Transnationalism, local development and social security : the functioning of support networks in rural Ghana

Intercontinental migration from rural areas in Ghana has become a common strategy in the social security provision of family members who stay behind. Focusing on the Ashanti region, this study examines how rural dwellers with social networks that include (international) migrants, shape their social security and how they use relations in their social networks to achieve this. Forty-nine villagers in five rural Akan communities were interviewed and observed during a one-year period (August 2003-July 2004). The study analyses social security issues interpreted as development both at the community level and at the indiviual level, with emphasis on the role that remittance recipients must play in order to obtain support from migrants. The findings show that rural people, through their ties with migrants, can be agents of change in the development of their local communities. [ASC Leiden abstract]

A3