Livelihood strategies and land cover in the Ga central municipality

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.