Migration and Social Safety Networks

Regional migration in Ghana, particularly from the northern regions to the south, is an old phenomenon, which has assumed heightened importance in the contemporary period. In the main, this is because Northern Ghana is overwhelmingly deprived in terms of natural resource availability, favorable weather conditions and the provision of infrastructural facilities to promote economic development. Social indicators show a high degree of poverty, low literacy levels and unemployment. The overall effect of these has been massive youth migration to the urban centers in the south, especially Accra, in search of viable livelihoods. Sodom and Gomorrah is a well - known squatter settlement in Accra where the majority of young Northern migrants can be found. Given their high levels of vulnerability within the urban environment, the young migrants adopt diverse coping strategies that serve as social safety nets to soften the impact of the harsh socio-economic conditions they encounter in the city. Using mixed methods, this book explores these social safety nets and explains the extent to which they have improved the well-being of the migrants.