Engendering the blue economy : offshore oil extraction and the livelihoods of women in Ghana

Abstract

Ghana's export trends between 2012 and 2017 Gold Crude petroleum Cocoa beans Refined petroleum Coconuts Brazil nuts and cashew nuts stress on social infrastructure (Eduful and Hooper 2015). To the coastal communities in the Western Region, these challenges are an everyday reminder of their disenfranchisement from oil wealth (Osei-Tutu 2012). Livelihoods of women in Ghana"s coastal communities represent a category of the different micro-economic levels of deprivation from oil benefits (Chalfin 2018). The impetus for this study is to build on existing scholarship on oil and gas in Ghana. Many of these tend to focus on explaining different dimensions of the resource curse (e.g., Siakwah 2017; Debra and Graham 2015; Graham et al. 2016; Obeng-Odoom 2013). At this point, only a few studies have attempted to examine the gender disparities embedded in the oil-livelihoods nexus in Ghana (Adusah-Karikari 2015; Overå 2017; Boohene and Peprah 2011). According to Boohene and Peprah (2011), coastal women"s livelihoods are dependent on the ocean and are increasingly becoming vulnerable to diminishing ocean space and fish stocks which is attributed to oil extraction. Adusah-Karikari (2015) adds that while women"s spaces for generating livelihoods are diminishing, women are left without the benefit of alternative options. The thesis builds upon such studies. 1.2. Research Problem, Aims and Objectives This research focuses on Ghana"s Western Coastal Region. The Western Region is endowed with a vast amount of natural resources in comparison to the rest of the country. The region is the largest producer of cocoa, rubber, coconut and palm oil. Agriculture, therefore, accounts for 58.1% of employment in western Ghana (Boohene and Peprah 2011). The region also has rich forest resources, the largest concentration of gold mines in the country, and the only active bauxite and manganese mines of Ghana. For decades, the region has greatly contributed to the country"s national prosperity through revenues generated from natural resource extraction. It

Blue growth and blue justice: Ten risks and solutions for the ocean economy

“…Furthermore opportunities to improve gender equality often remain limited, as fisheries and aquaculture livelihood programs are often targeted at an assumed male 'breadwinner' [170,171], and new and higher earning jobs created in the ocean economy are often for roles that are traditionally held by men [172,173]. With better access to capital, the required skills and education and the capacity to migrate for work, men are also better positioned to take up new opportunities [174].…”

“…Lack of inclusion during the planning stages can sideline women and further entrench gender differences in employment and economic benefits [172,173]. In Indonesia, for instance, women were excluded from the planning stages of a growing marine tourism sector [178].…”

Oil, power and social differentiation: A political ecology of hydrocarbon extraction in Ghana

“…Feminist researchers have already exposed how the human-environmental nexus is gendered (see Mollett & Faria, 2013;Adusah-Karikari, 2015;Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Bezner Kerr, 2017;Amongin, 2020). This means that the question of who is facing injustice and the sort of power they can access or not to mitigate such injustice is crucial.…”

“…Women play an instrumental role in households by making sure there is food on the table regardless of the hardships the family may be encountering (see Amongin 2020). For those who rely on smoking and selling fish as a livelihood activity, the dwindling stock of fish catch places them at a particular risk of not being able to provide for their families.…”