Ghana is rapidly urbanizing. In 1984, the country’s urban population was 30 percent. Sixteen years later, the 2000 Population and Housing Census put Ghana’s urban population at 43.8 percent. According to the 2010 Population and Housing Census, more than 50 percent of Ghanaians now live in urban areas. Part of this increase is due to the migration of women from rural areas. Since the early 1980s, tens of thousands of females in northern Ghana have fled growing rural poverty as their traditional source of employment, rain-fed farming, can no longer sustain them. These women, the majority of whom are of school-going age, escape to cities without knowing where they will live or work, and often ultimately working as porters, carrying loads on their heads, and in other menial jobs. Kayayei (female head porters) are now a distinct urban poor group, mostly operating in and around lorry parks and markets in Ghana's cities.
According to a 2010 survey of Kayayei, conducted by the Ghana Federation of the Urban Poor (GHAFUP), an affiliate of Slum Dwellers International, and Peoples Dialogue on Human Settlements, the majority (58 percent) of 15,000 respondents were engaged in farming prior to their migration. Only 11 percent had attended school, while 13 percent had been idle. The low school attendance is inconsistent with the spirit and intent of the Ghanaian Constitution which guarantees free compulsory basic education to every child in Ghana. This is especially so in the north, where youth have access to free senior high school education. Over 90 percent of the survey’s Kayayei were northerners and had migrated without taking full advantage of free education. Of the surveyed Kayayei, 23 percent were 10-17 years old and, thus, in their attempt to escape poverty, they had missed out on education. In addition, the results demonstrate the prevalence of child labor.
Ghana’s slums and informal settlements provide homes and places of business to a majority of Kayayei and other urban poor. The GHAFUP-PD survey also revealed that over 60 percent of Kayayei lived in the Old Fadama community in Accra, Ghana’s largest squatter settlement, established by migrant workers and internally displaced persons predominantly from the northern part of Ghana. They had moved to Old Fadama because of housing affordability - rents range between US$5 and US$10 per month in Old Fadama, versus US$20 to US$50 per month in other communities in Accra. Accessibility to Agbogbloshie Market, the largest foodstuff retail market in the city, was the second most important factor in choosing Old Fadama.
Insecurity of tenure and lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities are perennial problems in slums, and are no different in Old Fadama. Kayayei living in Old Fadama face considerable day-to-day struggles in meeting their shelter, water, sanitation, and livelihood needs. But in the midst of these challenges, an analysis of Kayayeis’ socio-economic status showed significant improvements in their livelihoods after migration, as well as benefits for their relatives back home. For example, after migration, Kayayei earned incomes that allowed them to care for themselves, and to save and send remittances to support families and other relatives back home.
One-third of the survey respondents earned between US$3 and US$5 a day, while a few (5 percent) earned between US$5 and US$10 a day. These figures contrast favorably with the current daily minimum wage of US$2.65 per day. About 72 percent of the respondents said they send remittances to their rural homes. About half (52 percent) send about US$25 per month. Almost one in five (18 percent) send between US$25 and US$50 home every month. This reveals a strong rural-urban linkage, which suggests that policy interventions should focus on both place of origin and destination to harness the potential of urbanization in Ghana. A gendered understanding of migration process is urgently needed to understand the circumstances faced by the Kayayei in the urban destinations, particularly with respect to the everyday service provision deprivations they face in slums as well as the lagging educational attainment for migrant girls and women in Ghana.
Contributed by Farouk Braimah Rabiu, Executive Director, Peoples Dialogue on Human Settlements and West Africa Focal Person, Slum Dwellers International (SDI)
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