The Changing Geography of Export Trade in Ghana under Structural Adjustment Programs: Some Socioeconomic and Spatial Implications

Like many other countries in Africa, Ghana has traditionally depended on a few export products—namely, cocoa, timber, and mineral resources—as the mainstays of its economy. The often‐volatile nature of the world market price of these products made the economy very vulnerable to fluctuations in the prices of export commodities. Moreover, the geographical distribution of these resources meant that only a few regions could participate in their production and export. This resulted in wide spatial and socioeconomic disparities between the producing and nonproducing regions. Within the past eighteen years, however, a shift seems to have taken place. Under the auspices of the ongoing structural adjustment programs, emphasis is being placed on nontraditional export goods. This is not only helping to reduce the vulnerability of the economy by diversifying the sources of export earnings, but also engendering participation in the export trade by regions that have been traditionally left behind. This study analyses the changing geography of the export trade of Ghana using data from the International Monetary Fund/World Bank, the Ghanaian government, the World Trade Organization, and field observation. The study argues that while these new trends and efforts are laudable, they cannot bridge the gap between the export producing and nonproducing areas and cushion the economy against the vagaries of the export market unless deliberate attempts are made to improve transportation and other basic infrastructure in the less‐endowed areas.     

Spatial Integration,Adjustment, and Structural Transformation in Sub‐Saharan Africa: Some Linkage Pattern Changes in Ghana

In 1983, Ghana embarked on a program of structural adjustment under the auspices of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to resuscitate the economy and to foster development. This paper utilizes the Lagos Plan of Action, a comprehensive, continent‐wide effort and African‐led policy strategy for the economic development of the African continent, to examine the contribution of adjustment to the development of an integrated economy in Ghana. Adjustment is examined as a form of structural transformation, as evidenced by the emergent intranational (intra‐ and inter‐sectoral) and international linkages in the formal wood processing industry, a key sector with tremendous potential for such linkages. Intranationally, this study shows that, as in the pre‐adjustment years, inter‐sectoral linkages, although important, were not dynamic enough to play a significantly galvanizing role in the nation's economic development. However, intra‐sectorally, a dramatic expansion in lumber exports led to an unprecedented constriction in the traditional forward linkage between sawmills and downstream processors. This forced the latter to depend on the informal sector for inputs. Internationally, Ghanaian firms operated as subcontractors of convenience for firms overseas (particularly in Europe) via an expanded forward linkage, reflecting a new “colonial relationship” under the program.     

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Structural Adjustment Programs and Uneven Development in Africa: The Case Of Ghana

Since 1983, Ghana has been undergoing World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The implementation of the SAPs, it is claimed, has arrested Ghana's economy from complete collapse, resulted in consistent growth in GDP averaging 6% over the past decade, reduced inflation levels, created budget surplus, and increased export earnings. Compared to the 1970s, these are the best of times indeed. But while these SAPs‐derived improvements in the national economy have been recorded at the macro level, the benefits at the micro level are a matter of considerable debate. This study revisits the issue of socioeconomic and spatial disparities that have characterized Ghana since colonial times, emphasizing the period from 1983 when Ghana's SAPs began. It examines current patterns of socioeconomic disparities with emphasis on the distribution of, and access to, health, education, basic services, and the like. The study focuses on urban‐rural as well as interregional disparities in the country.     

The Best of Times and the Worst of Times: Structural Adjustment Programs and Uneven Development in Africa: The Case Of Ghana

Since 1983, Ghana has been undergoing World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) sponsored Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The implementation of the SAPs, it is claimed, has arrested Ghana's economy from complete collapse, resulted in consistent growth in GDP averaging 6% over the past decade, reduced inflation levels, created budget surplus, and increased export earnings. Compared to the 1970s, these are the best of times indeed. But while these SAPs-derived improvements in the national economy have been recorded at the macro level, the benefits at the micro level are a matter of considerable debate. This study revisits the issue of socioeconomic and spatial disparities that have characterized Ghana since colonial times, emphasizing the period from 1983 when Ghana's SAPs began. It examines current patterns of socioeconomic disparities with emphasis on the distribution of, and access to, health, education, basic services, and the like. The study focuses on urban-rural as well as interregional disparities in the country.     

美国出口管制政策调整与中国香港贸易地理结构演变

以1997年中国香港回归为时间节点,从总贸易和高技术产品贸易两个维度,区分短期和长期效应,研究美国加强出口管制对中国香港贸易地理结构的影响。研究发现：出口管制政策在短期抑制了中国香港从美国的进口贸易增长,阻碍了香港对内地的高技术输出贸易;在长期致使中国香港对美国高新技术的依赖程度逐步减弱,对其他未对港设限国家的技术依赖明显增强。中国香港的进出口贸易地理集中度明显增强。美国在中国香港的贸易地理地位呈现大幅下滑。内地在香港的贸易地理地位得到显著提升。     

Occupational and Industrial Diversification in the United States: Implications of the New Spatial Division of Labor*

Traditionally, industrial diversification has been stressed as a tool for achieving economic growth and development. The literature on the spatial division of labor also incorporates the importance of occupational structure while recognizing the continued role of industrial structure. This paper examines the changing association between industrial and occupational diversification and the associations of industrial and occupational diversification with indicators of the business environment. The results indicate a weakening association between the industrial and occupational employment structures over time. Industrial diversification continues to be important for economic development but occupational diversification operates somewhat differently. For example, a trend toward occupational diversification is associated with employment growth but with lower levels of income. This suggests that occupational diversity may not necessarily ensure job quality, and hence, the lower levels of income.     

地方嵌入对在华外资企业出口市场多元化的影响

外资企业通过直接出口和间接溢出效应对中国出口增长做出了巨大贡献.现有文献大多基于外资企业知识溢出研究其对本地出口和创新等方面的促进作用,较少关注外资企业自身的贸易活动.利用2000-2016年中国海关贸易数据库,在全球-地方互动视角下,搭建本地、目的国(地区)和本地-目的国(地区)联系三维度框架,重点关注外资企业地方嵌...     

Changing urban governance in Ghana: the role of resistance practices and activism in Kumasi

ABSTRACT

This article examines traders’ resistance practices in Kumasi, Ghana and their significance for changing urban governance in Africa. Conceptually, we introduce “activism” as a new variable into the present concept of urban governance as decentralization, entrepreneurialism and democratization (DED). From an empirical study in Kumasi, Ghana, findings reveal that activism by non-state actors does not only occur at the crucial earlier phases of the urban regeneration process, but extends into the subsequent phases, because urban governance is a continuous process. We demonstrate that activism and a multiplicity of resistance practices are embedded and significant dimensions of everyday urban governance in Africa. This paper argues that the additional dimension – activism – is necessary in rethinking urban governance in Ghana and Africa. This conceptualization views non-state actors not as resisters of urban governance but as activists whose resistance practices and innovations produce tangible and far-reaching changes in city governance. We learn that non-state actors do not rely on the state to control all aspects of urban governance but invent new practices to secure their socio-economic interests and provide them with leverage where they have to negotiate with or stand up to authorities. The study shows that successful change in urban governance is a function of the complementary and strategic adoption of contention, subversion and co-production. When the state perceives that the intervention of other key stakeholders legitimizes the grievances of non-state actors, it responds positively.     

中国国家地质公园空间结构与若干地理因素的关系

到目前为止，中国已建立了85处国家地质公园。最邻近点指数判别表明：国家地质公园在空间分布上属于凝聚型，受中国大地构造控制，形成了东部沿海带、武夷山带、太行山一巫山一雪峰山带、环青藏高原带、秦岭带、南岭带6个集聚带。进一步分析国家地质公园与区域经济水平没有明显的耦合关系，但与城市发展水平的空间耦合关系明显。说明国家地质公园的建立不仅依赖于地质遗迹资源，而且还与周边区域的城市发展水平有关。由于我国广大中西部地区地质遗迹资源丰富，因此随着这些区域城市发展水平的不断提高，在广大中西部地区建立更多的国家地质公园对大西部开发和中部经济崛起具有重要的战略意义。     

Changing Geographies and the Geography of Change: Some Reflections

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography and the 75th anniversary of the teaching of geography in the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, the home of the Journal, this article, based on personal reflections and "objective" academic materials, provides an overview of developments in geography in the Department and Journal. The paper argues that the department's and Journal's"identities", since the post-World War II period, have been shaped by Singapore's changing domestic politics, the changing university academic environment, the personalities and academic interests of heads of the department and the Journa's editors, the state of the changing regional and global political economic environment, and the individual research interests of faculty in the department, and reflects a complex mix of colonial/post-colonial, modern/post-modern, North-South and East-West discourses. While a defined Singapore school of geography has yet to emerge, the article shows that both the department and the Journal have made major strides in meeting the challenges of globalisation and, in the process, have gained international visibility and academic legitimacy. In particular, the Journal has consolidated its position as a major voice for academics in lesser developed countries, its platform for "tropical world" discourse and maintaining its edge in the colonial/post-colonial and modern/post-modern discourses of states within the tropics.     

It's not all about wealth and beauty: Changing perceptions of fatness among Makola market women of Accra,Ghana

Within the African context, body shape preferences may be influenced by culture without necessarily taking into consideration health implications. Thus, fatness is culturally associated with beauty, prosperity, and prestige while thinness is perceived as a sign of ill‐health or poverty. Using a cross section of Makola market women, who traditionally are perceived as fat and affluent, our findings revealed that the perception of fatness as a sign of richness and beauty is changing due to women's access to knowledge and information on the health implications of fatness. The challenge for these women however, is adhering to healthy lifestyles despite living sedentary lives in the market place which is a conducive environment for one to become fat. We recommend that qualified professionals should encourage these women through continuous programmes on regenerative health and nutrition aimed at healthy lifestyle behaviour at the market places. The social groups that women belong to should be targeted, trained and equipped with the right information on healthy living so that they can disseminate this information to other members of their networks.     

Spatial and social transformations in a secondary city: the role of mobility in Sekondi-Takoradi,Ghana

Abstract

Existing research on urban Ghana mainly focuses on processes occurring within the country’s major cities, thereby reproducing a trend within the social sciences to overlook the role of intermediate and secondary cities. This paper aims to address this shortcoming by exploring spatial and social transformations in Sekondi–Takoradi, one of Ghana’s secondary cities and the metropolitan area serving the region’s emerging rubber industries as well as the country’s oil and gas economy. Using qualitative interviews conducted with residents in five of the city’s neighbourhoods, and a modified version of Kaufmann’s typology of mobility, we examine migration into Sekondi–Takoradi, residential mobility within the city and the daily mobility of the city’s residents. The paper highlights how these diverse forms of mobility interact with processes taking place both within and outside Sekondi–Takoradi, most notably influencing and being influenced by livelihood strategies. It is argued that the city and its hinterlands can best be envisaged as a mobile networked whole, rather than consisting of disconnected and compartmentalized locales. The paper thus contributes to broader debates on how mobility shapes urbanization by providing new empirical data on events unfolding in Africa’s secondary cities, and extends existing research by providing a counter-narrative to literature that examines the city and its surrounding rural areas separately.     

南京大都市空间演化与地域结构发展策略

随着全球经济一体化、信息化时代的到来 ,各国各地区的城市发展策略亦受到深刻的影响。南京位于亚太地区我国沿海中部 ,具有江海优势 ,国务院在 90年代中期批复的南京市总体规划正在实施 ,有力地促进了南京城市的空间扩展及其城市内部空间结构深刻的变化。该文就南京都市圈内部城市空间结构的特征扩展模式及其发展趋势、策略作一个多层面的论证 ,从城市设计与规划艺术手法的高度作综合评述 ,为南京大都市的空间合理发展提供科学依据。     

Maquiladora Myths: Locational and Structural Change in Mexico's Export Manufacturing Industry

Trends in location, labor force, and procurement practices in maquiladoras are examined using recent data sources. A growing proportion of maquiladoras are selecting interior locations, south of the borderlands. Once dominated by young women, the labor force is rapidly approaching gender parity. While far below prevailing rates in the United States, maquiladora wages are comparable with equivalent manufacturing sectors in Mexico. Majority ownership of maquiladoras is split almost evenly between Mexico and the U.S., however, maquiladoras have failed to develop domestic sources of materials and parts and remain dependent on imported material inputs. As the North American Free Trade Agreement is phased in, the regulatory environment of maquiladoras will change but their role as low cost assembly specialists will persist.     

Maquiladora Myths: Locational and Structural Change in Mexico's Export Manufacturing Industry

Trends in location, labor force, and procurement practices in maquiladoras are examined using recent data sources. A growing proportion of maquiladoras are selecting interior locations, south of the borderlands. Once dominated by young women, the labor force is rapidly approaching gender parity. While far below prevailing rates in the United States, maquiladora wages are comparable with equivalent manufacturing sectors in Mexico. Majority ownership of maquiladoras is split almost evenly between Mexico and the U.S., however, maquiladoras have failed to develop domestic sources of materials and parts and remain dependent on imported material inputs. As the North American Free Trade Agreement is phased in, the regulatory environment of maquiladoras will change but their role as low cost assembly specialists will persist.     

Water Materialities and Citizen Engagement: Testing the Implications of Water Access and Quality for Community Engagement in Ghana and South Africa

We analyze the relationship between perceptions of domestic water access, and quality, in relation community engagement. While others have suggested linkages between material conditions of water access and engagement (e.g., that poor water access might spur engagement), to date there have been no studies those test these relationships using statistical methods. Based on a quantitative analysis of survey data from underserved sites in Accra, Ghana, and Cape Town, South Africa, our results show that water access and quality are both predictive of community engagement. The analysis also makes a strong case that there are different dimensions when considering the material conditions of water—in this case, water access and quality each condition engagement in opposite directions. Furthermore, consistent with other studies, our study also shows different demographics (notably gender) mediate these relationships in important ways.     

The making and unmaking of gendered crops in northern Ghana

In rural West Africa, the gendered division of labour extends to labelling certain crops as 'male' or 'female'. With the introduction of new varieties of crops and technologies, these constructions of gendered plants undergo a process of renegotiation at social intrafaces. This process of attaching meaning to new features in cultivation results in the remaking of gendered crops. These negotiations, in turn, have an effect on the construction of gender in specific ethnic and environmental settings, unlinking labour from its gendered connotations and, thus, unmaking the social meaning and creating room for manoeuvre. Based on fieldwork among the Dagomba and Kusasi people in northern Ghana, this study examines how gendered responsibilities and access to the cultivation of crops are linked and expressed in obligations related to the cultural ideal of a proper meal, in this case consisting of the food categories (male) staple and (female) soup, which serve as the blueprint for assigning crops to a specific gender.     

The environmental impact of small-scale gold mining in Ghana: identifying problems and possible solutions

This paper examines the environmental impacts of small-scale gold mining in Ghana, and prescribes a series of recommendations for improving environmental performance in the industry. Since the enactment of the Small Scale Gold Mining Law in 1989, which effectively legalized small-scale gold mining in the country, industrial operations, collectively, have made important contributions to national gold output, foreign exchange earnings and employment. Accompanying this pattern of socio-economic growth, however, have been increased environmental complications – namely, mercury pollution and land degradation. The Ghanaian Minerals Commission has been burdened with most of the jurisdictional responsibilities related to small-scale mining, but with a staff of only 35–40 people working with a pool of highly obsolete research resources, it is clearly incapable of facilitating sufficient environmental improvement on its own. It is concluded that marked environmental improvements can only be achieved if: (1) assistance is provided to the Minerals Commission from local governmental bodies and academic units; (2) industry-specific environmental management tools and strategies are designed and implemented; (3) concerted effort is made to prospect for deposits suitable for small-scale gold mining, a key to preventing unnecessary exploration; and (4) a nation-wide industrial mercury study is commissioned, and a mercury retorting programme is implemented.     

中国北方荒漠区降水空间结构型及变异性研究

依据中国北方荒漠区35个站点1951—2005年降水资料,运用(旋转)经验正交函数分解(EOF/REOF)、主成分分析、分形理论及地统计学等方法探讨了北方荒漠区降水空间结构型及空间变异性。结果表明,降水空间分布以“相间复杂”型和“东西相反”型为主（对总体方差贡献分别为35.8%和20.4%）;降水趋势自西向东逐渐减弱,有西部增加、中部地区小幅增大而东部地区趋于干旱的可能。新疆地区对全区降水波动方差贡献率达70.4%。新疆地区及青海-河西-河套地区变异函数曲线符合球状模型,内蒙古高原中东部地区符合指数模型;随机因素引起的空间异质性占0.01%~1.62%。20世纪50年代和70年代青海-河西-河套地区变异性最强,新疆地区次之,内蒙古高原中东部地区最弱,90年代以后新疆地区最强,内蒙古高原中东部地区次之,青海-河西-河套地区最弱。新疆地区、青海-河西-河套地区及内蒙古高原中东部地区降水分别在南北方向、东西方向及东北-西南方向异质性最强。