Abstract
This chapter examines the interrelationship between rainfall variability, migration, and social inequality in a savannah district of Northern Ghana affected by environmental change. The analysis shows that seasonality is a crucial factor shaping smallholders’ livelihood decisions in semi-arid Northern Ghana, an area characterised by a unimodal rainfall. This pattern of rainfall allows one half-year rain-fed production cycle only. Seasonal migration is an important strategy in response to temporary food shortages, which are exacerbated by environmental and climate change. Study results show that the traditional migration during the dry season has increasingly shifted toward the rainy season—especially among poorer and vulnerable households. Rainy-season migration reduces the farm household’s labour availability, which in turn leads to reduced crop yields and lower food security. Interviews with local people reveal that most migrants perceive rainy-season migration to the mining sites (galamsey) of Ghana as more promising than rain-fed subsistence agriculture at home despite the severe dangers and likewise uncertain outcomes associated with galamsey. Only if migrants can remit, do they compensate for their absence during the main time of farm activities at home. Otherwise, households face the risk of increased food insecurity and vulnerability. A majority of migrants, however, prefers non-agricultural professions and some have already invested in these activities. Thus, the temporal shift in seasonal migration leads to a significant shift in livelihood preferences among the poorer and highly vulnerable households, and a concomitant reduction of the importance of subsistence agriculture for the local population.
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Notes
- 1.
Based on the country’s case study of the Where the Rain Falls project http://wheretherainfalls.org/.
- 2.
The unitary or homogenous household model, which was dominant in the economic research until the 1990s, implies that individual household member’s choices are determined by the strategic goals of the household as a whole. This model has been replaced by a more heterogeneous household model with different members, individual goals, and individual economic spheres. Nevertheless, farm households are still perceived as a common board of consumption. Accordingly, the household was chosen as the major unit of analysis for this study.
- 3.
Based on the possession of cows, pigs, goats and sheep.
- 4.
Based on the possession of motorcycles, bicycles, tractors, water storage basins, and mobile phones.
- 5.
Based on the underlying assumption that the relative prices amongst the selected items and animals in Northern Ghana have remained stable (Schraven 2010).
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Schraven, B., Rademacher-Schulz, C. (2016). Shifting Rainfalls, Shifting Livelihoods: Seasonal Migration, Food Security and Social Inequality in Northern Ghana. In: McLeman, R., Schade, J., Faist, T. (eds) Environmental Migration and Social Inequality. Advances in Global Change Research, vol 61. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-25796-9_3
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