Residential Remittances and Food Security in the Upper West Region of Ghana
| Author | Joseph Kangmennaang,Roger Antabe,Kilian N. Atuoye,Isaac Luginaah,Vincent Z. Kuuire |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.12310 |
| Published date | 01 August 2017 |
| Date | 01 August 2017 |
Residential Remittances and Food Security in
the Upper West Region of Ghana
Kilian N. Atuoye*, Vincent Z. Kuuire**, Joseph Kangmennaang***, Roger Antabe* and
Isaac Luginaah*
ABSTRACT
In recent years, out migration from the Upper West Region to the southern belt of Ghana for
farming has become commonplace. The natural question that has arisen is: what is the poten-
tial impact of remittances from this migration pattern on food security in the region? Using
multivariate ordered logistic regression this study assesses the linkage between remittances and
household food security (derived using the HFIAS) among urban and rural households
(n=1,438) in the region. The findings show that urban remittance-receiving households and
rural remittance and non-remittance receiving households were more likely (OR=2.44, p<0.05;
OR=2.46, p<0.001; and OR=1.49, p<0.1, respectively) to report being more severely food-
insecure than urban non-remittance receiving households. The findings demonstrate that house-
hold strategies such as migration and remittances on their own are not sufficient to ameliorate
the precarious food insecurity situation of the region. The study calls for development of alter-
native livelihoods in the region.
INTRODUCTION
Food security discourse is moving from an overly rural focus to include urban contexts as a result
of increasing urbanization which is occurring with increasing urban poverty (Crush and Frayne,
2011). In investigating household food security strategies, migration and remittances are highlighted
as possible pathways out of household food insecurity (Crush, 2013; Luginaah et al., 2009). This
article contributes to expanding the literature and theory around the complex linkages between
remittances and food security among households in both rural and urban areas in the Upper West
Region (UWR) of Ghana.
The 1996 World Food Summit conceptualized food security as existing when all people, at all
times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food that meets their
dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life (FAO, 1997). This definition high-
lights food availability, access, stability and utilization as key pillars of food security (Renzaho and
Mellor, 2010). While food availability is a description of stock of food physically available, food
access includes not only food availability but also the ability of households and individuals to
acquire it. Access hinges on the existence of effective market chains, and infrastructure to support
food distribution and food pricing (Coates, et. al., 2007). According to Renzaho and Mellor (2010),
availability and access alone do not guarantee food security; utilization and stability are equally
* University of Western Ontario
** Queen’s University, Ontario
*** University of Waterloo, Ontario
doi: 10.1111/imig.12310
©2017 The Authors
International Migration ©2017 IOM
International Migration Vol. 55 (4) 2017
ISS N 00 20- 7985 Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
important. Utilization centres on the intake of critical diets in the right quantities and combination
while stability relates to the capacity of households and individuals to adjust to difficult times (Ren-
zaho and Mellor, 2010). Even though the impacts of poverty and vulnerability on food security
have been articulated in the literature, the discussion was more focused on rural settings because
poverty and vulnerability have been disproportionately concentrated in such contexts.
In recent times, increasing research on urban food security is adding a new perspective to food
security analysis, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), where the rural population is shrinking
due to rapid urbanization. The spate of urbanization in developing countries is turning out to be
one of the greatest threats to food security. Crush and Frayne (2011) suggest that urban populations
may experience worse forms of food insecurity compared to rural populations in the near future as
rural poverty is transferred through migration to urban centres amidst increasing pressure on
resources in urban areas (Crush and Frayne, 2011). Struggling urban households tend to farm in
nearby locations and rely on social links with rural dwellers (Tawodzera, 2012). Under extreme
conditions, household members are sent to friends and relatives in rural areas or well-endowed
households in urban centres (Frayne, 2004).
Remittances (international) have become an important contributor to the economies of developing
countries. According to Ratha and colleagues (2016), remittances have exceeded US $441 billion,
which is more than three times the value of foreign aid to developing countries. International remit-
tances form more than 10% of the GDP of some 25 developing countries and are mostly used for
investment in education, health and small businesses in communities (Ratha, Eigen-Zucchi, and
Plaza, 2016). At the household level, studies have suggested that remittances contribute to reducing
poverty (Adaawen and Owusu, 2013; Fransen and Mazzucato, 2014). However, it has been argued
that international and internal remittances have different impacts on poverty. For instance, Adams
Jr. et al., (2008) observe that households receiving international remittance in Ghana experienced an
88.1 per cent fall in poverty level while those receiving internal remittances reported only a 69.4
per cent reduction in poverty. Although reduction in poverty could mean increases in household
consumption, a recent study in Ghana suggests that remittances have a minimal impact on food con-
sumption (Karamba, Qui~
nones, and Winters, 2011), indicating a more complex relationship between
remittance receipt and household food security in different contexts. To understand this complex
relationship, we examine the linakge between remittance receipt and food security among rural and
urban housheolds, using the new economic and labour migration discourse as a guide.
THE NEW ECONOMIC AND LABOUR MIGRATION DISCOURSE
The New Economic and Labour Migration (NELM) literature provides a basis for examining remit-
tances and food security, as it presents the combined interplay of agency and structural factors in
migration analysis (Abreu, 2012). The NELM theoretical approach departs from the historical-struc-
tural perspective that migration is an outcome of structural shifts in an economy (Wood, 1982)
such as development of new sectors. In Ghana, the development of the cocoa and mining sub-
sectors encouraged north-south migration (Songsore, 2011). Recent expansion of the services sub-
sector could be encouraging rural-urban migration in Ghana and elsewhere in other parts of the
sub-region. Similarly, collapse of sectors has a potential effect on migration. The NELM also
moves away from the neo-classical perspective that limits migration decision to agency. Among the
most influential theorists in this school is Lee with the “push-pull”theory of migration (Lee, 1966).
In general, this school of migration theory argues that individual and household agency are the
main determinants of migrations. We have employed the NELM analysis of migration in order to
understand how both structural and agency factors influence migration and household food security.
Three explanations from the assumptions of NELM are particularly important in our
Residential remittances and food security in the Upper West Region of Ghana 19
©2017 The Authors. International Migration ©2017 IOM
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