3.3 FORMATION AND GROWTH OF SLUMS
3.3.2 Migration and urbanisation
Fouberg, Murphy and De Blij (2009) define migration as the permanent movement of an individual, household or community into a location other than one’s origin. Internal or in- migration, involves moving locations within the borders of a country. In Ghana, the continuous in- migration from rural into urban areas, mainly Accra and Kumasi, stems from many factors. These include lack of investment in rural areas and the presence of modern industries in the urban centres that provide employment opportunities to labour (Isaac and Raqib, 2013). Migration comes with positives and negatives. Migrants’ remittances to their families act as investments and income
0 5000000 10000000 15000000 20000000 25000000 30000000
Verti ca l a xis : Population, total
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which can be used to improve quality of life and productive capacity in rural areas (Taylor, 1999).
On the other hand, rural-urban mobility comes with many disadvantages, to both the rural and urban areas. The rural areas are deprived of workers in economic activities, as migrants are mostly young productive men. In the urban centres, migration may lead to increase in crimes due to lack of employment opportunities, congestion in cities, cultural change and pollution (Andersen, 2002;
Lall, Selod and Shalizi, 2006).
Hagen-Zanker’s (2008) theoretical analysis classified migration theories into three levels; micro- level, meso-level and macro-level migration theories. Some of the theories backing people’s decision to migrate are represented in Table 3.1.
Table 3.1 Motives for migration and some of their backing theories
Micro- level migration Meso- level migration Macro-level migration Motive for migration:
• Individual desires of survival and wealth generation
Motive for migration:
• Collective and social network
Motive for migration:
• Income and employment opportunity differentials
Backing theories:
• Lee’s push/pull factors
• Human capital model
Backing theories:
• Network theory
• New Economics of Labor Migration Theory
Backing theories:
• Neoclassical macro migration theory
• Mobility transition Adapted from: Hagen-Zanker, (2008)
The Micro – level migration involves the movement from one geographical location to another, based on an individual’s personal decisions. Decisions may involve the quest for attainment of personal goals such as wealth, fulfilment or pleasure. This level of migration includes theories such as Lee’s push/pull factors and human capital model (Hagen-Zanker, 2008).
Lee’s (1966) theory, associates migration to four factors;
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1. Factors linked with migrants’ area of origin – there are certain positive and negative dynamics in a migrant’s area of origin. One may decide to migrate if the unfavourable conditions in the area of origin exceed its positives.
2. Factors connected to migrants’ area of destination – the destination of a migrant also possesses some positive and negative factors that one evaluates before deciding to migrate.
3. Obstacles preventing migration – migrants are faced with certain obstacles when deciding to migrate, some of which include, distance to be travelled and leaving one’s family behind. To migrate, one must be able to surmount these obstacles.
4. Personal factors – people differ in terms of their personalities; some individuals are able to deal with change, while others are not. Hence, personality traits such as sensitivity, awareness and intelligence come to play in determining if one will make the decision to migrate.
Lee’s (1966) theory describes migration, as a process where an individual assesses both positives and negative conditions in his/her area of origin and destination, then makes a migration decision based on which factors are more favourable in the midst of migration obstacles.
Another micro migration theory is the human capital theory. Sjaastad (1962), postulates that, the quest for higher paying job opportunities is a key cause of migration. Hence, individuals planning to migrate undertake a cost and benefit analysis of returns from migration. When the outcome of this analysis is positive, there is migration. Costs of migration are either monetary or non- monetary. Monetary costs include money based expenses while non-monetary costs include income forgone from current jobs while migrating as well as leaving behind family and friends.
These costs are pit against potential earnings in the destination area and if the outcome is positive, an individual may migrate (Sjaastad, 1962).
Meso – level migration deals with migration perpetuated by social ties such as religious affiliation, ethnicity, social networks and community ties. Goss and Lindquist (1995) propose a network theory for international migration, which however, is also applicable to rural-urban in- migration. According to the network theory, migrants with social ties in their destination areas are provided with vital information about ways of doing things and assistance with settling in. These
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social networks may help migrants overcome difficulties of the change in environment, as well as helping in getting a job.
New economics of labor migration theory, another meso-level model came to fore in the 1980s.
One of the model’s central ideas is that, one’s decision to migrate is taken collectively with his/her household and not individually. The household sees migration as a form of diversification and invests in sending one member out to guard against uncertainties. Hence, the costs and returns from migration are shared by the household (Stark and Bloom, 1985). This theory therefore seeks to debunk the notion that, migration is an act of desperation, but however, it is a calculated step by a household to hedge against risk.
Macro – level migration refers to aggregate migration trends on a large scale as against being on individual levels. The Neoclassical macro migration theory, popularised by Harris-Todaro (2015) postulates that, the driving force behind rural-to-urban migration is lack of employment opportunities in the rural areas and the inequality between the rural and the urban sector real wage rates. In making the migration decision, individuals compare the returns to labour in the rural or agricultural sector to the going wage rate in the urban sector, as well as the number of job vacancies in the urban area. The larger the wage gap between the two areas, the higher the incentive for rural dwellers to migrate to the urban centres.
In Ghana, 80% of land in rural Ghana is regulated by customary law and manned by the traditional authorities, where all members of a lineage are entitled to use or derive profit from someone else’s land. The uncertainty of returns from common ownership of land in rural areas tends to push young people to the cities which offer more stable jobs with high salaries relative to those in agriculture (UN Habitat, 2009). The poverty rate is about 63% in Northern Ghana, while 29% at the national level and this has caused almost one out of every five people born in northern regions of Ghana to migrate and settle in southern Ghana (GSS, 2007; Van der Geest, 2011). The wage gap between the rural and urban areas in Ghana, is a major reason why people migrate.
Zelinsky’s (1971) hypothesis of mobility transition represents another macro level migration theory. Migration, according to Zelinsky (1971), is an end product of economic and social changes
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as a result of modernisation. Hence, migration can be associated with increases in birth rate and industrialisation which comes with modernisation.
The interplay of all the above discussed theories, and others, are the cause of migration in Ghana.
Migration, is a major determinant of urbanisation; others include natural population growth and the transformation of rural areas into urban centres (Buhaug and Urdal, 2013). As mentioned in Section 3.3.1, Ghana’s population is growing and coupled with that, is the increase in the number of urban centres. Ghanaian villages gradually become towns once they surpass the threshold population of 5,000 and above inhabitants (Naab, Dinye and Kasanga, 2013). The increase in urban centres, has led to the concentration of development programmes in such areas, at the expense of rural settlements. This phenomenon, Todaro and Smith (2015) refer to as urban giantism.
Urban giantism, according to Todaro and Smith (2015) refers to the bias of developing countries’
governments towards the urban sectors. This leads to all major development projects being concentrated in the urban areas causing a major development gap between urban and rural areas.
The bias towards the urban sectors in terms of development projects, attracts rural dwellers to migrate. The migration causes an expansion in the urban centres, hence requiring more developmental projects to cater for the masses, continuing the cycle of urban giantism. The influx of migrants for job opportunities also creates unemployment and housing problems in the urban regions.
Figure 3.4 shows the percentage of urban, as compared to total population. In 1960, Ghana’s urban population was 23.3% of the total population. However, due to rapid urbanisation, the urban population grew steadily to 50% of total population as of 2009 and in 2014, 53% of Ghanaians were living in urban areas (Figure 3.4).
The vibrancy of economic activities in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions have made them attractive to several in-migrants as the sixth Ghana Living Standards Survey pointed out that migrants from other regions to Greater Accra (Accra as the capital town) was 39%, while the Ashanti (Kumasi as the capital town) was 11%.
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Figure 3.4 Urban population as a percentage of total population; 1960 – 2014
Source: Author’s own graph using data from WDI (2016)
Accra and Kumasi have a population of 1.8 and 2 million respectively, and these two cities together, make up about 32% of the country’s total urban population (GSS, 2013a; GSS, 2013b).
Ghana’s per capita income in 2013 was Ghana cedis 5,300. On regional level, the Ashanti region recorded the highest per capita income (Ghana cedis 8,200) more than the national average. Greater Accra also recorded a high per capita income (Ghana cedis 5,400). On the other hand, the three northern regions in Ghana had an average per capita income of about Ghana cedis 2,600, which was half the national average (GSS, 2013c). The high per capita income in the Ashanti and Greater Accra regions signify vibrant economic opportunities, hence attracts most migrants especially from northern Ghana.
Kumasi geographically, links the north of the country to the south, making it a hub of commercial activities and hence informally regarded as the commercial capital of Ghana. Apart from the
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1960 1962 1964 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Vertical axis: Urban population (% of total)
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vibrant commercial activities in Kumasi, the town is distinguished for its local artisan enterprises, the majority (50%) of which are involved in wood related businesses (KPMG, 2008).
Accra on the other hand is located on the coast, along the Gulf of Guinea. The majority (36%) of those employed in the region are engaged in services and sales related activities. About 21% are engaged in craft and related activities while the rest are engaged in plant and machine operation, business management, agricultural, forestry and fishery (GSS, 2013a).
The IMF purports that, urbanisation is unstoppable, especially when globalisation has led to a worldwide demand for modern technology and higher labour skills. These pull factors entice rural dwellers to migrate to urban areas (IMF, 2007). Most rural areas in Ghana lack electricity and internet connection, hence, these rural dwellers in quest of living a modern life, migrate to the urban centres of Ghana.