Trace metal levels of the Odaw river sediments at the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site

The lack of appropriate infrastructure and legislation regarding the proper way of handling ewastes has encouraged informal recycling as in the case of the Agbogbloshie e-waste site. The burning and dumping of these wastes at the bank of the Odaw River eventually end up in the river. To ascertain the level of trace metal contamination in the Odaw River, 15 sediment samples collected from five different locations were analyzed for their trace metals. The locations were chosen to represent areas near to heavy e-waste activities and areas with no apparent ewaste activities, and analysis carried out using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometry. The results indicated that mean concentrations of the trace metals (Cu, Cd, Pb, Fe, Cr and Ni) were highest at locations near burning and dumping sites (L1 and L2 respectively). This was attributed to the result of e-waste activities and the configuration of the river. With the exception of Cu and Cd at L1, the rest of the metals were below the recommended Canadian interim sediment quality guideline (ISQG) while none was above the Probable Effect Level (PEL), an indication that the levels of trace metal contamination were below the concentration at which frequent adverse effects are expected to occur. The results have confirmed that e-waste recycling activities along the banks of the Odaw River contribute to the contamination of the river.Keywords: E-waste, sediment, metal, contamination, recyclin

The e-waste conundrum: Balancing evidence from the North and on-the-ground developing countries’ realities for improved management

E-waste is currently the fastest-growing waste stream, posing major global management challenges. One of the unintended outcomes of this growth in the developing world is the increasing presence of informal e-waste recyclers, providing livelihood opportunities, albeit under elevated health-threatening risks and limited protection. Based on a detailed assessment of the context in Ghana, the authors propose a disposal model involving all stakeholders in the development of new state policies for e-waste recycling. Based on the principle of participatory development, the authors posit that the informal sector concentrates on the collection, disassembly and segregation, while the formal sector manages the upstream state-of-the-art processing requiring more capital and technology investment, and expertise. Tackling e-waste management at the two extremes will build a broader consensus for a greener agenda and mitigate the potential environmental pollution embedded in current practices. Although the authors’ model is proposed with reference to the Ghanaian context, it stands a better chance of success and applicability to other developing countries than models that are developed based on developed world experiences.Keywords: E-waste recycling; formal-informal interface; livelihood; waste management; Accr

Poverty politics and governance of potable water services: the core–periphery syntax in Metropolitan Accra, Ghana

In developing countries, increasing urbanization amidst chronic financial constraints sharply limits the authorities’ ability to provide universal urban infrastructural services. This tendency creates complex networks of governance that remains largely understudied and not clearly understood. This article examines this nascent literature, focusing on Metropolitan Accra’s experience through the sustainable development goal lens: “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”. Based on the analysis of 26 in-depth interviews with key informants about the current processes, technologies and multiplicities of governance approaches, we demonstrate how the private sector does not only play a significant role in shaping the water dialogue but also has introduced its own modes of governance, which sometimes usurps preferences for public services. Ultimately, differences in procedural legalities and functionalities have spurred (un)healthy competition between the multiple governance modes, spearheaded by the private firms. Concluding, we caution that the multiplicity of management practices devoid of efficient and effective regulatory framework creates indecisive outcomes. Further, we suggest that the development of water-related capacity, both at the individual and institutional levels, will be fundamental in the realization of sustainable development goal 6 by 2030

The divergence between acceptability of municipal services and urbanization in developing countries: insights from Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana

In most developing countries, the provision of municipal services and infrastructure invariably fails to match the pace and demands of urbanization. The outcome is often increased informality due to improper planning, official bureaucratic barriers, and perhaps, insufficient and shrinking public resources, which then makes leveraging private capital for public service provision imperative. Drawing on in-depth qualitative fieldwork in two Ghanaian cities this paper aims to extend literature on the divergence between service provision and urbanization in developing countries. More specifically, it attempts to qualify recent macro-level data indicating that access to water, sanitation and electricity services in Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi are improving substantively. Contrary to dominant policy narratives circulating in Ghana, we illustrate how the acceptability of key municipal services within urban settings is often inadequate, and how acceptability is tied to spatial and temporal factors. We then identify and examine the reasons underpinning these variations. Through exploring residents’ perceptions of key services, and examining critically the possibility and feasibility of meeting urban service needs through leveraging private resources, this paper contributes to broader academic debates over urban service provision, while also feeding into contemporary policy discussions concerning how to achieve several of the SDGs by 2030

Mobile telephony services and rural-urban linkages

Mobile telephony services and rural-urban linkage

Solid Waste Management in Ghana: Willingness to Pay for Improved Services

Recent rapid urbanization and changing lifestyles have created serious environmental problems in most cities in the developing world, especially in the area of solid waste management and financing. This study analyzes the factors that influence households' willingness-to-pay for improved solid waste management. Using a stratified random sampling technique, a total of 920 households were selected for the study and then a logit model-based contingent valuation method was employed to estimate their willingness-to-pay for improved service. The results indicated that all the variables but the household size had significant influence on respondents' willingness-to-pay. IT also revealed a potentially large market segment of households·in the low-income areas prepared to pay for improved service, which is yet to be tapped into. The study opined that with proper policies, the exploitation of this potential market can help disburden the authorities· total municipal budget.It thus calls for policy interventions through the use of the socio-economic characteristics to draw comprehensive market segments for waste collection instead of the current zoning patterns which failed take cognizance of intra-zonal differentials.Keywords: Cost recovery; Cross subsidization; Internally generated revenue; Service beneficiaries; Service sustainability

Globalization and male sex trade in Ghana: Modernity or Immorality?

Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, the authors argue that globalization with its associated global tourism and the development of new communication technologies has promoted and propagated male sex trade, a phenomenon which hitherto was unknown in the Ghanaian society. Globalization has not only conspicuously ‘legitimized’ homosexuality, it has festered the increasing commercialization of the act, and has thus attracted widespread opposition, resistance and debate. While a section of the society considers the act immoral due to their religious faith, cultural beliefs and attitudes, others defend it raising human rights concerns. The authors call for a civil, dispassionate, apolitical and less hypocritical way of discussing the issue devoid of criminalization, in the quest for solutions to this emerging social issue. Key words: Globalization, homosexuality, male sex trade, sex culture, Ghana

Downgrading – An overlooked reality in African cities: Reflections from an indigenous neighborhood of Accra, Ghana

African cities contain a range of low-income ethnic and cultural enclaves that defy conventional ‘slum’ typecasts and intervention guidelines. Further, new forms of urbanization (e.g. gated communities and informal settlements) have received heavy emphasis in recent urban geographic research. Such research emphases have many unintended consequences; one of which is that traditional indigenous neighborhoods in the older city are glossed over. This paper focuses on urban downgrading in Korle Gonno, a prominent and established indigenous community in Accra, Ghana. Using mixed-method data (including surveys), the results illustrate that a traditional neighborhood encounters many of the same dimensions of urban poverty as the more famed slums in the city, yet it experiences different poverty trajectories. We argue that the prevailing slum profiling techniques fall short of capturing these trajectories; more nuanced approaches that capture continuity and discontinuity with past and present socioeconomic processes are necessary. Attention must be rebalanced toward understanding the deterioration of these neighborhoods if policymakers, planners and urban theorists are to obtain a comprehensive picture of poverty dynamics and appropriate interventions in African cities. ► Downgrading traditional neighborhoods in African cities are understudied. ► Korle Gonno's residents face similar poverty dimensions as those in informal slums do. ► The magnitude and scale of urban poverty in Accra reaches beyond informal slums. ► Quantitative indicators alone do not capture full extent of urban poverty in Africa. ► City authorities in African cities need more nuanced poverty analysis techniques

Electronic-Waste Circuitry and Value Creation in Accra, Ghana

Based on extensive field research, this chapter assesses electronic-waste processing in Ghana by examining the respective roles of formal and informal enterprises therein. Against this background, recent government efforts to manage e-waste and regularise related industries are reviewed. The authors conclude that government policies are not suitable for the development of this sector and for upgrading e-waste activities, because they largely neglect informals and their critical contribution to the sector. Given the low state of technology available in Ghana and the key role that informal labourers play in e-waste collection and processing, the authors call for a refocus on the informal activities so that informals can operate in better, greener, healthier and safer working conditions that would ultimately produce better outcomes in terms of sustainable development