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Title: | Local perceptions of development and change in Northern Ghana |
Authors: | Dietz, Ton![]() van der Geest, Kees ![]() Obeng, Francis ![]() |
Book title: | Rural development in northern Ghana |
Year: | 2013 |
Pages: | 17-36 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | Ghana |
Subjects: | rural development change rural population attitudes |
Abstract: | Northern Ghana is often portrayed as being a poor, underdeveloped, food-insecure, risk-prone and conflict-ridden area, especially when contrasted with southern Ghana. The authors of this chapter do not deny that the north is lagging behind the south in terms of economic development, nor do they deny that the gap between the north and the south is widening. However, in the eyes of northern Ghanaians, much has improved over the last twenty to thirty years. This chapter reports the findings of the experimental Participatory Assessment of Development (PADev) project carried out in northern Ghana. The PADev method aims to elicit local development histories through the eyes of local people in an attempt to assess what they regard as 'good' and 'bad' development and change. The findings presented here are based on 35 focus-group discussions about changes in human, physical, economic, environmental, socio-political and cultural domains, in which a total of 327 northern Ghanaians participated. Important differences were noted between different domains and in each domain there were both positive and negative changes. The most positive changes were seen in the human, physical and economic domains. People were least positive about the changes in the natural environment. Bibliogr. [ASC Leiden abstract] |