Ghana's North and Poverty

In order to combat poverty there needs to be opportunity to somehow get out of the vicious cycle. My example with Kwame shows that it is indeed possible to use education as a means to lift yourself out of these situation but most likely this opportunity is only available to those students who are both: bright and willing to study hard. This might work for individuals, i.e. on a small scale, but what about larger scale changes?

On the map to the left you see the relative income distribution for the country with the region around Accra leading as the greatest income generator and with much of the northern portion of the country, roughly one-third of the country, being in abject poverty.

There is a difference between poverty and poverty. The northern area is the driest part of the country, with a dry season that can last up to eight months of the year. The natural vegetation in this dry zone is grassland and savanna woodland. The soils are not very fertile so not much can be used as an income generator.

As a result, there is not much that people in the rural regions can do to somehow feed the family. You can build cheap houses with thatched roofs which won't cost anything. If you have electricity you can have light at night but if you don't have money there is not a whole lot you can buy to use that electricity. The photo to the left shows one such desolate place of the north; it is electrified but not much has been done with it. In these dry places the wells for the necessary water might be far away and before and after school it might be the task for the children to fetch it taking away from time to do homework.

Contrast this with the village where Kwame grew up--no electricity but a well in the middle of the village plus fertile land around--here people might have a chance especially should electricity ever come.




So, what are the options for the people in Ghana's north? Young people will migrate to the south where there are better living conditions; often those are the people one sees on the streets in Accra selling their wares on their heads to the car drivers. Or, people might just migrate to areas with better soils and continue in agriculture. Since the people in the north used to be more nomadic before the savanna dried up and/ or became
deforested, they would move down south in search for better living conditions. Here then they would meet the indigenous population, i.e. those people that have lived in the region for a long time. A third option would be to stay put and put energy into something that would guarantee some income.

There are several ways in making an income, all very meager incomes at that. One option would be that of charcoal making. Branches and trunks of smaller trees are collected and then slightly burned in a large hole and mixed with soil. The result is charcoal which can be sold further south.

Thus one can find along the roads loads and loads of those big white bags containing charcoal which will be sold and then transported south where people will pay good prices for its use. 

Car loaded with charcoal

In the past, the Ghanaian government had made cooking gas available at cheap prices but prices increased and the poor were simply not able to buy it anymore. Charcoal is much cheaper! 

Of course, the cheapest alternative is collecting the wood and using it in your yard. Unfortunately this is what many people in the north do--thus contributing to the fragility of an already very fragile area--desertification, the making of deserts.






Another option to make a living in the north is the making of shea butter. 
Shea butter trees grow in dry climates just fine and the final product can be used as a fat in cooking or as an ingredient in body lotion. In the photo to the right you see such a tree with Thomas, Emanuel and our driver Kofi looking at it and being our teachers.

Shea butter nut

The final product as one sees it on the market for sale: