Livelihoods at the edge of expanding cities

Kumasi, with a population of one million, is the second city of Ghana and the capital of the Ashanti Region. The city is growing rapidly both in area and population. This is affecting the natural environment and the livelihoods of the people living in rural areas around the city.

The peri-urban interface (PUI) is the spacebetween the city and rural areas. Here people’s livelihoods are under constantpressure from urban growth. Growing crops is a major activity, but is underthreat as the city spreads and land is taken for building and industry. Buturbanisation also presents new opportunities for people living within the PUI.They can engage in petty trading and wage labour or cultivate higher valuecrops to supply the urban demand. They also have access to services andinfrastructure.

A report from the Development Planning Unit,University College London, presents findings from a three-year livelihoodresearch project implemented by the Centre for Development of People in Ghana.The project supported a range of activities identified through a participatoryplanning process in 12 peri-urban communities.

Information, training, organisational assistanceand credit were provided to individuals and groups so they could begin orexpand alternative farming, non-farm natural resource based production andmarketing. The report examines two activities: farming and trading. Farming,because it is most threatened by urbanisation, and trading because it was the mostwidely adopted activity within the project.

The researchers found that:

• People involved in farming and tradingreported more positive changes in terms of increased income.
• Exposure to new technology and more sparetime were identified as benefits by those who adopted non-farm natural resourcebased activities.
• Those who did not adopt new livelihoodactivities identified the injection of capital into their existing activitiesas a benefit.

The findings offer several useful lessons for policy-makersand development practitioners. Peri-urban livelihoods have distinct featuresthat must be taken into consideration in pro-poor policy design andimplementation.

Policy implications include:

• Livelihood activities introduced withinthe PUI must be relevant to the particular location: trading is better suitedto more urbanised communities, whilst farming is better suited to rural areas.
• Poor families need regular income and, ifactivities with long development periods are adopted, the cash flow problemsthis creates must be addressed.
• Vegetable production can generate incomefor poor families, as vegetables can be grown intensively on smaller plots ofland and have a short production cycle.
• It is important to consider the role ofgender in determining people’s participation. Trading is associated with womenin Ghana,so few men chose it. Men were more likely to take up activities requiring newskills and knowledge.
• Urbanisation can bring new opportunities,and people within the PUI can benefit if provided with access to information,finance and practical support.