What role does rural-urban migration play?
Movement from rural to urban areas is steadingly increasing. More and more people who cannot see their way forward in Ghana are coming to the cities. They see Accra and other urban centers as junctions to Europe and the West. They come and try to gather information on where they could go to. Then they try to get a visa and to raise money to get a plane ticket. How to deal with migration to urban areas? Should one simply try to halt it? The problem is that mainly the young and smart people head for the cities and they are the very people who could bring innovation and change to the rural areas. In effect, the rural economy suffers, which makes it even more attractive to leave. Accordingly, one should create options in rural areas instead of simply trying to stop rural-urban migration. One of my first projects with CENCOSAD was to bring young people from the arid northern districts in Ghana down to the plains around Accra where water from the Volta lake was used for irrigation to grew su
