Intersections between informal social and economic systems in Ghana: transformations and implications for managing economic hardship

AbstractInformal social and economic systems of kinship, labour relations, child fostering, food sharing and shelter sharing have characterized African societies. These arrangements have played significant roles in household risk management in Ghana in previous times and are still relevant in the management of economic hardships. Within the context of rapid globalisation and modernisation, these social and economic arrangements have changed over time, with some dire ramifications including economic hardships. Using secondary data consisting of literature sources, this paper examines these informal social and economic systems, highlighting their underlying concepts, transformations, and relevance in the prevention and management of risks associated with care, labour, and poverty. The author finds reciprocity and solidarity as the dominant underlying concepts of the social and economic systems understudied. Further, there were transformations in these arrangements contributed by factors, such as scarcity of resources, modernisation, weakening of kinship ties, unmanaged urbanisation, economic monetisation, and economic development. The paper recommends the incorporation of underlying concepts, such as reciprocity and solidarity in social protection policies for sustainable management of risks and economic hardships in the future. This will support poverty reduction efforts and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goal 1 (SDG1)

An increase in temperature under the shared socioeconomic scenarios in the Volta River Basin, West Africa: implications for economic development

This study examined the temperature variations in West Africa's Volta River Basin (VRB) from 2021 to 2050 in comparison to the historical period (1985–2014) under two Shared Socioeconomic Pathway Scenarios (SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5). Datasets from three Global Climate Models (GCMs) of the sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) were used. The GCMs and their ensemble were evaluated on a monthly scale. The study used the ensemble mean to analyse the changes in annual and monthly temperature over the Sahel, Savannah, Guinea Coast, and the entire Volta basin. The results demonstrate the individual GCMs reproduced the observed temperature pattern at the VRB, though with some overestimations, but the ensemble mean indicated a better representation of the observed temperature. A warming trend in the basin is projected under both climate scenarios, with higher temperatures projected under SSP5-8.5 compared to SSP2-4.5 in all three zones. The mean annual temperature is projected to increase by 0.8 and 1.0 °C, with a statistically increasing trend under SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5, respectively. Without a doubt, high temperatures, if unchecked, can erupt into resource conflict among the competing interest groups, thereby affecting the achievement of economic development at the VRB. HIGHLIGHTS The study contributes to understanding climate change impacts on economic development.; Temperature in VRB to rise up to 1 °C by 2050.; Temperature rise will lead to water shortages, extinction of fish species, and livelihood loss.; Temperature rise could lead to droughts, pest invasion, reduced crop yields, food security, and economic growth.; VRB is home to large hydropower dams, which could be affected by temperature rise.