Challenges and Potential Solutions for Sustainable Urban-Rural Linkages in a Ghanaian Context
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Date
2020-01-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sustainability
Abstract
Urban-rural linkages are an integral part of fostering development in both urban and rural
communities. However, the focus on development tends to have an urban bias toward Sub-Saharan
Africa (SSA) with an increase in urbanization. Ghana is one of the fastest urbanizing countries
in SSA. This paper sought to identify the challenges of urban-rural linkages, their corresponding
solutions, and contributions to Agenda 2030 that are context-specific to Ghana through a stepwise
solution scanning technique. In step 1, the study applied a scoping process to identify the urban-rural
challenges. In step 2, a solution for the identified urban-rural challenges in step 1 was co-designed. In
step 3, each identified solution was assessed based on its potential to contribute to all three pillars of
sustainability by ranking and prioritization. In step 4, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
interlinkages of the top five prioritized potential solutions were analyzed. The identified challenges
were (1) inequality and gender gaps, (2) poor and lack of basic and economic infrastructures, (3) the
limited e ectiveness of decentralization, and (4) food and nutrition security dynamics. The prioritized
potential solutions were gender inclusiveness, investment in infrastructures, sustainable agricultural
systems, e ective decentralization, and financial inclusion. This study recommends maximizing the
synergies and minimizing the trade-o s between the SDGs of the potential solutions identified.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
urban-rural linkages, potential solutions, sustainable development, sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana
Citation
Somanje, A.N.; Mohan, G.; Lopes, J.; Mensah, A.; Gordon, C.; Zhou, X.; Moinuddin, M.; Saito, O.; Takeuchi, K. Challenges and Potential Solutions for Sustainable Urban-Rural Linkages in a Ghanaian Context. Sustainability 2020, 12, 507.