Taking steps: an African ageing agenda

Twenty years ago it would have been an impossible task to assemble African scientists and social welfare practitioners to discuss the subject of ageing. Very little researched information existed then and many African governments were likely to assert that ageing was no problem in their country. Even in the 1980s a great deal of scepticism existed in Africa about the need for African gerontology research. Today, and taking a cue from the deliberations of the first AGES workshop, there is no country in our region that is not confronted with the negative impacts of development and urbanization as their country charts its route towards modernization. Even though an ageing agenda still has a low profile on the economic desks of many African governments, the realisation that there are indeed difficulties to be overcome regarding the care of elderly people in Africa is widespread

Gender and intergenerational support: the case of Ghanaian women

Africa must formulate appropriate social welfare policy for the elderly as a matter of urgency. Whether policy formulation takes place without in-depth knowledge of black indigenous structures, or whether it does the contrary and builds upon this knowledge, will have consequences for the whole of Africa. This article addresses the issue of gender and intergenerational support as a policy agenda for African countries. The article focusses on Ghana and examines intergenerational support systems, in particular the intergenerational exchanges between women traders. It also considers the social welfare benefits and contributions that intergenerational support can make. A new approach to the design of social welfare policy is proposed, which recognizes that the problems of the aged are increasingly African problems