Environmental Changes, Women and District Development - A Comparative Study of - Ejura-Sekyedumasi District - Ghana and Sodari District - Sudan
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Date
1997-07-07
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Abstract
It has been suggested that women have a key role in promoting sustainable district development in developing countries including Ghana and Sudan. By not acknowledging women’s existing role as environmental conservationists and potential for district development, governments and international agencies risk losing valuable allies in the fight to conserve the environment and to achieve sustainable development. Some of the most successful examples of sustainable development to date have been built on women’s initiatives, for instance, the Chipko movement in India and the Green Belt in Kenya. Ghana and Sudan have to learn from these experiences.
This study examined the complex relationship of environmental changes, women and district development. Essentially, the study was an attempt to come out with a conceptual model and recommendations to handle the environmental changes affecting women’s development activities and to strengthen women’s role in district development. The study is based on the hypothesis that environmental changes hamper women’s development activities and hence their contributions to district development.
The case study strategy has been adopted for the research. Women’s perceptions, the causes and effects of environmental changes, women’s coping strategies, environmental related institutions and their support for women, women’s groups and their environmental conservation activities, have been selected as the framework for the comparison and were employed during the analysis. A cross-national comparison between Ghana and Sudan was made.
The resulting socio-economic changes include the aggravation of environmental changes and further decline in social and economic status. The well-being, health, and quality of life of women in the two districts are being seriously affected. Environmental changes entail both physical and socio-economic process. It requires integrated analysis with particular emphasis on socio-economic dimension. Based on the results of the study, recommendations have been made in the short and long run for the two districts and for each district separately.
Description
A thesis submitted to the Board of Postgraduate Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the Degree of Master of Science in Development Planning and Management, 1997