The 2023 economic crisis in Ghana has challenged its status as a beacon for economic development in Africa, and refocused attention back onto rising inequality in the country.
But even as the viability of the country’s ‘Beyond Aid’ agenda comes under question, environmental concerns continue to escalate. Gold and cocoa, historically the leading exports, are subjects of contemporary focus, as pests, diseases and soil exhaustion increasingly beset cocoa, and the small-scale mining sector is expanding rapidly, risking further soil and water pollution, subsidence and erosion.
The Ghana Development Hub is working to understand these and other complex issues and to help influence policy and practitioner responses through knowledge sharing, mutual learning and collaboration.
Recent work
Featured Opinion
Water is essential for life yet is often unavailable to many in acceptable quantities and quality. In Tamale, Ghana, evidence from the Living Off-Grid Food and Infrastructure Collaboration reveals the realities of severe deprivation, precarity and struggles that households and…
Issahaka Fuseini & 2 others
24 November 2023
Opinion
Milk plays important cultural, nutritional and economic roles in the lives of agropastoralists in Kenya and Ghana. Our research finds that agropastoralists and policy actors alike are intrigued by the potential of a market for heritage milk products, but market…
Eric Kioko & 3 others
03 May 2023
publications
This briefing suggests how markets in artisanal milk products may contribute to agropastoralist livelihoods in semi-arid Africa. In some of these areas, milk plays important nutritional and cultural roles, but production is declining due to environmental changes. Very small-scale local…
Bronson Eran’ogwa & 8 others
03 May 2023
publications
The photos displayed in this document were taken in Kenya and Ghana as part of the research project Connecting Agropastoral Food Culture Research to Livestock Commercialisation Policy. They accompany the project Policy Briefing. The project explored the interactions between the…
Imogen Bellwood-Howard & 12 others
03 May 2023
Opinion
Ghana’s introduction of a 1.5% tax on mobile money transactions in May 2022 has been watched closely by policymakers across Africa. The proponents of the electronic transaction levy (e-levy) argue that taxes on mobile money — commonly referred to in Ghana…
Mike Rogan & 3 others
20 September 2022
Opinion
Our five IDS International Initiatives in Brazil, China, Europe, Ghana and Pakistan produced a vast scope of work this year. From new thinking on Brazil’s overlooked Cerrado region to a flagship human development report in Pakistan, research goals have made…
04 July 2022
events
How are we doing on SDG-6 to ensure safely managed sanitation for all in Ghana? Where is progress being made, and how is this being achieved? What challenges remain? How can we accelerate efforts and reach those most in need?…
10 January 2022
Partners
Projects
projects
Wa, the most urbanised town in the Upper West Region, faces significant sanitation challenges, along with many other towns in Ghana. These challenges are worsened by a lack of government action and planning, and embedded socio-cultural and gendered practices. Private…
projects
IDS is collaborating with partners from across East and West Africa in a novel activity to promote the role of arts and creative activities in contributing to positive environmental change. It builds on the concepts and partnerships developed in two…
projects
This research is designed to help improve the lives of the poorest residents of cities in Africa and Asia by focusing on how they are meeting their basic needs and accessing infrastructure, particularly when they are living 'off-grid'. The research…
projects
Action on Children’s Harmful Work in African Agriculture (ACHA) is a seven-year research programme supported by the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) that started in January 2020. The aim of the programme is to build evidence on: the forms,…
People
