Tackling Poverty in Northern Ghana

World Bank

World Bank

关键词: ACCESS TO EDUCATION;    ACCESS TO ELECTRICITY;    ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE;    ADMINISTRATIVE REGIONS;    AGED;   

RP-ID  :  53991

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Twenty years of rapid economicdevelopment in Ghana has done little, if anything, to reducethe historical North, South divide in standards of living.While rural development and urbanization have led tosignificant poverty reduction in the South, similar dynamicshave been largely absent from Northern Ghana (orequivalently the North, defined as the sum of theadministrative regions Upper West, Upper East, and theNorthern region), which cover 40 percent of Ghana'sland area. Between 1992 and 2006, the number of the poordeclined by 2.5 million in the South and increased by 0.9million in the North. In sharp contrast with the South,there was no significant decline in the proportion of poorin the population of the North. Ghana's success storyin poverty reduction is the success story of its South.Finally, North-South migration should not be seen asdetracting from the potential development of Northern Ghana.North-South migration is potentially a strong instrument forpoverty alleviation. With the right human capital, manyindividuals could escape from poverty through migration tothe dynamic South. This phenomenon however, remains marginaltoday. By the same token, greater North-South migration willmost likely be a consequence of any development in NorthernGhana, at least for some decades. Indeed, with greatereconomic integration and better public service provision,the probability that residents of Northern Ghana willbenefit from migration will tremendously increase, thustheir incentive to migrate. Hence, one should not expectlower migration pressures from the development of NorthernGhana in the short run. On the contrary, attention should bepaid to the quality of migration, which will entailstrengthening social protection mechanisms to reducenegative migration, and raising human capital whileincreasing the absorptive capacities of cities to encouragepositive migration. This migration to the South will furtherbenefit the North, since migrants will add to the pool ofremittances sent to Northern Ghana.