Seasonal migration and land use-change in Ghana

Abstract

When farmers migrate yearly to a village to carry out intense farming during the rainy season, and thereafter return to a more permanent place of abode this is referred to as seasonal migration. The impact of such migration on land-use/land-cover change in an area within the Volta Basin of Ghana was examined using satellite image analysis and socioeconomic surveys. The most drastic land-cover change involved the conversion of woodland to agricultural land, while there was also a general transition to less vegetation cover. Socioeconomic surveys revealed that most of the migration occurred during the post-structural adjustment period in Ghana with declining soil fertility accounting for the highest per cent of causes of migration. Multiple regression results highlighted the role of population size and distribution, marketing of agricultural produce and technological evolution of the household in determining agricultural land-use change. Policy initiatives that could lead to environment conservation are suggested.