Browsing by Author "Addo, I.A."

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Dealing with COVID-19 in Ghanaian urban shared low-income housing: What it reveals and the planning implications
(Cities, 2023) Addo, I.A.; Atobrah, D.; Frehiwot, M.; Kwansa, B.K.
Compound and shared low-income houses in Ghana have economic, social, cultural, and familial advantages. Yet, COVID-19 and its related lockdown and home confinement in two urban cities, Accra and Kumasi, raised questions about the appropriateness of staying in a compound house while observing the COVID-19 protocols. Whereas a few studies have underscored the ineffectiveness of COVID-19 protocols in low-income shared houses, these assume a homogeneity of such households without reflecting on the diversities that exist among and be tween the different categories of low-income households and the imperative nuanced implications for the spread of infectious diseases. Against this backdrop the paper employed qualitative methodologies of in-depth in terviews and non-participant observations to interrogate the experiences of low-income households’ utilisation of space as they observed COVID-19 protocols. Drawing respondents from four low-income communities in Accra, the authors examined how traditional family households and non-traditional family households implemented the safety protocols and their implications for shared housing. Issues of sharing inadequate communal facilities and public health concerns as well as lack of access to inadequate water and living spaces impacted the respondents’ COVID-19 experience. The study discovered that households’ socioeconomic status is directly related to the management of epidemics in urban spaces in Ghana.
The Effect of the 1987 Education Reforms on Youth Unemployment in Ghana: An Exploratory Study
(Current Politics and Economics of Africa, 2015) Biney, I.K.; Addo, I.A.; Abu, M.
Globally, the importance of education to the growth of the national economies is no longer challenged. Hence, countries have focused on, and continue to focus attention on educating their populace. This is because education provides individuals with more opportunities and helps to alleviate poverty. It also constitutes a measure of addressing critical national issues, including increasing, improving and producing human or intellectual capital for increased productivity of work at workplaces. It was, therefore, not surprising to learn that Alan Greenspan (cited in Brimley and Garfield, 2002) opines that "for a nation to continue to prosper it must invest in human capital and that investment begins with schools" (p. 1). Greenspan was not alone in this direction. Indeed, most economists now recognise, and also do appreciate, the importance of investment in education for developing the nation's large reservoir of human capital. The struggle to raise a nation's living standard is fought first and foremost in the classroom. The jobs in industry, in manufacturing companies, and in services sector require workers that are educated. There is no gainsaying that countries that make only a minor effort in education usually produce only for material goods necessary for subsistence. It is perhaps in that line that Brimley and Garfield (2002) assert that the educational system thus becomes a very important result, as well as a determinant of the social and economic progress of a nation. It is in this light that the 1987 educational reforms in Ghana occasioned the introduction of a nine-year basic education, which comprises a six-year basic and three-year junior secondary education. This is followed by three years of senior secondary or technical and vocational education. Thus, within an expanded concept of second cycle education, technical institutes and vocational schools are now considered as second cycle institutions. As part of the reform, tertiary education constitutes four years of university education and three years diploma-awarding institutions. The new syllabuses and course levels generally broaden the scope of knowledge of the pupils and students. The idea behind the reforms was that the increased knowledge in mathematics, science, technology, social sciences and technical skills that would be acquired would enhance the creative potential of children. That in itself constitutes an important attribute of the new system. More so, the educational reforms equally led to increased output of graduates from the basic, secondary, technical, polytechnics and tertiary institutions. The provision of technical tools and equipment to the schools was done one-off. The expected training in pre-technical skills and pre-vocational skills at the JHS level, and at least, one of 33 practical skills for SHS students envisaged to undertake minor maintenance work at home and enhance their creativity, was largely not realised. Additionally, the intention that students who are not academically endowed can opt to learn specific trades in technical and vocational schools or get into apprenticeship after the JSS were also largely not achieved. However, it has been observed that increases in education bring increases in productivity and gains in social, political, and economic life. Education is also a major force for good citizenship and human betterment. No wonder, Ghana as a country has, and continues to encourage many families to take their children to school through provision of school infrastructures, capitation grants, school uniforms, books and school feeding programme. The Government of Ghana's spending on education, therefore, rose from GH05G3 million to GH01.7 billion between 2003 and 2011. The figure represents 18 to 27 percent of public expenditure (Kaly-Dery, 2014). There are eight public funded universities in Ghana, nine additional professional institutions have been accorded public university status and two chartered private tertiary institutions and ten polytechnics in each regional capital of Ghana. …
Genealogies of Ghana’s housing crisis: the role of colonial interventions and neoliberal reforms
(International Journal of Housing Policy, 2021) Addo, I.A.; Mba, C.C.
The urgent need to develop and increase housing units has always featured prominently in electioneering campaigns in Ghana. Successive governments have developed countless programmes to deal with the housing deficit, but there has not been a significant improvement. As we write, the government Ghana is grappling with a housing deficit of over two million units. But why has this problem remained intractable despite what seems like concerted efforts by various administrations to provide affordable housing for Ghana’s more vulnerable populations? Focusing on the 2015 National Housing Policy, this article critically reviews Ghana’s various housing policies and reforms. exploring how colonial policies and neoliberal reforms are separately and jointly implicated, in fundamental ways, in Ghana’s currently engulfing housing crisis. Our findings reveal that the yawning gap is noticeable in Ghana’s overall effort at housing provision for the populace is rooted in the colonial logic of piecemeal intervention. This same logic has continued to traverse successive Ghanaian housing policies through the immediate postcolonial era, the adjustment years, and the current period
Genealogies of Ghana’s housing crisis: the role of colonial interventions and neoliberal reforms
(Taylor & Francis Group, 2021) Addo, I.A.; Mba, C.C.
The urgent need to develop and increase housing units has always featured prominently in electioneering campaigns in Ghana. Successive governments have developed countless programmes to deal with the housing deficit, but there has not been a significant improvement. As we write, the government of Ghana is grappling with a housing deficit of over two million units. But why has this problem remained intractable despite what seems like concerted efforts by various administrations to provide affordable housing for Ghana’s more vulnerable populations? Focusing on the 2015 National Housing Policy, this article critically reviews Ghana’s various housing policies and reforms, exploring how colonial policies and neoliberal reforms are separately and jointly implicated, in fundamental ways, in Ghana’s currently engulfing housing crisis. Our findings reveal that the yawning gap noticeable in Ghana’s overall effort at housing provision for the populace, is rooted in the colonial logic of piecemeal intervention. This same logic has continued to traverse successive Ghanaian housing policies through the immediate postcolonial era, the adjustment years, and the current period.
“That Is Still our Tradition but in a Modern Form, but it Still Tells our Story”: Transitions in Buildings in Northern Ghana
(Journal of African Cultural Studies, 2023) Addo, I.A.
Traditional building practices, which are typically regarded as repositories of heritage and material culture, are undergoing significant transitions in northern Ghana. This transition is evident in the use of building materials other than locally accessible traditional materials. These transitions are driving creativity and innovation as households strive for continuity of tradition, while at the same time, ensuring the sustainability of their buildings. This article analyses the architectural traditions and building practices in northern Ghana using the building work and commentaries of the people of Gbabshe in peri-urban Tamale as a case study. The results show that building practices are transitioning because of environmental changes, migration, wealth accumulation and access to modern building materials and technology. As the peri-urban community becomes urbanised, the people encounter “modern” building styles, which are appropriated into their traditional architecture, resulting in a hybridization of architecture. The innovative tendencies and philosophical continuities of these builders, and the desire to achieve sustainable buildings and the hybridization of Architecture has implications for the future of earth buildings’ relevance, resilience, sustainability, and sociocultural significance in people’s everyday lives.
The traditional architectural practice of the people of Gbabshe
(2019-05-02) Addo, I.A.; Adotey, E.
This presentation examines the traditional architectural practice of the people of Gbabshe, a rural community in the Tamale Metropolitan Area. Eurocentric thinking of vernacular or traditional architecture as a ‘low’ end architecture with no involvement of a professional architect and hence, without much ‘scientific’ design process is questioned in this ethnographic study of the building process. From the field, it came to light that a lot of thought processes and planning go into the construction of the traditional houses and they follow the principle of architectural design theory. In addition, constructing a house is not regarded as an individual project but a community project, thus displaying communitarianism and the transfer of knowledge. What was observed on the field however, was the impact of social change on the building construction and output as a result of urbanisation, migration, environmental change and status.
Trends in the Twenty-First Century Contemporary Arts in Accra
(2019-09-12) Larbi, K.A.; Addo, I.A.
The contexts of contemporary art practices in Accra in the Twenty-First century is based on the hypothesis that the country is in a dynamic age driven by technology and globalization, but also suffers from the effects of these developments and trends. Contemporary art is a multiplicity of artistic genres and a diverse artistic language with multiple rhetorical strategies . while the old resilient forms such as painting and sculpture and illustration persist; new initiatives and materials are being explored challenging the essentialist idea of art. The contemporary is, therefore, a combination of fine art and new art genres. what are some of local conditions, ideas and external forces that has precipitated these new artistic genres challenging the old frames, and who are some of the artists, patrons, and institutions at the forefront of this? This paper explores the current artistic production of the first two decades of the century including the old resilient frames and those challenging the status quo
Urban low-income housing development in Ghana: Politics, policy and challenges
(Urban Planning: Practices, Challenges and Benefits, 2014-01) Addo, I.A.
Globally, the provision of adequate housing has become a huge challenge for national authorities in most developing countries. More people are becoming homeless, slums and squatter settlements are increasing as the provision of housing is left to the private sector. Urban low income housing provision has not been satisfactorily handled within the formal sector. Although governments have developed housing programs with the view of addressing urban low income housing in Ghana, the end products have been taken over by the middle to high income groups. Moreover, urban low income housing development in Ghana is not aligned to any housing policy but rather crops up in political manifestoes. They end up being abandoned and urban low income households continue to suffer the most. These households have to depend on individual petty landlords to cater for their housing needs. Urban low income housing is now being =facilitated' by government for the private sector to provide housing units. This system has not functioned effectively as the shortage of affordable housing in urban centers in Ghana keeps increasing. A qualitative research approach using reports, thesis, and population and housing censuses provided the information for this paper. It is recommended that urban low income housing should be handled proactively by policy makers without much political bias since it is households that suffer. Again, globally, urban low income housing is being considered as a social policy program which calls for more involvement of the public sector. At best there should be a public-private partnership to efficiently address urban low income housing in Ghana and other developing countries. Innovative housing forms such as multi-habited dwellings should be developed to meet the budget of the low income household instead of the colonial single-family dwellings which are more expensive to own.
The Volta River Project: planning, housing and resettlement in Ghana, 1950–1965
(The Journal of Architecture ISSN:, 2019-08-12) Addo, I.A.; Jackson, I.; Uduku, O.; Opong, R.A.
This paper investigates the housing schemes proposed in connection with the Volta River Project, Ghana, in the mid-1950s to early 1960s. The Volta River Project formed part of Kwame Nkrumah’s vision for Ghana’s modernisation and industrialisation in the wake of political independence. Three associated worker housing schemes demonstrated somewhat contradictory design and construction methods, from high specification, extensive amenities, and comprehensive servicing, through to self-build ‘core’ houses amounting to little more than single-room dwellings. The paper traces the complex and controversial history of these schemes, supplemented with findings of several field trips to the settlements in question, to unravel the value of the ‘Core Houses’ approach. The most successful project to incorporate indigenous agency and true collaboration was the semi-formal ‘Combined Area’ housing at Akosombo, a positive model for shared agency and collaboration in planning, housing, and facilities delivery. Sitting alongside the carefully manicured plan of Akosombo, with its regulated market, excellent health care and desire to set high standards of cleanliness, the Combined Area has not only provided homes for the lower-paid and labouring workers of the town, but has developed over time into a settlement where professionals and retired government workers are also now residing, not out of necessity but by choice. By actively developing their own homes, shared spaces and amenities there has developed a strong sense of ownership, community, and identity. The success and level of attachment to this settlement clearly extends beyond its material presence and through the shared experience of helping to cultivate a place of one’s own.
“waste management challenges in urban ghana: some field observations from the techiman township”
(2016-10-13) Alhassan, O.; Addo, I.A.; Kutor, S.; Abokyi, S.
For several years solid waste management has been a major challenge for city authorities in most developing countries including Ghana. Techiman, an urban centre in the Brong Ahafo Region, Ghana, is faced with serious solid waste management issues due to population pressures. The aim of this presentation is to provide an overview of the waste management challenges in Techiman Township and interrogate the institutional arrangements present. Using in-depth interviews, observation, photography and municipal documents, the presentation will highlight the following; 1.Waste management at the household level. 2.Waste management at the commercial level. 3.Institutional arrangements for collection and disposal. 4.Municipal by-laws, policies and plans. The findings reveal that the solid waste generated in Techiman Township is as a result of two main factors; 1.Techiman as a nerve centre for foodstuffs production and thus a large proportion of the waste generated is agricultural waste. 2.The economic position of Techiman as a big market place for North-South trading activities also generates a lot of waste.