Abstract:
The work of human activities and its rapid effects on the land and the environment
especially in neighbouring districts like the Ga Central Municipality close to cities like
Accra cannot be overlooked. The continuous change in the land cover linked with
people’s livelihood is worth examining. The sustainable livelihood and human environment system concepts were combined to study assets and livelihood strategies
residents relied on for survival in the communities. The purpose of the study was to
assess the livelihood strategies of residents of Ablekuma, Agape and Gonse and land
cover in the Ga Central Municipality. The study ascertained the effects of livelihood
strategies on the extent of land cover changes and their effects on the natural
environment in the three communities. A mixed-method approach to research using the
cross-sectional and case study designs was applied in the study. Three hundred and nine
respondents answered questionnaires and 40 key informants, interviewed in the
communities. The main findings of the study were that the dominant land cover in the
three communities had gone through changes over the years; farmlands were the
dominant land cover feature in 1991, grassland and shrubs in 2003 and built-up areas in
the year 2018. The construction industry is the dominant economic activity or form of
livelihood present in all three communities with retail activities as support. Increasing
land temperature and water pollution were the major negative effects of livelihood
strategies to the land cover while poor sanitation, water, air and noise pollutions were
the major reciprocal effects from the natural environment to human beings. The study
concluded that, the shift towards the usage of the environment for built-up as an
alternative livelihood activity included livelihood strategies of investment,
diversification, agricultural intensification and reciprocity. The study recommends
policy should be drawn and implemented by the local assemblies to ensure residents
plant in their homes a required minimum amount of trees to improve the biodiversity of
the environment.
Description:
A thesis in the Department of Geography Education,
Faculty of Social Sciences, submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Geography Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
May, 2020