A Gendered Perspective On Migrant Women Farmers’ Lived Experiences In The Brong-Ahafo Region Of Ghana

This thesis examined the lived experiences of migrant women in rural areas of the Brong-Ahafo Region (BAR) of Ghana. Notwithstanding the depth of research on internal migrations in Ghana, little is known about women who have migrated from the Upper West Region to rural settlements in BAR to farm. Using 30 in-depth interviews, 5 focus group discussions and 10 key informant interviews, the study investigated migrant women’s productive and reproductive challenges, how they navigate these limitations, and the current state of livelihood improvement interventions. The findings revealed that migrant women’s livelihoods may not have improved as they had expected pre-migration, due to structural and cultural barriers which inhibit their effective utilisation of economic, health and social resources. Given their overwhelming constraints, migrant women tend to work more as there are few interventions to support them

Being Pushed And Pulled: Understanding How Climate Change And Multilateral Investment Interact To Influence Rural-to-rural Migration In Sub-Saharan Africa

In this dissertation, I use a mixed methodological (qualitative and quantitative) approach to examine how climate change and multilateral investment (MLI) simultaneously influence the experiences of migrants, non-migrants and return-migrants in rural sending and receiving communities within sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), using data collected from three regions of Ghana. I explore the gendered, historical, geopolitical, environmental, economic and sociocultural factors shaping the experiences of these groups, and the opportunities and constraints that they face in their communities of origin and destination. My study findings are based on two years of data collection (2019 - 2021), involving in-depth interviews (IDIs), focus group discussions (FGDs) and contextual observations. Study participants include female and male non-migrants and return-migrants in the migration origin (Upper West Region-UWR), migrants in middle-belt destination areas (Bono Region-BR), and key informants working with governmental and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) – on gender/women’s issues, climate change/environment, MLIs, migration, rural development, among others – in the migration origin and destination areas, as well as in Ghana’s national capital (Greater Accra Region-GAR). A total of 766 participants were recruited for this study. These include 30 and 12 participants for migrant and key informant IDIs, respectively, 55 participants for FGDs, and 669 participants for quantitative surveys. I use inductive theme-identification and explanation-building techniques to analyse my qualitative data, and descriptive and chi-square inferential statistical analyses for my quantitative data. My analyses and study findings are situated within feminist political ecology, complemented by insights from other theoretical/conceptual frameworks such as feminist postcolonial theories, feminist political economy, (livelihood) vulnerability, and intersectionality. Study findings are segregated by the migration context (i.e., origin and destination), with the findings from each context comprising a chapter of this dissertation. The findings based on the migration origin are presented in chapter four and those of the destination in chapter five. Key informant perspectives are interspersed with those of migrant groups in both chapters. In the UWR, I found an increasing outmigration of people to middle-belt destination areas of Ghana, mostly resulting from climate change effects such as reduced/erratic rains and deteriorating soil fertility, combined with the colonial and neocolonial legacies of extreme poverty and deprivation, lack of economic opportunities and livelihoods, food insecurity, and poor educational opportunities in UWR. These migration dynamics tend to be gendered, and are further influenced by factors such as age, (dis)ability status, health status, sociocultural norms, and family/household type and size. Although many migrations out of the UWR tend to be permanent, semi-permanent or cyclical/temporary, a few participants report migrating just once in their lifetime. For non-migrants and return-migrants in the UWR, gendered and sociocultural norms regarding family and communal continuity, care for older adults and gendered notions of the impropriety of migration are cited as the main reasons why they never migrated, or migrated but returned to UWR. A few participants mention unmet environmental and economic expectations as the reasons why they returned. Participants in the migration origin add that remaining in or returning to the UWR did not result in significant improvement to their lives, and in some cases, worsened their agricultural, economic and health outcomes. Further, the majority of non-migrants and return-migrants report having no knowledge of MLI (activities) in the migration origin, and consequently, few people in the UWR report working in/with MLIs. Participants in the migration origin also mention climate change effects (such as poor and unpredictable rainfall patterns, degraded lands, heat waves, and water and food scarcity), as well as economic deprivation, poor infrastructural development and lack of social amenities as the main challenges facing them in the UWR. Several participants report that these conditions are causing or exacerbating physical and mental health ailments and distress for them. These return-migrant and non-migrant perspectives are supported by key informants, who report that despite their best intentions to help improve the lives of people in the migration origin, policy neglect of the UWR and substandard working conditions – mostly resulting from poor political/governmental will and resulting lack of resources needed to work effectively – are impeding their work and institutional/organisational goals. In the middle-belt destination areas, mainly the BR of Ghana, my findings reveal substantial in-migrations from the UWR to these areas, as evidenced by the national census surveys and predominant UWR migrant enclaves within the region. Migrants in the middle belt cite climate change effects such as poor rainfall and declining soil fertility, as well as the same economic challenges facing return-migrants and non-migrants in the UWR, as their main reasons for relocating to the middle belt. In addition, migrants report land unavailability and the imperative to send remittances to families in UWR as added motivations for relocating to the middle belt. Similar to their counterparts in the UWR, very few migrants report working in/with MLIs in the middle belt. In fact, some migrants report relocating from their original settlements due to the activities of some MLIs. Although migrants in middle-belt destination areas report relatively better rainfall, land access and soil fertility, food and water security, and educational, economic and livelihood options, as compared with return-migrants and non-migrants in UWR, they also indicate that they experience isolation, discrimination, precarity and unmet expectations (from themselves and family/community back in UWR) as trade-offs for enjoying some of these benefits. Consequently, migrants in the middle belt report high levels of physical and mental distress, similar to those in the migration origin. In both origin and destination areas, these vulnerabilities are more pronounced for women, older adults (particularly the elderly), people with disabilities, those living with chronic health ailments, and those who have even more limited access to resources. Based on these findings, I suggest some macro-level policy recommendations such as improving infrastructural development of rural migrant sending and receiving communities, providing better economic/livelihood options for migrant communities, and instituting urgent climate change mitigation strategies to address the rapidly deteriorating climatic conditions in these regions, particularly in the migration origin (UWR). I also propose better monitoring and evaluation of MLI, NGO and governmental initiatives in rural sending and receiving communities of Ghana, more equitable, targeted and stringent conditions associated with domestic/foreign investment in the country, increased responsibility, accountability and political will of Ghanaian governments, and better gender equality, climate change, MLI and migration programming to meet the informational, environmental, economic, health and other specific needs of people living in vulnerable conditions in the UWR and middle belt. Importantly, as my study findings show, it is crucial to involve people living in rural migrant sending and receiving communities in the design and implementation of any interventions and policies at both the local and national levels, to avoid implementing interventions and policies that are disconnected from the everyday lived experiences and needs of the individuals and groups most disadvantaged by ongoing climate change, MLI, migration and development activities. I conclude my dissertation with some directions for future research

A review of the effects of migration on the feminization of agrarian dryland economies

Intensifying outmigration in dryland areas affects women's roles in agriculture and related activities, with broader implications for productivity and gender equity. Using a systematic review of literature, we examine the effects of migration on the “feminization of agriculture” in dryland areas. The findings reveal that women are performing more farm labor in agrarian societies due to the increasing outmigration of men. In addition, female agricultural labor is becoming more visible because of growing research on the feminization of agricultural labor in dry areas. The findings also show that migration-related agricultural feminization in drylands is influenced by gendered, generational, socioeconomic, and sociocultural factors, as well as economic and social remittances – with ongoing negotiations of these processes happening at different levels. Despite the tensions and (re)negotiations that accompany these changes, particularly regarding return migration, social and economic policy interventions could leverage the increasing participation of women in dryland agriculture to improve women's livelihoods

Can a cash crop be a women's crop?: Examining gender norms, relations and equity around lentil commercialization in Ethiopia

The benefits of subsistence-crop commercialization may depend on gender norms and relations. In sub-Saharan Africa, crop commercialization has been shown to often have unequal outcomes for women and men due to pre-existing social hierarchies and norms around farm roles, asset ownership, control over crops and income, and local farming practices. Using qualitative methods, this article examines gender norms and relations around lentil commercialization in the Amhara and Oromia regions of Ethiopia, to understand whether the benefits of market-orientated lentil production accrue to women and men farmers equitably. The findings reveal that despite naming lentils a women's crop, women remain marginalized from the sale and use of lentil. The study also found that lentil commercialization is often accompanied by labour commercialization, which has exclusionary effects on farmers of low socioeconomic status and unmarried women. Some policy recommendations are suggested based on these findings