Economic Livelihoods of Refugees in Krisan, Western Region of Ghana

Abstract

In recent years, the protracted nature of refugee camps across the world has caused a shift from humanitarian food aid supply to self-reliance which is considered to be a more durable solution for refugees to have a more dignified and sustainable livelihood. The refugees in the Krisan camp have extreme difficulties making adequate livelihoods within the camp as well as outside the camp due to a range of factors such as an inability to earn adequate economic wages and outright unemployment. The study set out to determine the existence of alternative strategies used by refugees at the Camp to provide for their daily economic livelihoods, analyse the composition of these strategies, and determine the extent to which these strategies meet the needs of the refugees in the camp. The study sought to investigate the problem as a social phenomenon within frameworks such as the Self-Reliance Policy and the Sustainable Livelihood Framework. With the case study approach, employing qualitative methods such as focus group discussions, observations and in-depth interviews as well and quantitative methods based on questionnaires administered to a randomly selected sample of sixty households heads as respondents, I collected data for analysis by the survey which also covered purposively sampled officials of relevant institutions. The following findings were made; the refugees have taken to economic activities such as fish net drawing and mongering, charcoal burning, hair dressing, etc. as alternative livelihood strategies to survive. Networking within the camp determines the level of success at the camp in terms of survival, support (both physical and emotional), and level of income. Also, the economy at the camp is closed and sub divided into enclaves by country of origin which further reduces the size of the market for a particular refugee with a particular skill. There is a high level of illiteracy at the camp which seems to explain refugees’ non-participation in the formal sector of the economy. Although the observed standard of living was low, there was no evidence of malnourishment. Upon the findings made, it is recommended that exceptions should be made for vulnerable refugees such as the aged, nursing mothers, the sick and new arrivals from the Self-Reliance policy. There should be greater diversification of training programs to suit the individual needs of the refugees. There should be some intervention by government and the local authorities to give backing to the refugees so as to enable them participate in the local economy.