found that livelihood adaptation, implying both a diversification to new or secondary livelihood activities and changing the form, nature and content of the farm sector, characterised rural livelihoods in the area. The adaptation process involves not just a move from the farm to the non-farm sector, but also an intensification of efforts in the farm sector with seasonal diversification into other livelihood activities. The supposedly ‘booming non-farm sector’ is not entirely real, for reasons of marginalisation and exclusion of the poor peasantry, resulting from spatial, capital, infrastructural and market limitations.

Going for gold: transitional livelihoods in Northern Ghana

“…Even many of the recent livelihood studies carried out in locations not too far from Kui itself (see e.g. Yaro 2006;Laube et al 2012) fall short of providing a representative picture of local livelihood dynamics. These studies, though important, also present outdated information which, if used by policymakers, could yield inappropriate poverty alleviation strategies.…”

Assessing livelihood status of migrants from northern Ghana resident in the Obuasi Municipality

“…Consequently, SAP intensified labour migration from the northern to the southern parts of the country which existed since the colonial era. The three northern regions (Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions) have acted as a labour reservoir supplying labourers to the mines (Songsore 2003;Yaro 2006;Abane 2008). For instance, in the 1919 Development Plan launched by Guggisberg, it was estimated that 27, 000 men were needed and therefore a special recruitment scheme was organized in the Northern Territories.…”

“…For instance, in the 1919 Development Plan launched by Guggisberg, it was estimated that 27, 000 men were needed and therefore a special recruitment scheme was organized in the Northern Territories. Chiefs and other opinion leaders were mandated by the then District Commissioners in the Northern Territories to recruit men as labourers to the mines and cocoa farms in the south (Songsore and Denkabe 1995;Anarfi et al 2003;Yaro 2006). …”

“…Studies on migration and livelihood status of migrants' households at the places of origin are widely documented in the literature (Kothari 2002;Heering et al 2004;Geest 2005;Yaro 2006;Young 2006). For instance, in a study on migration and livelihoods, it was observed that migrants brought home with them material items and practical skills which improved household livelihood status (De Haan et al 2000).…”

“…Furthermore, a study on livelihood activities in rural northern Ghana indicates that remittances from migrants resident in the south to their relations in the north play important roles in paying school and hospital fees, investment and household infrastructure (Yaro 2006). In general, studies focusing on migration and livelihood at places of origin have shown that, through migration, return migrants have brought home some consumer durable goods and have also invested in both agriculture and non-agricultural enterprises which had improved the livelihood status of the migrants' households (Yaro 2006;Collinson et al 2009;Pinnawala 2009). …”