Retailing Strategies of West African Itinerant Immigrant Traders in Ghana

While Ghana remains a key destination for West African itinerant immigrant traders, studies examining their retail strategies appear missing in the Ghanaian migration literature. Applying the mixed methods design, quantitative and qualitative data were obtained from 779 immigrant vendors and 9 immigrant key informants. In tandem with this design (mixed methods), interview schedule and in-depth interview guide were employed to collect the data for analysis. The results indicate that most of the respondents exhibited their entrepreneurial prowess by constructing a network of clients around their business. The findings indicate that they sustained their clients by selling their wares at reduced prices with the supplier price being the determinant. Such traders usually prefer cash payments for their products with street vending being their main itinerant retail strategy. Primarily, most of them advertised their wares by shouting to draw attention to what they sell while others increased their sales using flattery and persuasive language. The Chi-square test results revealed a significant nexus between the immigrant vendors’ countries of origin and the various techniques they used to retail their goods. The study unveils the fact that aspiring entrepreneurs and shop retailers could experiment the pricing strategy of these immigrant traders, to increase sale values.

Stakeholder Perspectives on Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation in Educational Projects in Upper West Region, Ghana

The paper set out to outline the differences between conventional M&E and PM&E from the perspectives of stakeholders and assess their involvement as well as the benefits associated with PM&E in two districts: Nadowli-Kaleo and Daffiama-Bussie-Issa in the Upper West Region, Ghana. The paper employed multi-stage, simple random and purposive sampling methods in identifying respondents for interviews. Key informant interviews were used to collect data. Thematic and qualitative content analysis of participants’ voices were used in analysing the data. Findings reveal that PM&E gives primary stakeholders power and control over project execution and taking actions on monitoring results. However, it emerged that the youth and women were not fully involved in the process, some beneficiaries have limited capacity and understanding of their roles in the PM&E process and their involvement is limited to ad hoc approaches due to resource constraints. The study concludes that despite its implementation challenges, PM&E has an edge over orthodox M&E in enhancing effective implementation of educational projects. The paper recommends education of and capacity building for beneficiaries on their roles in the PM&E process to enable them more actively and meaningfully participate in it. Policy decision-makers should make conscious efforts to timely free more resources to the monitoring teams to facilitate their work. The monitoring team should also make frantic efforts to engage the youth and women to achieve the right level of participation in the process.

Vertical equity in access to health insurance services: An exploration of perceptions and enrolment in the Jirapa Municipality, north-western Ghana

Given concerns about the spiralling cost of health services in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), this study draws on a framework for assessing poverty and access to health services to ascertain progress towards achieving vertical equity in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in a rural setting in northern Ghana. Rural-urban disparities in financial access to NHIS services are seldom explored in equity-related studies although there is a knowledge gap of progress and challenges of implementing the scheme’s vertical equity objectives to inform social health protection planning and implementation. A qualitative approach was used to collect and analyse the data. Specifically, in-depth interviews and observation were deployed to explore participants’ lived experiences, the relationship between location, livelihoods and ability to pay for health insurance services. The article found that flat rate contributions for populations in the informal sector of the economy and lack of flexibility and adaptability of timing premium collections to the needs of rural residents make the cost of membership disproportionately higher for them, and this situation contradicts the vertical equity objectives of the NHIS. The study concludes that the current payment regimes serve as important deterrence to poor rural residents enrolling in the scheme. Based on this, we advocate strict adherence and implementation of the scheme’s vertical equity measures through the adoption of the Ghana National Household Register (GNHR) as a tool for ensuring that contributions are based on income, and collection is well-timed

Promoting urban security through community participation: evidence from Wa, Ghana

Crime remains one of the major threats to urban communities in Ghana. Ostensibly, the hitherto approach in crime control had been targeting statutory institutions, notably the Ghana Police Service, to the neglect of community level participation, which has become critical due to the increase in crime levels and manpower challenges facing the law enforcement agencies. Against this background, this paper examined how community members contribute to the promotion of security in Wa, a cosmopolitan community in the Upper West Region of Ghana, which often escapes official reports. Forty-three (43) community crime control actors in addition to three key informants were selected purposely in a case study design. Primary data were gathered through interviews and focus group discussions. The study found that community actors complement the efforts of the police by supplying relevant information on crime and offenders resulting in the arrest and prosecution of offenders in the law courts; providing logistical support such as motorbikes and fuel to the police; arresting and handing over suspected criminals to the police; engaging the services of private security operatives; as well as undertaking community patrols often known as ‘neighbourhood watch’. Given the critical role of citizens in crime prevention and control, and the promotion of communities’ safety, the paper recommends that the police should periodically organise workshops to educate community members on modern crime trends and strategies so as to improve their skills in crime control and detection.

Factors impacting on effective implementation of land title registration – a perspective from Ghana

Many governments across Sub Saharan Africa are in the process of introducing or improving land registration and formal titling systems. One of the stated aims is to achieve modern land information management in order to facilitate the development of the land market. It is often assumed that, because formal systems and institutions have enjoyed some positive outcomes in terms of realising wealth in developed countries, they will succeed equally well in developing economies. However, findings from empirical studies across several developing countries show that the performance of formal land registration systems has been mixed. Relying on empirical data from two major cities in Ghana, this paper examines the operations of land registration system with particular reference to its land information management aspects. The analysis shows that a divergence in the implementation of principles of the legal framework and organisational challenges are major contributory factors to deficiencies in the land information regime of the land registration system. Hence, there is a need for effective implementation of well-crafted and functional legal frameworks for land registration, to ensure that the principles and operations of land registration are locally relevant and sensitive. To address the inadequate organisational capacity there is a need to improve the capacity of the human resource base of the officials of the formal land administration sector. The procedure for land registration must also be streamlined in order to eliminate unnecessary requirements and thereby reduce the transaction time, costs of registration and frustration of clients.

Understanding tenure security dynamics in resettlement towns: Evidence from the Bui Resettlement Project in Ghana

Many researchers have investigated the impacts of resettlement schemes in Ghana. However, not many have explored the tenure dynamics in resettlement and how it either improves or worsens tenure security. This study contributes to filling this gap by assessing tenure security in the Bui Resettlement Town B in Ghana and proposes measures for undertaking resettlement projects in a tenure responsive manner. The study adopted a qualitative and descriptive statistical approach based on data collected using interviews on tenure experiences and resettlement processes concerning the Bui resettlement project (Resettlement Town B) in Ghana. Findings show that tenure insecurity is associated with the resettlement project due to the transformation of tenure from communal holding to individual holding, changes in traditional land governance structures from local chiefs to Bui Power Authority and a general lack of access to land. The study concludes with some measures for improving tenure security in resettlement towns.

Peri-urbanisation: a blessing or scourge?

The rate of agricultural land conversion in peri-urban communities due to peri-urbanisation and inefficient use of agricultural lands has raised concerns at both local and global levels. This paper surveys the literature and synthesises the key arguments for and against peri-urbanisation. A review of the literature demonstrates that the focal arguments focus on employment, diversification and intensification of agriculture, cash-income activities, livestock rearing, access to goods and services, unsanitary conditions, social vices, weakening social relations, deforestation, high cost of living, and out-migration. We conclude that peri-urbanisation brings about the betterment of living conditions and at the same time displaces local livelihoods, while breeding poverty for local residents. Hence, we recommend the design and implementation of policies that will secure agriculture lands, while promoting urban activities to enable farmer households to cultivate their land and at the same time engage with the new urban opportunities.

Sharecropping arrangement in the contemporary agricultural economy of Ghana: A study of Techiman North District and Sefwi Wiawso Municipality, Ghana

The desire for plantation farms and the availability of fertile uncultivated lands coupled with the influx of migrant farmers into the plantation frontiers during the mid-eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries largely occasioned the emergence of the share cropping mechanism in the then Gold Coast. Using two districts in Ghana, this study examined sharecroppers land access mode in the contemporary agricultural economy of Ghana. Mixed methods research was used in this study and focused on sharecrop-tenants as well as the sharecrop-landlords as the key research respondents. The results show that across the two areas, abunu system of tenancy was the dominant sharecropping arrangement. The benefit share of the landlord has moved from one-third (1/3) per the traditional abusa tenant system to 50% under the modern abunu system for tree crop plantations. The tenant-farmers’ percentage share has, however, declined from 2/3 to ½ under the current abunu system and in some cases the sharing arrangement is restricted to the proceeds and not the land. Again, the tenants now have to make upfront monetary payment in order to access land, which was not the case in the past. The share tenancy arrangement is on an evolutionary trajectory towards equalizing entitlements to proceeds, in a manner that seems to disadvantage the tenant farmers and keep them in the cycle of tenancy. The study underscores the need for further research to fully understand the drivers of these variations and emerging trends of the sharecropping land access dynamics for an informed policy response.

Compulsory land acquisition by government and litigations in Ghana: an empirical study of three educational institutions in Wa Municipality

This study examined government’s compulsory acquisitions of land for public educational infrastructure development in Ghana, using three case studies in Wa Municipality of Upper West Region. The strategy of inquiry was qualitative, involving key informant interviews with heads of the acquiring authorities and beneficiary institutions as well as semi-structured interviews with pre-acquiring owners and settlers of the lands. The findings revealed that the processes of compulsory acquisition of the subject lands had been delayed, and it is unclear when they would be completed. The processes were not properly followed as determined in the State Lands Regulations of 1962 (L.I. 230) and its subsequent amendments, which provide the processes or procedures for state acquisition of lands under the State Lands Act of 1962 (Act 125), leading to agitations and litigations between landlords and government institutions. The study attributes the problems of compulsory land acquisition to failure of acquiring institutions to follow procedures laid by regulations on compulsory acquisition. It recommends that landowners should be represented in the acquisition process from the onset to ensure fairness and prompt payment of adequate compensation as provided for by the law to reduce tension and litigations between government institutions and landlords.

Utilisation of Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Transfer: Evidence from the Upper West Region of Ghana

The emergence of social cash transfers, including Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) scheme, in Ghana was due to the need to mitigate poverty. However, prior assessment studies focused on the entirety of the programmes, and not solely on assessing the utilisation of grants from such programmes. Consequently, this study examined the utilisation of the LEAP grant, by employing a cross-sectional study design. A sample of 302 LEAP beneficiaries was selected by means of stratified random sampling. Data from beneficiaries were gathered via a questionnaire, while an interview guide was used to collect supporting evidence from key informants. Analysis of data involved descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, chi-square test of independence and thematic analysis. The study found that beneficiaries spent their LEAP grant on both consumption and investments, with consumption appearing dominant. Overall, beneficiaries utilised the grant in meeting their basic needs. It is, therefore, recommended that in order to develop self-sufficiency, beneficiaries must be advised by the programme officials to invest part of their grant in income generating activities to earn extra income to supplement the LEAP grant, and eventually wean them of the programme.