Reducing Rural-Urban Migration through Local Economic Development. A Case Study of Sankpala Community in the Central Gonja District of the Northern Region

Abstract

The pre- colonial development gap between the North and the South still persists even though there havebeen several attempts by governmental and non-governmental interventions to bridge the gap. This has created a net migration of Northern youth to the South for menial jobs. The movement of people to urban centres poses some challenges to the development of rural areas in that in most rural areas, the impact of rural-urban migration is the rapid deterioration of the rural economy which then leads to poverty and food insecurity. The 1992 constitution empowers the District Assemblies to provide governance at the local level, especially in communities, and to help in the economic development of the people by formulating and implementing strategic plans to bring about total economic development in their various Districts. Promoting the welfare of rural people is at the heart of the local government. One of the key components of the National Decentralization Policy and Action Plan is that it providesfor district assemblies to facilitate economic development at the local level.is Local Economic Development (LED). This study attempts to identify various ways LED can contribute to reducing the North-South migration in Ghana using the Sankpala community in the Central Gonja District of the Northern Region of Ghana as a case study. One hundred questionnaires were administered in the community while for the community youth leader, the Regional planning office, and the district planning office in- depth interview were conducted. Results show generally that the concept of LED has not caught on well with the district assembly. However, respondent were of the view that if LED was fully implemented rural-urban migration is likely to reduce considerably. It was recommended that the Government speeds up implementation of the SADA programme and also build the capacities of district assembly staff on LED.