Remittance flow to households of internal migrants in Ekumfi District of the Central Region, Ghana
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2018-12
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ghana Social Science Journal
Abstract
Migration has continued to receive increasing attention in development
planning and practice over the past two or three decades and has attained
a global recognition as it is included in the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), the global framework for development. Remittances has been
considered as a highly likelihood outcome of migration and as an
important element of the migration-development nexus. Remittance
transfer has also been of significant importance to the economic wellbeing
of migrant workers, their households, and their sending
communities as well as their countries of origin. However, the discourse
on migration and research has largely focused on international transfers to
the neglect of flows within countries from internal migrants even though
some evidence suggest that the volume of remittances from internal
migrants is probably higher than those from international migrants. The
present study examined the flow of remittances to households in one of
Ghana’s most deprived areas in the rather more developed southern part
of the country. It seeks to fill the gap in knowledge about remittance flows
to the area and southern Ghana for that matter. A mixed research method
was employed for the study. A total of 377 households with an absent
internal migrant were selected for the quantitative component of the study.
In-depth interview was the main qualitative research technique used. The
findings indicate that remittances have been sent to the households
through formal and informal channels, mostly on monthly and quarterly
basis. The in-kind remittances (mostly food stuff) are sent mostly throughinformal channels by bus, relative, friend or given by the migrants when
on visit. The majority of the cash flows were through formal channels and
are less than GH₵100 sent mostly on monthly or quarterly basis. The
relatively low amount of remittances sent is attributed to the low skilled
or low educational qualification of the migrants and the consequent low
income earning activities they engage in at their destination areas. But a
large percentage of the households also receive between GH₵300 to
GH₵499 on quarterly or yearly basis while some receive GH₵500
occasionally. The remittance flows contribute to the wellbeing of the
households of the migrants at their origin just as transfers from
international sources do.
Description
Ghana Social Science Journal, 15(2)
Keywords
remittance flow, internal migrants, households, sustainable development goals