AFRICAN RURAL URBAN MIGRATION A DECISION MAKING PERSPECTIVE by PHILIP F. W. BARTLE B.A., U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1965 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n the Department of Anthropology and Sociology We accept t h i s t h e s i s as conforming to the re q u i r e d standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January, 1971 In p r e s e n t i n g t h i s t h e s i s in p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t o f the r e q u i r e m e n t s f o r an advanced deg ree a t the U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a , I a g r e e t h a t t h e L i b r a r y s h a l l make i t f r e e l y a v a i l a b l e f o r r e f e r e n c e and s t u d y . I f u r t h e r ag ree t h a t p e r m i s s i o n f o r e x t e n s i v e c o p y i n g o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r s c h o l a r l y p u r p o s e s may be g r a n t e d by t he Head o f my Depar tment o r by h i s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s . I t i s u n d e r s t o o d t h a t c o p y i n g o r p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h i s t h e s i s f o r f i n a n c i a l g a i n s h a l l not be a l l o w e d w i t h o u t my w r i t t e n p e r m i s s i o n . Depa r tment The U n i v e r s i t y o f B r i t i s h C o l u m b i a V a n c o u v e r 8, Canada Da te j Jlf>,& (jp ABSTRACT Rural-urban m i g r a t i o n i s fundamentally a demographic phe-nomenon. I t should be a l s o open to a n a l y s i s at the l e v e l of i n d i v i -dual d e c i s i o n making as w e l l as the demographic l e v e l so common i n the l i t e r a t u r e . The i n d i v i d u a l a c t s or operates w i t h i n a s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l environment. He perceives some of the i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l -a ble to him concerning the v a r i o u s dimensions of h i s environment. He a c t s w i t h reference to h i s p e r c e p t i o n and h i s manipulation of t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n . An observer cannot d i r e c t l y p e r c e i v e the process of a West A f r i c a n making d e c i s i o n s . However he could note r e l e v a n t i n f o r m a t i o n which may be a v a i l a b l e to a migrant. The observer could then note the migrant's a c t i o n s . From these two s e t s of data the observer might surmise about the intermediate d e c i s i o n making process. T h i s might be c a l l e d the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e . From t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e of the i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l a set of axioms can be con-s t r u c t e d to generate a number of hypotheses concerning m i g r a t i o n . A v a i l a b l e l i t e r a t u r e on r u r a l - u r b a n m i g r a t i o n i n A f r i c a , p l u s some from other geographic areas f o r comparison, i s examined w i t h respect to the hypotheses generated. As most of the data r e f e r to o v e r a l l movements, a c e r t a i n transformation of the data i s r e -q u i r e d to make them u s e f u l to the i n d i v i d u a l l e v e l of a n a l y s i s attempted i n t h i s t h e s i s . Most of the source data support the four (Abstract) i i c a t e g o r i e s of hypotheses I have developed but a few notable exceptions provide a u s e f u l reexamination of the formal approach of t h i s t h e s i s . A f t e r o u t l i n i n g the p e r s p e c t i v e and app l y i n g i t to m i g r a t i o n l i t e r a t u r e I turned to study a l o c a l i s e d s e t t i n g i n West A f r i c a . The ethnographic environment of Kwawu migrants i s described from census data and personal r e c o l l e c t i o n . The s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l environments of the Kwawu t r a d i t i o n a l area and of Acc r a , the c a p i t a l c i t y to which most Kwawu migrate* are described as i n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e to a hypo-t h e t i c a l i n d i v i d u a l . This i s f o l l o w e d by an example of a p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l i n a t r a n s i t o r y s t a t e . The aggregate data r e l a t e d to the d i f f e r e n t i a l m i g r a t i o n of Kwawu are examined and a demonstration model i s generated from the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e to i n d i c a t e the extent to which t h i s approach i s p r e d i c t i v e . The i n d i v i d u a l ' s d e c i s i o n making process, or Information-d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e i s o u t l i n e d i n Chapter One and i s r e l a t e d i n Chapter Two to r e l e v a n t l i t e r a t u r e . Chapters Three, Four, and F i v e p a r a l l e l the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e ; Chapter Three deals w i t h Kwawu ethnographic i n f o r m a t i o n ; Chapter Four i s a d e s c r i p t i o n of one Kwawu i n d i v i d u a l ' s d e c i s i o n s ; and Chapter F i v e r e l a t e s the r e s u l t i n g a c t i o n s of Kwawu migrants. The problems of r e l a t i n g aggregate data to i n d i v i d u a l experiences and the problems of i n t e g r a t i n g personal and l i b r a r y sources of i n f o r m a t i o n are b r i e f l y examined i n a s.ummary chapter. i i i TABLE OF CONTENTS Abst r a c t i Table of Contents i i i L i s t of Diagrams v i i L i s t of Tables v i i i L i s t of Maps i x I n t r o d u c t i o n 1 Ur b a n i z a t i o n and Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n 1 Importance of M i g r a t i o n to Urban Growth 2 Causes of Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n 4 Economic Factors i n Decisions 8 CHAPTER ONE The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e 14 The I n d i v i d u a l 14 Information-Decision-Action 16 A Symbolic Shorthand 17 Needs and O b l i g a t i o n s 20 Ru r a l O r i g i n s of Urban Decisions 21 A l t e r n a t i v e Choices 24 V a r i a t i o n s i n Information 25 The Environmental Context of the I n d i v i d u a l D e c i s i o n 27 i v CHAPTER TWO The L i t e r a t u r e 33 Categories of Causes 33 C a t e g o r i z i n g Source Data 36 Costs of Remaining 37 R e l i g i o n (Sub-hypothesis l.A) 37 Education (Sub-hypotheses l.B and I.C) 38 Modern Costs (Sub-hypothesis I.D) 39 P r o d u c t i v e Costs (Sub-hypothesis l.E) 40 Education i n the L i t e r a t u r e (Sub-hypothesis l.B) 41 M i s f i t s (Sub-hypothesis I.C) 43 A f r i c a n Examples 46 New Urban Costs i n the V i l l a g e (Sub-hypothesis I.D) 48 B e n e f i t s of M i g r a t i n g to a C i t y 50 Information (Sub-hypothesis 2.A) 50 Education (Sub-hypothesis 2.B) 54 L i f e S t y l e S i m i l a r i t y (Sub-hypothesis 2.C) 56 Wage Opportunities (Sub-hypothesis 2.D) 58 Non-Wage Oppo r t u n i t i e s (Sub-hypothesis 2.E) 63 B e n e f i t s of Remaining 66 B e n e f i t s of Harvest 67 B e n e f i t s of Residence 67 S e c u r i t y as a B e n e f i t 68 Costs of M i g r a t i n g 70 T r a d i t i o n s and Family H i s t o r i e s of Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n 71 Middle Places and Costs of Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n 74 R u r a l T r a i n i n g and F a m i l i a r i t y w i t h Urban Conditions 74 Conclusions Drawn From the L i t e r a t u r e Survey 76 V CHAPTER THREE Information 78 The Ethnographic Environments of a Kwawu Migrant. The R u r a l Area (Kwawu) 82 Nkawkaw 86 Occupations 87 White C o l l a r 91 A g r i c u l t u r e 92 Blue C o l l a r 96 The Urban Area (Accra) 98 The C i t y 98 The I.D.A. P e r s p e c t i v e Versus the Ethnographic Information 106 CHAPTER FOUR De c i s i o n 107 Kwaku the Blacksmith Some Notes on a Personal H i s t o r y The I n d i v i d u a l 107 His Name 109 The People He Knows 110 His'Work 110 His Home 111 His T r a i n i n g 111 Kwaku and the Info r m a t i o n - D e c i s i o n - A c t i o n P e r s p e c t i v e 118 Costs of Remaining 119 Be n e f i t s of M i g r a t i n g 119 B e n e f i t s of Remaining 121 Costs of M i g r a t i n g 121 The F i t of the Model 122 v i CHAPTER FIVE A c t i o n 124 Where to Go? Kwawu Net M i g r a t i o n P a t t e r n s : a Demonstration Model 124 Dis tance 136 F a m i l i a r i t y 136 Ur b a n i z a t i o n 138 The P r e d i c t i v e Index 140 Improving the P r e d i c t i v e Model 143 CHAPTER SIX Methodological Note 145 Relevance of the P e r s p e c t i v e Sources of Data and The i r I n t e r p r e t a t i o n 145 Appendices 149 References 151 v i i LIST OF DIAGRAMS 1 Schematic View of Decision Process 19 2 Three Fundamental Facets of the I.D.A. Perspective 22-23 3 Expected Scattergram Associations 133 4 Categorization of Spoken Kwawu 137 v i i i LIST OF TABLES 1 Increase i n Urban Population i n Ghana: 1921-1960 2 2 Nkawkaw (Demographic C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ) 1960 88 3 Income D i s t r i b u t i o n i n Relation to Neighborhood 101 4 Comparison of C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of the Population of Ghana and that of three Largest Towns 1960 103 5 D i f f e r e n t i a l Access to Schooling by Tribe, Accra 1954 105 6 Regional D i s t r i b u t i o n of Kwawu i n Ghana 126 7 Index of Kwawu Migration i n Ghana Against Selected C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Ghanaian Census Enumeration Areas (Correlations) 132 8 Kwawu Migration Related to Inverse of Distance of Migration (Regression) 135 9 Kwawu Migration Related to Socio-Cultural S i m i l a r i t y (Regression) 139 10 Kwawu Migration Related to Ghanaian Urbanization (Regression) 142 i x LIST OF MAPS 1 Census Map of L o c a l A u t h o r i t i e s 78 2. Southern Ghana (Showing Major Kwawu V i l l a g e s ) 81 3 Predominant T r i b e i n the Area (Ghana) 97 4 Sketch of the Kwahu T r a d i t i o n a l Area 112 5 V i l l a g e s i n the Kwahu Area 114 6 Geographical D i s t r i b u t i o n of Urban Density (Ghana) 141 Acknowledgement I am g r a t e f u l to the f o l l o w i n g persons f o r t h e i r a s s i s t a n c e , without which I c o u l d not have produced t h i s t h e s i s . Mr. Mumtaz Ahktar, Mr. Kwame Appah, Nana K o f i Bediako, Dr. C y r i l Belshaw, Mr. Peter Boateng, Mr. Apple B u t t e r , Dr. Raymond F i r t h , Miss Donna Gradin, Dr. George Gray, Mrs. Veronica Hatch, Dr. Harry B. Hawthorn, F r . Clement Hotze, Dr. Helga Jacobson, Mrs. M a i r i Jorgenson, Mr. P h i l Lange, Mrs. Daryn Lewis, Mrs. Gale L e P i t r e , Dr. M a r t i n Meissner, Mr. A l b e r t Ofosu-Asiedu, Miss Dorothy P i p e r , Mr. Robert Pokrant, Dr. Robin R i d i n g t o n , Mrs. Joan Selby, Mr. George Sodah Ayenor, Miss Susanne S t o r i e , Miss Sharon Sutherland, Mr. V i c t o r Ujimoto, Dr. W i l l i a m E. W i l l m o t t , Dr. George Winter, and Sr. P a t r i c i a Wiesner. They are i n no way r e s p o n s i b l e f o r my e r r o r s . INTRODUCTION The I n d i v i d u a l Operating W i t h i n Systems R u r a l Decisions and Urban Migrants ( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 1 This process (Urbanization) has s e v e r a l d i s t i n c t charac-t e r i s t i c s : economically, the s t r u c t u r e of production changes and an i n c r e a s i n g p r o p o r t i o n of workers are i n -volved i n n o n - a g r i c u l t u r a l a c t i v i t i e s and have unequal access to economic o p p o r t u n i t i e s ; p o l i t i c a l l y , bureau-c r a t i c machinery and a d m i n i s t r a t i v e c o n t r o l are becoming more ext e n s i v e ; l e g a l l y , c o n f l i c t i n g claims are expressed i n c o n t r a c t u a l r a t h e r than i n s t a t u s arrangements. I n -d u s t r i a l u r b a n i z a t i o n i s thus more than a s h i f t i n g of people from country to c i t y , from land bound to urban occupations, and more than i n c r e a s i n g p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y and economic d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n . I t e n t a i l s a l s o change i n d i s t r i b u t i o n of power, i n t e r e s t s , i n s t i t u t i o n a l arrangements, norms of conduct, and s o c i a l v a l u e s , and as a p a r t i c u l a r process of i n c r e a s i n g complexity, can-not be i s o l a t e d from the more general context of s o c i a l growth. U r b a n i z a t i o n and Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n Two major f a c t o r s i n f l u e n c e West A f r i c a ' s r a p i d urban growth. F i r s t , the n a t u r a l p o p u l a t i o n growth r a t e has increased i n recent years as the a p p l i c a t i o n s of modern technology have lowered m o r t a l i t y and morbidity but have not overcome an h i s t o r i c a l l y f u n c t i o n a l r e l u c -tance to lower b i r t h r a t e s . Yet t h i s does not account f o r most West A f r i c a n urban i n c r e a s e . Second, the urban p o p u l a t i o n i s i n c r e a s i n g as a r e s u l t of m i g r a t i o n from r u r a l areas. Table 1 i n d i c a t e s the r a p i d u r b a n i z a t i o n of Ghana where the percentage of urban dwellers has increased from l e s s than 8% of the t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n to more than 23% w i t h i n f o r t y years. 1. Kuper, H i l d a . U r b a n i z a t i o n and M i g r a t i o n i n West A f r i c a . Uni-v e r s i t y of C a l i f o r n i a , Berkeley, 1965, page 1. ( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 2 TABLE 1 INCREASE IN URBAN POPULATION IN GHANA: 1921-1960 1921 1948 1960 Urban* P o p u l a t i o n 181,000 538,000 1,551,000 R u r a l P o p u l a t i o n 2,296,000 4,118,000 6,727,000 % of P o p u l a t i o n i n u r b a n a r e a s 7.9% 13.0% 23.1% * D e f i n e d as " p e o p l e l i v i n g i n a r e a s o f o v e r 5,000 i n h a b i t a n t s " . S o u r c e : Birmingham e t a l . (1966:192). The Importance of M i g r a t i o n t o Urban Growth c r e a s i n g more r a p i d l y t h a n i s t h e r u r a l . That t h i s i n c r e m e n t i s a c -c o u n t e d f o r more by m i g r a t i o n t h a n by n a t u r a l c a u s e s might be i n d i -c a t e d i n s e v e r a l ways. F o r p r e s e n t p u r p o s e s , t h r e e s e t s o f demo-g r a p h i c d a t a a r e o f f e r e d i n s u p p o r t o f t h i s s t a t e m e n t : age s t r u c -t u r e s , f e r t i l i t y d i f f e r e n t i a l s , and b i r t h p l a c e s . I f t h e i n c r e a s e i n t h e u r b a n a r e a s were due t o n a t u r a l c a u s e s , t h e n a demographer wou l d e x p e c t t o f i n d an age d i s t r i b u t i o n c o n s i s -t e n t w i t h t h a t f o u n d i n t h e r e s t o f t h e c o u n t r y . I f t h e i n c r e a s e were due t o m i g r a t i o n , however, he w o u l d e x p e c t to f i n d a g r e a t e r p r o p o r t i o n o f p e r s o n s o f e m p l o y a b l e ages i n t h e u r b a n t h a n i n t h e r u r a l a r e a s . T h i s second demographic s t r u c t u r e p r o v e s t o be t h e T a b l e 1 i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e Ghanaian u r b a n p o p u l a t i o n i s i n -( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 3 case. In I960, 45% of Ghana's t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n was under 15 years of age, but i n the urban centres of Kumasi, Sekondi, and A c c r a , the proport i o n s of c h i l d r e n under 15 were 42%, 40% and 39% r e s p e c t i v e l y (Birmingham, 1967:129, t a b l e 3.11). Furthermore, assuming that per-sons of employable ages included a l l those, and only those, between the ages of 15 and 44, then the percentage of such i n d i v i d u a l s was conside r a b l y higher i n the three major urban areas than i n the t o t a l p o p u l a t i o n ; 51% i n each of the three c i t i e s , but only 43% i n Ghana as a whole (Birmingham, 1967:129, t a b l e 3.11). S i m i l a r i n d i c a t o r s can a l s o be found i n f e r t i l i t y d i f f e r -e n t i a l s measured by the r a t i o s of c h i l d r e n under the age of f i v e per thousand women aged 15 to 44. The r a t i o f o r a l l of Ghana i s 886 per thousand, but i n urban centres of over 5,000 i t i s only 816. The r a t i o f o r r u r a l Ghana i s 908, but i n Kumasi i t drops to 827, i n Takoradi to 729, and i n Accra to 769 (Birmingham, 1967:101, t a b l e 2.18). These f i g u r e s i n d i c a t e that fewer c h i l d r e n are born i n urban than i n r u r a l areas. Higher r u r a l b i r t h r a t e s i n d i c a t e t h a t higher urban growth r a t e s are due to m i g r a t i o n from r u r a l areas to urban areas. The t h i r d piece of demographic data — that of b i r t h p l a c e — becomes s i g n i f i c a n t when i t i s seen simultaneously w i t h the f i r s t two i n d i c a t o r s . The 1960 census found that 80% of Ghanaians s t i l l l i v e d i n t h e i r b i r t h p l a c e , but t h i s p i c t u r e of r e l a t i v e s t a b i l i t y i n the country as a whole i s s h a r p l y upset when set a g a i n s t the f i n d i n g s ( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 4 w i t h i n p a r t i c u l a r towns. For example, only 51% of the p o p u l a t i o n i n Accra r e p o r t i n g to the census was born i n the Accra r e g i o n . The p r o p o r t i o n f o r Sekondi and Kumasi was 66% and 58% (Birmingham, 1967: 129, t a b l e 3.11), somewhat higher than that of Accra, but f a r below the n a t i o n a l f i g u r e . Complementing each other i n t h e i r f i n d i n g s , these three simple i n d i c a t o r s p o i n t to the c o n c l u s i o n that urban growth i n Ghana i s r a t h e r the r e s u l t of m i g r a t i o n than of n a t u r a l i n c r e a s e . Causes of Rural-Urban M i g r a t i o n Rural-urban m i g r a t i o n poses i n t e r e s t i n g problems to business-men, p o l i t i c i a n s , s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t s , and to the migrants themselves (Boque, 1959:491). I t may be looked at as a process and the product of e c o l o g i c a l or s o c i a l f o r c e s . The i n t e n t i o n here however, i s to examine the r u r a l - u r b a n m i g r a t i o n process from the p e r s p e c t i v e of how these f o r c e s a f f e c t an i n d i v i d u a l ' s d e c i s i o n about m i g r a t i o n . The m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n e q u a l l y i n c l u d e s the d e c i s i o n to remain. When the focus of a study i s on the c i t y the migrants are seen to come from a number of areas. When the focus i s on a p a r t i c u l a r area, where most such d e c i s i o n s are made, migrants are seen to have choices of a number of places to go, as w e l l as the choice to not migrate at a l l . People move from p l a c e A to place B because they see d i f -ferences between place A and B, but a l s o because they see s i m i l a r i -( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 5 t i e s . The c h o i c e t o m i g r a t e due t o p e r c e i v e d d i f f e r e n c e s may be s e e n as a c h o i c e t o m a x i m i s e b e n e f i t s . The c h o i c e t o m i g r a t e r e l a -t e d t o p e r c e i v e d s i m i l a r i t i e s may be s e e n as a c h o i c e t o m i n i m i s e c o s t s . M i g r a n t s move from A t o B because they see i n B s o m e t h i n g d i f f e r e n t b u t n o t t o o d i f f e r e n t : d i f f e r e n t enough to w a r r a n t a move b u t n o t so d i f f e r e n t t o be u n c o m f o r t a b l y a l i e n . There have been a number of p u b l i s h e d s t u d i e s of West A f r i c a n u r b a n i z a t i o n . These have g i v e n t h r e e c l a s s e s o f "macro"-l e v e l e x p l a n a t i o n s f o r demographic changes: a d i f f u s i o n i s t p e r s p e c -t i v e i n c l u d i n g c o l o n i a l and m e t r o p o l i t a n i n f l u e n c e ; an e v o l u t i o n a r y p e r s p e c t i v e of a d a p t i n g t r a d i t i o n a l p a t t e r n s ; o r g e o g r a p h i c , economic cum e c o l o g i c a l e x p l a n a t i o n s . The f i r s t s ees town growth as b e i n g a r e s u l t of a d m i n i s t r a t i v e s t r u c t u r e s i n c l u d i n g c i v i c c e n t e r s t r a n s -p l a n t e d f r o m c o l o n i a l m e t r o p o l i s e s w h i c h a r e e a g e r l y sought by t h e r u r a l n a t i v e s who r u s h t o f i l l t h e town. T h i s p e r s p e c t i v e permeates th e e x p l a n a t i o n s o f Auger's (1968) Congo s t u d y , Ampene's (1966) s t u d y o f O b u a s i , Ghana, Crowder ( 1 9 6 8 ) , D e n i s ( 1 9 6 6 ) , E p s t e i n ( 1 9 6 7 ) , Gamble's (1964) s t u d y of Kenema, S i e r r a Leone, G u l l i v e r ' s (1966) South A f r i c a s t u d y , H o r v a t h ' s (1968) E t h i o p i a n s t u d y , Karmon ( 1 9 6 7 ) , Ransom (1965) and Zaremba ( 1 9 6 7 ) . The s e c o n d "macro" l e v e l p e r s p e c t i v e f i n d s i t s r o o t s i n t h e i d e a t h a t u r b a n i z a t i o n , o r p a r t i c u l a r forms o f i t , and s t r u c t u r e s a r i s i n g from u r b a n i z a t i o n , stem from t r a d i t i o n a l p a t t e r n s . T h i s a p p roach can be used s i m u l t a n e o u s l y w i t h t h e f i r s t v i e w . T r a d i t i o n a l ( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 6 forms of u r b a n i z i n g or of r u r a l urban m i g r a t i o n have been v a r i o u s l y described: by A k i n o l a (1967) who sees l i t t l e c l e a r - c u t d i f f e r e n c e between r u r a l and urban Yoruba, by Bascom (1959) who a l s o r e f e r s to Yoruba u r b a n i z a t i o n , by Gleave (1966) who sees t r a d i t i o n a l h i l l settlements adapted to town l i v i n g a f t e r the Europeans imposed peace, by Cohen (1969) who discussed Hausa t r a d i t i o n s i n Yoruba towns, by Mabogunge, (1962, 1968) who suggests that some t r a d i t i o n a l urban forms are d y s f u n c t i o n a l i n that they may be " p a r a s i t i c " urban growth, by Nzimiru (1965) who r e p o r t s that Igbo urban m i g r a t i o n i s , among other t h i n g s , due to Igbo "progressiveness", by S i d d l e (1968) who, l i k e Gleave, traces S i e r r a Leone war town patterns to town l i v -i n g , by Udo (1967) who describes three c e n t u r i e s of Calabar h i s t o r y , by Van Velson who sees Tonga m i g r a t i o n as a c o n t i n u i t y f a c t o r , by Zaremba (1964) who describes t r a d i t i o n a l c i t i e s such as Kano, Ibadan, and Kumasi, and by Henderson (1966) who compares urban E f i k and Igbo. T r a d i t i o n a l u r b a n i z a t i o n as a focus of a n a l y s i s leads to two more concerns: m i g r a t i o n i t s e l f as a t r a d i t i o n a l a c t i v i t y , and c y c l i c a l ( r u r a l - u r b a n - r u r a l ) m i g r a t i o n w i t h concomitant dual r o l e i n d i v i d u a l s . Barbour (1965) provides four r u r a l - r u r a l m i g r a t i o n examples: Moslem p i l g r i m s from West A f r i c a who s e t t l e d i n the Sudan; 'Mailo' workers a t t r a c t e d to Buganda; Western movements of Akuapem cocoa farmers i n Ghana; and Southbound I g b i r a migrations i n N i g e r i a . Nzimiro (1965) mentions Igbo f i f t e e n t h century migrations of people i n search of land and freedom from the Benin Obas. Oppong (1967) (Introduction) 7 analyses d i f f e r e n t i a l migration patterns i n two kinds of Northern Ghanaian communities, where there may be c e n t r a l i s e d p o l i t i c a l sys-tems with high l o c a l male migration and acephalous communities with exogamous p a t r i c i a n s having female movement at marriage. Alverson (1967) notes the extent of c y c l i c migration comparing European and A f r i c a n , and suggests methods of examination. Ampene (1967) exam-ines d i f f e r e n t types of c y c l i c migration and r e l a t e s i t to home t i e s . Elkan (1968) r e l a t e s c y c l i c migration to town growth i n East A f r i c a . Gutkind (1965) indicates how c y c l i c migration shapes urban networks. Mayer (1962, 1965) discusses townsmen who "continue thinking of the hinterland...as t h e i r permanent home," and G u l l i v e r (1957) shows how c y c l i c migration i s f u n c t i o n a l i n r u r a l s o c i e t y . Explanations which examine s o c i e t a l needs and r e l a t e be-havior to the environment's c a p a b i l i t y to s a t i s f y these needs are classed as economic-ecological. This i s the approach i n Acquah's (1958) study of Accra. Apthorpe (1958), Armstrong and McGee (1968), Badouin (1966), Elkan (1960), Forde (1967), Gaveh (1961), Gutkind (1965), Kuper (1965), Moses (1967), and V i l l i e n - R o s s i (1966) a l l refer to economic decisions and geographic constraints. Further to t h i s , Badouin (1966), De s c l o i t r e s (1965) and Gluckman see these con-s t r a i n t s as a form of t e c h n i c a l determinism, where technological changes r e s u l t i n s o c i a l changes. Although Badouin r e f e r s to psycho-l o g i c a l f a c t o r s only Imoagene (1967) s p e c i f i c a l l y r e f e r s to need d i s p o s i t i o n s apart from objective economic determinants. Caldwell (Introduction) 8 (1968) refe r s to a number of s o c i o l o g i c a l f a c t o r s from his empirical study and Guichard (1968) drafts a typology of seven f a c t o r s . These authors w i l l be examined i n more d e t a i l i n Chapter Two, but nowhere i n the l i t e r a t u r e on A f r i c a n rural-urban migration i s decision making s p e c i f i c a l l y analysed. Economic Factors i n Decisions Human actions such as migration are often considered to have a purely psychological or economic or s o c i o l o g i c a l or p o l i t i c a l cause. In f a c t , human a c t i o n i s the r e s u l t of the i n t e r r e l a t i o n of a l l these causes (Beijer, 1963). A l l human a c t i o n has a p o l i t i c a l aspect. Likewise i t a l l has economic, psychological and s o c i o l o g i -c a l aspects. An i n d i v i d u a l ' s decision to migrate cannot be a t t r i b u -ted to a cause that can be c l a s s i f i e d i n t o one of these categories exclusive of any other. The decision i s psychological as i t i s done by a human i n d i v i d u a l r e l a t i n g to some psychic process within him-s e l f . It has p o l i t i c a l aspects i n that the d e c i s i o n a f f e c t s and i s a f f e c t e d by aims and expressions of power by other humans. It i s f u t i l e to attempt to catalogue migration decisions, and then report that economics i s more important than sociology, or p o l i t i c s i s more important than psychology i n explaining a c t i o n . Some writers who concern themselves with migration i n A f r i c a divide reasons f o r migration into economic and non-economic. This i s a f a l s e dichotomy. A l l decisions, a n a l y t i c a l l y speaking, are (Introduction) 9 ultimately economic. Economics i s concerned with the production and a l l o c a t i o n of something c a l l e d wealth, which i s s o c i a l l y defined as having a measure of u t i l i t y and a measure of s c a r c i t y . Wealth i s sometimes thought of as c o n s i s t i n g of goods and serv i c e s , but u l t i -mately the value of a good i s i n the service i t provides. Writers les s f a m i l i a r with economics tend to see as economic, only that which has a p r i c e tag. This i s an ethnocentric oversight on the part of people who are f a m i l i a r only with western systems of a l l o c a t i o n , which depend to a large extent on a medium of exchange and a market system of rate f i x i n g . In large sectors of western s o c i e t i e s , and i n many non-western s o c i e t i e s there i s a l l o c a t i o n of wealth (there-fore economic a c t i v i t y ) not based on a market system, or even on a monetary medium of exchange. Decisions of migration are based on the s a t i s f a c t i o n of desires, or expected income, rel a t e d to minimi-zat i o n of d i s l i k e s , or lower costs. In t h i s a n a l y t i c a l sense a l l decisions have an economic dimension to them, whether or not they may also be c l a s s i f i e d as psychological, s o c i o l o g i c a l and so on. G u l l i v e r (1955:32) for example separates "bright l i g h t s " reasons from economic, and suggests that "economic necessity i s a l -most always the r e a l cause." The perception, on the part of the i n d i v i d u a l , of greener f i e l d s elsewhere, however i s no less "eco-nomic" than what G u l l i v e r classes as economic (e.g., wages), r e -gardless, of how " r e a l " such perception i s as a cause for migration. M i t c h e l l (1959:32) makes a s i m i l a r dichotomy of economic factors as (Introduction) 10 a series of personal events which "triggers off his decision to go". He goes farther to suggest that personal rather than economic rea-sons operate independently of the "underlying factors" which he says are "economic." He distinguishes between incidence and rate of mi-gration and suggests that personal considerations account for the incidence of real urban migration while economic factors account for the rate of migration. 2 Gugler (1969) takes up this economic/non-economic dicho-tomy although he does not agree that non-economic factors should be lumped together. He does not state exp l i c i t l y that "economic" means anything to do with money, for example, tax payment time as a time to migrate (p. 143), but the assumption is made covertly so that he does not even consider that decisions affecting the allocation of scarce resources — that i s , economic decisions — are included i n what he calls non-economic. Later (p. 148), Gugler names some non-economic factors. He refers to Watson (1958:70) who reported that older men directed their attention to positions of p o l i t i c a l impor-tance within the rural community. Gugler suggests that this mini-mises participation in cash economy, which i s acceptable, but surely these are economic decisions. He refers to Balandier (1955:222) who reports that the person who has "fled the vil l a g e " — and Gugler calls this a non-economic migration decision — weakens urban-rural ties. The prediction that an individual leaving a village due to 2. See Appendix 1. (Introduction) 11 high personal costs of ostracism does not encourage others to follow i s not denied, but f l e e i n g the v i l l a g e was the r e s u l t of an economic de c i s i o n . Gugler reports that Garbett (1967:312) found that men i n -capable of advancing th e i r p o s i t i o n i n a t r a d i t i o n a l system tended to continue to work i n wage labor for as long as p o s s i b l e . Garbett's data may be correct but to suggest that r e s u l t a n t weakening of r u r a l -urban t i e s i s non-economic i s f a u l t y a n a l y s i s . Gugler suggests that because members of high income groups maintain v i l l a g e connections such t i e s are s o c i a l and not economic (p. 148). This indicates a m i s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the term economic. The t i e s have both a s o c i a l and i n economic dimension. Income i s not measured i n t o t a l l y mone-tary terms: income consists of anything which i s consumed, which i s r e l a t i v e l y scarce, and r e l a t i v e l y u s e f u l . Wealth includes the personal s a t i s f a c t i o n of pleasing a god or an elder i n the family whether time, money, or labor i s spent oh the production of that s a t i s f a c t i o n . I t i s not s u r p r i s i n g , i n terms of economic an a l y s i s , to discover that urban residents who desire and can a f f o r d to main-t a i n l i n k s with the v i l l a g e i n what Gugler c a l l s :'non-economic" ac-t i v i t y . Gugler concludes (p. 155) by saying that economic f a c t o r s are more important than non-economic factors i n causing rural-urban migration and an aggregate labor function taking economic and non-economic factors into account can be constructed. His further analysis i s not denied, so long as "economic" i s read to mean wage-monetary-exchange-economic: (Introduction) 12 Among the causes both of rural-urban migration and of the maintenance of urban-rural ties economic factors are of major importance. Analysis has, however, to include non-economic factors. Empirically these are more important in the case of urban-rural ties. An aggregate labour supply function taking economic and non-economic factors into account can be estab-lished. Under present-day conditions in Subsaharan Africa i t can at no stage be expected to be backward-sloping. The incidence of rural-urban migration and of urban-rural ties is determined by the differential impact of collective forces on different individuals. Personal history determines which individual has at a given point in time the characteristics that are socially determined to lead to departure to the town or to return to a rural home. Where a pattern, be i t of rural-urban migration or of the maintenance of urban-rural ties, is established in a given society i t often receives normative support, and the frequency of deviance is thus reduced. In the case of rural-urban migration, data are available to show that such norms disappear rapidly once economic conditions have changed. (Gugler, 1969:155) There is a danger in categorizing causes of acti-vity into economic and non-economic. A l l decisions to migrate are decisions affecting the allocation of scarce and useful incomes and as such are economic. The insistence of a consistent use of the word economic is not simply an exercise in pedantry. The implication that economic refers only to wage income implies that cultures with-out money lack economics, yet they do produce and allocate wealth. The assumption may further suggest that non-western is equivalent to non-economic and possibly non-rational as economy is concerned with allocation decisions. Further, i f this false dichotomy is ( I n t r o d u c t i o n ) 13 persued to the p o i n t where economic f a c t o r s are s a i d to be more impor-tant i n r u r a l urban m i g r a t i o n then i t might be supposed that there was no u r b a n i z a t i o n or r u r a l urban m i g r a t i o n without economy (read "money" i n s t e a d of "economy"). This i s the assumption i n so many statements which t a l k about "the impact of the money economy...." This s e r i o u s l y departs from the e m p i r i c a l a r c h a e o l o g i c a l data i n d i -c a t i n g extensive non-western u r b a n i z a t i o n i n West A f r i c a and C e n t r a l America. Economics, and economic d e c i s i o n s are not equated w i t h markets and money d e c i s i o n s . M i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n s , as a l l a l l o c a -t i o n d e c i s i o n s , are made w i t h respect to a combined maximization of expected personal g r a t i f i c a t i o n and m i n i m i z a t i o n of expected per-sonal d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n . To understand m i g r a t i o n then, i t i s necessary to i n c l u d e an examination of d e c i s i o n making from the i n d i v i d u a l p e r s p e c t i v e . CHAPTER ONE The Formal Perspective Information Decision Action Weighing Costs and Benefits The Choice: Go or No-Go (The Formal Perspective) 14 I t seems, then, that the study of a town-plus-hinterland f i e l d , w i t h i t s c i r c u l a t i n g personnel, cannot w e l l hope to proceed as the a n a l y s i s of "a s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e , " and that the quest f o r an a l t e r n a t i v e method of approach would be j u s t i f i e d . A reasonable a l t e r n a t i v e method, i t i s here suggested, would be to begin at the study of the migrant persons themselves, by mapping out t h e i r networks of r e l a t i o n s from the personal or e g o c e n t r i c p o i n t of view, as w e l l as noting t h e i r p a r t s i n the v a r i o u s s t r u c t u r a l systems.^ The I n d i v i d u a l In attempting to employ Mayer's "reasonable a l t e r n a t i v e method" the l a c k of primary data provides a s e r i o u s o b s t a c l e . There i s very l i t t l e o b s e r v a t i o n w r i t t e n about an i n d i v i d u a l ' s s u b j e c t i v e motives r e l e v a n t to West A f r i c a n r u r a l urban m i g r a t i o n . I t i s pos-s i b l e however, to formulate a p e r s p e c t i v e and examine secondary data, c o l l e c t e d f o r reasons other than to emphasize the i n d i v i d u a l . From t h i s p e r s p e c t i v e a model can be constructed on which one may generate hypotheses to be used to i l l u m i n a t e l i t e r a t u r e p r e s e n t l y a v a i l a b l e . The i n d i v i d u a l cannot be viewed as a c t i n g wholly indepen-d e n t l y of s o c i a l processes. Rather, he operates w i t h i n , and h i s a c t i o n s r e l a t e t o , such processes i n a s i g n i f i c a n t and observable manner. Confronted by c e r t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n — be i t f a c t s , t h e o r i e s , p r o p o s i t i o n s , o r , even, s u p p o s i t i o n s — he e v a l u a t e s , weighs, a r r i v e s 1. P h i l i p Mayer, "Migrancy and the Study of A f r i c a n s i n Towns", American A n t h r o p o l o g i s t , V o l . 64, 1962, p. 579. Reprinted i n A f r i c a ; S o c i a l Problems of Change and C o n f l i c t , readings s e l e c t e d and e d i t e d by P i e r r e L. Van Den Berghe, Chandler, San F r a n c i s c o , 1965. (The Formal Perspective) 15 at a judgment and makes a choice resolving both subjective and objec-t i v e c o n f l i c t s . From t h i s choice he moves to h i s d e c i s i o n and subse-quent a c t i o n . While the i n t e r n a l , subjective workings of an i n d i v i -dual's decision-making are neither observable nor measurable, both the information a v a i l a b l e to him, and the action he takes, can be noted. By ascertainin g the "input" or information a v a i l a b l e to the i n d i v i d u a l and noting the "output" or r e s u l t i n g a c t i o n , some ob-servations regarding the intermediate stage — the decision-making — may be i n f e r r e d . Let t h i s threefold view or perspective of decision-making i n an i n d i v i d u a l be c a l l e d the Information-Decision-Action Perspective, or the I.D.A. This may be used f i r s t as an explanatory, and l a t e r developed into a p r e d i c t i v e device. In making a choice between two a l t e r n a t i v e s , the i n d i v i d u a l weighs i n f i n e balance the benefits and opposing costs he expects w i l l accrue to h i s d e c i s i o n . Here, benefits and costs are meant to comprise a f u l l complement of c r e d i t s and demerits, not merely mone-tary betterment or l o s s . Benefits c e r t a i n l y include an income adequate to support a s a t i s f a c t o r y l i f e - s t y l e , but they also include such i n -tangibles as prestige, status, the l e i s u r e to enjoy and value a b e a u t i f u l sunset or a h i g h l i f e concert, the giving and r e c e i v i n g of love and happiness within the c i r c l e of family and f r i e n d s . Costs include detriments measured i n monied terms, but, a l s o , l o n e l i n e s s , fatigue, lack of status, the unaesthetic home and view, foregone pleasure and foregone l e i s u r e . A s u b s t a n t i v i s t economist, trained (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 16 i n a c u l t u r e emphasizing the market value of b e n e f i t s and c o s t s , might overlook more nebulous f a c t o r s . Not so a Ghananian or any i n d i v i d u a l i n h e r i t i n g a t o t a l and i n t e g r a t e d approach to values when faced w i t h a personal choice between v i l l a g e and c i t y . I n f o r mation-Decision-Action The simplest I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n model to employ would r e l a t e to an i n d i v i d u a l l i v i n g i n a r u r a l area and presented w i t h the choice of migrating to only one urban centre. He would have only f o u r b a s i c f a c t o r s to consider: the b e n e f i t s of m i g r a t i n g , the c o s t s of m i g r a t i n g , the b e n e f i t s of remaining, and the cos t s of remaining. The i n t e r a c t i o n and r e l a t i v i t y of these four f a c t o r s are important. The i n d i v i d u a l would choose to migrate i f the b e n e f i t s of moving to the c i t y presented a g a i n over the t o t a l sum of the other three. I f the two halves of the equation appeared equal, however, and the i n d i v i d u a l were caught i n a s t a t e of i n d e c i s i o n , a r i s e i n any one of the f a c t o r s r e l a t i v e to the other three might r e -s o l v e the dilemma. For example, new i n f o r m a t i o n concerning the bene-f i t s of m i g r a t i o n would t r i g g e r a d e c i s i o n i n favour of going provided that the other three remained constant r e l a t i v e to the new informa-t i o n . Conversely, the d e c i s i o n to remain i n the r u r a l area would be subject to the same r e l a t i v i t y and manipulation of the plus and minus q u a l i t i e s of the four b a s i c f a c t o r s . An i n d i v i d u a l presented w i t h higher b e n e f i t s attached to m i g r a t i o n r e l a t i v e to remaining, (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 17 might s t i l l remain i f the costs of migrating were very much higher than the costs of remaining. A l l four f a c t o r s arV c a l c u l a t e d s i m u l -taneously . A Symbolic Shorthand A l l of these f a c t o r s c o n s i s t of aggregations. Without using money as the measure, i t i s d i f f i c u l t to weigh the r e l a t i v e importance of each b e n e f i t and, each co s t . Each i n d i v i d u a l gives h i s own d i f f e r i n g evaluation* to each f a c t o r , but the r e l a t i o n s h i p between the four remains the same. For the sake of c l a r i t y a very elementary mathematical formula i s o f f e r e d . I t does not matter which of the f o u r f a c t o r s i s d i v i d e d , added or s u b t r a c t e d , the most important t h i n g to note i s that the choice i n v o l v e s the magnitude of the four f a c t o r s r e l a t i v e to each other. The i n d i v i d u a l must decide whether the oppor-t u n i t y of going to a cinema i s worth the n o i s e of l o r r i e s . T h is may be represented s y m b o l i c a l l y f o r the sake of bre-v i t y . Examine Diagram One. Let C be the aggregate of costs which an i n d i v i d u a l perceives as a c c r u i n g to a p a r t i c u l a r a c t i o n . Let C v then be the costs of remaining i n a v i l l a g e , and be the costs of m i g r a t i n g t o , and l i v i n g i n a c i t y . Let B be the aggregate of bene-f i t s which an i n d i v i d u a l regards as a c c r u i n g to a p a r t i c u l a r a c t i o n . Let B v then be the b e n e f i t s of remaining i n a v i l l a g e , and B c be the b e n e f i t s of m i g r a t i n g t o , and l i v i n g i n , a c i t y . (The F o r m a l P e r s p e c t i v e ) 18 The r a t i o B v / C v w i l l r e p r e s e n t t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between the b e n e f i t s and the c o s t s o f r e m a i n i n g i n a v i l l a g e . The r a t i o B c / C c w i l l r e p r e s e n t t he r e l a t i o n s h i p between the b e n e f i t s and c o s t s o f m i g r a t i n g to and l i v i n g i n a c i t y . An i n c r e a s e i n the r a t i o B/C i n d i c a t e s t h a t b e n e f i t s a r e r i s i n g r e l a t i v e to c o s t s ; a d e c r e a s e i n d i c a t e s t h a t c o s t s a r e r i s i n g r e l a t i v e to b e n e f i t s . G i v e n o n l y one c i t y t o wh i ch an i n d i v i d u a l may m i g r a t e , t h e b a s i c h y p o t h e s i s supposes t h a t a d e c i s i o n to go w i l l r e s u l t i f t h e b e n e f i t o f m i g r a t i n g i s g r e a t e r t h a n i t s c o s t s and a l s o g r e a t e r than t h e sum o f r e m a i n i n g l e s s t h e c o s t s o f r e m a i n i n g . T h i s may be more e a s i l y v i s u a l i s e d w i t h a s i m p l e m a t h e m a t i c a l e q u a t i o n where D i s t h e d e c i s i o n to go o r not t o go : S B S"B •u sc — c _ v > C >C c *=- v I f D i s p o s i t i v e t h e i n d i v i d u a l w i l l choose to m i g r a t e t o the c i t y . I f D i s n e g a t i v e o r z e r o t h e i n d i v i d u a l w i l l choose t o r e m a i n i n the v i l l a g e . A ze ro r e s u l t means a l l f o u r f a c t o r s e q u a l i z e o r n e -g a t e each o t h e r , r e s u l t i n g i n a n o n - c h o i c e o r a n o n - d e c i s i o n — t h e i n d i v i d u a l s t a y s where he i s . The i n d i v i d u a l d e c i d e s He d e c i d e s t o to go i f : r e m a i n i f : D > 0 D < 0 19 Diagram 1 SCHEMAT/C V/EW OF DEC/S/OA/ PROCESS ABOUT THE 0 /F RAT/O D /$ AATZO O /NCREASES WHEN: (OTHER FACTORS CONSTANT) Bv -BENEF/TS PERCE/VED TO ACCRUE TO REMA/N4NG //V THE V/L%AGE. C¥ -COSTS PERCE/VED TO ACCRUE TO REMA/N/NG /H THE V/LLAGE. . Bv/C-RAT/O OF THE ABOVE TWO. Se —BENEFITS PERCEIVED TO ACCRUE TO M/GRA TING TO THE C/TV Ce -COSTS PERCE/VEO TO ACCRUE TO M/GRAT/NG TO THE CfTY. Bc/CtrRAT/O OF THE ABOVE TWO. B AND C ARE NOT VALUES MEASURABLE BV AJOA/EY, BUT ARE PERCE/VEO/ AND EVALUATED BY THE DECtS/ON MAKER AS AGGREGAT/ONS OF ' /NFORMA T/OM (The Formal Perspective) 20 Needs and Obligations Information, i n the Information-decision-action perspec-t i v e does not only include data on expected income or costs accord-ing to predetermined or objective c r i t e r i a . I t includes new wants or newly perceived ends or goals. These ends may be immaterial: statuses, ideas, aesthetic views; or material: cinema viewing, beer consumption, t e l e v i s i o n . If these hew goals are perceived and i n t e r -n a l i z e d the D formula, as i l l u s t r a t e d i n the diagram above, changes. If they are not perceived the want or d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n l e v e l remains lower. If they become new goals, arid I f the c i t y i s thought to be the only, or most expedient channel of accession then the value of D r i s e s and the p r o b a b i l i t y of a move to the c i t y increases. If the c i t y i s perceived to be a b a r r i e r to such new goals, e.g., aesthetic view i s l i m i t e d , then the value f o r costs of migrating to the c i t y (C £) r i s e s and the D value drops decreasing the p r o b a b i l i t y of a move to the c i t y . These needs also include substantive or basic metabolic needs such as food and sleep. If the c i t y i s seen to be more capable of providing these needs, v i a job, money income, and assistance from r e l a t i v e s to sustain while f i r s t i n the c i t y , then the D value i n -creases and there i s a higher p r o b a b i l i t y of a move. If these needs are thought of as becoming more scarce, or l e s s e a s i l y s a t i s f i e d i n the r u r a l area, again the tendency i s to migration. (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 21 Another form of in f o r m a t i o n i s i n the s o c i a l dimension. Debts, and o b l i g a t i o n s to d e i t i e s , ancestors, and r e l a t i v e s i n the r u r a l area may r e q u i r e an i n d i v i d u a l to remain. This i s so i f by previous i n t e r n a l i z e d i n f o r m a t i o n the i n d i v i d u a l f e e l s such repay-ment i s good. He gains, or hopes to gain s a t i s f a c t i o n by paying such debts or f u l f i l l i n g such o b l i g a t i o n s . Then there i s a higher tendency to remain i n the n a t a l area. I f , on the other hand, the i n d i v i d u a l has not i n t e r n a l i z e d such previous i n f o r m a t i o n , or the i n t e r n a l i z a t i o n was incomplete, he may perc e i v e a move as an avenue of debt avoidance. This means the B e n e f i t aggregate of a go d e c i -s i o n i s r a i s e d , and the p r o b a b i l i t y of a move i s higher. R u r a l O r i g i n s of Urban Decisions M i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n s are not made only i n the home v i l l a g e . An i n d i v i d u a l v i s i t i n g a c i t y i s exposed to a great d e a l of informa-t i o n of which he may h i t h e r t o have been unaware. He may see th i n g s which he d i s l i k e s , and f e e l t h a t they would be too much of a cost to him i f he were to l i v e i n the c i t y . He may see things which he l i k e s , and f e e l that they might outweigh the cost s of l i v i n g i n the c i t y , i f he could g a i n access to them as a r e s u l t of h i s l i v i n g In the c i t y . An i n d i v i d u a l may leave a v i l l a g e w i t h the i n t e n t i o n of r e t u r n i n g and yet stay i n the c i t y . He might leave the v i l l a g e w i t h the i n -t e n t i o n of s t a y i n g away and yet r e t u r n a f t e r a b r i e f residence i n the c i t y . The m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n , as represented by the formula i n Dia-gram 1 i s i n a continuous s t a t e of change as new i n f o r m a t i o n i s perceived. (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 22 Diagram 2 The Three Fundamental Facets of the I.D.A. P e r s p e c t i v e INFORMATION Information a v a i l a b l e to the i n d i v i d u a l can be noted by the observer. Information and values given to the i n f o r m a t i o n perceived by the i n d i v i -dual can only be i n -f e r r e d . Includes d e s i r e s , goals,and aims which are discovered at va r i o u s times. Includes l e g i t i m a t e bounda-r i e s w i t h i n which he may act to s a t i s f y those wants and needs. Includes l i m i t a t i o n s to and costs of that s a t i s f a c t i o n w i t h i n the v i l l a g e . Includes o p p o r t u n i t i e s w i t h -i n the v i l l a g e to s a t i s f y those needs and wants. Includes o p p o r t u n i t i e s w i t h -i n the urban areas which are seen to be capable of s a t i s f y i n g those d e s i r e s . Includes l i m i t a t i o n s to that s a t i s f a c t i o n i n the urban areas. DECISION D. The d e c i s i o n cannot be observed o r otherwise d i r e c t l y p erceived. As the nature of an or-ganism can be i n f e r r e d by observing a stimulus and a response, the na-ture of a d e c i s i o n can be i n f e r r e d , although i n a l e s s s a t i s f a c t o r y manner, by observing input (information) and output ( a c t i o n ) which are l i n k e d v i a that de-c i s i o n . Includes weighing of r a t i o s of perceived b e n e f i t s and hopes to perce i v e d c o s t s , o u t l a y s and l i m i t a t i o n s f o r the present r u r a l p l a c e of residence and f o r the poten-t i a l f u t u r e urban pl a c e of residence. Includes choosing according to a set of e v a l u a t i v e c r i -t e r i a which are c o n s t i t u t e d of p r i o r i n f o r m a t i o n . Balancing b e n e f i t s and costs to decide between a GO and a NO-GO choice. Continued (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 23 Diagram 2 (continued) The Three Fundamental Facets of the I.D.A. P e r s p e c t i v e ACTION P o s i t i v e a c t i o n i m p l i e s P o s i t i v e a c t i o n i n c l u d e s two that a d e c i s i o n has been p a r t s : made to pursue that a c t i o n . a) Leaving the v i l l a g e might be c a l l e d "from" a c t i o n . Negative a c t i o n may imply that a d e c i s i o n not to b) Going to a c i t y might A. act has been made. be c a l l e d " t o " a c t i o n . Negative a c t i o n may imply Negative a c t i o n i s non-that a d e c i s i o n t c a c t a c t i o n : remaining i n the was made but f u r t h e r v i l l a g e . i n f o r m a t i o n may have acted as a b a r r i e r to that a c t i o n p r i o r to the d e c i s i o n being implemented. (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 2 4 A l t e r n a t i v e Choices The simple go/no-go p e r s p e c t i v e , w i t h an i n d i v i d u a l i n a r u r a l area choosing to remain or to migrate, can now be expanded. There i s no simple dichotomy: r u r a l and urban. Conditions vary. The i n d i v i d u a l may be on an i s o l a t e d homestead. He could choose to remain or go to any one of a number of nearby hamlets, or s l i g h t l y l a r g e r v i l l a g e s , or l a r g e r towns, or c i t i e s . There are a number of migratory a l t e r n a t i v e s . I n d i v i d u a l s i n small v i l l a g e s might choose to remain or migrate to a l a r g e r v i l l a g e , a town or a c i t y . I n d i -v i d u a l s may l i v e i n towns and might choose to remain or to migrate to a l a r g e r town or a c i t y . A l l of these might be c l a s s e d as r u r a l urban m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n s . Nevertheless, i n each of them the choice i s not simply between going and s t a y i n g . I t i s between remaining or moving to one of any number of areas. The mathematical expression of the d e c i s i o n must now be expanded t o : ( S B - S C ) , ( S B - S C ) . ( S . B - 5 L C ) _ c l ; , c2 , . .., cn 1 , 2 , . . . ,n > B - 5 T C > B -> C ^ B C Using the same symbols as i n Diagram 1 and where n represents the number of known a l t e r n a t i v e s to remaining i n a p a r t i c u l a r area, and the choice between D,, D„, or D i s the choice D such that the 1 2 ' n g r a t i o : > B - > C ~ g — g B *,5T C v <=—- v (The Formal Perspective) 25 i s the highest of the known a l t e r n a t i v e s . If a l l of the r a t i o s are equal to or less than zero, he would choose to remain. In th i s mathematical expression, zero i s a r b i t r a r i l y set to be equivalent to the state where an i n d i v i d u a l i s i n d i f f e r e n t to going or remain-ing, but momentum and f r i c t i o n r e s u l t i n his remaining. Seen as forces, the aggregate four factors could be seen as always acting so as to reduce the value of D to zero. In t h i s sense the formula could always be seen as an expression of dynamic equilibrium of a minus number approaching zero. Variations i n Information A further consideration requires another modification of the simplest, mechanistic formula. The content of much information which influences the dec i s i o n of the i n d i v i d u a l i s not ne c e s s a r i l y perceived at a proximal time p r i o r to the a c t i o n . Examples of long time differences between Information and Act i o n (thus assumed to be between Information and Decision), include information acquired during the i n d i v i d u a l ' s early l i f e which i s i n t e r n a l i z e d i n t o such obligatory parameters as w i l l r e s t r i c t h i s l a t e r d ecision making." This information a f f e c t s i n t e r n a l i z e d values which the i n d i v i d u a l considers as l i m i t s to his means — i n a means-ends deci s i o n . P r i o r information can act as a framework f o r subsequent d i r e c t information pertaining to the decision (for example: "I would go to the c i t y (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) 26 except I must stay i n the v i l l a g e and care f o r my grandmother", " I wouldn't be so keen to l i v e i n the c i t y but I want to get out of t h i s place where my uncle makes such demands on me.") C e r t a i n l y the i n f o r m a t i o n reported by a s o c i a l s c i e n t i s t presented here, i s not n e c e s s a r i l y e x a c t l y the same as the informa-t i o n perceived by a l l or even any of the migrant i n d i v i d u a l s . Ob-served i n f o r m a t i o n , thought to be a v a i l a b l e to the i n d i v i d u a l may be recorded, yet the i n d i v i d u a l may perceive only a part of the i n f o r m a t i o n , or p o s s i b l y none of i t , or he may per c e i v e other i n -formation p e r t i n e n t to h i s d e c i s i o n but not recorded by the observer. He screens and f i l t e r s h i s perc e p t i o n i n very complicated ways. The I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e i s n e c e s s a r i l y a mechan-i s t i c o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n of an i n d i v i d u a l ' s a c t u a l p e r c e p t i o n pro-cess. Both the o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n and the mechanistic view are use-f u l however, as long as t h e i r l i m i t a t i o n s are accepted, and considered. The o v e r s i m p l i f i c a t i o n allows f o r c l a r i t y f o r f u r t h e r , more complica-ted d e s c r i p t i o n s . The mechanistic view a l l o w s f o r c e r t a i n mathema-t i c a l manipulations, from i t s simplest to i t s more complex forms, the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e i s not meant to be a rep r o d u c t i o n of any s o - c a l l e d " r e a l i t y " but i s only a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a few concepts. (The Formal P e r s p e c t i v e ) The Environmental Context of the I n d i v i d u a l D e c i s i o n 27 In order to focus on the i n d i v i d u a l operating w i t h i n a system of environmental dimensions, i n contrast to a study of those dimensions themselves, i t i s necessary now to d i g r e s s s l i g h t l y , to i n d i c a t e the nature of those systems, w i t h i n which the i n d i v i d u a l a c t s . The systems may be more or l e s s f i x e d i n s t r u c t u r e . Some are more v a r i a b l e over time and geographic c l i n e . At some l e v e l of a n a l y s i s the aggregations and i n t e r - r e l a t i o n s h i p s of i n d i v i d u a l a c t i o n s comprise some of those systems. At another l e v e l those systems themselves i n t e r - r e l a t e to comprise the t o t a l s o c i a l and p o l i t i c a l environment. I t i s s u f f i c i e n t here to o u t l i n e those sys-tems and i n d i c a t e the p o s s i b l e r e l a t i o n s h i p s between them and the i n d i v i d u a l r a t h e r than to make a d e f i n i t i v e a n a l y s i s of the s t r u c -ture and dynamics of those systems. F i r s t there are the r e l a t i v e l y constant environmental c o n d i t i o n s . These are i n a sense e x t e r n a l to the c u l t u r e , although not e x t e r n a l to i n d i v i d u a l p e r c e p t i o n . Such contingent c o n d i t i o n s i n c l u d e the e c o l o g i c a l or p h y s i c a l environment, c l i m a t e and land forms. These c o n d i t i o n s , not d i r e c t l y v a r i a b l e w i t h c u l t u r a l v a r i -a t i o n s are roughly p a r a l l e l to the c l a s s i c a l economists' productive category, Land, i . e . , those aspects of pr o d u c t i v e f a c t o r s which are e x t e r n a l to the economic system. Second, and somewhat more v a r -i a b l e , i s the sum of demographic c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s . T h i s , the product (The Formal Perspective) 28 of past educational and s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s , includes the aggregate c a p a b i l i t i e s , t o o l s , t r a i n i n g , s k i l l s and energies of the people. These a c t i v i t i e s are re l a t e d to the h i s t o r i c a l dimension, that ser-i e s of events which leads to a p a r t i c u l a r structure at a p a r t i c u l a r time. To some extent i t i s p a r a l l e l to the c l a s s i c a l economists' productive category, c a p i t a l , or those aspects of productive f a c -t o r s which are the r e s u l t of p r i o r human a c t i v i t y . The t h i r d c l a s -s i c a l productive category i s labour, and i n a formalist approach to economics that could include a l l the productive human c h a r a c t e r i s -t i c s l i s t e d below which r e l a t e to the s o c i a l environment of an i n -d i v i d u a l d ecision maker. Another dimension of the s o c i a l environment within which an i n d i v i d u a l operates i s r e f l e c t e d i n the extent to which there i s competition or co-operation i n the society. The i n d i v i d u a l ' s e t h i -c a l c r i t e r i a w i l l r e f l e c t that of h i s society. This dimension may be examined from the i n d i v i d u a l perspective i n two ways. F i r s t , an i n d i v i d u a l i n t e r n a l i s e s h i s own competitive and co-operative c r i -t e r i a , and his own s o c i a l i z a t i o n processes may be seen as the i n f o r -mation facet of the Information-decision-action perspective. Second, an i n d i v i d u a l who i s weighing costs and benefits must consider his desires i n terms o.f accepted norms and parameters of ac t i o n . His understanding of the extent of co-operation or competition i n the society must be included i n hi s c a l c u l a t i o n s . (The Formal Perspective) 29 An i n d i v i d u a l generally acts i n a manner which he knows w i l l be acceptable within his society. If his society's reward f o r co-operation i s personal s a t i s f a c t i o n , the i n d i v i d u a l w i l l act for personal s a t i s f a c t i o n . His income i s i n terms of rewards from others who r e i n f o r c e the ethic he has i n t e r n a l i z e d . He may, of course act c a l c u l a t i n g the degree of cost as w e l l as the degree of reward. A s i m i l a r r e l a t i o n s h i p exists between an i n d i v i d u a l and that s o c i o - c u l t u r a l dimension which might be designated as the s t r u c -ture of habits or customs. Components of t h i s system include l i f e s t y l e s , tastes i n food, a r t , c l o t h i n g , l i t e r a t u r e , and a r c h i t e c -ture as w e l l as morals, ideologies, and other c u l t u r a l values. The i n d i v i d u a l , as he grows up, receives information about the r e l a t i v e value of a l t e r n a t i v e habits or patterned actions. The extent to which he conforms to s o c i a l mores r e f l e c t s his decisions regarding probable benefits or costs i n terms of personal s a t i s f a c t i o n and/or s o c i a l reward or ostracism. There i s further information needed by the i n d i v i d u a l . He must, at l e a s t i n t u i t i v e l y i f not e x p l i c i t l y , know something of the structure, or processes of s o c i o - p o l i t i c a l systems wit h i n which he may act. He must ask, "What i s the extent, the function, and the dynamics of the educational structure?", "What i s the nature of s t r a t i f i c a t i o n , power, prestige, and influence i n the society?", "What l e g a l structures provide rewards or punishments f o r a l t e r n a t i v e (The Formal Perspective) 30 actions?" He must make his decisions i n accordance with his i n f o r -mation about these as s o c i a l i z a t i o n p r a c t i c e s . He must acquire eco-nomic information about the substantive costs and benefits of various a c t i v i t i e s , including migration. Then he mus^ t r e l a t e h i s own r e -sources and his own needs or desires to the economic environment. He must see the society's range of acceptable goals, the r e l a t i v e emphasis on immediate or future s a t i s f a c t i o n of each. He must then r e l a t e h i s own goals to a l t e r n a t i v e environments and a l t e r n a t i v e goals, and h i s r e l a t i v e c a p a b i l i t i e s for f u l f i l l i n g these goals. Complementary to goals are the kinds and extent of stress i n each environment. The i n d i v i d u a l may seek to minimise tension, a^id h i s decision-making, i n terms of the Information-decision-action pers-pective, might be seen as stress minimization rather than goal maxi-mization. Either way, h i s choice represents the maximum r a t i o of benefits to costs. The i n d i v i d u a l i s both af f e c t e d by, and a f f e c t s the extent and nature of stress i n a s o c i a l system. F i n a l l y , he needs information about changes i n the s o c i a l s tructure. To what extent can he count on k i n groups to s a t i s f y c e r t a i n needs or desires, or a l t e r n a t i v e l y depend on newer struc-tures? These might be a r e f l e c t i o n of the society becoming more d i f f e r e n t i a t e d . To what extent are corporate groups segmented and independent, such as clans or v i l l a g e s , or integrated and interde-pendent, such as bureaucracies, or corporations? To what extent does each allow f o r the whole range of s o c i a l human p a r t i c i p a t i o n ? (The F o r m a l P e r s p e c t i v e ) 31 I n a s o c i e t y where t h e e x t e n d e d f a m i l y i s becoming o f s e c o n d a r y i m p o r t a n c e and f o r m a l o r g a n i z a t i o n s a r e becoming o f g r e a t e r impor-t a n c e , t h e i n d i v i d u a l must a c t i n a c c o r d a n c e w i t h h i s i n f o r m a t i o n about t h e s e s t r u c t u r a l changes and p r o c e s s e s . The f o c u s o f t h e I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e i s on t h e i n d i v i d u a l . I t s e e k s t o i s o l a t e the d e c i s i o n making p r o -c e s s o f t h e i n d i v i d u a l by r e l a t i n g h i s i n f o r m a t i o n t o h i s a c t i o n s . However t h e i n d i v i d u a l does n o t o p e r a t e i n a vacuum. H i s i n f o r m a -t i o n c o n s i s t s o f h i s p e r c e p t i o n s o f t h e v a r i o u s d i m e n s i o n s o f s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l environment n o t e d above. H i s a c t i o n s a l s o a f f e c t t h a t e n v i r o n m e n t . To examine t h e i n d i v i d u a l o p e r a t i n g w i t h i n a s o c i a l e n v i -ronment, i t i s e a s i e r t o assume t h a t v a r i a b l e s i n t h a t e n v i r o n m e n t a r e f i r s t h e l d c o n s t a n t . Then one m i g h t examine how a n i n d i v i d u a l chooses as he i s exposed t o v a r i a t i o n i n t h a t e n v i r o n m e n t . One must a l w a y s remember t h a t the environment as w e l l a s t h e i n d i v i d u a l ' s p e r c e p t i o n o f i t i s c o n s t a n t l y c h a n g i n g . O n l y i n an a n a l y t i c s e n s e , n o t i n a p e r s o n a l l y h i s t o r i c s e n s e , i s t h e environment o f a p o t e n t i a l m i g r a n t e v e r s t a t i c . As e x t e r n a l c o n d i t i o n s change, he may o r may n o t p e r c e i v e new i n f o r m a t i o n w h i c h w i l l a f f e c t h i s d e c i s i o n t o r e -main o r t o go. The i n d i v i d u a l c a n be though o f as a u n i t i n a v a r y -i n g m u l t i d i m e n s i o n a l e n v i r o n m e n t . He i s exposed t o v a r y i n g i n f o r -m a t i o n about t h e c h a n g i n g c o n d i t i o n s of t h a t e n vironment and t h e p o t e n t i a l e n v i r o n m e n t s . He p e r c e i v e s and i n t e r n a l i z e s some of t h a t (The Formal Perspective) 32 information. He balances that information as he receives i t and compares i t to prior information. He acts according to his percep-tion and consideration of that information. CHAPTER TWO The L i t e r a t u r e Weighing Costs and B e n e f i t s The Go/No-Go Choice Information D e c i s i o n A c t i o n (The L i t e r a t u r e ) 33 Migration i s due to many causes: i t i s impossible to assess the r e l a t i v e value of economic, s o c i a l or psy-ch o l o g i c a l motives. It i s encouraged and organized by the a u t h o r i t i e s and employers i n some countries; i n others i t i s spontaneous, sometimes even clandestine. Categories of Causes As I have written above, the i n d i v i d u a l d e c i s i o n to migrate i s i n essence an economic decision, where economic implies the broad-est concept encompassing wealth a l l o c a t i o n , a concept not hampered by western ethnocentric l i m i t a t i o n s such as the equating of "economic" with "monetary". The migration decision i s a choice based on expec-ted returns and expected expenses of various courses of a c t i o n . The weighing of these returns and expenses i s based on the information r e l a t e d to each course which the i n d i v i d u a l considers. There are b a s i c a l l y four categories of information i n the simple Go/No-Go perspective of only one a v a i l a b l e c i t y . The choice depends on information about increased benefits to going, decreased costs to going, increased costs of staying and decreased benefits of staying, each r e l a t i v e to the other three categories. As ex-plained i n the previous chapter, i n the expanded perspective the choice of remaining or migrating to one of any number of known c i t i e s depends upon the highest r a t i o of benefits to costs f o r each of the 1. J . Denis, "The Towns of T r o p i c a l A f r i c a " (Summary), C i v i l i z a t i o n s , Vol. 16, No. 1, 1966 , p . 43. (The L i t e r a t u r e ) 34 known choices. For the sake of s i m p l i c i t y and c l a r i t y 3 however, i n thi s chapter the simpler "model" i s used. Information reported by other observers for other purposes i s regrouped here under the four categories of information to which a prospective migrant has access. These four categories are associated with the four hypotheses and th e i r converses. As i n Diagram 1, C represents costs, B represents benefits, and D represents the r a t i o of Benefits and Costs of mi-grating and remaining. CATEGORY ONE: Information about costs of remaining i n the v i l l a g e : HYPOTHESIS 1 Other factors constant, an increase i n costs r e l a t e d to re-maining (X c v)» w i l l r e s u l t i n an increase i n the value, of D, and increase the p r o b a b i l i t y of a Go de c i s i o n . Conversely: Other factors constant, a decrease i n J c w i l l r e s u l t i n a v decrease i n the value of D, and decrease the p r o b a b i l i t y of a Go decis i o n . CATEGORY TWO: Information about benefits of going to the c i t y : HYPOTHESIS 2 Other f a c t o r s constant, an increase i n benefits r e l a t e d to migrating, ( > B c ) , r e s u l t i n an increase i n the value of D, and increase the p r o b a b i l i t y of a Go decision. (The Literature) 35 Conversely: Other factors constant, a decrease i n B w i l l result i n a — c decrease in the value of D, and decrease the probability of a Go decision. CATEGORY THREE: Information about benefits of remaining i n the village: HYPOTHESIS 3 Other factors constant, a decrease i n benefits related to remaining 0]> B ), w i l l result in an increase in the value of D3 and increase the probability of a Go decision. Conversely: Other factors constant, an increase in*> B w i l l result in a . ~ v decrease i n the value of D, and increase the probability of a No-go decision. CATEGORY FOUR: Information about costs of going to the city: HYPOTHESIS 4 Other factors constant, a decrease i n costs related to mi-grating ( ,fl> ;<' \ JCUSASI -\j90/t.SA 4 FRAFRA \ Mf N O —> s6 . C SOUTH MAMP&USI r / ft r i •' WESTERN \ J v. i OAGOMBA \ P JV EASTERN DAGOM8A WESTERN GONJA ^ 1 TERN GO/VUA NANUM3A Cl_ fBCOAJG* AHAFO f CENTRAL R - I V BBONG-AHAFO O JV G NORTH aJHUtAA - ( .8UEM - KRACH/ H- A F. O ~,~ 3R.OA/G-AHAFO EAST KUMASf ; SEXYERE > ' 8RONG-AHAFO I SOUTH SEFW \W/AWSO\ \NORTH 'NORTH KWAHU JtUMASI KU/UASt. WES H\ A \N T/ J V. y/ Vx ' :° A S T E R N nIS/WAS/* _v 1 \ j wr l -•—Jy ' i , . MOM OA/SO JfS. • •»->_*"'. AMANS/E ft AO ANS I -BANKA AMENFI-AOWM ^mwP, I \.KPANQO <5> TONGU •y ANLO ( ^ MSSAU?A--\ ,AR I E \MZJMA-CVALUE-\ , •„ ^ , \ t<' \s )p "> COM OA SHAI L* NORTH ^AJOMORO-GW/RA \ ( GHANA (Information) 79 West A f r i c a i s more than a l o c a l e f o r urban s t u d i e s ; i t i s a frame of reference f o r e x p l o r i n g n o n - i n d u s t r i a l , a g r i c u l t u r a l , and commercial based c i t i e s . ^ In West A f r i c a there are a great number of v i l l a g e s from which migrants l e a v e , and many areas of v a r y i n g urban s t a t u s , to which migrants choose to go. The i m p l i e d permutations are too numerous to l i s t i n d e t a i l here. Instead, one c i t y and one r u r a l area i n Ghana are taken as examples. See Map One, "Census Map of L o c a l A u t h o r i t i e s " on page 78. People migrate to that c i t y from many other areas than from the one r u r a l area named here, and they a l s o migrate from t h a t r u r a l area to places other than the c i t y des-c r i b e d here. The d e s c r i p t i o n s of these two areas i s o f f e r e d both as example and as a decision-making environment type w i t h i n which the i n d i v i d u a l makes a cho i c e . The i n f o r m a t i o n i s o f f e r e d i n t h i s chapter to serve two purposes. The f i r s t i s to provide data c o r r e s -ponding to the Information aspect of the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n model. The i n f o r m a t i o n perceived a s s i m i l a t e d and weighed by any one d e c i s i o n maker i n the area, of course, cannot be e x a c t l y the same as presented i n t h i s t h e s i s s i n c e no allowance i s made f o r the i n d i v i -dual s u b j e c t i v e response. However, these data do correspond to the "Information" aspect of the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e . The second purpose i s to provide the reader w i t h some r e l e v a n t ethno-graphic data about the f i e l d so he may be f a m i l i a r w i t h the p h y s i c a l and s o c i a l environment. 1. Simms, R.F., U r b a n i z a t i o n i n West A f r i c a , A Review of Current L i t e r a t u r e . Evanston, 1965, p. x i i i . (Information) 80 The r u r a l area chosen here i s the Kwawu t r a d i t i o n a l area. Kwawu i s i n a t r o p i c a l farm and r a i n f o r e s t t e r r a i n p a r t l y on a h i l l y p l a t e a u ( a l t i t u d e 1000 f e e t ) and on e i t h e r s i d e of i t . Most of the r u r a l p o p u l a t i o n l i v e i n a number of s m a l l v i l l a g e s . There i s one l a r g e town i n Kwawu c a l l e d Nkawkaw which might be c a l l e d an intermediate p o i n t i n a r u r a l urban continuum. About one hundred mile s south i s the c l o s e s t c i t y : Accra. See Map Two on page 81. The continuum of r u r a l to urban then, i n t h i s example, comprises v i l l a g e s i n r u r a l Kwawu, Nkawkaw the town, and Accra the c i t y . The s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l environments of each of these w i l l be b r i e f l y sketched. CHAPTER THREE A The R u r a l Area Kwawu P h y s i c a l and S o c i a l Environment The Environment From Which Kwawu Migrate (Kwawu) There were no peasants before the f i r s t c i t i e s . 82 The Kwawu Environment The Kwawu area i s s i t u a t e d i n southern Ghana, i n the Eas-t e r n Region. I t i s east of A s h a n t i and west of the V o l t a Region. 2 The people l i v e on the Kwahu p l a t e a u , and on the Afram p l a i n s to the north and west of the pl a t e a u . See Map Three, "Predominant T r i b e i n Each Area", on page 97. P r i o r to the r i s e of A s h a n t i , the people of the area l i v e d f i r s t i n caves and l a t e r i n v i l l a g e s i s o l a t e d from each other. At the time of the Adanse disturbances, as Ash a n t i was being formed, Osei Twum, moved i n t o the area and r u l e d near Akwatia. Various Twi-speaking clans f l e e i n g the Denkyira, or l o s i n g land i n Adanse, migrated to the area. I t was then named Okwa'u. The Tena and the Beretuo from Mampong Ash a n t i f i r s t moved to A s h a n t i Bekwai and then moved as one c l a n to Mampong Akrofonso. The c l a n then be-came i n v o l v e d i n disputes w i t h Sahanti i n Kodiabe and i n Hwidiem (Ashanti Akim). They then moved to Dwerebe h i l l i n Kwawu, and from t h i s m i l i t a r y vantage p o i n t devastated Awere and r u l e d i n Abene. La t e r immigrants came to Abene from Akwamu i n 1733. The Aduana c l a n 1. R e d f i e l d , Robert, The P r i m i t i v e World and I t s Transformations. I t h i c a , New York, C o r n e l l U n i v e r s i t y P r e s s , 1953, p. 31. 2. Both Kwawu and Kwahu r e f e r to the same group. As Okwa'u was t r a n s -c r i b e d i n t o a Roman Alphabet the "'" was repl a c e d by a "h". As E n g l i s h i s pronounced the Kwawu s p e l l i n g i s c l o s e r to what the peo-p l e say. Ghana government documents o f t e n use both, w i t h one or the other i n parentheses, or e l s e e i t h e r . The Kwahu s p e l l i n g ap-pears more f r e q u e n t l y on mission and business documents, and on government maps. The "Kwawu" s p e l l i n g i s used here to r e f l e c t the people's p r o n u n c i a t i o n . "Kwahu" i s used to r e f e r to place names and census areas thus designated. (Kwawu) 83 s e t t l e d i n Obo. The Asona s e t t l e d at Mpraeso. The l a s t major group of immigrants were the Oyoko from A s h a n t i f l e e i n g from Opoku Ware's e l d e r s . They s e t t l e d at A t i b i e , near Mpraeso. The Kwawu a l l i e d w i t h the A s h a n t i to f i g h t Akyem Kotoku, and At a r a Firam. With the Sager-a n t i war, the Kwawu seceded from A s h a n t i , yet have maintained amicable terms ever s i n c e . This h i s t o r i c a l a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h A s h a n t i accounts f o r many s i m i l a r i t i e s between Kwawu and A s h a n t i . Both speak Twi d i a l e c t s . See Diagram 4, " C a t e g p r i z a t i o n of Spoken Kwawu", on page 3 137. R a t t r a y was sure enough about the s i m i l a r i t i e s that when he c o l l e c t e d A s h a n t i t a l e s , f o r the most pa r t he got them from Kwawu informants. Kwawu i n more r u r a l s e t t i n g s s t i l l do not tend to l i v e i n i s o l a t e d homesteads. L i k e most Akans they l i v e i n v i l l a g e s c o n t a i n -i n g more than one, and up to seven or e i g h t exogamous m a t r i l i n e a l c l a n s . A standard ethnography, such as R a t t r a y , should give a more comprehensive d e s c r i p t i o n . S i n g l e nuclear f a m i l y d w e l l i n g u n i t s are r a r e . More common are compounds surrounded by rooms of va r y i n g s i z e s f o r members of the abusua or m a t r i c l a n , and f o r cooking and so on. The center of the compound i s open, yet enclosed by rooms or a w a l l . The a r c h i t e c t u r a l design, plus the use of swish, c l a y , b u i l d i n g m a t e r i a l s r a t h e r than b o t a n i c a l f o r e s t products both suggest 3. R a t t r a y , R.S., Akan-Ashanti F o l k T a l e s . Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1930. For f u r t h e r ethnographic data on A s h a n t i s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e see R a t t r a y , R.S., A s h a n t i . Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. (Kwawu) 84 t r a d i t i o n s reaching back to a p r e - f o r e s t , savannah e x i s t e n c e . Nev-e r t h e l e s s , a h i s t o r y of u r b a n - l i k e residence i s part of Kwawu c u l t u r e . Few people l i v e on i s o l a t e d homesteads, w i t h the exception of an oc-c a s i o n a l "hamlet" which may be tempo r a r i l y occupied by a few people near an i s o l a t e d farm during seasons when continuous d a i l y work i s req u i r e d f o r a week or two. Another exception of i s o l a t e d l i v i n g i s a handful of f e t i s h p r i e s t s who l i v e apart from Kwawu v i l l a g e s . In a l l , however, Kwawu are used to u r b a n - l i k e v i l l a g e l i f e . Some of the v i l l a g e s on the top of the Kwawu escarpment i n c l u d e : Abene, one of the f i r s t Kwawu v i l l a g e s to be founded; Awere, which played an important part i n e a r l y Kwawu h i s t o r y ; A b e t i f i ( l i t e r a l l y "palm t r e e - h i g h " i n Twi) which has the highest a l t i t u d e of the v i l l a g e s on the Kwawu escarpment; Mpraeso, which i s on most maps because of i t s importance to the Americans who b u i l t a paved road from Nkawkaw so as to b r i n g b a u x i t e out during the war; Obo, which was founded i n the eighteenth century by a woman, Gyemfa Kyaade (the c h i e f of Obo, Nana K o f i Bediako, Kwawu Nifahene, adopted me as h i s son); Obomeng, ( l i t e r a l l y , "on the way to Obo", i n Twi), sometimes c a l l e d the " f u n e r a l town" due to the d i s p r o p o r t i o n a t e number of people b u r i e d there (as explained l a t e r ) ; Tafo or Kwahu-Tafo mentioned l a t e r as the hometown of Kwaku the bl a c k s m i t h ; and Takwa, somewhat to the east of the other v i l l a g e s and near the northeast edge of the scarp. Some of the v i l l a g e s down on the p l a i n s on the northeast s i d e of the escarpment i n c l u d e : Adawso, now a s m a l l f e r r y port and (Kwawu) 85 f i s h i n g v i l l a g e due to the f l o o d i n g of the Afram and the c r e a t i o n of the V o l t a Lake; Adufua, Aframso, Mankron, Seidu, and Tiribum, which were d i s p l a c e d by the r i s e of the Afram making the V o l t a Lake; and Worobong, which grew as a r e s u l t of the displacement. Further out on the Afram p l a i n s are the v i l l a g e s of Abomasalafuo, Aseyensu, Bonkrom, Faso, Kwesiadai, Mopta, Santaboma, and Sumsei. Many Kwawu have moved out on the Afram p l a i n s and across to the northeastern border of North Kwahu, near Kpandu i n the V o l t a Region, and a l s o as f a r as J a s i k a n , i n the Buem K r a c h i area of the V o l t a Region, near the Togo border. The 1960 census reported 53,780 Kwawu l i v i n g i n South Kwahu enumeration area which i n c l u d e s the v i l l a g e s on the es-carpment, as w e l l as Nkawkaw and the nearby s m a l l v i l l a g e s on the southwest s i d e of the scarp. In North Kwawu, which i n c l u d e s most of the Afram p l a i n s as f a r east as the V o l t a R i v e r , there were 38,500 Kwawu. Of the 1,490 Kwawu i n the V o l t a Region, 1,040 l i v e d i n the Buem K r a c h i enumeration area bordering on the Afram, which i n c l u d e s J a s i k a n . Skinner (1965:69) i n d i c a t e s the e f f e c t of the r e t u r n i n g migrant, o f f e r i n g presents, and having h i s p r a i s e sung by m i n s t r e l s . The income a s s o c i a t e d w i t h t r a v e l and o p p o r t u n i t i e s i n urban areas i s contemplated by the v i l l a g e r who t h i n k s he too may get such wealth, such p r e s t i g e by going to the c i t y . In Kwawu, the successes of the r u r a l urban migrant are v i s i b l e every day. Elaborate two s t o r i e d houses and compounds w i t h cement p a t i o s and galvanized r o o f s are (Kwawu) 86 abundant i n Kwawu v i l l a g e s . Most of them, the r e c e n t l y b u i l t ones, have been erected f o r s u c c e s s f u l Kwawu businessmen who l i v e away i n some c i t y . Most of the year they are occupied by r e l a t i v e s and a few non-kin tenants such as teachers and p o s t a l c l e r k s from other areas. The owner or b u i l d e r may r e t u r n once or twice a year to spend two.weeks during Christmas, Afahwe, or Easter f e s t i v a l . A l l year the houses and some of t h e i r r e s i d e n t s symbolize to the r u r a l v i l l a g e r the o p p o r t u n i t i e s of the c i t y l i f e . Nkawkaw Kwaku Otomfuo, who i s mentioned l a t e r , has h i s shop at Nkawkaw. The 1960 census reported that i t had a po p u l a t i o n of 16,627. This i s f a r i n excess of 3,106 i n 1931 or 5,043 i n 1948 as reported i n the 1948 Census (p. 131). The town serves as a major stop f o r the t r a i n which runs from Accra to Kumasi. During the sec-ond world war l a r g e trucks would come down the c l i f f s i d e b r i n g i n g b a u x i t e from Mpraeso, s i x miles away, up on the Kwawu escarpment, to the t r a i n s t a t i o n f o r shipment to the coast. The town i s a commer-c i a l center f o r the area. I t boasts three banks, two bars, many dry goods shops and s i x p e t r o l s t a t i o n s . I t i s a l s o on the highway be-tween Kumasi, s e v e n t y - f i v e miles n o r t h , and Accra, one hundred mil e s south. Nkawkaw i s not a t r a d i t i o n a l v i l l a g e . There i s no true c h i e f . Many of the r e s i d e n t s consider Obomeng, a s m a l l v i l l a g e three (Kwawu) 87 miles away, up on the escarpment, to be the p l a c e of t h e i r o f f i c i a l b i r t h and b u r i a l . C h i l d r e n are born i n Nkawkaw, many at the C a t h o l i c H o s p i t a l , yet the people r e f e r to Obomeng as t h e i r "home town". Strangers o f t e n r e f e r to Obomeng as "the f u n e r a l town" as the number of f u n e r a l s i n that v i l l a g e seem much too numerous f o r such a s m a l l p l a c e . As people d r i v e f r o n Nkawkaw, up the scarp through Obomeng to other p a r t s of Kwawu more o f t e n than not a f u n e r a l i s i n process. I t i s u s u a l l y that of a r e s i d e n t of Nkawkaw. Obomeng serves more or l e s s as the t r a d i t i o n a l seat of Nkawkaw. Not a l l Nkawkaw r e s i d e n t s are Kwawu but the 1960 census l i s t s e t h n ic c a t e g o r i e s only f o r enumeration areas, not towns. Only 3,998 of the po p u l a t i o n was born i n Nkawkaw (see t a b l e ) . Another 6,890 came from other p a r t s of South Kwawu, and 4,937 came from other regions or other c o u n t r i e s . Most of the non-Kwawu are la b o r e r s from the no r t h , Dagomba, Dagarteh, e t c . , Hausa and Yoruba t r a d e r s from N i g e r i a , and Ewe, F a n t i , and Ga migrants from other p a r t s of southern Ghana. Nkawkaw, l i k e most West A f r i c a n towns (Lloyd, 1967: 110), i s a b u s t l i n g , cosmopolitan, c o l o r f u l , West A f r i c a n town. Occupations Kwawu have a r e p u t a t i o n i n Ghana f o r being good t r a d e r s . T h i s , i t i s s a i d , i s why they have migrated to so many p l a c e s . I f you ask people anywhere i n Ghana, they w i l l t e l l you Kwawu go to (Kwawu) 88 Nkawkaw (Demographic C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s ) 1960 Nkawkaw D i s t r i c t Rom.Cath. U.A. C. Town Treasury Zongo M i s s i o n Bungalow C h a r a c t e r i s t i c M F M F M F M F M F A l l ages 7890 7737 1270 1274 547 450 292 276 700 647 Age: Below one year 330 346 61 57 16 13 19 18 32 38 1-4 years 1167 1214 214 218 56 72 32 37 114 98 5-9 years 978 1180 177 232 59 64 43 28 64 90 10-14 years 846 978 160 145 52 41 27 34 46 65 15-24 years 1592 1593 232 249 87 100 66 64 113 128 25-44 years 2231 1821 320 292 184 125 80 55 239 174 45-64 years 585 478 87 69 69 27 22 29 64 46 Over 65 161 127 19 12 24 8 3 11 28 8 Born i n : This l o c a l i t y 1957 2041 401 423 167 177 70 74 163 164 Other l o c a t i o n , same r e g i o n 3098 3792 533 632 91 125 130 148 132 153 Other r e g i o n 1746 1471 222 163 115 101 62 42 213 202 Other A f r i c a n country 1076 426 114 56 177 47 27 7 190 128 Other Continent 11 7 0 0 0 0 3 5 2 0 Schooling: Over 6 years 6155 5900 956 947 453 347 227 216 537 488 6-14 years: Never attended 372 851 73 156 36 54 10 20 54 101 Past attendance 62 102 11 11 1 1 2 4 1 5 Present a t t e n -dance 1152 928 214 158 52 32 44 33 38 26 Over 15: Never attended 2401 3118 347 508 321 228 65 107 354 327 Past attendance 1837 750 251 87 38 24 82 46 79 25 Present a t t e n -dance 331 151 60 27 5 8 24 6 11 4 Employment: T o t a l age 15 over 4569 4019 658 622 364 260 171 159 444 356 Employed t o t a l 3864 2584 553 315 336 173 143 124 392 223 A g r i c u l t u r e 1021 684 190 122 61 32 40 57 78 19 Unemployed 206 71 40 10 5 2 1 1 11 3 Homemaker 59 1070 2 266 9 65 1 25 20 121 Other 440 294 63 31 14 20 26 9 21 9 (Kwawu) 89 Salva-t i o n Army Rest Presby C l i n i c M i s s i o n Market House Miss ;ion C h a r a c t e r i s t i c M F M F M F M F M F A l l ages 1145 1057 909 973 1374 1457 892 804 761 791 Age: Below one year 45 46 27 37 64 61 30 38 36 38 1-4 years 156 173 144 141 200 214 118 124 133 137 5-9 years 152 160 115 156 168 214 96 109 104 127 10-14 years 109 139 102 137 165 212 101 127 84 78 15-24 years 219 219 221 207 312 306 184 170 158 150 25-44 years 361 242 232 221 353 333 284 192 178 187 45-64 years 82 57 56 56 93 100 63 31 49 63 Over 65 21 21 12 18 19 17 16 13 19 19 Born i n : This l o c a l i t y 258 220 237 222 332 388 132 146 202 227 Other l o c a l i t y , same r e g i o n 445 548 387 493 638 827 386 432 356 434 Other r e g i o n 261 197 218 241 237 203 272 202 146 120 Other A f r i c a n country 180 92 66 17 163 37 102 24 57 18 Other Continent 1 0 1 0 4 2 0 0 0 0 Schooling: Over 6 years 911 796 714 758 1074 1140 721 618 562 590 6-14 years: Never attended 51 109 36 102 56 153 29 98 27 58 Past attendance 12 17 9 17 13 25 9 11 4 11 Present a t t e n -dance 163 131 148 137 228 206 136 103 127 102 Over 15: Never attended 352 419 205 354 375 547 225 305 157 323 Past attendance 290 103 265 127 337 173 285 87 210 78 Present a t t e n -dance 41 17 51 21 65 36 37 14 37 18 Employment:, T o t a l age 15 over 683 539 521 502 777 756 547 406 404 419 Employed t o t a l 595 381 424 338 639 506 461 236 321 288 A g r i c u l t u r e 171 85 104 49 179 132 94 76 104 112 Unemployed 21 18 19 4 58 20 35 9 16 4 Homemaker 1 99 8 87 2 183 2 130 14 94 Other 66 41 70 73 78 47 49 31 53 33 (Kwawu) 90 both l a r g e and sm a l l towns to set up shops s e l l i n g canned goods, dry goods, or c o n s t r u c t i o n m a t e r i a l . Yet i f one were to look f i r s t at Ghana census the oc c u p a t i o n a l data would seem to c o n t r a d i c t t h i s r e p u t a t i o n . Only a sm a l l p r o p o r t i o n of the Ghana po p u l a t i o n are t r a d e r s ; f a r below what the r e p u t a t i o n would i n d i c a t e . Out of a male o c c u p a t i o n a l f o r c e of 67,810 engaged as s a l e s workers, i n -c l u d i n g p r o p r i e t o r s , only 2,249 are Kwawu. Out of 278,540 female traders only 3,850 of them are Kwawu. I f l e s s than two percent of Ghanaians engaged i n trade are Kwawu i t would seem t h i s repu-t a t i o n i s unsubstantiated. But Kwawu can be e x c e l l e n t t r a d e r s , and t h i s i s r e l a t e d to t h e i r having migrated to so many pl a c e s . To understand t h i s i t i s necessary to b r i e f l y examine the occ u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e of Kwawu ra t h e r than i t s p r o p o r t i o n i n the whole economy. The Ghanaian labour f o r c e c o n s i s t s of 1,573,170 men and 987,670 women. Kwawu men i n the labour f o r c e account f o r 24,860 or 6.3 percent of the male workforce. Kwawu women account f o r 22,740 or 4.3 percent of the female working p o p u l a t i o n . For the sake of cons i s t e n c y , the proportions of men or women i n v a r i o u s o c c u p a t i o n a l c a t e g o r i e s are c a l c u l a t e d as percentages of the t o t a l male or female labour f o r c e s f o r a l l of Ghana or f o r the Kwawu p o p u l a t i o n . This i s to compare the occupational s t r u c t u r e of Kwawu w i t h the occupational s t r u c t u r e of a l l of Ghana. (Kwawu) 91 White Collar Whereas only 3 percent of the Ghana male working popula-tion i s classed as professional, 5.3 percent of employed Kwawu are professionally employed. Of this category, only 1.3 percent of the Ghanaian working population are teachers, while almost twice the proportion of Kwawu, 2.5 percent, are so employed. Draughtsmen and related technicians account for only .57 percent of the total male working population while they account for 1.81 percent of the Kwawu male working population. Administrators account for only 0.8 percent of the total working population while they account for 1.3 percent of the Kwawu male working population. Of these, Kwawu tend more to take government (.56 versus .30) rather than commercial (.12 versus .21) posts. The proportion of Kwawu c l e r i c a l workers is almost twice as high as the proportion of a l l Ghanaian clerks. Only 2.5 percent of a l l Ghanaian men are c l e r i c a l workers yet 4.9 percent of employed Kwawu are classed as c l e r i c a l workers. While only 0.3 percent of the female Ghanaian labour force are clerks, the proportion of Kwawu women who are clerks i s twice as high, 0.6 percent. The 2,240 Kwawu men employed in sales account for 9 percent of the Kwawu male working population whereas the 278,540 men in sales in Ghana account for only 4 percent of the Ghanaian male employed population. However Kwawu women tend less than a l l Ghanaian women to take sales jobs. For the whole population the proportion is (Kwawu) 92 28.2 percent w h i l e f o r Kwawu i t i s only 18.3 percent. The absolute number of salesmen and p r o p r i e t o r s of other e t h n i c c a t e g o r i e s may be higher, but the p r o p o r t i o n of Kwawu men engaged i n s m a l l shop-keeping i s much higher. This s u b s t a n t i a t e s the r e p u t a t i o n that Kwawu men have f o r going to va r i o u s other towns o u t s i d e Kwawu to i set up r e t a i l o u t l e t s . A g r i c u l t u r e The p r o p o r t i o n of farmers i n the t o t a l Ghanaian labour f o r c e and i n the Kwawu working p o p u l a t i o n i s roughly the same. S i x t y -two percent of a l l employed Ghanaian men are farmers and 58.1 per-cent of a l l Kwawu working men are farmers. But very few Kwawu are engaged f u l l - t i m e i n truck farming; 5 percent compared w i t h the na-t i o n a l f i g u r e of 29 percent. The m a j o r i t y of Kwawu farmers are cocoa farmers. Whereas only 20 percent of the Ghanaian labour f o r c e i s en-gaged i n the cocoa i n d u s t r y , 45 percent of the Kwawu labour f o r c e i s in v o l v e d i n cocoa production. Cocoa growing i s q u i t e p r o f i t a b l e and Kwawu have a r e p u t a t i o n f o r being r e l a t i v e l y wealthy. Much of the p r o f i t gained i n cocoa farming i s r e i n v e s t e d i n r e t a i l business. While men p r e f e r cocoa farming, Kwawu women are more o f t e n engaged i n truck cropping and marketing the produce. Farming other than cocoa i s l e s s important to Kwawu. Of the 5,800 men and 660 women engaged i n l i v e s t o c k and p o u l t r y manage-(Kwawu) 93 ment i n Ghana, only 20 Kwawu are cl a s s e d as such. A l l of them r a i s e chickens. The r a i n f o r e s t c l i m a t e and the tsetae f l y make c a t t l e r a i s i n g almost impossible i n Kwawu. No Kwawu are c l a s s e d as f i s h e r -men according to the census but t h i s has changed s i n c e the census was taken i n 1960. When the dam was b u i l t the V o l t a R i v e r flooded the Afram p l a i n s forming a l a r g e shallow l a k e i d e a l f o r f i s h . Since 1965, the government of Ghana has been sending a d v i s o r s , mainly Ewes from the V o l t a r e g i o n , to come and f i s h i n North Kwawu on the Afram p l a i n s , and teach the Kwawu, many of whose farms were fl o o d e d , how to e x p l o i t t h i s new source of wealth. The f i s h production has ex-ceded most p r e d i c t i o n s as a r e s u l t of these e f f o r t s . One of the most i n t e r e s t i n g a g r i c u l t u r a l occupations i s palm wine tapping. The sap of the o i l palm t r e e , because of i t s high yeast content ferments very q u i c k l y . The r e s u l t i n g palm wine i s a very r e f r e s h i n g and inexpensive a l c o h o l i c beverage. The 1960 census reported 6,820 palm wine tappers, 100 of Whom were women. In Akan t r a d i t i o n , palm wine tapping i s reserved f o r men, and 80 of those women are of Guan, Ewe or N i g e r i a n e t h n i c groups. The 6,720 men who tap palm wine account f o r l e s s than one-half of one percent of the Ghanaian male labour f o r c e , but the 250 Kwawu palm wine tappers account f o r over one percent of Kwawu employed labour. The 1960 census reported zero females engaged i n t h i s a g r i c u l t u r a l p u r s u i t . (Kwawu) 94 Blue C o l l a r Manual labour occupations account f o r a r e l a t i v e l y s m a l l p r o p o r t i o n of the Kwawu employed p o p u l a t i o n . Only 0.24 percent of the male Kwawu working f o r c e are miners or quarrymen w h i l e over 2 percent of the working males of Ghana are so employed. However s i x and a h a l f percent of Kwawu men are road t r a n s p o r t d r i v e r s w h i l e the n a t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n i s only a l i t t l e over three percent. Most of the Kwawu men employed i n t r a n s p o r t are t a x i d r i v e r s or i n t e r - u r b a n passenger Benz bus operators. The Kwawu o v e r a l l p r o p o r t i o n of c r a f t s -men i s s l i g h t l y lower than the n a t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n , 13.7 percent versus 18.7 percent. Kwawu proporti o n s i n c r a f t s exceed the na-t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n only i n t a i l o r i n g ; 5.4 percent versus the 2.0 percent n a t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n . Generally Kwawu have a low p r o p o r t i o n i n blue c o l l a r occupations, f a l l i n g q u i t e f a r below i n carpentry (0.7 versus 3.2); b r i c k l a y i n g (0.7 versus 2.0); u n s p e c i f i e d u n s k i l l e d labour (1.5 versus 4.9); and i n domestic s e r v i c e (0.12 versus 0.59 per c e n t ) . Apart from t a i l o r s and t a x i d r i v e r s , Kwawu men tend to be l e s s represented i n manual and s k i l l e d o c c u p a t i o n a l c a t e g o r i e s . The prop o r t i o n s f o r women are roughly the same except that Kwawu women have a s l i g h t l y higher than n a t i o n a l p r o p o r t i o n i n c r a f t c a t e g o r i e s , 11.3 percent versus the n a t i o n a l 10.3 percent. They are much more h i g h l y represented i n domestic s e r v i c e occupations than Kwawu men or e i t h e r men or women i n the t o t a l labour f o r c e . Approximately 2.3 (Kwawu) 95 percent of employed Kwawu women are employed i u s e r v i c e , sport and r e c r e a t i o n , w h i l e the proportions f o r Kwawu men, a l l men, and a l l women, are 1.3, 2.5, and 1.6 percent r e s p e c t i v e l y . In general the pr o p o r t i o n of the Kwawu employed p o p u l a t i o n which i s engaged i n blue c o l l a r occupations i s lower than i n the Ghana employment d i s t r i -b u t i o n . The percentages i n the above seven paragraphs were c a l c u -l a t e d from Ghana P o p u l a t i o n Census,, "Selected Occupation of Employed Persons (Aged 15 and Over) by Sex and T r i b e (Major groups)", S p e c i a l Report E,Tribes i n Ghana, t a b l e 26, pa£es 114-115, A c c r a , 1964. They i n d i c a t e c e r t a i n trends of Kwawu oc c u p a t i o n a l preferences. Kwawu tend to be represented i n some occupations more r e l a t i v e to the whole p o p u l a t i o n of Ghana, and i n some occupations l e s s . They tend to f a -vour p r o f e s s i o n a l , t e c h n i c a l , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e and c l e r i c a l occupa-t i o n s . They are w e l l represented i n e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l occupations. They are l e s s represented i n a g r i c u l t u r a l occupations w i t h the notable ex-ce p t i o n of cocoa farming. This cash cropping a c t i v i t y takes l e s s year round p h y s i c a l e f f o r t , r e q u i r e s a f a i r b i t of planning and y i e l d s high r e t u r n s . These p r o f i t s tend to be r e a l l o c a t e d , supporting p e t t y e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l a c t i v i t i e s such as t a x i d r i v i n g , t a i l o r i n g and shop keeping. The Kwawu do not tend to f i l l manual s k i l l e d or u n s k i l l e d occupations except those which have been regarded t r a d i t i o n a l l y as having higher p r e s t i g e - attached to them, such as palm wine tapping and Kente weaving. The Kwawu might as a group r a t e higher than the whole of Ghana on an occupational p r e s t i g e s c a l e . (Kwawu) 96 T h i s o c c u p a t i o n a l s t r u c t u r e i n d i c a t e s a Kwawu p r e f e r e n c e f o r o c c u p a t i o n s w h i c h a r e more commonly f o u n d i n c i t i e s , o r i n t h o s e v i l l a g e s w h i c h have elements o f w e s t e r n u r b a n i z a t i o n such as t a x i t r a n s p o r t and shops and o r g a n i z a t i o n s r e q u i r i n g c l e r i c a l l a b o u r . The r e p u t a t i o n Kwawu have f o r b e i n g good t r a d e r s i s s u b s t a n t i a t e d by two s e t s o f d a t a . The f i r s t , o ut o f a s m a l l p o p u l a t i o n w i t h i n Ghana t h e y have a g r e a t e r c o n c e n t r a t i o n o f t r a d i n g o c c u p a t i o n s , and u n l i k e most o t h e r G h a n a i a n s , few Kwawu o u t s i d e t h e Kwahu a r e a , a r e engaged i n o t h e r o c c u p a t i o n s s u c h as f a r m i n g . Second, t h e y a r e s u c c e s s f u l , and t h i s i s more i m p o r t a n t t h a n a b s o l u t e numbers, when i t comes t o r e p u t a t i o n s . I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o keep t h e s e o c c u p a t i o n a l t e n d e n c i e s i n mind when l a t e r e x a m i n i n g m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n s o f i n -d i v i d u a l s . VPPCR VOLTA DAGABA NANKANSI AND GUCENSE A/AMMAN ^BUSANGA LOBl- v C. A L & A <3> VAGALA-0 A/ N u 5 / 10 5 0 SCALS IN Mll.es 0) V n _ Co K * A DELE. -NTGUBU -MTWUMU&U (HCHUMURU) "EWE •BOWL/ 8L/EA4 •AKPAFU SAW TROKOF/ •Lf/KPE -W103/ -NKONYA ) LOG8A ! Z4/=V ~A VAT/ME NYANC30 KWAWL/ -AA/UM-BOSCh AX WAMU, 8' lAof As-.7* 0 TO O In GHANA O' CHAPTER THREE B The Urban Area Accra P h y s i c a l and S o c i a l Environment The Environment to Which Some Kwawu Migrate (Accra) 98 In v i l l a g e s t u d i e s one i s normally d e a l i n g w i t h people of only one t r i b e . In towns one meets people from a dozen d i f f e r e n t t r i b e s i n the course of the day...ministers of r e l i g i o n , Muslim teachers, primary school teachers, c i v i l s e r v a n t s , bank c l e r k s , dispensex's, n a t i v e doctors, ''cow-boys" ( i d l e young men), t h i e v e s , p o l i c e informers, good-time g i r l s (rah rah g i r l s ) , t r a d i t i o n a l blacksmiths, s k i l l e d a r t i s a n s d e a l i n g w i t h E u c l i d earth-moving equipment and d i e s e l locomotives, l a b o r a t o r y a s s i s t a n t s , s e l f - c o n f e s s e d w i t c h e s , r i c h t r a d e r s . . . m u l t i p l e forms of segmentation and s t r a t i f i c a t i o n . ^ The C i t y In order to provide u s e f u l data to examine the Information-d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e c e r t a i n questions must be asked of the area to which most Kwawu migrants go. What i s the human p o p u l a t i o n , and i t s major i n d u s t r i a l a c t i v i t i e s ? What p r o p o r t i o n of the popula-t i o n migrated there? From where d i d they come? How many are from Kwawu? What are the occupations of Kwawu and other migrants? What t r a v e l and trade l i n k s are there w i t h Kwawu? How f a r i s i t by r a i l ? By road? I n short what are the Accra-Kwawu communication l i n k s ? Accra i s the c a p i t a l of Ghana. I t has a po p u l a t i o n of 388,396 according to the 1960 census. I t s major i n d u s t r i e s are r e -l a t e d to i t s p o s i t i o n as nerve center f o r p o l i t i c s and commerce. I t i s served by Tema, a sea-port, and most occupations are of a l i g h t i n d u s t r i a l , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e , or c l e r i c a l nature. 1. Gamble, David P., "Kenema, A growing town i n Mende Country." B u l l e t i n , S i e r r a Leone Geographical S o c i e t y , May 1964, p. 254. (Accra) 99 One of the most comprehensive descriptions of Accra was published by lone Acqua i n 1958, Accra Survey. He notes the follow-ing ethnic migrant occupational structure: It w i l l be seen that the majority of farmers and f i s h e r -men were Gas and Adangmes. Of the 14% Gas and 14% Adangmes, more than 10% were fishermen. The manufacturing i n d u s t r i e s composed f o r the most part s e m i - s k i l l e d and s k i l l e d workers. They came mainly from t r i b e s from southern Ghana and Ashanti. In the b u i l d i n g {rade, t r i b e s from southern Ghana pre-dominated 5 followed by t r i b e s from Ashanti. (p. 65) In the public service occupations, t r i b e s from Northern Ghana contributed almost as many persons as did Southern Ghana and Ashanti t r i b e s . They were engaged as p o l i c e -men or i n u n s k i l l e d work (sanitary labourers, watchmen and messengers). Lacking education, i t i s i n e v i t a b l e that persons from these northern t r i b e s should be con-f i n e d to such work. Tribes from Southern Ghana and Ashanti contribute on the other hand ; the educated workers i n c l e r i c a l , executive and administrative posts, (p. 66) Another source of data about Accra i s Birmingham et a l . (1966: 101) who state: . . . i n the s p e c i f i c case of Accra the endowment of human c a p i t a l f ar outruns i t s share of the urban population of the country. Only 25% of the urban population of Ghana l i v e d i n Accra CD. i n 1960 but i t contained 34% of per-sons who had attended i n s t i t u t i o n s of further education, 52% of the directors and managers, 58% of the bookkeepers, accountants and cashiars. The concentration of human cap-i t a l i n the Accra area i s much less i n respect of tech-n i c a l s k i l l s , mechanics, and d r i v e r s , although the per-centage of e l e c t r i c i a n s i n the regions i s equal to that of a l l people with higher education. The c i t y cf Accra i s on the A t l a n t i c coast. It was a f i s h -ing v i l l a g e comprising Ga people. See Map 3, "Predominant Tribe i n (Accra) 100 the Area" on page 97. Ga speakers belong to a language group Ga-Adangbe, q u i t e d i s s i m i l a r to Akan. Ga-Adangbe i n c l u d e Krobo who neighbor Akuapem on the west and Ewe on the east. See Diagram 4, " C a t e g o r i z a t i o n of Spoken Kwawu" on page 137. Ga-Adangbe are s a i d to have come from the Congo and N i g e r i a . Their language and s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e are more r e l a t e d to Yoruba than Akan. They may have come both overland and v i a the ocean. They are good boatmen and fishermen, and t r a d i t i o n a l t a l e s speak of them a r r i v i n g from the south by sea, q u i t e w i t h i n the probable sea route from N i g e r i a . Akan on the other hand are s a i d to have come from the North. The s t o r y of how Accra was named was r e l a t e d to me by an Okyeame, or Akan l i n g u i s t . The Ga c a l l e d themselves a f t e r a c e r t a i n ant — i n the Adangbe language c a l l e d Ga. This ant l e f t everyone alone i f not provoked, but i f d i s t u r b e d would be a formidable enemy. The Ga c a l l e d themselves such. When the Europeans came to the coast they met f i r s t w i t h the F a n t i , f u r t h e r west, who speak Akan. The same ant i n Akan i s c a l l e d Nkran" and the F a n t i s c a l l e d that the place of the ant, Nkran'. Over the years as the Portuguese, Dutch, and B r i t i s h mispronounced the name, the place became known as Accra. S t i l l , i n Twi i t i s c a l l e d Nkrang. Accra became the c a p i t a l of the Gold Coast under B r i t i s h r u l e , and although not o r i g i n a l l y populated by the most dominant group, the Akans, i t was soon populated by strangers from Europe and from a l l p a r t s of A f r i c a . ( A c c r a ) 101 The 1960 census does not i n c l u d e t h e e t h n i c c a t e g o r i z a t i o n o f towns. However, e t h n i c d i s t r i b u t i o n o f r e g i o n s i s p r o v i d e d . A c c r a r e g i o n i n Ghana i n c l u d e s t h e c i t y and s u r r o u n d i n g a r e a s . About 80% of t h e p o p u l a t i o n i n A c c r a R e g i o n l i v e i n A c c r a o r Tema. I n t h a t r e g i o n a r e 10,920 Kwawu p e r s o n s . T h i s i s t h e l a r g e s t number of them o u t s i d e the 104,130 w i t h i n t h e E a s t e r n R e g i o n w h i c h c o n t a i n s Kwawu. S l i g h t l y more t h a n h a l f , 52.0% of t h o s e Kwawu i n A c c r a Re-g i o n a r e men. T h i s i s f a r above the n a t i o n a l a v e r a g e o f 47.9% and the E a s t e r n R e g i o n p r o p o r t i o n of 4 6,8%. The r e l a t i v e l y h i g h r a t i o o f Kwawu men t o Kwawu women i n A c c r a R e g i o n i n d i c a t e s o c c u p a t i o n a l p r e f e r e n c e . I t i s c o n t r a s t e d t o A s h a n t i R e g i o n t h e o n l y r e g i o n where Kwawu women outnumber Kwawu men (m = 4 9 . 8 % ) , p o s s i b l y due to t h e a t t r a c t i o n s o f Kumasi m a r k e t i n g , t h e g r e a t e r need o f Kwawu wo-men f o r c u l t u r a l f a m i l i a r i t y , g r e a t e r o p p o r t u n i t y f o r male f i l l e d o c c u p a t i o n s i n A c c r a , o r a c o m b i n a t i o n of t h e s e . Those Kwawu women who do go t o A c c r a , f o r t h e most p a r t go t o t r a d e i n one of t h e l a r g e open a i r m a r k e t s such as Makola market. One l e s s e r known market i n A c c r a i s a t Kwawu c o r n e r , where one can go t o meet market t r a d e r s , l o r r y d r i v e r s , and a s s o c i a t e d p e o p l e t o l e a r n t h e l a t e s t g o s s i p of Kwawu. A m i n i a t u r e e x p a t r i a t e Kwawu com-m u n i t y i s i n the m i d d l e o f A c c r a . I t i s not w i t h i n t h e scope o f t h e p r e s e n t endeavour t o examine Kwawu c o r n e r t o any d e p t h , s u f f i c e t o n o t e t h a t i t e x i s t s and s e r v e s t o f a c i l i t a t e t h e Accra-Kwawu com-m u n i c a t i o n s y s t e m s . D i f f e r e n t i a l Access to Schooling by Tribe Accra, 1954 Percentage of Estimated Actual C h i l d Estimated Estimated Proportion of Child Population C h i l d Popula-Percentage of Population Children of Population Attending t i o n Attending Accra Popula- i n Accra, 6-5 i n group, 6-15 i n School School i n Tribe t i o n i n 1948* 1954** 1948* 1954*i!:* 1954**** 1951***** Ga 51.6 99,100 22.9 22,700 20,594 91.0 Ewe 11.1 21,300 19.5 4,150 1,656 40.0 Fan t i 5.2 9,900 20.5 2,050 1,957 96.0 Nigerian 4.7 9,000 13.4 1,200 769 64.0 Hausa 3.4 6,500 13.1 850 609 72.0 Ashanti 1.7 3,200 18.6 600 436 72.0 Adangbe 2.8 5,400 22.0 1,200 1,253 Akuapem 2.2 4,200 18.4 750 717 96.0 Kwahu 2.0' 3,800 20.9 800 112 14.0 Zabarima 1.8 3,400 5.0 150 0 Others 13.5 25,900 T o t a l 191,000 * Computed from Gold Coast Census of Population ** Based on the assumption that population proportions remained constant and using 191,000 as the estimated population for 1954, calculated to the nearest hundred. Assuming 1948 proportions, calculated to the nearest f i f t y . Derived from Acqua. ***** Calculated to the nearest whole number. Source: Foster (1965:120). (Accra) 103 Comparison of Characteristics of the Population of Ghana and that of Three Largest Towns, 1960 ( A l l Figures as Percentages) Ghana Accra Kumasi Sekondi Takoradi Age Groups: (as proportion of a l l population) 0-14 15-24 25-44 45-64 65+ Sex Ratios; A l l population 25-44 years age Birthplace: (as proportion of a l l population) Same Region Another Region Another Country Schooling: (as proportion of a l l i n age group) 6-14 years of age Never Past Present 15+ years of age Never Past Present Economic A c t i v i t y : (as proportion of a l l over 15 years of age) Unemployed Employed Employed i n Agriculture 45 17 26 o 3 102 101 80 12 8 56 4 40 80 16 4 4 69 62 39 22 29 8 2 114 152 51 32 17 31 3 66 52 41 7 10 63 3 42 23 20 6 1 112 143 58 30 12 41 4 56 62 32 6 8 69 7 40 21 30 8 1 117 152 66 18 16 2 60 58 36 6 9 65 7 Continued ( A c c r a ) 104 Comparison o f C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e P o p u l a t i o n o f Ghana and t h a t o f Three L a r g e s t Towns, 1960 ( c o n t i n u e d ) ( A l l F i g u r e s as P e r c e n t a g e s ) S e k o n d i Ghana A c c r a Kumasi T a k o r a d i Economic A c t i v i t y ; ( c o n t i n u e d . . . ) (as p r o p o r t i o n o f f e m a l e s o v e r 15 y e a r s o f age) Females f u l l y o c c u p i e d w i t h home d u t i e s 36 32 32 41 Sou r c e : Birmingham, W.I. N e u s t a d t , E.N. Omaboe, A Study o f Contem-p o r a r y Ghana, Volume One, Some A s p e c t s o f S o c i a l S t r u c t u r e . George A l l e n and Unwin, London, 1966, page 199, T a b l e 3:11. (Accra) 105 Accra exists i n the minds of Kwawu v i l l a g e r s . I t beckons to them with i t s busy streets, cosmopolitan population and urban attractions. Kwawu individuals may not see the s o c i a l structure of Accra the same way as presented i n the tables i n this chapter, but they know i t i n their own terms. Every day Accra seems to c a l l . In the lo r r y park drivers and their mates c a l l , "Accra, Cra.; Cra, Cra." The t r a i n goes to Accra. The two newspapers come from Accra, The wireless i s broad-cast from Accra. The store goods come from Accra. The j e t s overhead w i l l land i n Accra. The cocoa i s sent to Accra. A l l this i s i n f o r -mation that every potential migrant absorbs i n his personal benefit-cost perspective. CHAPTER THREE C The I.D.A. P e r s p e c t i v e Versus the Ethnographic Information Information: Sources Modes Content ( I n f o r m a t i o n ) 106 An i n d i v i d u a l i n t h e s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l environment o f Kwawu i s exposed t o much i n f o r m a t i o n r e l e v e n t t o m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n making. He i s i n an a r e a where h i s t o r i c a l l y t h e r e has been much m o b i l i t y . He can speak a l a n g u a g e , T w i , u n d e r s t o o d by p e o p l e t o t h e So u t h , West, and N o r t h of him. S o c i a l s t r u c t u r e i n t h e s e a r e a s a r e r e l a t e d , and even t h o s e t o t h e e a s t a r e not so d i s s i m i l a r so as t o make him f e e l u n c o m f o r t a b l e . He grows up i n a s o c i a l e n v i r o n m e n t where e n t r e p r e i i e u r s h i p i s emphasised. O c c u p a t i o n s he i s f a m i l i a r w i t h a r e more f r e q u e n t l y t r a d i n g ; o r i f a g r i c u l t u r a l , c o c o a c a s h c r o p p i n g r a t h e r t h a n t r a d i t i o n a l s u b s i s t e n c e c r o p p i n g . He i s exposed t h r o u g h s c h o o l , t h r o u g h i m m i g r a n t s i n c l e r i c a l p o s i t i o n s > t h r o u g h newspaper and r a d i o , and t h r o u g h r e l a t i v e s t h a t have gone and come, to v a r i o u s a s p e c t s o f c o m m e r c i a l u r b a n l i f e . To t h e n o r t h - w e s t i s Kumasi a town of Akans, and t o t h e s o u t h i s a l a r g e c o s m o p o l i t a n c i t y , A c c r a . B o t h t h e s e o f f e r a t t r a c t i o n s and a l s o c o s t s . He com-b i n e s t h e i n f o r m a t i o n he has about t h i s s o c i a l and p h y s i c a l e n v i r o n -ment w i t h t h e i n f o r m a t i o n he has about h i s own c a p a b i l i t i e s and d e s i r e s , so as t o d e c i d e i f he w i l l r e m a i n i n Kwawu o r go e l s e w h e r e . CHAPTER FOUR Kwaku the Blacksmith D e c i s i o n Some Notes on a Personal H i s t o r y (Kwaku) 107 The cause of a s o c i a l o r i n d i v i d u a l phenomenon i s n e v e r a n o t h e r s o c i a l o r i n d i v i d u a l phenomena a l o n e , but a l w a y s a c o m b i n a t i o n o f a s o c i a l and an i n d i v i d u a l phenomenon."'' The I n d i v i d u a l No one p e r s o n i s t y p i c a l o f m i g r a n t s o r Kwawu. I t w o u l d be v a l u a b l e , however, t o examine i n d e p t h the v a l u e s and c o n s i d e r a -t i o n s o f a number of i n d i v i d u a l s l i v i n g i n r e l a t i v e l y r u r a l a r e a s who a r e p o t e n t i a l urban m i g r a n t s . T h i s would n e c e s s i t a t e a r a t h e r com-p l i c a t e d methodology. Q u e s t i o n n a i r e s a l o n e might not b r i n g a v a l i d r e s u l t as a s t r o n g empathy between o b s e r v e r and p o t e n t i a l m i g r a n t w o u l d be needed t o b r i n g out t h e h i g h l y p e r s o n a l o p i n i o n s and a t t i -t u d e s upon w h i c h t h e l a t t e r b ased h i s c h o i c e . T h i s i s n o t t o say t h a t C a l d w e l l ' s (1969) s t u d y of u r b a n i s a t i o n i s i n v a l i d , but p r i v a t e c o n s i d e r a t i o n s o f c o s t s and b e n e f i t s n o t e a s i l y a d m i t t e d t o a s t r a n -ger w o u l d be even more d i f f i c u l t t o e l i c i t by t h e f o r m a l and o f f i c i a l -l o o k i n g q u e s t i o n n a i r e . Yet i n the i n d i v i d u a l based I n f o r m a t i o n -d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e t h e s e v e r y c o n s i d e r a t i o n s a r e f u n d a m e n t a l . I t w o u l d be u s e f u l i f i t were p o s s i b l e t o make a d e t a i l e d s t u d y o f a number o f m i g r a n t s and n o n - m i g r a n t s w i t h r e g a r d t o s u c h f a c t o r s as e x t e n t and t y p e of e d u c a t i o n , t h e i n f o r m a t i o n upon w h i c h t h e y a c t e d and i t s v a l i d i t y , t h e economic and c u l t u r a l c l i m a t e o f the 1. Thomas, W.I. and F l o r i a n Z u a n i c k i , P o l i s h P e a s a n t i n Europe and A m e r i c a , N.Y., A l f r e d Knopf, 1927. R e p r i n t e d by Dover, 1958, V o l . 1, p. 44. (Kwaku) 108 c i t i e s c h o s e n , the e x t e n t t o w h i c h some had a l r e a d y been exposed t o u r b a n i z a t i o n by p r e v i o u s v i s i t s , and numerous o t h e r i m p o r t a n t v a r i -a b l e s . T h i s w o u l d r e q u i r e a t l e a s t a y e a r o f r e s i d e n c e i n a r u r a l a r e a , o b t a i n i n g t h e t r u s t and t h e c o n f i d e n c e o f a number of p o t e n t i a l m i g r a n t s , and n o t i n g t h e i r c o n s i d e r a t i o n s and f o l l o w i n g t h r o u g h t h e i r moves t o more urban a r e a s . U n t i l I c a n make s u c h a s t u d y i t i s n e c e s s a r y f o r me t o r e l y on o t h e r s o u r c e s o f d a t a as census s t a t i s -t i c s , p r e v i o u s s t u d i e s , and p e r s o n a l r e c o l l e c t i o n s o f a f r i e n d s h i p w i t h one p a r t i c u l a r , t r a n s i t i o n a l p e r s o n , Kwaku. H i s d e c i s i o n i s a m b i v a l e n t ; b o t h t o go and t o r e m a i n . I met Kwaku when I was t e a c h i n g economics a t S t . P e t e r ' s Secondary S c h o o l , i n N k w a t i a , Kwawu. The s c h o o l i s a Roman C a t h o l i c m i s s i o n s c h o o l , s u p p o r t e d by t h e Ghana Government. D u r i n g t h e week t h a t I j o i n e d t h e s t a f f , t h e headmaster asked Kwaku t o come and r e -p a i r some p l u m b i n g f i x t u r e s i n my s t a f f bungalow. Kwaku and I became c l o s e f r i e n d s . He t a u g h t me most of what I know of t h e Twi l a n g u a g e and we sp e n t a l o t c f t i m e t o g e t h e r when I was n o t t e a c h i n g and he was n o t b l a c k s m i t h i n g . I i n t r o d u c e d him t o t h e w e s t e r n p a s t i m e o f t r a v e l l i n g o n l y f o r t h e sake o f t r a v e l l i n g , o f s e e i n g t h e c o u n t r y -s i d e , and o f m e e t i n g o t h e r p e o p l e . We went as f a r as Cote d ' l v o i r e where we met some f r i e n d s he had n o t seen f o r many y e a r s . He ta u g h t me many o f t h e f i n e r p o i n t s o f Akan e t i q u e t t e and I came t o a p p r e -c i a t e t h e c o u r t e s y , g r a c i o u s n e s s , and d i p l o m a c y o f West A f r i c a n s . Kwaku does not r e m a i n anonymous i n t h i s s t u d y , and as a r e s u l t I must (Kwaku) 109 s u p p r e s s a number o f b e n e f i t and c o s t c o n s i d e r a t i o n s w h i c h he had o c c a s i o n to make. I choose Kwaku as an i n d i v i d u a l i n t h i s c h a p t e r on d e c i s i o n s b ecause he r e p r e s e n t s a t y p e , a n example, and a f r i e n d w i t h o u t whom I w o u l d have had l i t t l e u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f Kwawu. H i s Name H i s f u l l name i s P e t e r Kwaku Boateng. He i s sometimes a d d r e s s e d as Otomfuo. P e t e r i s h i s C h r i s t i a n name and i s most com-monly used by t h e C a t h o l i c m i s s i o n a r i e s . A few of t h e Am e r i c a n s and o t h e r 'Europeans' a t N k w a t i a would c a l l him P e t e . One o f t h e Cana-d i a n s a t t h e s c h o o l dubbed him 'Pete t h e Plumb' and t h e name i s s t i l l u s e d . Kwaku i s h i s day name. L i k e most Akans,Kwaku had an o u t d o o r i n g ceremony on t h e e i g h t h day a f t e r he was b o r n . The A.kans have a seven day week and b e i n g b o r n on a Wednesday, he was a d m i t t e d t o b e i n g hu-man on t h e f o l l o w i n g Wednesday when he had l i v e d one f u l l r o u nd o f weekdays. So he was c a l l e d Kwaku, t h e name g i v e n t o males b o r n on Wednesday. Boateng i s what he c a l l s h i s f a m i l y name. U n l i k e t h e Europeans who have a p a t r i l i n e a l surname, t h e Akans who a r e m a t r i l i n e a l , have no surname, n e i t h e r a r e t h e y a d -d r e s s e d a c c o r d i n g to t h e i r abusua o r m a t r i c l a n . However t h e y do have names o t h e r t h a n t h e i r day names. D u r i n g Kwaku's o u t d o o r i n g ceremony, h i s f a t h e r gave him t h e name Boateng. Ke was th u s named a f t e r a man whom h i s f a t h e r a d m i r e d and w i s h e d Kwaku t o e m u l a t e . T h i s man got the name Boateng i n a l i k e manner f r o m h i s f a t h e r . F a c e d w i t h European (Kwaku) 110 nomenclature when f i l l i n g out forms, most Akans give t h i s kind of name as a surname. Kwaku thus says h i s family name i s Boateng. He i s sometimes addressed as Otomfuo which means "black-smith", an occupation i n West A f r i c a which preceded by three hundred years the bringing of the knowledge of the manufacture of i r o n to Eur-ope by missionaries from the middle east. The name, Otomfuo, r i g h t l y belongs only to those who reduce i r o n oxide to i r o n , but Kwaku who only works with i r o n , but does not produce i t , i s s t i l l c a l l e d Otomfuo. The People He Knows Kwaku has a wife by a Catholic marriage. He i s separated from her and the missionaries report a lawyer i n Rome i s t r y i n g to have the marriage annulled. Kwaku never t o l d me t h i s ; I found i t out v i a a mutual f r i e n d . He presently has a wife, Ama, by a t r a d i -t i o n a l marriage, and t h i s i s accepted by the missionaries who would marry them i f his previous, barren marriage became annulled. When he speaks of h i s wife he re f e r s only to Ama, by whom he has three chil d r e n . His Work Three apprentices l i v e with him. Their f a m i l i e s have g i -ven Kwaku some t r a d i t i o n a l g i f t s , a fowl, some a l c o h o l and a small sum of money. He provides t h e i r food and teaches them some s k i l l s on (Kwaku) 111 t h e f o r g e and a n v i l and w i t h h i s p l u m b i n g t o o l s . I n r e t u r n t h e y h e l p Kwaku w i t h the l a b o u r r e q u i r e d t o r u n h i s shop and s e l l any t o o l s and a r t i f a c t s t h a t t h e y make. H i s Home Kwaku's home town, T a f o , i s a v i l l a g e on t h e escarpment. He has h i s b l a c k s m i t h shop i n Nkawkaw. I t i s i n a compound s h a r e d by a number o f o t h e r a r t i s a n s and c r a f t s m e n : a w e l d e r , a p a i n t e r , an e l e c t r i c i a n , a n a u t o m o t i v e mechanic. They each a c c e p t v a r i o u s j o b s and r e f e r t o t h e i r compound mates t h o s e j o b s o r p a r t s of j o b s w h i c h they cannot do. Kwaku once r e n t e d a room i n Nkawkaw, b u t now he has c o m p l e t e d b u i l d i n g a house on the o u t s k i r t s o f t h e town. U n l i k e t h e e n c l o s e d w a l l e d compound common to Akan v i l l a g e s , Kwaku has b u i l t a house w h i c h r e s e m b l e s t h e bungalows i n t h e m i s s i o n s f r o m t h e o u t s i d e . The i n s i d e i s d e s i g n e d l i k e the more common Akan houses. When he goes t o T a f o he s t a y s i n a house b e l o n g i n g t o h i s m a t r i c l a n . I t i s a b out f o u r t e e n m i l e s f r o m Nkawkaw to T a f o and about t w e l v e m i l e s f r o m Nkawkaw t o N k w a t i a , a l s o on t h e s c a r p where Kwaku came to f i x my p l u m b i n g . H i s T r a i n i n g Kwaku d i d n o t f i n i s h m i d d l e s c h o o l . He can r e a d and w r i t e i n T w i , u s i n g t h e Roman a l p h a b e t d e v e l o p e d by t h e B a s e l m i s s i o n a r i e s A/OAPTH KWAHU aun AFRAM PLAINS SOUTH KWAHU SKETCH OF THE KWAHU T&AD/T/ONAL AREA (Kwaku) 112 i n Akuapem. He speaks Kwawu-Twi and can make himself understood i n other Akan dialects including the distan t l y related Agni i n Cote d'lvoire. He speaks a few sentences of Hausa, Ga and pidgin French. He does not speak as fluent English as an educated Ghanaian. He seldom uses pidgin English unless speaking to Northerners or Niger-ians. Instead he speaks his own form of English with a f a i r l y l i m i -ted grammar and vocabulary;, but admirably f l e x i b l e and expanded by his use of ingenious circumlocutions, r e f l e c t i n g his a b i l i t y to be a n a l y t i c a l , observant and patient. He might be cal l e d a l i t e r a t e , educated, though unschooled, man. He learned blacksmithing as an apprentice, and l a t e r , upon becoming a Catholic, learned plumbing s k i l l s from a Catholic bro-ther. He feels rather obligated to the Catholic missions but his feelings appear somewhat ambivalent. His feeling of obligation re-f l e c t s the t r a d i t i o n a l , Akan regard of an art i s a n for his master, but he does not relate this regard to an ind i v i d u a l brother. The Catholic missionaries have, seemingly, many aspects of the Akan matriclan — they address each other as "Father"', "Brother", or "S i s t e r " , and l i v e together but do not marry. Kwaku projects his t r a d i t i o n a l obligations of his master onto the lineage of his master. They do not respond, however, i n quite the same ways as members of an Akan matriclan. Since there i s more p r o f i t i n plumbing than i n blacksmith-ing, he t r i e s to buy plumbing fixtures but they are scarce i n Nkawkaw. (Kwaku) 113 Such b u s i n e s s e n t e r p r i s e r e q u i r e s a t r i p t o A c c r a , 104 m i l e s f r o m Nkawkaw, i n v o l v i n g , about t e n t o t w e l v e h o u r s t r a v e l l i n g t i m e i n a Benz p a s s e n g e r bus. Under t h e c i r c u m s t a n c e s he u s u a l l y c o n t i n u e s b l a c k s m i t h i n g . The C a t h o l i c m i s s i o n a r i e s i n Nkawkaw, t h o s e a t n e a r b y N k w a t i a , and the S i s t e r s a t the h o s p i t a l i n Nkawkaw, h i r e him on c o n t r a c t f o r t h e i r p l u m b i n g j o b s . The same Order i n t h e C a t h o l i c c h u r c h sends s i s t e r s t o r u n a h o s p i t a l , and a F a t h e r t o r u n a c h u r c h n e a r b y i n Nkawkaw. I t sends F a t h e r s to r u n a s c h o o l a t N k w a t i a . T h e r e i s a m i s s i o n and a m i d w i f e r y a t T a f o , Kwaku's home town, and t h e r e a r e m i s s i o n s , t r a i n i n g i n s t i t u t e s , s c h o o l s , m i d w i f e r i e s , hos-p i t a l s , and numerous o t h e r m i s s i o n a c t i v i t i e s o f t h e S o c i e t y of t h e D i v i n e Word (S.V.D.) and M i s s i o n a r y S i s t e r s S e r v a n t s of t h e H o l y S p i r i t (S.S.p.S.) O r d e r , i n o t h e r r e g i o n s i n Ghana. Kwaku has worked a t a few o f t h e s e , i n c l u d i n g t h e h e a d q u a r t e r s a t A c c r a , and t h e m i s s i o n where he was t r a i n e d . To my knowledge he has n o t worked a t t h e S e v e n t h Day A d v e n t i s t h o s p i t a l i n Mpraeso, w h i c h i s on t h e r o a d between the C a t h o l i c m i s s i o n s i n T a f o , N k w a t i a , and Nkawkaw. When he works f o r m i s s i o n s he u s u a l l y works f o r C a t h o l i c ones.. They o f t e n p r o v i d e him w i t h the n e c e s s a r y p l u m b i n g f i x t u r e s but pay him what he c o n s i d e r s low f e e s . He o f t e n makes h i m s e l f " s c a r c e 5 ' by b e i n g a t a f u n e r a l or a t a n o t h e r j o b when th e m i s s i o n a r i e s send word t h a t he i s needed. O f t e n he i s a v a i l a b l e as soon as he i s c a l l e d , and, a t o t h e r t i m e s , h i s excuses mean o n l y d e l a y as he e v e n t u a l l y r e p o r t s JAS/KAN % £ A S T c " # / V \ £ £ G / ON KOFOP/OUA VILLAGES /A/ T/VE KWAWU AREA (Kwaku) 115 f o r work. Such h e s i t a t i o n s , d e l a y s and e v e n t u a l r e v e r s a l s a r e due t o t h e s o c i a l and economic p r e s s u r e s put upon him t o s u c c e e d as an e n t r e p r e n e u r . Kwaku's p r e s e n t w i f e , Ama, i s f r o m T a f o . When Kwaku r e n t e d a s t o r e on the main s t r e e t o f Nkawkaw she s t a y e d i n i t . P r i o r t o t h a t she s t a y e d i n a compound room w h i c h Kwaku r e n t e d b e f o r e he s t a r t e d b u i l d i n g h i s house. D u r i n g the day Kwaku c o u l d n o t be arou n d the s t o r e . He was u s u a l l y a t h i s shop, o r out d o i n g p l u m b i n g j o b s , o r a t t e n d i n g v a r i o u s f u n c t i o n s i n t h e d i s t r i c t . I t i s n o t an unmixed b l e s s i n g t o have a non-wage e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l a r t i s a n o c c u p a t i o n . He i s f r e e t o l e a v e a t any time w i t h o u t a s k i n g p e r m i s s i o n from an em-p l o y e r , but h i s r e l a t i v e s and f r i e n d s know t h i s and demands f o r f u n -e r a l and s u c h f u n c t i o n s a r e made a c c o r d i n g l y . Most Akan men f e e l o b l i g e d t o g i v e t h e i r w i v e s some money as c a p i t a l so t h a t t h e y may t r a d e . Kwaku has g i v e n Ama some money t o buy i n g r e d i e n t s f o r p a s -t r i e s , and she o f t e n buys and r e s e l l s b r e a d o r canned goods. As she must s t a y a t the s t o r e she cannot go t o t h e l a r g e open a i r market t o s e l l . I n h i s s t o r e she a l s o s e l l s p l u m b i n g f i x t u r e s o r v a r i o u s t o o l s s u c h as k n i v e s , l a d l e s , and hoes, made by Kwaku and t h e a p p r e n t i c e s . Kwaku makes t h e s e i n r e s p o n s e to an a n t i c i p a t e d demand. A t t h e open-i n g o f t h e r a i n y s e a s o n he makes hoes f o r t h e f a r m e r s t o buy when th e y s t a r t t e n d i n g t h e i r l a n d . He makes t h e o t h e r t o o l s when he sees t h a t t h e y w i l l s e l l w e l l . Ama s e l l s them a t the s t o r e , and s i t s o u t s i d e s e l l i n g t h e b r e a d o r canned goods. W h i l e Kwaku was b u i l d i n g (Kwaku) 116 the house and c o u l d n ' t a f f o r d t o r e n t a n o t h e r room t h e y l i v e d i n t h e s m a l l back room of t h e s t o r e . S i n c e t h e house became h a b i t a b l e t h e y have moved t h e r e . Most Akan women a r e e x p e c t e d t o c a r e f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n . Because t h e r e i s no fa r m l a n d a v a i l a b l e i n Nkawkaw, Ama cannot f a r m to r a i s e f o o d so she must depend on h e r p r o f i t s from s e l l i n g a t t h e s t o r e t o buy f o o d f o r t h e c h i l d r e n . Kwaku and Ama e a r n more t h a n many Kwawu, a l t h o u g h not as much as p r o f e s s i o n a l s , a d m i n i s t r a t o r s , and s u c c e s s f u l c o c o a f a r m e r s . A l t h o u g h he makes no outward s i g n s , Kwaku must c a l c u l a t e c o n s t a n t l y as an e n t r e p r e n e u r . The j o b s t h a t Kwaku g e t s a t h i s shop a r e i r r e g u l a r i n f r e q u e n c y and r e m u n e r a t i o n . H i s b l a c k s m i t h i n g b u s i -n ess may be s l a c k and h i s f u n d s low and he w o u l d be more prone t o t a k i n g a l o w e r p a i d j o b . T h i s w o u l d be more l i k e l y i f , a t t h e same t i m e he had i n c u r r e d some o b l i g a t i o n s s u c h as g i v i n g g i f t s a t b i r t h s o r f u n e r a l s . O f t e n one o f t h e p r i e s t s would t a k e him t o A c c r a t o g e t p a r t s f o r t h e p l u m b i n g j o b , and he c o u l d use t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o go to a l s o p u r c h a s e p l u m b i n g p a r t s w i t h what s p a r e c a s h he has s a v e d , so as to do o t h e r j o b s i n Nkawkaw. H i s monetary r e m u n e r a t i o n i n t a k i n g a j o b a t a m i s s i o n would be l o w , compared t o some s m i t h i n g j o b s a t h i s shop. However i f i t i n v o l v e s s u p p l e m e n t i n g h i s a b i l i t y t o do p l u m b i n g j o b s o u t s i d e o f the m i s s i o n he w i l l be more i n c l i n e d t o t a k e t h e m i s s i o n j o b . (Kwaku) 117 Kwaku and t h e p r i e s t s w o u l d n o t put i t t h i s way. They might s a y t h a t he has c e r t a i n o b l i g a t i o n s to t h e c h u r c h . The p r i e s t s m i g h t see t h o s e o b l i g a t i o n s i n terms o f h i s r e l i g i o u s o b l i g a t i o n s . Kwaku might see t h o s e o b l i g a t i o n s i n terms of o b l i g a t i o n s t o h i s f o r m e r m a s t e r ' s c l a n . He doesn't c o m p l a i n t o t h e p r i e s t s about low r e m u n e r a t i o n , b u t he l e t s i t be known. The p r i e s t s have m e n t i o n e d t h a t Kwaku does n o t seem t o be c h a r g i n g as much as t h e y might have e x p e c t e d . They would c e r t a i n l y n o t o f f e r t o pay him more i f he makes a low b i d . They might e x p l a i n h i s low b i d s by s a y i n g t h a t he i s c h a r g i n g a c c o r d i n g t o a wage s t r u c t u r e o f many y e a r s ago b e f o r e i n f l a t i o n when he was t r a i n e d . S i n c e t h e y have a s m a l l budget and must maximise t h e y would not f i n d i t t o t h e i r a d v a n t a g e t o o f f e r Kwaku a h i g h e r p r i c e i f he makes a low b i d . Kwaku i s an e n t r e p r e n e u r h a l f - w a y between h i s r u r a l v i l -l a g e o f T a f o . and the C i t y o f A c c r a . He i s h a l f - w a y between t h e abusua s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e o f h i s h i s t o r y , and. c a p i t a l i s t and C h r i s t i a n s o c i e t y o f t he w e s t e r n w o r l d . Kwaku l i v e s i n a t r a n s i t i o n a l s t a t e g e o g r a p h i -c a l l y , c u l t u r a l l y , s o c i a l l y , and e c o n o m i c a l l y . He i s a r u r a l u r b a n m i g r a n t i n so much as he l e f t KwawuTafo t o go t o Nkawkaw. He i s not a r u r a l u r b a n m i g r a n t i n so much as he was exposed t o l i f e and be-came f a m i l i a r w i t h t h e c i t y ways of A c c r a but chose n o t t o m i g r a t e t h e r e . H i s r u r a l - - u r b a n m i g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n was not a s i m p l e go/no-go d e c i s i o n b u t i n v o l v e d and i s i n v o l v i n g many complex f a c t o r s . The m i -g r a t i o n d e c i s i o n i s o n l y one of a whole complex o f d e c i s i o n s t h a t make up h i s l i f e i n an u r b a n i z i n g e n v i r o n m e n t . CHAPTER FOUR B Kwaku and the Information-Decision-Action P e r s p e c t i v e D e c i s i o n s : P r e d i c t i o n or Explanation? (Kwaku) 118 Kwaku and the I.D.A. Some questions a r i s e as to the a p p l i c a b i l i t y of putting i n only one example i n a formal a n a l y s i s . The keynote here i s "ex-ample" i n t h i s case, because the Information-decision-action pers-pective (I.D.A.) c a l l s for t r a c i n g through many facets of decisions of a number of people. Kwaku i s used here as a demonstration. How then does I.D.A. perspective, as an abstract, apply to an i n d i v i d u a l ? Can i t be used to predict future a c t i o n , or explain past action? Given enough examples of past data and past a c t i o n , could future ac-t i o n of an i n d i v i d u a l be plotted? Kwaku was born i n Tafo, a small v i l l a g e . He l i v e s i n Nkawkaw, a much larger commercial town. He has had some experience i n Accra the c a p i t a l , and a few other West A f r i c a n towns. Was his move from Tafo to Nkawkaw rural-urban migra-tion? Is his present series of t r i p s to Accra part of rural-urban migration? W i l l he develop closer l i n k s with Accra? Could those c l o s e r l i n k s , or longer stays be understood as urban migration? W i l l he move to Accra? Is competition too great there, or costs too high f o r a permanent move? Would he then consider an intermediate sized a l t e r n a t i v e : Kumasi? W i l l he return to Tafo? These questions could be answered by f i e l d work. It i s here possible only to examine b r i e f l y the a p p l i c a b i l i t y of the four basic hypotheses to what i s known about this one i n d i v i d u a l . (Kwaku) 119 Costs of Remaining (Hypothesis 1) Kwaku i s not what could be c l a s s e d as a m i s f i t . Costs a s s o c i a t e d w i t h o s t r a c i s m are low. He completed a few years of p r i -mary school but the que s t i o n , as i n Chapter Two, of doing w e l l or doing p o o r l y i n school cannot here be used as an ex p l a n a t i o n of a d e c i s i o n to migrate. Kwaku i s i n t e l l i g e n t but not a genius. His school career d i d not r e s u l t i n many observable c o s t s . The same a p p l i e s to r e l i g i o u s conversion. Kwaku i s very pragmatic. He be-came a C a t h o l i c and h i s d e c i s i o n was n e c e s s a r i l y mixed w i t h h i s t r a i n -i n g as a plumber. Yet conversion to C a t h o l i c i s m i n h i s v i l l a g e i s not something which leads to ost r a c i s m c o s t s . Costs of r u r a l l i f e d i d r i s e f o r Kwaku as he became more i d e n t i f i e d w i t h town l i v i n g due to blacksmith and plumbing t r a i n i n g . U n l i k e most Tafo r e s i d e n t s , farming plays a very small part i n Kwaku's thoughts, a s p i r a t i o n s , or a c t i v i t y . Substantive costs of farming per se d i d not r i s e f o r Kwaku, as i n the t h i r d hypothesis of Chapter Two, but the cost of "being a farmer" could w e l l have been higher f o r him. Kwaku was f a r from being a c r i m i n a l l e a v i n g Tafo to avoid costs of a s s o c i a t e d p e n a l t i e s . B e n e f i t s of M i g r a t i n g (Hypothesis 2) Kwaku learned about many "urban" things as a r e s u l t of h i s a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h the Brothers. Increased urban i n f o r m a t i o n as i n (Kwaku) 120 C h a p t e r Two r e s u l t e d i n f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h u r b a n l i f e f o r him. Know-l e d g e , even o f t h e p i t f a l l s , was an a s s e t f o r him and c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e m i g r a t i o n b e n e f i t a g g r e g a t e . H i s t r a i n i n g , e d u c a t i o n and e x p o s u r e t o c o s m o p o l i t a n l i f e s t y l e s i n c r e a s e d h i s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h u r b a n l i f e s t y l e s and r e s u l t e d i n a r e - i d e n t i f i c a t i o n such t h a t he v a l u e d income a s s o c i a t e d w i t h u r b a n l i f e . C i t y l i f e had more b e n e f i t s i n t h e f o r m of f a m i l i a r Kwawu customs i n most of Nkawkaw, and i n an a r e a o f A c c r a c a l l e d Kwawu C o r n e r , or Kwawu M a r k e t , t o w h i c h he t o o k me, he has many a c q u a i n t a n c e s . Kwaku d i d n o t see w o r k i n g f o r a f i r m , f o r wages, as an unmixed b e n e f i t . He l i k e d w o r k i n g f o r t h e p r i e s t s , but w o u l d n o t c o n s i d e r b e i n g employed i n a f i r m . He f e l t he would be t o o t i e d by wages. The monetary income was v a l u e d , but above a l l he p r e f e r r e d the independence o f e n t r e -p r e n e u r s h i p . T h i s c o n s i d e r a t i o n may have been an i m p o r t a n t f a c t o r i n h i s g o i n g f r o m T a f o t o Nkawkav?, b u t n o t a l l t h e way t o A c c r a , where i t was more d i f f i c u l t t c e s t a b l i s h ar. i n d e p e n d e n t s m i t h shop. The e f f e c t o f p r o x i m i t y on the d e c i s i o n ( C a l d x ^ e l l , 1968) as n o t e d i n C h a p t e r Two, i s d i f f i c u l t t o a s s e s s i n the c a s e o f one i n d i v i d u a l . Kwaku's " c l o s e n e s s " t o t h e c i t y i s more e a s i l y e x p l a i n e d as s o c i a l p r o x i m i t y , t h r o u g h C a t h o l i c c h u r c h c o n t a c t s , or l o r r y f a r e s , r a t h e r t h a n as t h e 100 m i l e s o r so t o A c c r a . o r t h e 12 m i l e s from T a f o t o Nkawkaw, w h i c h c o n s t i t u t e t h e g e o g r a p h i c measures of p r o x i -m i t y . The f a c t o r o f i n c r e a s e d i n f o r m a t i o n seems t o a c c o u n t f o r most of t h e " b e n e f i t o f m i g r a t i n g " . v a l u e of h i s d e c i s i o n . T h i s was more (Kwaku) 121 i m p o r t a n t t h a n e d u c a t i o n i n i t s f o r m a l i n s t i t u t i o n a l c o n t e x t , as p r e d i c t e d i n C h a p t e r Two. B e n e f i t s o f Remaining ( H y p o t h e s i s 3) Kwaku, as mentioned above, d i d n o t i d e n t i f y h i m s e l f as a f a r m e r . H i s income, i n terms o f s u b s t a n t i v e and p s y c h o l o g i c a l a c -q u i s i t i o n r e l a t e d t o f a r m i n g , was t h e r e f o r e l ow i n T a f o . A bad c r o p t h e r e f o r e c o u l d not a c c o u n t f o r Kwaku's move to Nkawkaw. D i s l i k e o f f a r m i n g c o u l d . C a l d w e l l ' s f i n d i n g s n o t e d above, are. s u b s t a n t i a t e d , b e c a u s e Kwaku, due to h i s p l u m b i n g and s m i t h i n g a c t i v i t i e s had a h i g h e r income r e l a t i v e t o h i s T a f o p e e r s . Kwaku d i d n o t c l a i m abusua ( m a t r i c l a n ) l a n d i n T a f o , f i n d i n g enough non-farm income i n Nkawkaw. He d i d a r r a n g e t o get a s m a l l p l o t of l a n d o u t s i d e Nkawkaw however, where he b u i l t a d i s t i n c t l y n o n - A f r i c a n (not e x a c t l y but somewhat r e s e m b l i n g Western) house t o l i v e i n w h i l e he worked a t h i s shop i n Nkawkaw. F a l l i n g f a r m income cannot e x p l a i n Kwaku's m i g r a t i o n so much as the i d e n t i f i c a t i o n w i t h a n o n - r u r a l o r i e n t e d l i f e s t y l e . C o s t s of M i g r a t - i n g ( H y p o t h e s i s 4) T r a v e l f o r t h e sake of t r a v e l was a n o v e l c o ncept t o Kwaku when I s u g g e s t e d we t a k e a two-week h o l i d a y and t r a v e l t o t h e Cote d ' l v o i r e . He was e x c i t e d by the new i d e a o f t o u r i s m and gave h i s w i f e enough money t o l a s t , and away we went. But I f o u n d t h a t t r a v e l (Kwaku) 122 f o r o t h e r r e a s o n s was n o t f o r e i g n t u Kwaku o r o t h e r Kwawu. En r o u t e we met many r e l a t i v e s and a c q u a i n t a n c e s , some he had seen when as a c h i l d h i s f a t h e r had t a k e n w i t h him w h i l e t r a v e l l i n g t o t r a d e , o t h e r s who had s i n c e m i g r a t e d f r o m Kwawu. I n e v e r y town o r v i l l a g e we went, where t h e r e was some c o m m e r c i a l a c t i v i t y we met Kwawu, m o s t l y t r a -d e r s , b u t some c l e r k s and minor o f f i c i a l s . H o s t o f them i n d i c a t e d t h a t t h e y had gone t h e r e f r o m Kwawu. Ver y few were b o r n e l s e w h e r e . Kwaku had grown up i n an environment o f much g e o g r a p h i c a l m o b i l i t y r e l a t e d t o commerce. Y e t T a f o i t s e l f seemed a q u i e t , u n e x c i t i n g town. P e o p l e he knew had t r a v e l l e d . F o r him t h e c o s t o f m i g r a t i n g w o u l d be low r e l a t i v e t o what i t wou l d be f o r someone i n a more i s o -l a t e d v i l l a g e . F a m i l i a r i t y w i t h urban l i f e s t y l e s , and w i t h r e s i d e n c e away f r o m the n a t a l v i l l a g e e n s u r e d s u c h low costs,, and i n terms o f the I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e ( I . D . A . ) , r e s u l t e d i n a h i g h e r v a l u e . The F i t of t h e Model lio a b s t r a c t , o r g e n e r a l i t y a g r e e s e n t i r e l y w i t h examples of an i n d i v i d u a l n a t u r e . However, c e r t a i n d i s p a r i t i e s f r o m t h e I.D.A. i n Kwaku's c a s e , a p a r t from t h o s e m e n t i o n e d above, c a l l f o r a r e -e x a m i n a t i o n o f t h e p e r s p e c t i v e . The most i m p o r t a n t v a r i a n t i s t h e "once o n l y " n a t u r e of the p e r s p e c t i v e . Kwaku d i d n o t s i m p l y l i v e i n T a f o and d e c i d e t o go o r not go t o A c c r a . He was exposed t o v a r y i n g (Kwaku) 1 2 3 f a c e t s o f urban l i f e many t i m e s . He p r e s e n t l y l i v e s a t an i n t e r -m e d i a t e u r b a n a r e a , Nkawkaw, b u t has been i n c r e a s i n g h i s communica-t i o n w i t h A c c r a . T h i s i s no s i m p l e d i c h o t o m y , R u r a l - U r b a n , b u t a p r o c e s s o f f i n d i n g o ut how t o l i v e i n an i n c r e a s i n g l y c o s m o p o l i t a n w o r l d . T h e r e a r e many i n t e r m e d i a t e p o i n t s and no a b s o l u t e s a t e i t h e r end. A n o t h e r i m p o r t a n t d i f f e r e n c e i s the v a r i a n c e between t h e d e c i s i o n as i t i s made by an i n d i v i d u a l , and t h e l o g i c o f i t s s o l u -t i o n . The p r o c e s s o f d e c i d i n g happens o v e r t i m e w h i l e t h e d e c i s i o n f o r m u l a o f f e r e d h e r e i s a s t r u c t u r e w i t h i n w h i c h v a r i a b l e s can a l t e r o v e r t i m e . The f i n a l d i f f e r e n c e has t o do w i t h n e t and g r o s s m i g r a -t i o n . L o o k i n g a t n e t m i g r a t i o n s t a t i s t i c s o f t e n o v e r l o o k s t h e p r o -c e s s o f an i n d i v i d u a l ' s moving back and f o r t h , f r o m v i l l a g e t o c i t y and town as Kwaku d i d , and does. The p i c t u r e one g e t s f r o m only-s t u d y i n g a g g r e g a t e s d i f f e r s f r o m t h a t w h i c h one g e t s f r o m s t u d y i n g one i n d i v i d u a l i n t h a t same p r o c e s s . CHAPTER FIVE Where to Go? A c t i o n Kwawu Net M i g r a t i o n P a t t e r n s A D e m o n s t r a t i o n Model (Where to Go) 124 Limited empirical data do not support the hypothesis that migration is proportional to the population of the city of destination, nor that i t is inversely pro-portional to the distance of migration."'' The I.D.A. perspective consists of three parts: Informa-tion, Decision, Action. Chapter Three, Four and Five attempt to give Kwawu examples of each of those three parts. Chapter Three indicates the information available to a Kwawu about the rural and urban areas. Chapter Four gives an example of a particular i n d i v i -dual's decision process. This chapter attempts to focus on the aggregate action of Kwawu to see i f such demographic data, as avail-able, i s useful for examining the individual decision making process. It seeks to ask where have Kwawu people migrated, and in the light of the I.D.A. perspective, "why"? From the perspective a demonstra-tion model is constructed to test this data. Kwawu have migrated to every region in Ghana, and within each to almost every census enumeration area. They have also l e f t the country to go to Nigeria, Cote d'lvoire, Togo, Dahomey, Great Britain and America. It is d i f f i c u l t here to estimate the number of Kwawu who go to each area outside Ghana. However i t is possible to indicate where they have gone within Ghana, using the 1960 census. The Kwawu developed as a separate ethnic entity in what is now the Eastern Region, in two census enumeration areas: North Kwahu and 1. Stewart, Charles T.,"Migration as a Function of Population and Distance", American Sociological Review, Vol. 25, June 1960, pp. 347-356. (Where t o Go) 125 South Kwahu. The whole o f Kwawu t r a d i t i o n a l s t a t e l i e s w i t h i n t h e s e two a r e a s . The t a b l e p r o v i d e d i n d i c a t e s t h e r e g i o n s t o w h i c h Kwawu o r t h e i r r e c e n t a n c e s t o r s have m i g r a t e d . L o o k i n g a t t h e t a b l e i t becomes o b v i o u s t h a t Kwawu have n o t gone i n e q u a l numbers t o each r e g i o n i n Ghana. I f an e x p l a n a -t i o n i s o f f e r e d f o r t h i s d i f f e r e n t i a t i o n i n d i s t r i b u t i o n , by draw-i n g on a f a m i l i a r i t y w i t h t h e a r e a , c e r t a i n f a c t o r s m i ght be i s o l a t e d by b e i n g made e x p l i c i t . These f a c t o r s m i ght t h e n be i n t r o d u c e d i n t o t h e I n f o r m a t i o n - d e c i s i o n - a c t i o n p e r s p e c t i v e as I n f o r m a t i o n a v a i l a b l e t o a d e c i s i o n maker, and a d e m o n s t r a t i o n model c o u l d be g e n e r a t e d f r o m t h e p e r s p e c t i v e . These f a c t o r s c o u l d t h e n be t e s t e d a g a i n s t an i n d i c a t o r o f A c t i o n so as to d e v e l o p a p r e d i c t i v e t o o l . Most Kwawu l i v e i n the E a s t e r n R e g i o n . The e a s t e r n R e g i o n c o n t a i n s the census e n u m e r a t i o n r e g i o n s N o r t h Kwahu and Sou t h Kwahu, i n w h i c h t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s t a t e o f Kwawu d e v e l o p e d . I f Kwawu have m i g r a t e d t o o t h e r p a r t s o f t h e E a s t e r n R e g i o n i t may be p a r t i a l l y e x p l a i n e d by s o c i a l and g e o g r a p h i c a l p r o x i m i t y o f t h e a r e a s . W i t h i n t h e E a s t e r n R e g i o n o u t s i d e o f Kwahu, one would e x p e c t Kwawu t o m i -g r a t e t o t h e l a r g e s t town, K o f o r i d u a , and t h i s i s t h e c a s e . A p a r t from t h e t r a d i t i o n a l a r e a , most Kwawu, 2,360, l i v e i n New Juaben i n w h i c h K o f o r i d u a i s s i t u a t e d , o r i n E a s t Akim Abuakwa, 2,500, w h i c h b o r d e r s South Kwahu. Most o f the p e o p l e o f the E a s t e r n R e g i o n a r e Akans and speak d i a l e c t s o f Twi w h i c h a r e s i m i l a r to t h e Kwawu d i a -l e c t . G e o g r a p h i c a l p r o x i m i t y and urban a t t r a c t i o n s a c c o u n t f o r much m i g r a t i o n . Regional Distribution of Kwawu in Ghana Region Ghana total Eastern Region Accra Region Ashanti Region Western Region Brong Ahafo Volta Region Norther Regions No. of Kwawu 1948 79,313 69,647* 2,686 3,198 2,437* 239 759 67 No., of Kwawu 1960 131,970 104,130 10,920 8,590 3,840 2,748 1,490 2.60 Notes % Kwawu who are male (1960) 47.9% 46.8 52.0 49.8 Region of Origin Major urban area Most:similar, social structure, f a i r l y urban, borders Kwawu Related social 56.3 structure, f a i r l y urban, further away Similar social 51.7 structure, rural, further away Different social 53.4 structure, borders Kwawu, rural. Very different cul- 61.5 ture, most distant, rural Urban % Pop. i n centers 5,000+ (1960) 23% 20 80 25 26 16 13 Source: Ghana Census 1948 (p. 131). Ghana Census 1960. Last column: Birmingham et a l . , 1967, Vol. 2, p. 47, Table 1:15. Eastern Region in 1948 included Birim (K=67,285) and Akuapem New Juaben (K=2,262). Western Region i n 1948 included Ahanta Nzima (K=257), Cape Coast (1,456), Sefui (86) and Wassaw-Aowin (640). (Where t o Go) 1 2 7 The r e g i o n w i t h the second l a r g e s t number of Kwaxvu i s t h e A c c r a R e g i o n . I t i s v e r y s m a l l i n a r e a b u t i t i n c l u d e s the' c i t y o f A c c r a . W i t h i n t h i s r e g i o n Kwawu a r e more l i k e l y t o go t o the c i t y t h a n t o Ga-Dangbe and S h a i r u r a l o u t s k i r t s . The r e g i o n i s the t r a -d i t i o n a l home of Adangbe groups w h i c h a r e q u i t e d i s t i n c t l i n g u i s t i -c a l l y and c u l t u r a l l y f rom Akan. The b i g g e s t i n d i c a t o r o f t h i s i s t h a t the Adangbe groups a r e p a t r i l i n e a l w h i l e Akan a r e m a t r i l i n e a l . The c i t y i t s e l f , however, i s more c o s m o p o l i t a n , and about o n e - f i f t h o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n a r e Akan s p e a k e r s . The f a c t o r s a c c o u n t i n g f o r Kwawu m i g r a t i o n t o A c c r a a r e o v e r w h e l m i n g l y f a c t o r s c o n n e c t e d t o i t s u r b a n c h a r a c t e r , f o l l o w e d by i t s d i s t a n c e t o Kwawu and the e x t e n t o f f a m i l i a r l i f e s t y l e s i n the c i t y . The r e g i o n w i t h the t h i r d l a r g e s t number o f Kwawu i s the A s h a n t i R e g i o n . T h i s r e g i o n has even c l o s e r h i s t o r i c a l and c u l t u r a l t i e s w i t h Kwawu t h a n o t h e r p a r t s of t h e E a s t e r n R e g i o n . Most o f t h e Kwawu who do go t h e r e , go t o Kumasi the second l a r g e s t c i t y i n Ghana. A g a i n , u r b a n a t t r a c t i o n s c o u p l e d w i t h s o c i a l and g e o g r a p h i c a l p r o x i -m i t y h e l p t o e x p l a i n why t h e r e a r e fewer Kwawu i n the A s h a n t i R e g i o n t h a n i n t h e A c c r a R e g i o n and t h e E a s t e r n R e g i o n , b u t more Kwawu t h a n i n the r e m a i n i n g r e g i o n s . Note the r a t i o s o f men to women. Kwawu women outnumber t h e men. The d i f f e r e n c e i s g r e a t e s t a t t h e p o i n t o f o r i g i n . More men m i g r a t e t h a n women. Women a r e more l i k e l y t o t r a v e l t o t r a d e . They t e n d more to t r a v e l t o a r e a s w h i c h have o u t d o o r mar-k e t s , famous i n Ghana f o r t h e i r w e a l t h y "market mammies". Kwawu (Where t o Go) 128 women who do t r a v e l t o t r a d e a r e more a t t r a c t e d t o markets w h i c h a r e g e o g r a p h i c a l l y and s o c i a l l y p r o x i m a t e t o t h e i r home. Kwawu men, even t r a d e r s a r e n o t as a t t r a c t e d t o o u t d o o r markets o f t h e t r a d i t i o n a l s o r t . I f t h e y m i g r a t e t o t r a d e t h e y s e t up s m a l l r e t a i l shops r a t h e r t h a n t r a d e i n open a i r m a r k e t s . Thus Kwawu women outnumber Kwawu men i n t h e A s h a n t i and E a s t e r n R e g i o n s . A n o t h e r r e a s o n f o r t h e d i f f e r -ences i n t h e ma l e - f e m a l e r a t i o s i s t h a t t h e men m i g r a t e t o a r e a s w h i c h have fewer e t h n i c s i m i l a r i t i e s , s u c h as A c c r a , because t h e y a r e a t -t r a c t e d t o c e r t a i n o c c u p a t i o n s s u c h as s h o p k e e p i n g and c l e r i c a l work, w h i c h do n o t r e q u i r e t he c o m f o r t and s e c u r i t y p r o v i d e d by w e l l known p a t t e r n s o f i n t e r a c t i o n as i n Akan o u t d o o r m a r k e t s . Where the men outnumber t h e women t h e most i s i n t h e N o r t h e r n R e g i o n s where few Kwawu m i g r a t e , where customs a r e most u n f a m i l i a r , and where urban o p p o r t u n i t i e s a r e the f e w e s t . The r e g i o n where t h e f o u r t h l a r g e s t Kwawu p o p u l a t i o n has gone i s the Western R e g i o n . Akans s u c h as t h e F a n t i and t h e Nzima l i v e i n the Western R e g i o n , and t h e s e a r e about as s i m i l a r t o the Kwawu as a r e t h e Boron and t h e A g n i ( A n y i ) who l i v e i n the Brong A h a f o R e g i o n . However t h e Western R e g i o n i s on t h e c o a s t , has had more h i s t o r i c a l e x p o s u r e to and c o n t a c t w i t h Europe, and i s more u r b a n . Faced w i t h two a r e a s w h i c h a r e a p p r o x i m a t e l y t h e same d i s t a n c e away, and a p p r o x i m a t e l y as s i m i l a r i n customs and l a n g u a g e , the Kwawu t e n d t h e n t o move t o t h e a r e a w h i c h i s more urb a n . Thus the Brong Ahafo R e g i o n i s f o u r t h on t h e s c a l e i n T a b l e IV.1 w h i l e the Western R e g i o n i s t h i r d . (Where t o Go) 1 2 9 The V o l t a R e g i o n i s an i n t e r e s t i n g a r e a . T h i s r e g i o n b o r d e r s p a r t l y on Kwawu and i s g e n e r a l l y q u i t e c l o s e . However, r e l a t i v e l y few Kwawu have m i g r a t e d t o t h a t r e g i o n . W i t h i n the r e -g i o n , fewer Kwawu have m i g r a t e d t o t h e more u r b a n c o a s t a l s o u t h , and more have m i g r a t e d t o Buem--Krachi i n the n o r t h . The Kwawu m i -g r a t i o n d i f f e r e n t i a l h e r e must be e x p l a i n e d by c u l t u r a l s i m i l a r i t y r a t h e r t h a n by d i s t a n c e o r urban o p p o r t u n i t i e s . Most o f t h e p e o p l e i n t h e V o l t a r e g i o n a r e Ewes. Many a r e Ga-dangbe and many a r e Guan. These groups have languages and customs w h i c h a r e v e r y d i f f e r e n t f r o m Akan t r i b e s such as Kwawu. Only i n Buem-Krachi i s t h e r e a l a r g e p r o -p o r t i o n o f Akans, t h e K r a k y e . I t i s q u i t e easy f o r a Kwawu l i v i n g on t h e A f r a m p l a i n s i n N o r t h Kwahu, t o c r o s s t h e l a k e and l i v e i n Buem. The a r e a s t o w h i c h the l e a s t number o f Kwawus m i g r a t e a r e i n t h e N o r t h e r n R e g i o n . A l m o s t t w i c e as many Kwawu men as Kwawu women go t c t h e N o r t h e r n R e g i o n s . These a r e a s a r e r e l a t i v e l y v e r y r u r a l . They a r e the f u r t h e s t i n Ghana from Kwawu and the p e o p l e d i f f e r t h e most f r o m Kwawu i n language and customs. L o o k i n g a t t h i s d e s c r i p t i v e a c c o u n t o f t h e d i f f e r e n c e s i n Kwawu m i g r a t i o n , t h r e e i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s seem t o be most e v i d e n t . These v a r i a b l e s can be seen as i n f o r m a t i o n p e r c e i v e d by t h e i n d i v i d u a l d e c i d i n g where o r i f t o m i g r a t e . These v a r i a b l e s a r e : 1) t h e e x t e n t to w h i c h each a r e a o f f e r s u r b a n b e n e f i t s , 2) the e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e c o s t o f g e t t i n g t h e r e i s l o w , and 3) the e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e c u l t u r e (VThere t o Go) 130 o f each a r e a i s s i m i l a r to the c u l t u r e o f t h e home a r e a , I t i s d i f f i c u l t t o d e c i d e a t t h i s p o i n t w h i c h v a r i a b l e i s most i m p o r t a n t b u t t h e degree o f urban o p p o r t u n i t i e s seems t o a c c o u n t f o r t h e g r e a t -e s t p a r t o f t h e m i g r a t i o n . The e x t e n t t o w h i c h the h o s t a r e a s a r e s i m i l a r i n s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e t o t h e home a r e a seems t o be more i m p o r -t a n t f o r Kwawu women t h a n f o r Kwawu men. Combining t h e h y p o t h e s e s w i t h a l i m i t o f f o u r v a r i a b l e s , a d e m o n s t r a t i o n model c a n be c o n s t r u c t e d . U s i n g some e l e m e n t a r y r e -g r e s s i o n t e c h n i q u e s t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p between a c t i o n and i n f o r m a t i o n can be i n d i c a t e d . T h i s xrould be e x p r e s s e d i n the form o f Y = f (X , X , X ) . L e t t h e dependent v a r i a b l e be t h e number o f Kwawu JL A _> who m i g r a t e t o a p a r t i c u l a r a r e a . L e t t h e t h r e e i n d e p e n d e n t v a r i a b l e s be: e x t e n t t o w h i c h t h e a r e a s a r e ur b a n , d i s t a n c e t o t h e a r e a f r o m Kwawu, and t h e degree t o w h i c h Kwawu may be f a m i l i a r w i t h the l a n -guage and customs o f the a r e a . G i v e n t h e n a t u r e . o f t h e v a r i a b l e s and the s o u r c e s o f t h e d a t a , t h e i n d i c a t o r s o f t h e s e f o u r v a r i a b l e s must be d i s t o r t i o n s and r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s o f t h e v a r i a b l e s . A few of t h e s e d i s t o r t i o n s a r e l i s t e d h e r e . No census d a t a on r e c a n t m i g r a t i o n s e x i s t . The 1960 census l i s t s t h e number o f Kwawu i n 69 r e g i o n s o f Ghana, b u t does no t i n d i c a t e t h e p r o p o r t i o n who have m i g r a t e d i n each o r who have been b o r n i n each. However 5 u s i n g the t o t a l number of Kwawu i n each r e -g i o n r a t h e r t h a n o n l y the number who have m i g r a t e d t o an a r e a , does not r e s u l t i n a s e r i o u s m i s r e p r e s e n t a t i o n f o r two r e a s o n s . F i r s t , (Where t o Go) 131 t h e Kwawu d e v e l o p e d f a i r l y r e c e n t l y as an i n d e p e n d e n t group s e p a r a t e f r o m t h e A s h a n t i o r o t h e r Akan who formed the Kwawu. Thus t h e t o -t a l number o f Kwawu i n each r e g i o n r e p r e s e n t t h e p e o p l e o r progeny of p e o p l e who have m i g r a t e d t o each p o s t - c o l o n i z a t i o n census d i v i -s i o n . S e c o n d 3 the i n d i c a t o r , i f used i n r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s i s more v a l u a b l e i f c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e d i f f e r e n t i a l o r v a r i a t i o n i n i m m i g r a -t i o n t o each o f t h e a r e a s , r a t h e r t h a n t o t h e a b s o l u t e number o f m i -g r a n t s . Thus a r e l a t i v e l y h i g h Kwawu p o p u l a t i o n i n any r e g i o n o t h e r t h a n Kwawu i n d i c a t e s a l s o a r e l a t i v e l y h i g h m i g r a t i o n t o t h a t a r e a . The e x t e n t t o w h i c h a r e g i o n i s urban must a l w a y s be an a p p r o x i m a t i o n when u s i n g census d a t a . D e n s i t y may not be v a l i d because a v e r y u r -ban a r e a may be i n c l u d e d w i t h i n b o u n d a r i e s encompassing v a s t unoccu-p i e d a r e a s . F o r p u r p o s e s o f a p p r o x i m a t i o n however, a cr u d e i n d i c a t o r c o n s i s t i n g o f t h e p e r c e n t a g e o f p e o p l e l i v i n g i n c e n t e r s o f over some a r b i t r a r y number o f p e o p l e i s s u f f i c i e n t . T h i s i s r e a s o n a b l e as l o n g as t h e b o u n d a r i e s encompass s i m i l a r g e o g r a p h i c a l a r e a s and p o p u l a t i o n s . As a r o u g h measure of t h e d i s t a n c e f r o m Kwawu t o each r e g i o n , a s t r a i g h t l i n e d i s t a n c e , measured on t h e map, fr o m the c e n t e r o f Kwawu t o t h e c e n t e r o f each r e g i o n i s i i d e q u a t e . S t r a i g h t l i n e d i s t a n c e s a r e not t h e same as economic d i s t a n c e s . Roads a l m o s t never go i n s t r a i g h t l i n e s . C o s t s o f t r a v e l p e r m i l e a r e much lo w e r i n S o u t h e r n Ghana t h a n i n N o r t h e r n Ghana due t o a more e f f i c i e n t i n f r a s t r u c t u r e . T h i s a g a i n i s not a s e r i o u s d i s t r a c t i o n t o t h e model so l o n g as t h e i n d i c a t o r i s t o be used f o r r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s . What i s i m p o r t a n t (Where t o Go) 132 S i m p l e C o r r e l a t i o n T a b l e Index o f Kwawu M i g r a t i o n i n Ghana A g a i n s t S e l e c t e d C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f Ghanaian Census E n u m e r a t i o n A r e a s Number of Kwawu % of Kwawu D i s t a n c e i n d e x , (map s t r a i g h t l i n e s ) -0.299 -0.423 I n v e r s e d i s t a n c e i n d e x 0.404 0.529 T o t a l p o p u l a t i o n 0.580 0.027 Number of Akan Speakers 0.200 0.056 Number o f Twi Speakers 0.216 0.133 Number o f Akan Speakers p l u s Twi Speakers 0.570 0.219 P e r c e n t o f Akan s p e a k e r s 0.024 0.163 P e r c e n t o f Twi s p e a k e r s 0.150 0.254 P e r c e n t Twi p l u s Akan 0.172 0.338 No. i n d i v i d u a l s r e s . i n c e n t e r s o v e r 5,000 pop. 0.812 0.308 No. i n d i v i d u a l s r e s . i n c e n t e r s o v e r 10,000 pop. 0.780 0.322 Number o f wage employed i n d i v i d u a l s 0.778 0.274 Index o f urban s i z e (Sum o f above t h r e e ) 0.802 0.316 % i n d i v i d u a l s r e s . i n c e n t e r s o v e r 5,000 pop. 0.328 0.454 P e r c e n t a g e i n d e x o f u r b a n s i z e 0.303 0.413 N u m e r i c a l M i g r a t i o n Index: (Akan + Twi s p e a k e r s ) ( P o p . o v e r 5,000 + Pop, o v e r 10,000 + Wage E a r n e r s ) ( d i s t a n c e ) 0.853 0.311 EXPECTED SCA TTEPG&AM ASSOC/AT/ONS B,%>0 B3>0 1 0 1 . • bi FAM/L/AP/TY OFKWAHU mm CUSTOMS*SOCIAL STPUCTUPE IN EACH APEA NOTE:-SIMPLE L/NEAP PE6PESS/0/VS ONLY. -MULT/PLE WEAP PE6PESS/0N /S MOT Sb'/TABLE FOP W0 0/MENS/OMAl 6PAPK/CAL gEPPESENTATJOM. (Where to Go) 134 i s not the absolute distance but the r e l a t i v e d i f f e r e n c e s i n d i s -tances between the p o t e n t i a l choices open to an i n d i v i d u a l . The same a p p l i e s to an i n d i c a t o r of s i m i l a r i t y of language and h a b i t s . The percentage of people i n each area who speak Akan d i a l e c t s i s only an approximation of the degree to which a Kwawu migrant may be fam-i l i a r w i t h the c u l t u r e . People who speak Nzima i n the Western Re-gion would be c l a s s e d as Akan yet have more d i f f e r e n t customs than have the Akuapem who are c l o s e r to the Kwawu both s o c i a l l y and g e o g r a p h i c a l l y s yet both are cl a s s e d as Akan. For r e g r e s s i o n analy-s i s to be v a l i d the i n d i c a t o r s must i n d i c a t e the degree to which the v a r i a b l e s vary w i t h each observation which i s not n e c e s s a r i l y the absolute measure of the v a r i a b l e . The dependent v a r i a b l e i s the extent of Kwawu m i g r a t i o n to each area as i n d i c a t e d by the v a r i a t i o n i n numbers of Kwawu i n each area. The independent v a r i a b l e s are. degree to which each area i s urban, distance to each area, and s i m i l a r i t y of c u l t u r e of the people i n each area. The v a r i a t i o n i n these three independent v a r i a b l e s i s measured by: 1) percent of p o p u l a t i o n l i v i n g i n cen-t e r s of over 10,000, 2) distance from the center of Kwawu to the cen-t e r of each area, and 3) percent of the po p u l a t i o n i n each area which speaks an Akan language. The sources f o r each of these i s found i n the 1960 census of Ghana. (Where to Go) Simple L i n e a r Regression Table Kwawu M i g r a t i o n Related to Inverse of Distance of M i g r a t i o n Y = A 2 + Cx 2 Where: Y = Number of Kwawu i n each census enumeration area x,, = Inverse of the d i r e c t l i n e d i s t a n c e from the center of Kwahu to the center of each other census d i v i s i o n = Constant f o r the r e g r e s s i o n C = C o e f f i c i e n t of independent v a r i a b l e x„ 592.4 = A r i t h m e t i c mean of Y 1450 = Standard d e v i a t i o n of Y 1,463 = A r i t h m e t i c mean of x 2 1.064 = Standard d e v i a t i o n of x 2 A = -2.13 (standard e r r o r = 279.2) C = 5^55 (standard e r r o r = 15,480) r 2 = 0.163 F.prob. = 0.0000 (Where to Go) 136 Distance The number of Kwawu in each of the 67 census areas was taken as an indication of the number of Kwawu who had migrated there from the two Kwawu census areas. This was set as the dependent variable. The f i r s t independent variable was distance. As distance from Kwawu increased i t was predicted that fewer Kwawu would mi-grate. See Diagram 3, page 133, Part 2. This was the case. The correlation for Kwawu and distance was -0.30, which is low, but con-sidering the very crude measure of distance, straight lines on a map, this was not surprising. A second independent variable, the inverse of the distance, as measured by the f i r s t method, was correlated with Kwawu and i t was found to be higher: 0.41. This was used for sub-sequent computations. Familiarity The second independent variable, extent to which the area is similar i n social structure to Kwawu, was indicated in an inter-esting way. Greenberg (1965:50) has already shown the relationship between language, identification and social alignment i n multi-lingual urban situations. The number of Akan speakers plus the num-ber of Twi speakers — as noted in the 1960 census document Tribes in Ghana (Special Report E) was used as an indicator. Kwawu-Twi i s a dialect of Twi. Twi is an Akan language. See Diagram 4,"Categori-zation of Spoken Kwawu", on page 137. The indicator thus calculated CATEGO&tZAT/OA/ OF SPOKEN KWAWU AKAN TW/ KWAWU (KWAHU) ASANTE (ASHAA/T!) A//AFO BOgOA/ BAA/DA ASE/V OANKY/QA (DENCMteA) WASA FANT/-TW/ FA NT/ AG ON A NZEMA NZEMA-EVALUE AHANTA ANY/-8AWLE SAHW/ CSEFW/J A Oh//A/ 8AWLE KYOKOSJ GA-ADANGBE GA AOANGBE ADA 5HA/ KWBO EWE 6UAN EFl/TU AWUW KYEPEPONG LAGTE ANUM-BOSO GONGYA (G'ONJA) Y0PU8A /GBO GC/&MA P/IAPA XYAM8U KOMKOA'KA 8/MO8A MOLE DAYOM8A A/ANUA48A WAL6A DAGA8A (DA6A&TE) 81//ISA A/ANKANSI GU&ENS/ HA USA FU/AN/ (Where to Go) 138 was as i f zero p o i n t s were given to each non-Akan speaker, one p o i n t were given to each Akan but non-Twi speaker, and two p o i n t s were g i -ven to each Twi speaker. The aggregate of p o i n t s i n each census area was used as the i n d i c a t o r of the extent to which the area might be f a m i l i a r to a p o t e n t i a l Kwawu migrant. See Diagram 3, page 133, Par t 3. I n t e r e s t i n g l y enough the "Akan" v a r i a b l e c o r r e l a t e d w i t h a c o e f f i c i e n t of 0.20 and the "Twi"' c o r r e l a t e d s l i g h t l y higher w i t h 0.22 but the combined index of e t h n i c s i m i l a r i t y had a c o e f f i c i e n t of 0.57. Ur b a n i z a t i o n S t i l l u sing census enumeration areas, i t was d i f f i c u l t to b u i l d i n an index of u r b a n i z a t i o n and remain t h e o r e t i c a l l y c o n s i s -tent . So f o r each area p o i n t s were again given to i n d i v i d u a l s , as i n the e t h n i c s i m i l a r i t y i n d i c a t o r : zero p o i n t s f o r each person l i v i n g i n centers of l e s s than 5,000 p o p u l a t i o n , one p o i n t i f he l i v e d i n a center of over 5,000 or two p o i n t s i f he l i v e d i n a cen-t e r of over 10,000, and one e x t r a p o i n t i f he earned a wage income no matter where he l i v e d . Thus r e l a t i v e s i z e of urban centers, and a l s o wage employment could be combined as an index of u r b a n i z a t i o n n i. i n each census area. Even though there are other measures of "urban-2. See Map 6, "Geographical D i s t r i b u t i o n of Urban Density" on page 141. This was constructed by c a l c u l a t i n g the percent of popula-t i o n l i v i n g i n centers of over 5,000 po p u l a t i o n using 1960 Census data, and shading each census enumeration area w i t h the a p p r o p r i -ate d e n s i t y . (Where to Go) 139 Simple L i n e a r Regression Table Kwawu M i g r a t i o n Related to S o c i o - C u l t u r a l S i m i l a r i t y Y = A3 + Dx 3 Where: Y = Number of Kwawu i n each census d i v i s i o n , (dependent v a r i a b l e ) = S o c i o - c u l t u r a l s i m i l a r i t y index (independent v a r i a b l e ) i n each census d i v i s i o n a poi n t each per i n d i v i d u a l who: speaks any Akan language speaks Twi D = C o e f f i c i e n t of independent v a r i a b l e , x A^ = Constant f o r the r e g r e s s i o n 592.4 - A r i t h m e t i c mean of Y 1450 = Standard d e v i a t i o n of Y 53670 - A r i t h m e t i c mean of x^ 59260 = Standard d e v i a t i o n of x. (standard e r r o r = 198.6) (standard e r r o r = 0.0025) A = -156.3 D = 0.0140 r 2 = 0.325 F.prob. - 0.0000 (Where to Go) 140 ness'! this indicator should roughly correspond to the variation be-tween the census areas of whatever might be measured as urbanization. See Diagram 3, Part 1, page 133. The number of persons living in centers of over 5,000 correlated with a coefficient of 0.81. This was the highest of the degrees of relationship with Kwawu migration. The number of persons living i n centers of over 10,000 correlated to Kwawu migration with a coefficient of 0.78, a l i t t l e lower. The number of paid employees was just slightly lower than 0.78 (0.7779) and the index of urbanization, used i n further calculations corre-lated with a coefficient of 0.80. The Predictive Index Combining the three indicators into one index which i s the multiple of the degree of urbanness, the extent of ethnic simi-l a r i t y and the inverse of distance, Kwawu migration correlated with a coefficient of 0.85. By combining the three variables into a multiple regression formula a predictive formula was calculated: with Kwawu migration as the dependent variable, the constant was -507.8, the urbanization index independent variable coefficient was 0.01, the inverse of the distance was 0.43 and ethnic similarity was 0.48 with an F probability for the whole equation of 0.0000,but the r squared was 0.74. Combining the indications as the degree of urbanness multiplied by the degree of ethnic similarity divided by the distance from Kwawu, the F probability was again 0.0000 but the 'CAL D/STA?/8L/r/ON OF LW3AN DFMS/TY 1 = #/ £ j£ K Q> 4 f 4 JffS§§ •i-Avr/fA • • • • ruMO i A ftevwm*-1 • • • • • • • • • • • • • J ^ . » • • • • * * • • • 4*w<-*7. ••••••.••••V • • • ^ t ^ ^ S * ^ * " • • • • • • • • 4|

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