Migration patterns in rural Ghana remain unchanged

General News of Saturday, July 27, 2019

Source: GNA

2019-07-27

A recent study found that policies to discourage people from migrating internally would have to fail if current spatial inequalities in development are not reduced.

Research also indicates that spatial inequalities in employment opportunities are the main driver of internal migration in the country.

Professor Joseph K. Teye, director of the Migration Studies Center of the University of Ghana, Legon, and principal investigator of the research team, said the research had revealed that the Internal migration remained a dominant form of migration in the country, hence the need to migrate. management programs also focus in-house.

Research titled "Changing Trends in Migration and Remittances: A Rural Ghana Case Study Focused on the Three Northern Regions; Brong Ahafo and Volta Regions; Accra and Tema.

It was part of a dissemination workshop organized by the Consortium for the Out-of-Poverty Migration Research Program (MOOP-RPC) to highlight the main results of the three main research projects of the MOOP-RPC.

These include research on the industry of migration, gender and generations; Understand the dynamics of migrant households in Ghana and research on income and remittances.

According to Professor Teye, the study shows that re-migration is quite common among both internal and international returnees, which implies that reintegration processes for migrants are not very effective or that many people do not plan well. their return.

He said that migration patterns in rural Ghana have not changed much in the past three years and that about 80 percent of Ghanaians migrate for economic reasons.

"More and more people are migrating to look for work or better job opportunities; and in order to seek better job opportunities, men tend to migrate more, "he said.

However, according to Professor Teye, research has also shown that women tend to migrate more often (18.9%) than their male counterparts (15.2%) for training purposes.

Regarding the role of social networks in the migration process, the study found that there were gender differences in destination contact. More men than women are taking risks in terms of migration without a contact person.

The study also predicts that migrants from the Upper West region are less likely to rely on social networks and recommends increasing outreach and facilitation of migration in these areas to help limit risk taking of high migration.

For Professor Teye, the study showed that the average amount of remittances sent by migrants had increased, indicating that many migrants contributed to poverty reduction and socio-economic development from the outset. .

This, he said, suggests the need for policymakers to develop programs to leverage remittances for poverty reduction and socio-economic development in sending zones. migrants.

"While many households left behind and migrants in Accra think that migration has contributed to improving well-being, other migrants believe that life at home would have been better," the study said and called for public education about life in Accra so that people can make informed decisions about migration.

Professor Mariama Awumbila, MOOP project director and senior researcher, "Migration and Industry", called for a review of the ban on hiring Ghanaian workers in the Gulf States.

"It's time we revisit this ban … in about two years now … and see how to turn it from negative to positive so that it benefits everyone," she said.

Instead of banning them, the government should consider concluding bilateral agreements with the Gulf States and ensuring that they do not take advantage of migrants.

She said that it was necessary for the government to facilitate the implementation of the national policy on migration and labor policy in order to resolve some of the policy issues raised in the study.