map of ghana showing the study areas · 2017-04-26 · municipal in the brong ahafo region. one...

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MAP OF GHANA SHOWING THE STUDY AREAS

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FORWARD

The Baseline Assessment of Household Remittances was conducted in six administrative

districts in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions. The districts were purposively selected and

they included Mampong Municipal, Sekyere Kumawu and Asante Akim North in the Ashanti

Region and Berekum Municipal, Nkoranza South and Techiman Municipal in the Brong Ahafo

Region. The study was designed to collect, analyse and disseminate information on background

characteristics of households, housing conditions, incidence of receiving remittances, the size

of remittances, frequency, channels used by remitters, types of goods received, uses of

remittances, household member who decides on the use of the remittances, main challenges in

receiving remittances, characteristics of emigrants and return migrants.

The study was implemented by the Ghana Statistical Service with financial support from the

International Organization for Migration (IOM). A Project Advisory Team made up of

representatives from the IOM, Bank of Ghana, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional

Integration, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of the Interior, Centre for Migration Studies, Ghana

Statistical Service and Ghana Investment Promotion Center was set up to provide technical

advice for the implementation of the study. The involvement of the Project Advisory Team was

to create synergies among data collection initiatives and to ensure that the study provides a tool

for monitoring progress towards national goals and global commitments as well as working

within the data management action plan of the National Migration Policy.

The Statistical Service is grateful to the International Organization for Migration for their

valuable partnership, especially for providing funding for the entire study through the IOM

Development Fund Project.

We also wish to extend our appreciation to all who participated directly or indirectly in this

study: the report writers, the field staff, and other survey personnel.

BAAH WADIEH

(ACTING GOVERNMENT STATISTICIAN &

NATIONAL PROJECT DIRECTOR)

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TABLE OF CONTENT

MAP OF GHANA SHOWING THE STUDY AREAS ............................................................. i

FORWARD................................................................................................................................ ii

LIST OF TABLES ..................................................................................................................... v

LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................................. vii

LIST OF ACRONYMS ..........................................................................................................viii

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................... ix

CHAPTER ONE ........................................................................................................................ 1

INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Objectives of the survey .............................................................................................. 2

1.3 Survey Methodology ................................................................................................... 3

1.4 Training and Fieldwork ............................................................................................... 4

1.5 Quality Control and Data Processing .......................................................................... 4

1.6 Report Writing............................................................................................................. 5

1.7 Concepts and definitions ............................................................................................. 5

CHAPTER TWO ....................................................................................................................... 8

BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS .................................................................................. 8

2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................. 8

2.2 Population distribution ................................................................................................ 8

2.3 Distribution of population by age group ..................................................................... 8

2.4 Household composition and Average Household Size ............................................... 9

2.5 Place of birth ............................................................................................................. 10

2.6 Duration of stay in the current place of residence ..................................................... 11

2.7 Main reasons for moving to current place of residence ............................................ 12

2.8 Marital Status ............................................................................................................ 13

2.9 Literacy status ........................................................................................................... 13

2.10 School attendance .................................................................................................. 14

2.11 Level of education ................................................................................................. 14

2.12 Reason for not attending school ............................................................................ 16

2.13 Reasons for population 3 years and older who have never ................................... 16

attended school..................................................................................................................... 16

2.14 Current activity status ............................................................................................ 17

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2.15 Occupation ............................................................................................................. 18

2.16 Industry .................................................................................................................. 18

2.17 Employment status ................................................................................................ 19

2.18 Employment Sector ............................................................................................... 20

2.19 Housing conditions ................................................................................................ 21

2.20 Access to Utilities and Household Facilities ......................................................... 24

2.21 Type of toilet facilities ........................................................................................... 27

2.22 Ownership of household assets .............................................................................. 27

CHAPTER THREE ................................................................................................................. 29

KEY FINDINGS ...................................................................................................................... 29

3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 29

3.2 Age distribution of emigrants .................................................................................... 29

3.3 Relationship of emigrants to head of household ....................................................... 30

3.4 Marital status of emigrants 12 years and older ......................................................... 30

3.5 Country of residence of emigrants ............................................................................ 31

3.6 Number of years lived abroad ................................................................................... 31

3.7 Main reasons for moving abroad ............................................................................... 32

3.8 Distribution of households receiving remittances ..................................................... 33

3.9 Distribution of specific recipients of remittances ..................................................... 39

3.10 Total and mean cash received by households as remittances ................................ 40

3.11 Country of residence of remitters and type of remittances sent ............................ 46

to households ....................................................................................................................... 46

3.12 Uses of remittances ................................................................................................ 46

3.13 Main challenge encountered in receiving remittances .......................................... 49

3.14 Characteristics of return migrants .......................................................................... 50

CHAPTER FOUR .................................................................................................................... 51

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................... 51

Conclusions and policy implications ................................................................................... 52

REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................ 54

APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................. 55

Participants in the Baseline Assessment of Household Remittances ................................... 55

Questionnaire ....................................................................................................................... 56

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1: Sample Allocation by region and district and number of EAs ............................... 4

Table 2.1: Population distribution by district and sex ............................................................. 8

Table 2.2: Population distribution by age-group and sex ........................................................ 9

Table 2.3: Household composition and average size of population by district ..................... 10

Table 2.4: Total population by district, duration of stay in current place of residence

and sex ................................................................................................................. 12

Table 2.5: Main reason for moving to current place of residence by sex .............................. 12

Table 2.6: Population 12 years and older by district, sex and marital status ......................... 13

Table 2.7: Population 3 years and older by district, school attendance and sex .................... 14

Table 2.8: Population 3 years and older by level of education, district and sex .................... 15

Table 2.9: Reason for population 3-24 years old not attending school in the past

12 months .............................................................................................................. 16

Table 2.10: Population 3 years and older by reasons for never attending school by sex ........ 17

Table 2.11: Population 15 years and older by district, current activity status and sex ............ 17

Table 2.12: Employed population 15 years and older by main occupation and sex ................ 18

Table 2.13: Employed population 15 years and older by main industry and sex .................... 19

Table 2.14: Employment status of currently employed population 15 years and older

by district and sex ................................................................................................. 20

Table 2.15: Employment sector of currently employed population 15 years and older by

district and sex ..................................................................................................... 21

Table 2.16: Types of dwelling, construction materials for wall, roof and floor and

ownership arrangements by district ..................................................................... 23

Table 2.17: Main source of drinking water and general use, lighting for the dwelling and

source of energy for cooking by district .............................................................. 26

Table 2.18: Type of toilet facility by district ........................................................................... 27

Table 3.1: Age group of emigrants by sex ............................................................................. 29

Table 3.2: Relationship of emigrants to head of household by sex ....................................... 30

Table 3.3: Marital status of emigrants 12 years and older by sex.......................................... 30

Table 3.4: Country of residence of emigrants by sex ............................................................ 31

Table 3.5: Households receiving remittances in the past 12 months preceding the study ..... 33

Table 3.6: Distribution of heads of households receiving remittances by district and sex .... 34

Table 3.7: Age of heads of households receiving remittances by sex ................................... 34

Table 3.8: Marital status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex .................... 35

Table 3.9: Highest educational level of heads of households receiving remittances by sex . 35

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Table 3.10: Literacy status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex .................. 36

Table 3.11: Occupation of heads of households receiving remittances by sex ....................... 37

Table 3.12: Industry of occupation of heads of households receiving remittances by sex ...... 37

Table 3.13: Employment status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex ........... 38

Table 3.14: Employment sector of heads of households receiving remittances by sex ........... 38

Table 3.15: Emigrants by general recipient of most recent household remittances,

type and district ..................................................................................................... 39

Table 3.16: Emigrants by specific household recipient of remittances, type and district ....... 40

Table 3.17: Cash received in the 12 months preceding the study by district ........................... 40

Table 3.18: Emigrants by frequency of remittances (cash and goods) sent in the 12 months .....

preceding the study by district ............................................................................. 41

Table 3.19: Cost incurred (Ghana Cedis) on remittances received in the 12 months

preceding the study by district .............................................................................. 42

Table 3.20: Value of goods received in the 12 months preceding the study by district .......... 43

Table 3.21: Households receiving money in the 12 months preceding the study by channel

used and districts ................................................................................................... 43

Table 3.22: Households receiving money in the past 12 months by preferred channels used

by remitters in sending remittances ...................................................................... 45

Table 3.23: Remitters by country of residence, type or remittance and recipient ................... 46

Table 3.24: Persons deciding on the use of remittances received ........................................... 47

Table 3.25: Persons deciding on use of remittances received by households in the 12

months preceding the study by district ................................................................. 48

Table 3.26: Main challenge encountered by households receiving remittances in the 12

months preceding the survey by district ............................................................... 49

Table 3.27: Characteristics of returned migrants ..................................................................... 50

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Population distribution by place of birth and sex .................................................. 11

Figure 2.2: Population 11 years and older by literacy status and district ................................ 14

Figure 2.3: Proportion of households owning household amenities by district ....................... 28

Figure 3.1: Emigrants by number of years lived abroad and sex ............................................. 32

Figure 3.2: Main reason emigrants moved abroad by sex ....................................................... 32

Figure 3.3: Current activity status of heads of households 15 years and older receiving

remittances by sex ................................................................................................. 36

Figure 3.4: Type of goods received by household members ................................................... 42

Figure 3.5: Households receiving money in the 12 months preceding the study by

preferred channels for receiving remittances ........................................................ 44

Figure 3.6: Advice received by households to invest remittances received ............................ 45

Figure 3.7: Persons deciding on the use of remittances received ............................................ 48

Figure 3.8: Main challenge encountered in receiving remittances .......................................... 49

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LIST OF ACRONYMS

BAHR Baseline Assessment of Household Remittances

BoG Bank of Ghana

CMS Centre for Migration Studies

EAs Enumeration Areas

ECOWAS Economic Community of West African States

GDP Gross Domestic Product

GIPC Ghana Investment Promotion Centre

GSS Ghana Statistical Service

IMF International Monetary Fund

IOM International Organization for Migration

JHS Junior High School

KVIP Kumasi Ventilated-Improved Pit

LMICs Low Middle Income Countries

MFARI Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration

MoF Ministry of Finance

MoI Ministry of the Interior

MTOs Money Transfer Operators

NMP National Migration Policy

ODA Official Development Assistance

PHC Population and Housing Census

PO Post office

SDGs Sustainable Development Goals

UK United Kingdom

UNDP United Nations Development Programme

USA United States of America

WB World Bank

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Background

Globally, migrant remittances transferred to families in home countries directly become part

of household budgets that can be spent on basic needs, serve as extra funds either for increasing

consumption of durable and nondurable goods, or used for savings or investments. The

Baseline Assessment of Household Remittances study was conducted in two administrative

regions – Ashanti and Brong Ahafo and covered six districts which were purposively selected

for the study. The districts included Mampong Municipal, Sekyere Kumawu and Asante Akim

North in the Ashanti Region and Berekum Municipal, Nkoranza South and Techiman

Municipal in the Brong Ahafo Region. One thousand and two hundred (1,200) households were

selected in 60 clusters based on the 2010 Population and Housing census (2010 PHC) sample

frame. Twenty (20) households were sampled from each cluster for interview after listing of

households in these clusters.

The results of the study provides data for understanding the impact of remittances and for the

formulation of a more effective policy for managing remittances for development. It will also

serve as a monitoring tool to track migration targets of the Sustainable Development Goals

(SDGs) as well as for other international commitments such as the ECOWAS targets for free

movement and good governance. The study was implemented by the Ghana Statistical Service

(GSS) with financial support from the International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Development Fund under the project: “Improving capacities to leverage remittances for

development in Ghana”.

Place of birth

More than three-quarters (76.2%) of the respondents were interviewed at the place where they

were born while 23.8 percent were born outside their current locality of residence. The

movement of people from one geographical to another area is influenced by several factors.

Family issues (60.7%) is a major reason for migration of household members followed by

economic issues (28.0%).

Literacy status, school attendance and level of education of respondents

About 7 in every 10 (72.2%) persons aged 11 years and older are literate while more than one-

quarter (27.8%) are not literate. About ninety percent (89.6%) of the population 3 years and

older have ever attended school while 10.4 percent have never attended school. More males

(93.8%) than females (89.6%) have ever attended school in the districts visited for the survey.

Generally, the proportion of persons with primary or lower education (41.2%) is higher than

those who had JHS/Middle School (36.4%) education in the six districts. As one moves up the

education ladder, the proportion of persons with higher education reduces.

Activity status, occupation and industry

The economically active population constitute 66.7 percent while those not economically

active form 33.3 percent. The proportion of males who are economically active (67.9%) is

higher than females (65.8%). A majority of the employed population 15 years and older are

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engaged as Service and Sales workers (36.5%) while about one-third (34.4%) work as skilled

agricultural, forestry and fishery workers.

Housing conditions of households

Compound house is the most common form of dwelling unit for households accounting for

76.4 percent. More than one-quarter (27.0%) of households use public tap/ stand pipe as a

source of drinking water, followed by those who use pipe-borne water outside the dwelling but

from neighbours (17.3%). The main source of water for general use for most households is

public tap/standpipe (27.8%). Households mainly own the following assets: bed (88.3%),

mobile phone (83.9%), radio (71.8%), TV set (67.4%), watch (59.5%) and electric iron

(55.9%).

Destination of emigrants and duration of stay

About 57 percent of the households interviewed had relatives and friends who lived outside

Ghana. Most of the emigrants reside in the USA (25.6%), Italy (17.4%), the UK (16.7) and

Germany (11.5%). Generally, more than half (55.3%) of the emigrants had lived abroad for at

least 10 years. Of all the emigrants, 77.2 percent reported moving abroad for the purpose of

employment.

Households receiving remittances

Out of 1,200 households interviewed in the six districts, 307 constituting 25.6 percent received

remittances during the 12 months preceding the survey. The districts with higher proportions

of households receiving remittances are Asante Akim North (32.0%) followed by Berekum

Municipal (31.0%) while the least is Mampong Municipal (24.0%). Households who had

friends and relatives living outside Ghana, about 45 percent of them received remittances

during the reference period. This suggests that even though households may have friends and

relatives living outside Ghana, not all of them will receive remittances.

Size of remittances

The total amount of cash received by households as remittances in the 12 months prior to the

study is GH₡1,361,678.00. Households in Berekum Municipal received the highest

remittances of GH₡532,272.00, followed by those in Asante Akim North (GH₡313,261.00)

while the lowest was received by households in Techiman Municipal (GH₡69,700). The mean

amount of cash received is GH₡4,663.28. Berekum Municipal recorded the highest mean cash

remittances of GH₡9,177.10 while the lowest was Techiman Municipal with an amount of

GH₡1,834.21.

Frequency of households receiving remittances

More than two-fifths (43.8%) of households received cash remittances only once while those

who received cash remittances two times is 20.3 percent. Like cash remittances, the majority

of households also received goods once (61.4%).

Types and value of goods received from emigrants

Goods received by households from emigrants are in the form of clothing/shoes (50.0%), food

(17.3%) and mobile phones (11.4%). The total value of goods received amounts to

GH¢1,042,463.00 with Berekum Municipality receiving the highest (GH¢717,725.00). The

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mean value of goods received as remittance in the past 12 months preceding the survey in the

selected districts amounted to GH¢8,615.40. At the district level, the mean value of goods

received ranges from GH¢1,811.80 in the Mampong Municipality to GH¢39,873.60 in

Berekum Municipality.

Channels used in remitting households and preferred channels

More than half (52.6%) of all recipients indicated that they received their cash remittances

through Money Transfer Operators. (MTOs). A further 39.4 percent indicated that it was sent

through friends/relatives and the least proportion (4.5%) had the money transferred through the

Post Office. Nearly half (49.7%) of the households would have preferred remitters sending

remittances through the MTOs and about one-quarter (23.1%) showed preference to remitting

through friends and relatives.

Uses of cash remittances

More than three-quarters (79.1%) of households in the survey districts used cash remittances

received to meet daily needs. Other important uses of remittances were for payment for

schooling or training of a household member (21.9%), and paying of medical bills (16.4%).

About 6 percent of respondents used the cash for child support.

Sources of cash and goods received by households as remittances

In all, 27.1 percent of cash remittances and 30.7 percent of goods remitted were from emigrants

residing in the United States of America. This is followed by those who reside in the United

Kingdom with 16.5 percent of cash remittances and 17.9 percent of total goods sent. Germany

and Italy were other countries from which more than ten percent of both cash and goods

remittances received by households. Cash remittances from African countries constituted 5.0

percent with goods being only 1.4 percent of total goods sent to the six districts.

Person deciding on the use of remittances received

Seven out of ten households (69.7%) indicated that it is the household head who decides how

the remittances are used. Seventeen percent of households also indicated that persons deciding

on the use of remittances is the remitter while 10.3 percent said it is the recipient.

Challenges encountered in receiving remittances

The major challenges encountered by households are transfer time (25.0%), accessibility of

service (23.3%) and privacy ((22.2%). The proportion of households indicating cost incurred

(10.8%) is the least.

Return migrants

About seven out of ten (71.0%) return migrants indicated that while abroad, they sent

remittances home while 29.4 percent did not send any remittances. The average amount of

remittances sent by returned migrants is GhȻ3,175.00. The common mode of transferring

remittances by return migrants is through MTOs (41.7%), friends/relatives (33.3%) and

agent/courier (16.7%) and personally carried (8.3%).

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

Migrant economic remittances are an important cradle of income and growing source of foreign

funds for several developing countries. At present, these flows are more than double the official

aid received by developing countries. Remittance flows globally, currently outstrip

USD$100 billion which is higher than the value of official development assistance. Migrants

are now sending earnings back to their families in developing countries at levels above

US$441 billion, a figure three times the volume of official aid flows. The World Bank and the

IMF have pointed out that, if remittances sent through informal channels are included, total

remittances could be as much as 50 percent higher than the official record (World Bank, 2010;

IMF, 2009). In 2010, officially recorded remittances to developing countries reached $334

billion (World Bank, 2010). By 2015, remittances sent to developing countries had reached

US$432 billion (World Bank, 2016). These inflows of cash constitute more than 10 percent of

GDP in some developing countries and lead to increased investments in health, education, and

small businesses in various communities in these countries. The loss/benefit picture of this

reality is two-fold: while the migration of highly skilled people from small and poor countries

can affect basic service delivery in these countries, it can also generate numerous benefits,

including increased trade, investment, knowledge, and technology transfers from diaspora

contributions (Migration and Remittances Factbook, 2016).

Moreover, since remittances are largely personal transactions from migrants to their friends

and families, they tend to be well targeted to the needs of their recipients. Remittances directly

augment the income of recipient households and have the ability to reduce poverty and to

promote human development that eventually contribute to overall development (UNDP, 2011).

In addition to providing financial resources for poor households, they positively affect poverty

and welfare through indirect multiplier and macroeconomic effects (Ratha, 2007). Regression

analyses across countries worldwide indeed show significant poverty reduction effects of

remittances. For instance, household survey data show that remittances have reduced the

poverty headcount ratio significantly in several least industrialized countries, including by 11

percent in Uganda, 6 percent in Bangladesh and 5 percent in Ghana (Ratha, 2007).

Furthermore, remittances have been associated with increased household investments in

education, health and entrepreneurship; all of which have a high social return in most

circumstances. For instance, studies based on household surveys in El Salvador and Sri Lanka

show that children of remittance-receiving households have a lower school drop-out ratio and

that these households spend more on private tuition for their children. In Sri Lanka, the children

in remittance-receiving households also have higher birth weight as well. Studies also indicate

that remittances provide capital to small entrepreneurs, reduce credit constraints, and increase

entrepreneurship.

These overseas cash flows raise the standard of living of recipient families and friends. As one

of the world’s largest recipients of remittances, the Philippines received roughly 12 percent of

its gross domestic product (GDP) through this conduit in 2008. These flows have become the

single most important source of foreign exchange to the economy and a significant source of

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income for recipient families and friends in Philippines. Bangko Sentral (2009), points out that

households that received remittances in the third quarter of 2009 in Philippines, spent part of it

on food and other household needs, on education, and on medical expenses. While remittances

shielded the economy during crisis situations in the past, the current global economic crisis has

brought a new challenge to the role of remittances.

In 2016, remittance flows to LMICs was projected to reach $442 billion, marking an increase

of 0.8 percent over 2015. The modest recovery in 2016 is largely driven by the increase in

remittance flows to Latin America and the Caribbean on the back of a stronger economy in the

United States; by contrast, remittance flows to all other developing regions either declined or

recorded a deceleration in growth. The top recipients of remittances in nominal US dollar terms,

are India, China, the Philippines, Mexico and Pakistan and, in terms of remittances as a share

of GDP, Nepal, Liberia, Tajikistan, Kyrgyz Republic and Haiti (World Bank, 2016).

Migrant remittances form an important source of development finance (Ratha, 2007). Migrant

remittances have played an important role in the economic development, social resilience and

the improvement of household welfare in Ghana (Adger et al., 2002; Quartey & Blankson,

2004; Amuedo-Dorantes, 2007). The conservative estimates by the Bank of Ghana show that

migrant remittances received from abroad by households constitute approximately 13 per cent

of Ghana’s GDP (Mazzucato et al., 2008). Migrant remittances from abroad have also been

noted as an important source of foreign exchange, whose magnitude exceeded the amount of

Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Ghana (Addison, 2004; Quartey, 2006).

It has been argued that migrant remittances are becoming a potential source of external finance

and its magnitude exceeds the amount of ODA in some developing countries. Migrant worker

remittances have been the backbone of many households in Ghana where these remittances

serve as a major source of income for the households, particularly in times of economic shocks.

The importance of migrant worker remittances in Ghana is evidenced by the proliferation of

money transfer institutions (both formal and informal) and the rapid increase in migrant

remittances into the country.

Being a source of income for most households, remittances generally require attention as they

tend to be well targeted to the needs of recipients. However, it is important to understand the

dynamics associated with it. This called for the conduct of a Baseline Assessment of Household

Remittances (BAHR) in Ghana. This will inform and direct the conduct of a nationwide survey

on remittances to leverage growth and poverty dividends as well as utilize remittances to

cushion the impact of economic shocks. The results are expected to be depended upon to

monitor, analyse and project remittance inflows. It will be relied upon to develop retail payment

systems for remittance transfer and improve financial access of individuals and households. As

part of policy measures, the findings may be used to inform policies aimed at reducing the costs

of remittance transfers and leverage remittances for capital market access of financial

institutions.

1.2 Objectives of the survey

The main objective of the BAHR was to collect basic statistics on the situation, including

remittances received by households, channel and the purposes for which remittances were

received. The specific objectives of the survey included:

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a. Estimate the size of cash and in-kind payments received by the household in a calendar

year, including origin and characteristics

b. Estimate the prevalence of household remittances

c. Provide information on the channels used by remitters

d. Provide data on the use of remittances received during the reference period

e. Contribute to the improvement of data and monitoring remittances systems

f. Provide up-to-date information for assessing the cost of remittances

1.3 Survey Methodology

A structured household questionnaire was used for the BAHR. The questionnaire development

was guided by a quantitative research approach based on the experiences drawn from work

done by other countries on remittances survey. It was a structured pre-coded questionnaire

designed to elicit information about all household members on their demographic

characteristics, education, and economic activities; remittances received by households,

relationship of the person remitting the household to the head of household, purpose of

travelling, the size of remittances received by the households (cash and in-kind), frequency of

remittances, methods used in sending remittances to the households and purpose for which the

money was sent to the households as well as housing conditions. Basic information on all

persons living in the households was solicited after which specific questions on remittances

were directed at those who received remittances within the past 12 months preceding the study.

1.3.1 Coverage

The BAHR as a pilot study was conducted in two administrative regions – Ashanti and Brong

Ahafo, and covered 1,200 households selected in 60 clusters based on the 2010 PHC sample

frame. Twenty (20) households were sampled from each cluster for interview after listing of

households.

1.3.2 Survey Sample

The 2010 Population and Housing Census (2010 PHC) frame was used for the Baseline

Assessment of Household Remittances which was conducted in six districts. The districts

which were purposively selected included Mampong Municipal, Sekyere Kumawu and Asante

Akim North in the Ashanti Region and Berekum Municipal, Nkoranza South and Techiman

Municipal in the Brong Ahafo Region. These districts are known areas with lots of emigrants

who usually send remittances back home.

The sample design was based on a two-stage sample selection that enabled estimates of key

indicators for the districts selected in the two regions to be calculated. The first stage selection

involved selecting sample points (clusters) consisting of enumeration areas (EAs) delineated

for the 2010 PHC. A total of 60 clusters were selected, 30 clusters per region, and shared

equally for the three districts selected from each region (Table 1).

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Table 1.1: Sample Allocation by region and district and number of EAs

Region

District

2010

Total No.

of EAs

EAs selected 2010 Total

No. of HH

Households selected

Number Proportion Number Proportion

Ashanti Mampong Municipal 164 10 16.67 19,203 200 16.67

Ashanti Sekyere Kumawu 121 10 16.67 14,185 200 16.67

Ashanti Asante Akim North 114 10 16.67 15,480 200 16.67

Brong Ahafo Berekum Municipal 169 10 16.67 31,129 200 16.67

Brong Ahafo Nkoranza South 165 10 16.67 21,565 200 16.67

Brong Ahafo Techiman Municipal 225 10 16.67 34,137 200 16.67

Total 60 100.00 1,200 100.00

The second stage selection involved the systematic selection of twenty (20) households in each

cluster from the list compiled from a household listing operation that was undertaken in all the

selected EAs.

1.4 Training and Fieldwork

The training of field staff was carried out at one central location in Kumasi and lasted for three

(3) days. The training included presentations, discussion of the questionnaire, mock interviews

and field practices. Subject specific experts were engaged to give presentations to participants

on their subject areas as they relate to the survey so as to guide participants on best practice. A

manual accompanying the questionnaire was used extensively to guide the training. Overall,

24 field officers were trained and put into 6 teams to undertake the fieldwork.

Twenty-three (23) days were used for field work during which each team was assigned 10

clusters. The fieldwork was structured to include listing of households and interview of the

twenty selected households. Each team was made up of a supervisor, three interviewers and a

driver. The supervisor carried out administrative duties on community entry, led in the listing

of structures and edited all completed questionnaires for completeness and consistency. The

field supervisor was also responsible for the day-to-day management of the team and acted as

the liaison officer between the team and the survey secretariat.

1.5 Quality Control and Data Processing

Extensive field supervision was carried out throughout the field work. Questionnaires

submitted by interviewers to supervisors were checked for completeness and consistency. Field

supervisors also revisited some selected households for re-interview on some selected

questions. In addition to re-interview by supervisors, there was periodic monitoring by external

monitors from the survey secretariat and IOM who supervised field activities for completeness

and consistency. The monitors met teams in the field to check on the quality/quantity of work

and advised on any apparent lapses. As part of the monitors’ responsibilities, they sat in and

observed at least 3 interviews per team to ensure quality of work.

Eighteen (18) days were used to capture the data from the paper questionnaire by three (3) data

entry operators using CSPro v.4.o. The cleaned data was then exported to SPSS and analyzed.

5

1.6 Report Writing

Upon completion of data processing (after the provision of a clean data set), the data was

analyzed and the report on the findings prepared. To ensure comparability, final tables were

disaggregated by sex, age, locality of residence (urban/rural), administrative districts and other

socio-economic and demographic characteristics of respondents. Results from the survey is

expected to form the basis for planning a nationwide survey on remittances, policy formulation

and evidence-based decision making on remittances and their associated issues and benefits.

1.7 Concepts and definitions

Household

A household is defined as “a person or a group of persons, who live together in the same house

or compound, share the same house-keeping arrangements and recognize one person as the

head of household” A household therefore may consist of a man, his wife, children, distant

relatives, or a housekeeper living with them. Visitors who spent the previous night with the

household are also considered as members of the household. It is important to remember that

members of a household are not necessarily related (by blood or marriage) because non-

relatives e.g. house helps, may form part of a household.

Household size

Household size refers to the total number of persons in a household irrespective of age, sex, or

residential status.

Household composition

Household composition refers to the patterns of relationships between the head of household

and other members of the household. This includes relationships such as spouse

(wife/husband), child (son/daughter), grandchild, parent/parent-in-law, brother/sister, other

relative and non-relative.

Head of Household

A member of the household was referred to as head if he or she was recognized as such by the

other members of the household. “The head of household is generally the person who has

economic and social responsibility for the household. All relationships are defined with

reference to the head”

Compound House

A compound house refers to multiple dwelling units which are located within a compound.

These dwelling units usually have shared toilet(s) and bath(s) and cooking either takes place

outside, on the porch or in an enclosed area. The compound may or may not be surrounded by

a wall fence or hedge.

Work: It refers to any economic activity performed by the respondent that contributes to the

economic production of goods and services. Examples are selling in a market/street, working

in an enterprise/business or for government, working in one’s own farm or enterprise, working

on a household member’s farm, etc.

6

Economically Active Population

The economically active population was defined as persons who:

Worked for pay or profit or family gain for at least one hour within the seven days

preceding census night. This category of persons included those who were in paid

employment or self-employment or contributing family workers;

Did not work, but had job to return to;

Were unemployed and actively looking for work.

Economically not active

The economically not active persons are those who did not work and were not seeking for

work, that is, they are not currently employed or unemployed. This group includes persons who

are studying or performing household duties (homemakers), retired persons, the disabled and

other persons who were unable to work because of their disability or age (i.e., too young or old

to work).

Employed

The employed are persons of working age (15 years and older) who, during the 7 days before

the interview did any work for at least one hour for pay, profit or family gain, or worked without

pay on a farm or family holding (including unpaid family workers), and those who had a job

and were temporarily absent from work.

Incuded are:

At work, that is, persons who during the reference period performed some work for

wage or salary either in cash or in kind or worked without pay.

Had a job to go back to, but did not work within the reference period.

The Unemployed

This comprises all persons aged 15 years and above, who during the reference period were:

Without work and had no fixed jobs;

Currently available for work;

Seeking for work by taking specific steps to look for work (e.g. writing applications,

visiting job sites, visiting employment agencies and seeking help from friends and

relatives in the search for jobs).

Occupation

Occupation refers to the type of work the person was engaged in at the establishment where

he/she worked. All persons who worked during the reference period were classified by the kind

of work they were engaged in. For those who did not work but had a job to return to, their

occupation was the job they would go back to after the period of absence. Up to two

occupations were considered if a person was engaged in more than one occupation.

Industry

Industry refers to the type of product produced or service rendered at the respondent’s place of

work.

7

Employment Status

Employment status refers to the status of a person in the establishment where he/she currently

works or previously worked. Eight employment status categories were provided: employee,

self-employed without employees, self-employed with employees, casual worker, contributing

family worker, apprentice, domestic employee (house help). Persons who could not be

classified under any of the above categories were classified as “other”.

Employment Sector

This refers to the sector in which a person worked. The employment sectors covered in the

census were public, private formal, private informal, semi-public/parastatal, NGOs and

international organizations.

Remittances

Remittances represent household income from foreign economies arising mainly from the

temporary or permanent movement of people to those economies. Remittances include cash

and noncash items that flow through formal channels, such as via electronic wire, or through

informal channels, such as money or goods carried across borders. They largely consist of

funds and noncash items sent or given by individuals who have migrated to a new economy

and become residents there, and the net compensation of border, seasonal, or other short-term

workers who are employed in an economy in which they are not resident.

Recipient households or recipients

This refers to households that receive cash or in-kind remittances,

Non-recipient households or non-recipients

It refers to households that do not receive any kind of remittances.

Senders or remitters

They are individuals who have settled abroad and send remittances back home.

Migration

Migration, in this study, refers to movement of people across countries.

Return Migrant

A migrant who has come back to the country of origin from the country of destination.

8

CHAPTER TWO

BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

2.1 Introduction

The objective of this chapter is to analyze the population distribution, household size,

composition, structure and headships using data collected from the Baseline Assessment of

Household Remittances study. An analysis is also made on the marital status, literacy,

education, occupation and industry of respondents. The chapter also provides information on

ownership of household assets and housing conditions.

2.2 Population distribution

Table 2.1 presents information on the distribution of the population by sex and district of

residence. Out of the 3,908 people recorded from the 1,200 selected households during the

survey, 54.6 percent are females while 45.4 percent are males. This pattern of distribution is

similar in all the districts with the proportion of females being higher than males. However, the

proportion of males in the Nkoranza South District (49.5%) is very high compared to the other

districts.

Table 2.1: Population distribution by district and sex

Number Percent

District Male Female Total Male Female Total

Mampong Municipal 303 353 656

46.2 53.8 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 284 344 628

45.2 54.8 100.0

Asante Akim North 233 321 554

42.1 57.9 100.0

Berekum Municipal 311 363 674

46.1 53.9 100.0

Techiman Municipal 273 371 644

42.4 57.6 100.0

Nkoranza South 372 380 752

49.5 50.5 100.0

Total 1,776 2,132 3,908 45.4 54.6 100.0

2.3 Distribution of population by age group

Table 2.2 indicates that the proportion of the population within the various age group decreases

with increasing age. The Table reveals that, close to 40 percent of the population are below

age 15 years which reflects the youthful nature of Ghana’s population. This pattern is also

reflected among the sexes. However, the proportion of males aged 0-19 is higher (52.0%) than

that of the females (44.5%).

9

Table 2.2: Population distribution by age-group and sex

Age Total Male Female

0-4 13.3 14.0 12.7

5-9 12.2 13.5 11.1

10-14 12.4 14.0 11.0

15-19 10.1 10.5 9.7

20-24 8.2 7.1 9.1

25-29 7.8 7.2 8.3

30-34 6.9 7.2 6.7

35-39 5.6 5.5 5.6

40-44 4.7 4.4 5.0

45-49 4.1 3.7 4.5

50-54 3.6 3.0 4.0

55-59 3.0 2.8 3.1

60-64 2.7 2.4 2.9

65+ 5.5 4.7 6.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number 3,908 1,776 2,132

2.4 Household composition and Average Household Size

This section presents information on the household composition and average household size in

the survey districts. The results show out of a total of 1,200 households surveyed, 53. 0 percent

are headed by males whilst 47.0 percent are headed by females. Table 2.3 shows that a higher

proportion of the household members are children (44.7%) of the household heads. This is

followed by heads of households (30.7 %), with spouses constituting 10.2 percent. Foster

children (0.1%) constitute the least of the household composition. The pattern of the household

composition is similar in all the survey districts except Mampong Municipal (10.2%) and

Sekyere Kumwu (9.9%) which have a relative higher proportion of grandchildren. The average

household size in the six districts is 3.3. The average household size of male-headed households

is 3.4 while female-headed households is 3.1. Nkoranza South however, has an average

household size of 3.8 which is higher than the average household size for the five districts.

10

Table 2.3: Household composition and average size of population by sex of household head and district

Household composition/

Average household size

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Male headed household

Head 32.0 29.7 37.8 29.2 28.7 25.3 29.6

Spouse (Wife/Husband) 15.5 17.3 17.1 18.3 18.4 17.1 17.3

Child (Son/Daughter) 36.3 47.0 40.2 45.0 43.2 46.4 43.4

Parent/Parent in-law 0.3 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.4

Son/Daughter in-law 2.1 1.0 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.5

Grandchild 7.6 2.3 1.6 4.7 2.2 4.0 3.9

Brother/Sister 2.4 0.3 0.0 0.5 1.7 1.1 1.1

Step child 0.0 0.3 0.4 0.3 1.1 0.6 0.5

Foster child 0.0 0.0 0.4 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.1

Other relative 2.7 1.0 2.0 1.3 3.3 3.2 2.4

Non-relative 0.9 0.0 0.4 0.3 1.4 1.3 0.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Average household size 3.1 3.4 2.6 3.4 3.5 4.0 3.4

Female headed

household Head 29.0 33.8 34.7 30.3 34.0 29.6 32.0





Grandchild 12.8 16.8 6.8 10.5 11.6 8.8 11.4

Brother/Sister 1.5 1.2 0.3 2.1 1.1 5.3 1.8

Step child 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1 0.0 0.2

Other relative 1.5 5.2 3.2 5.9 6.0 0.0 3.7

Non-relative 4.9 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0


Total Head 30.5 31.8 36.1 29.7 31.1 26.6 30.7





Grandchild 10.2 9.9 4.5 7.1 6.4 5.5 7.3

Brother/Sister 2.0 0.8 0.2 1.2 1.4 2.4 1.4

Step child 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 1.1 0.4 0.4

Foster child 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.1

Other relative 2.1 3.2 2.7 3.3 4.5 2.3 3.0

Non-relative 2.9 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.8 0.9 0.9

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0


2.5 Place of birth

Figure 2.1 indicates that majority (76.6%) of the people were interviewed at the place where

they were born. The Figure also shows that there is not much variation among the sexes

regarding the place of birth; whether respondents were born at the place of interview or outside

the town or village of interview.

11

Figure 2.1: Population distribution by place of birth and sex

2.6 Duration of stay in the current place of residence

Table 2.4 presents information on the duration of stay of the population in the current place of

residence. The Table depicts that more than two-thirds (66.8%) of the population in the six

districts have not lived outside their place of birth while 16.9 percent have lived in the current

place of residence for more than ten years. Only 2.5 percent of the population in the six districts

have lived for less than one year. The pattern is not different among the sexes in all the various

districts. This suggests that most of the people born in these districts do not migrate.

76.6 75.9 76.2

23.4 24.1 23.8

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

Male Female Total

Born in town or village of interview Born outside town or village of interview

Percent

12

Table 2.4: Total population by district, duration of stay in current place of residence and sex

District

Less than

1 year

1 year <

5 years

5 years <

10 years

10

years+

Since

birth Total

Total

Mampong Municipal 3.4 9.3 4.4 17.8 65.1 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 1.9 9.1 4.6 11.0 73.4 100.0

Asante Akim North 3.6 9.2 5.1 17.9 64.3 100.0

Berekum Municipal 1.3 5.5 7.6 13.4 72.3 100.0

Techiman Municipal 3.6 9.9 5.1 17.1 64.3 100.0

Nkoranza South 1.7 7.6 5.2 23.4 62.1 100.0

Total 2.5 8.4 5.3 16.9 66.8 100.0

Male Mampong Municipal 3.6 9.9 4.3 18.5 63.7 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 1.4 10.9 3.2 10.6 73.9 100.0




Nkoranza South 1.3 8.6 5.6 22.8 61.6 100.0

Total 2.1 9.0 5.2 16.9 66.8 100.0

Female Mampong Municipal 3.1 8.8 4.5 17.3 66.3 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 2.3 7.6 5.8 11.3 73.0 100.0




Nkoranza South 2.1 6.6 4.7 23.9 62.6 100.0

Total 2.9 7.8 5.4 16.9 66.9 100.0

2.7 Main reasons for moving to current place of residence

The movement of people from one geographical area to another is a daily phenomenon which

is influenced by several factors. Table 2.5 presents information on the main reasons why people

moved from one location to another. Family issues (60.7%) is a major contributor to migration

followed by economic issues (28.0%). The Table further reveals that the proportion of females

who moved based on family considerations is higher (72.2%) than that of males (46.9%). On

the contrary, the proportion of males who moved for economic gains is high (41.4 %) compared

to females (16.9%). Also, a slightly higher proportion of females (8.8%) than males (8.0%)

moved for educational purposes.

Table 2.5: Main reason for moving to current place of residence by sex

Reason for moving Male Female Total

Work 41.4 16.9 28.0

Join family 46.9 72.2 60.7

School/training 8.0 8.8 8.4

Conflict 0.5 0.3 0.4

Disaster (flood, drought, fire) 0.2 0.0 0.1

Other 3.1 1.8 2.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

13

2.8 Marital Status

Table 2.6 shows that 43.6 percent of the population 12 years and older have never married

while 36.4 percent are currently married. The proportions of males who have never married as

well as those who are married are higher than females. However, the proportion of the males

who have never married (51.6%) is relatively higher than that of those married (37.8%). The

proportion of males who have married (37.8 %) is slightly higher compared to their female

counterparts (35.2%).

Table 2.6: Population 12 years and older by district, sex and marital status

District/

Sex Married

Consensual

Union Separated Divorced Widowed

Never

Married Total

Total

Mampong Municipal 41.9 1.5 2.6 5.6 6.8 41.7 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 29.9 9.3 2.2 6.9 12.9 38.8 100.0

Asante Akim North 31.0 11.3 2.2 6.5 7.3 41.8 100.0

Berekum Municipal 40.5 2.7 4.1 2.9 4.7 45.1 100.0

Techiman Municipal 32.1 9.7 1.8 5.4 5.6 45.4 100.0

Nkoranza South 40.1 2.0 1.3 4.1 4.8 47.6 100.0

Total 36.4 5.7 2.3 5.1 6.9 43.6 100.0

Male Mampong Municipal 41.4 1.4 1.9 2.8 2.8 49.8 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 34.5 8.6 1.7 1.7 5.2 48.3 100.0




Nkoranza South 40.1 1.6 1.2 2.4 1.2 53.6 100.0

Total 37.8 4.5 1.7 2.6 1.8 51.6 100.0

Female Mampong Municipal 42.3 1.6 3.2 7.9 10.3 34.8 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 26.6 9.8 2.5 10.7 18.4 32.0 100.0




Nkoranza South 40.2 2.4 1.4 5.6 8.0 42.3 100.0

Total 35.2 6.6 2.9 7.0 10.8 37.4 100.0

2.9 Literacy status

Literacy is the ability to read and write a simple statement with understanding. From Figure

2.2, about 7 in every 10 (72.2%) persons aged 11 years and older in the six districts are literate

and more than one-quarter (27.8%) are not literate. The districts with relatively high

proportions of the population not literate include Sekyere Kumawu (35.4%), Techiman

Municipality (34.2%) and Asante Akim North (30.7%). In terms of the literate population,

Mampong Municipal (79.7%) has the highest proportion, followed by Nkoranza South (76.6%)

and Berekum Municipal (75.0%).

14

Figure 2.2: Population 11 years and older by literacy status and district

2.10 School attendance

Table 2.7 presents information on the population 3 years and older by school attendance and

sex. Almost nine out of every ten of the population in the survey districts have ever attended

school (89.6%) while about ten percent (10.4%) have never attended school. A higher

proportion of males (93.8 %) than females (86.1%) have ever attended school. This pattern of

distribution of the ever attended and the never attended is reflected in all the districts with

Mampong Municipal (8.9%),

Table 2.7: Population 3 years and older by district, school attendance and sex

District

Ever attended Never attended Number

Male Female Total Male Female Total Male Female Total

Mampong Municipal 93.2 89.3 91.1 6.8 10.7 8.9

280 328 608

Sekyere Kumawu 95.0 83.2 88.5

5.0 16.8 11.5

261 315 576

Asante Akim North 97.7 92.2 94.5

2.3 7.8 5.5

214 296 510

Berekum Municipal 95.8 87.1 91.1

4.2 12.9 8.9

287 341 628

Techiman Municipal 88.2 82.0 84.7

11.8 18.0 15.3

254 333 587

Nkoranza South 93.5 83.7 88.5

6.5 16.3 11.5

340 356 696

Total 93.8 86.1 89.6 6.2 13.9 10.4 1,636 1,969 3,605

2.11 Level of education

Information on the level of education attained by population 3 years and older is shown in

Table 2.8. In general, the proportion of the population with Primary or lower education (41.2%)

is higher than those who had attained JHS/Middle (36.4%) or higher education. The data shows

that in two districts, Mampong Municipal and Sekyere Kumawu however, the proportion of

the population who had JHS/Middle education (36.6% and 41.4% respectively) is higher than

27.820.3

35.430.7

25.0

34.2

23.4

72.279.7

64.669.3

75.0

65.8

76.6

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

Total MampongMunicipal

SekyereKumawu

AsanteAkim North

BerekumMunicipal

TechimanMunicipal

NkoranzaSouth

Percent

Notliterate

Literate

15

those who had Primary or lower education (35.4% and 40.0% respectively). The results also

reveal that, as one moves higher along the education ladder, the proportion of the population

with higher education decreases.

With regard to the sexes, Table 2.8 shows that 41.2 percent of males had Primary or lower

education, 33.6 percent had JHS/Middle education, while 15.5 percent had SHS/Secondary

education. Almost equal proportions of males had Post-Secondary Diploma/HND/Nursing

(4.3%) and Tertiary/other professional (4.2%) education.

In the case of females, the pattern of distribution is not too different from that of males with a

higher proportion having attained Primary or lower (41.1%) education while 38.9 percent had

JHS/Middle education. Less than three percent of the female population had attained Post-

Secondary Diploma/HND/Nursing and Tertiary/other professional education (2.8% and 2.2%

respectively).

Table 2.8: Population 3 years and older by level of education, district and sex

Sex/District

Primary

or lower

JHS/

Middle

SHS/

Secondary

Voc/Tech/

Comm

Post Sec.

Dip/

HND/

Nursing

Tertiary/

other

prof Total

Total Mampong

Municipal 35.4 36.6 15.7 1.6 5.1 5.6 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 40.0 41.4 12.7 1.8 2.4 1.8 100.0




Nkoranza South 46.1 35.1 11.5 1.3 3.2 2.8 100.0

Total 41.2 36.4 14.5 1.3 3.5 3.1 100.0

Male Mampong

Municipal 36.0 32.6 15.3 1.9 6.5 7.7 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 42.3 37.5 14.1 1.2 2.4 2.4 100.0




Nkoranza South 46.5 33.6 11.0 1.3 3.8 3.8 100.0

Total 41.2 33.6 15.5 1.2 4.3 4.2 100.0

Female Mampong

Municipal 34.8 40.3 16.0 1.4 3.8 3.8 100.0

Sekyere Kumawu 37.8 45.0 11.5 2.3 2.3 1.1 100.0




Nkoranza South 45.6 36.6 12.1 1.3 2.7 1.7 100.0

Total 41.1 38.9 13.6 1.5 2.8 2.2 100.0

16

2.12 Reason for not attending school

Various reasons were given for persons aged 3 to 24 years not attending school/college during

the 12 months preceding the study (Table 2.9). On the average, those who indicated they are

‘Too young’ to attend school represent the highest proportion (46.7%). About a fifth (22.2%)

also indicated that they ‘cannot afford schooling” while 15.6 percent were ‘not interested in

school’.

Among the males 56.0 percent cited being ‘Too young’, one-fifth (20.0 %) indicated that they

are “not interested in school” while 16.0 percent attributed it to their inability to “afford the

cost of schooling”. Eight percent of the males indicated that they were not attending school

due to “disability or illness”.

Thirty-five percent of the females also indicated that they were not attending school because

they are ‘Too young’ with another 30.0 percent giving the reason that they “cannot afford

schooling”. One out of ten (10.0%) females indicated they were “not interested in school”. Five

percent each of females said their “families did not allow them to attend school” or they have

to ‘help at home with household chores’. The same proportions of females did not attend school

because they had “to learn a job” or “did not consider education as valuable” (5.0% each).

Table 2.9: Reason for population 3-24 years old not attending school in the past 12 months

Reasons Male Female Total

Too young 56.0 35.0 46.7

Disabled/illness 8.0 5.0 6.7

Cannot afford schooling 16.0 30.0 22.2

Family did not allow schooling 0.0 5.0 2.2

Not interested in school 20.0 10.0 15.6

Education not considered valuable 0.0 5.0 2.2

To learn a job 0.0 5.0 2.2

Help at home with household chores 0.0 5.0 2.2

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number 25 20 45

2.13 Reasons for population 3 years and older who have never

attended school

Data on the population 3 years and older by reasons for never attending school in their lifetime

is presented in Table 2.10. The Table shows that, majority (30.5%) of persons said they “cannot

afford to attend school”. About one-fifth (21.4%) never attended school because their “families

did not allow them to go to school” while 16.3 percent indicated they are “not interested in

school”. An additional 14.4 percent “did not consider education as valuable”

The main reason given by majority of males for not attending school include the fact that they

‘cannot afford schooling’ (22.8%). Almost one-fifth (19.9%) indicated that they are ‘not

interested in school’. Equal proportions said they are ‘too young’ and their families did not

allow them to go to school (13.9% each).

17

In the case of females, about one-third (33.3%) indicated they “cannot afford the cost of going

to school”. Those who said that their families did not allow them to go to school constitute

24.2 percent. Some females were also not interested in school (15.0%) and 16.1 percent “did

not consider education as valuable”.

Table 2.10: Population 3 years and older by reasons for never attending school by sex

Reason Male Female Total

Too young 13.9 2.6 5.6

Disabled/illness 8.9 1.5 3.5

No school/school too far 4.0 1.1 1.9

Cannot afford schooling 22.8 33.3 30.5

Family did not allow schooling 13.9 24.2 21.4

Not interested in school 19.8 15.0 16.3

Education not considered valuable 9.9 16.1 14.4

School not safe 1.0 0.4 0.5

To learn a job 2.0 0.4 0.8

To work for pay 1.0 0.4 0.5

Work as unpaid worker in family

business/farm 3.0 2.2 2.4

Help at home with household chores 0.0 2.9 2.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number 101 273 374

2.14 Current activity status

Current activity status refers to whether persons 15 years and older were economically active

or inactive during the 7 days prior to the survey. It seeks to find out whether some work was

done in the production of goods and services during the reference period. The economically

active population constitute 66.7 percent while those not economically active form 33.3 percent

(Table 2.11). The proportion of males who are economically active (67.9%) is higher than

females (65.8%). Nkoranza South District (77.2%) recorded the highest proportion of

economically active population while Berekum Municipal (60.0%) had the least.

Table 2.11: Population 15 years and older by district, current activity status and sex

District

Activity status

Economically active Economically not active

Male Female Total Male Female Total

Mampong Municipal 65.4 68.8 67.3

34.6 31.2 32.7

Sekyere Kumawu 62.2 64.8 63.7

37.8 35.2 36.3

Asante Akim North 69.9 62.9 65.7

30.1 37.1 34.3

Berekum Municipal 59.7 60.2 60.0

40.3 39.8 40.0

Techiman Municipal 67.9 62.8 64.9

32.1 37.2 35.1

Nkoranza South 80.3 74.6 77.2

19.7 25.4 22.8

Total 67.9 65.8 66.7 32.1 34.2 33.3

18

2.15 Occupation

Table 2.12 presents information on the employed population 15 years and older by main

occupation and sex. The data shows that the majority of the employed population is engaged

as Service and Sales workers (36.5%). About one-third (34.4%) of the employed population

work as Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers. Craft and related trades workers and

Professionals represent 9.5 percent and 8.3 percent respectively.

With regard to the sexes, males are mainly engaged as Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery

workers (37.3%) or Services and Sales workers (19.1%). Thirteen percent of males work as

craft and related trades workers while others are engaged as Professionals (11.2%).

Females on the other hand are more likely to be engaged as Services and Sales workers (49.9%)

and as skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery workers (32.2%). Females who are Professionals

constitute 6.1 percent, while a small proportion are Managers (0.4%).

Table 2.12: Employed population 15 years and older by main occupation and sex

Current main occupation Male Female Total

Managers 1.8 0.4 1.1

Professionals 11.2 6.1 8.3

Technicians and associate professionals 4.0 0.4 2.0

Clerical support workers 2.0 1.2 1.5

Service and sales workers 19.1 49.9 36.5

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers 37.3 32.2 34.4

Craft and related trades workers 13.0 6.7 9.5

Plant and machine operators, and assemblers 6 0.0 2.6

Elementary occupations 5.5 3.1 4.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number 705 914 1,619

2.16 Industry

Table 2.13 presents data on the employed population 15 years and older by main industry and

sex. More than one-third (36.6 %) of the employed population work in the Agriculture, forestry

and fishing industry. About one-fifth (21.1%) of the employed population are engaged in

Wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles. Eight percent are working in

Education, while 6.1 percent work in the Manufacturing industry. Other industry sectors in

which an appreciable proportion of the employed population work are Construction (4.4%) and

Accommodation and food service activities (4.4%).

The proportion of males and females employed in the various industries varies significantly.

Among the males, 39.3 percent are in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing industry. One in

every ten (10.4%) of the employed male population are engaged in the Wholesale and retail,

repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles industry while 9.6 percent each are in Construction

and Education.

19

More than one-third (34.6%) of the females work in the Agriculture, forestry and fishing

industry with the Wholesale and retail, repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles industry

employing 29.4 percent. Other industry sectors in which females are employed include

Education (6.7%), Manufacturing (6.3%) and Accommodation and food service activities

(6.3%).

Table 2.13: Employed population 15 years and older by main industry and sex

Main industry Male Female Total

Agriculture, forestry and fishing 39.3 34.6 36.6

Mining and quarrying 0.7 0.0 0.3

Manufacturing 5.7 6.3 6.1

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 0.6 0.2 0.4

Water supply; sewerage, waste management and

remediation activities 0.6 0.4 0.5

Construction 9.6 0.3 4.4

Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles and

motorcycles 10.4 29.4 21.1

Transportation and storage 8.4 0.1 3.7

Accommodation and food service activities 1.0 6.3 4.0

Information and communication 0.6 0.0 0.2

Financial and insurance activities 1.7 0.4 1.0

Real estate activities 0.3 0.1 0.2

Professional, scientific and technical activities 1.3 0.1 0.6

Administrative and support service activities 0.4 0.7 0.6

Public administration and defence; compulsory social

security 0.9 0.2 0.5

Education 9.6 6.7 8.0

Human health and social work activities 3.0 2.1 2.5

Arts, entertainment and recreation 0.7 0.7 0.7

Other service activities 5.4 11.2 8.6

Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated

goods and services – producing activities of households

for own use 0.0 0.1 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0

Number 705 914 1,619

2.17 Employment status

Table 2.14 presents information on the employment status of the employed population 15 years

and older in the study areas. From the Table, the majority of the employed population is self-

employed (67.8%), about one-fifth (19.4%) are employees with contributing family workers

constituting 7.6 percent. A similar trend is observed in all the six districts selected for the study

where more than half of the employed population 15 years and older are self-employed as well

as employees. In the Nkoranza South district, about one-quarter (24.7%) percent of the

employed population are contributing family workers (Table 2.14).

The disaggregation of the data by sex, shows that males are more likely to be employees

(27.8%) than females (12.9%). On the other hand, a higher proportion of females (73.2%) are

self-employed compared to males (60.9%). The trend is similar for males and females for the

six districts except Nkoranza South where the proportion of males who are self-employed

(63.1%) is higher than females (54.0%).

20

Table 2.14: Employment status of currently employed population 15 years and older by district and sex

Employment status

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Total

Employee 31.2 14.6 20.7 17.6 23.2 11.0 19.4

Self-employed 62.1 71.5 70.3 80.0 69.2 58.4 67.8

Contributing family worker 2.5 5.0 1.8 1.5 3.0 24.7 7.6

Casual worker 0.7 0.9 2.2 0.0 2.3 2.0 1.4

Apprentice 3.5 8.0 5.0 0.9 2.3 3.6 3.7

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Male Employee 41.5 27.2 30.1 27.2 33.9 13.5 27.8

Self-employed 52.1 56.5 61.3 72.8 58.0 63.1 60.9


Casual worker 1.6 2.2 4.3 0.0 5.4 1.8 2.4

Apprentice 1.6 6.5 4.3 0.0 2.7 4.0 3.1

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Female Employee 23.3 6.8 14.0 10.2 15.0 8.6 12.9

Self-employed 69.8 80.9 76.7 85.7 77.6 54.0 73.2


Casual worker 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.0 0.0 2.2 0.6

Apprentice 5.1 8.9 5.4 1.4 2.0 3.3 4.2

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2.18 Employment Sector

Table 2.15 presents information on the employment sector of the working population 15 years

and older in the study districts. The data indicates that the Private sector employs majority

(88.1%) of the working population followed by the public sector (10.3%). Within the districts,

the private sector employs 77.7 percent of the employed population in Mampong Municipal,

91.6 percent in Sekyere Kumawu and 86.5 percent in Asante Akim North. Similarly, the Private

sector employs about nine out of every ten persons employed in Berekum Municipal (88.5%),

Techiman Municipal (91.5%) and Nkoranza South (92.1%). The district with the highest

proportion of the working population engaged in the Public sector is Mampong Municipal

(19.5%) followed by Asante Akim North (13.1%) and Berekum Municipal (9.6%). The rest of

the districts have about seven percent of the employed population working in the Public sector.

A similar trend is observed for the sexes. However, the proportion of females employed in the

Private sector is higher than males in all districts except Nkoranza South where the proportion

of males (92.4%) is slightly higher than females (91.9%).

21

Table 2.15: Employment sector of currently employed population 15 years and older by district and sex

Employment sector

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Total Public (government) 19.5 6.7 13.1 9.6 6.6 7.0 10.3

Semi-public/parastatal 2.5 1.7 0.5 1.1 1.5 0.0 1.2

Private 77.7 91.6 86.5 88.5 91.5 92.1 88.1

NGO's (local and international) 0.4 0.0 0.0 0.8 0.4 0.6 0.4

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Male Public (government) 23.6 10.9 16.1 13.2 9.8 7.0 13.0


Private 73.2 88.0 82.8 85.1 87.5 92.4 85.2


Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Female Public (government) 16.4 4.1 10.9 6.8 4.1 7.0 8.2


Private 81.1 93.9 89.1 91.2 94.6 91.9 90.3


Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2.19 Housing conditions

Improved housing and social infrastructure are important not only for human health but also

for economic and social development. Yet the population in many African countries including

Ghana, face a lot of challenges linked to human behaviour. Some of these challenges are lack

of infrastructure, economic activities, indiscriminate disposal of water waste, lack of control

for collection and disposal of waste and open defecation. The effects of open defecation in

particular are a major health concern. Not only does this practice pollute ground waters, but it

also contaminates agricultural produce, and helps the spread of diseases such as diarrhea,

cholera and bilharzias (WHO & UNICEF, 2010). This section looks at the housing conditions

of the respondents in the study area.

Type of Dwelling

Table 2.16 presents information on the type of dwelling and the main material for the

construction of the outer wall, the roof and the floor. The data shows that compound house is

the most common form of dwelling unit with 76.4 percent of households occupying this type

of dwelling. Less than ten percent of households (9.0%) occupy semi- detached houses. The

district with the highest proportion of households occupying compound houses is Techiman

Municipal (91.0%), with Nkoranza South having the least (55.5%). However, a relatively

higher proportion of households in Nkoranza South (27.0%) occupy semi-detached compared

to the other districts.

22

Main Materials for outer wall

Table 2.16 further indicates that eight out of ten (81.6%) households live in dwelling units

whose outer walls are mainly constructed with cement blocks/concrete while 15 percent occupy

dwelling units with outer walls made of mud bricks/earth. Berekum Municipal (96.0%) has the

highest proportion of households occupying houses with the outer walls constructed with

cement blocks/concrete and Asante Akim North (65.5%) having the least. Asante Akim North

district (26.5%) has the highest proportion of households living in houses whose outer wall is

made of mud bricks/earth followed by Techiman North Municipal (22.5%). Mampong

Municipal (1.0%) has the least proportion of households living in dwelling units with the main

construction material for the outer wall being mud bricks/earth.

Materials for roof

Table 2.16 also shows that 96.5 percent of households in the districts live in dwelling units

roofed with metal sheets. About three percent of households live in houses that are roofed with

cement/concrete. A similar trend exists in the six districts selected for the study with each

having more than nine out of ten households living in houses roofed with metal sheet.

Materials for floor

The type of materials used for the floor of a house affects the appearance and quality of the

dwelling unit as well as health status of a household. As shown in Table 2.16, about nine out

of ten (90.5%) households in the districts occupy dwelling units in which the floors are largely

made of cement/concrete while about four percent (3.8%) live in houses with floors made of

earth/mud. Within the districts, the majority of households live in dwelling units with floors

made of cement with proportions ranging from 85 percent in Techiman Municipality to 96.5

percent in Nkoranza South district. The proportion of households living in dwelling units in

which earth/mud is used as the floor material is highest in Sekyere Kumawu district (7.5%)

and lowest in Asante Akim North district (0.5%).

Ownership of dwelling

Table 2.16 further present information on the ownership status of dwelling units occupied by

households in the districts. The Table reveals that 34.5 percent of households in the districts

live in dwellings units that are rent-free. About one-third (33.9%) of households own the

dwelling units they occupy while 30.4 percent are renting. District variations exist in ownership

of dwelling. While renting is the highest form of ownership in Mampong Municipal (47.0 %),

owning is highest (49%) in Sekyere Kumawu followed by Techiman Municipal (42%). Rent-

free occupancy is dominant among households in Asante Akim North (57.5%), Berekum

(35.5%) and Nkoranza South (40%).

23

Table 2.16: Types of dwelling, construction materials for wall, roof and floor and ownership arrangements by district

Characteristics of dwelling

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Type of dwelling

Separate house (bungalow) 4.5 10.0 12.5 2.0 3.0 0.5 5.4

Semi-detached house 4.0 4.5 5.5 10.0 4.5 27.0 9.3

Flat/apartment 4.0 8.5 1.5 7.0 1.0 9.5 5.3

Compound house 83.0 68.5 80.0 80.5 91.0 55.5 76.4

Huts 2.5 1.2 0.0 0.5 0.5 7.0 3.0

Improvised dwelling (kiosk, container) 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Living quarters attached to office/shop 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

Uncompleted building 1.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.4

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Wall

Mud bricks/earth 1.0 15.5 26.5 3.0 22.5 21.5 15.0

Wood 1.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 1.5 0.0 0.6

Metal sheet/slate/asbestos 0.0 0.5 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Stone 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

burnt bricks 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.2

Cement blocks/concrete 96.0 80.5 65.5 96.0 74.0 77.5 81.6

Landcrete 2.0 3.5 5.5 0.5 1.5 0.5 2.3

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Roof

Mud bricks/earth 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.0 0.3

Wood 0.0 0.5 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Metal sheet 92.0 96.5 97.0 90.5 97.5 96.5 95.0

Slate/asbestos 1.5 0.5 1.0 2.0 0.5 0.0 0.9

Cement/concrete 5.5 2.5 2.0 5.0 1.5 0.5 2.8

Roofing tiles 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

Bamboo 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

Palm leaves/thatch (grass/raffia) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 2.0 0.5

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Floor

Earth/mud 6.0 7.5 0.5 2.5 4.5 2.0 3.8

Cement/concrete 91.5 87.0 95.0 88.0 85.0 96.5 90.5

Stone 0.0 3.0 0.0 3.5 0.0 0.5 1.2

Wood 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 1.5 0.0 0.4

Vinyl tiles 1.5 1.0 0.5 4.0 5.5 0.0 2.1

Ceramic/porcelain/granite/ marble tiles 0.5 1.0 2.0 1.0 3.0 1.0 1.4

Terrazzo/terrazzo tiles 0.5 0.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.6

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Ownership

Owning 31.5 49.0 19.0 32.0 42.0 30.0 33.9

Renting 47.0 20.5 22.5 31.5 32.0 29.0 30.4

Rent-free 21.0 30.0 57.5 35.5 23.0 40.0 34.5

Perching 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 2.5 1.0 0.8

Squatting 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.3

Other 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.2

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

24

2.20 Access to Utilities and Household Facilities

Table 2.17 presents information on the main source of drinking water and water for general

use, lighting for the dwelling and source of energy for cooking by district.

Drinking water

About 27 percent of households in the districts use public tap/standpipe as the main source of

drinking water, followed by those who use pipe-borne water outside their dwelling but from a

neighbor’s house (17.3%). In addition, 15.4 percent of households depend on sachet water with

another 13.8 percent using water from a borehole/pump/tube well. A very small proportion of

households obtain their drinking water from unprotected springs (0.4%).

At the district level, Mampong Municipal recorded a high percentage of households (27%)

using pipe-borne water outside dwelling but on compound, followed by those who use pipe-

borne outside dwelling but from neighbor’s house (23.5%). Those who use water from a

protected well, rain water, Tanker supply/vendor provided and unprotected spring form less

than one percent.

Most households in Sekyere Kumawu (32.5%) depend river/streams as their main source of

drinking water followed by those who use sachet water (25.0%), while those who use pipe-

borne water outside dwelling but on compound, pipe-borne outside dwelling but from

neighbor, protected well, rain water and unprotected spring recorded less than one percent.

In Asante Akim North, about 41 percent of households rely on borehole/pump/tube well as

their main source of drinking water, followed by those who use sachet water (30.5%).

More than six out of ten households (62.0%) in Berekum Municipal have their main source of

drinking water from a pipe-borne water outside the dwelling but from a neighbor’s house

followed by pipe-borne inside dwelling (11.5%) and sachet water. Water from a river/ stream,

unprotected spring, Tanker supply/ vendor provided, rain water and public tap/stand pipe is

hardly used in the Municipality.

The main source of drinking water for households in Techiman Municipal is public tap/ stand

pipe (39%) followed by those who use water from borehole/ pump/tube well (20.5%). In

Nkoranza South district, 72 percent of households use water from a public tap/ stand pipe as

their source of drinking water, followed by those who use pipe-borne inside dwelling (17.5%).

Water for general use

Table 2.17 further shows the main source of water for general use. The data shows that the

main source of water for general use for most households is public tap/standpipe (27.8%)

followed by pipe-borne outside dwelling but from a neighbor’s house (16.9%) and

borehole/pump/tube well (16.8%). The least water source for general use is rain water (0.3%)

and unprotected spring (0.5%).

25

At the district level, 28 percent of households in Mampong Municipal depend on pipe-borne

outside dwelling but in compound as a source of water for general use, while 21 percent each

depend on pipe-borne water inside their dwelling and pipe-borne outside their dwelling but in

a neighbor’s house.

Households in Sekyere Kumawu mainly use river/stream (36.5%) as their source of water for

general use followed by those who use tanker supply/ vendor provided (17.5%), while those

who use unprotected spring and pipe borne outside dwelling but on compound recorded less

than one percent each.

In Asante Akim North, most households (47.5%) use borehole/ pump/tube well as their source

of water for general use, followed by public tap/ standpipe (20%). Very small proportions of

households depend on rain water, sachet water, tanker supply/ vendor provided and unprotected

spring as their source of water for general use in the district.

The Table further indicates that while pipe-borne water outside dwelling is the main source of

water for general use by households (59.5%) in Berekum, for households in Techiman

Municipal and Nkoranza South, it is public tap/ standpipe (47% and 71% respectively).

Lighting

From Table 2.17, more than four-fifths of households (85.3%) have electricity (mains) as their

main source of lighting followed by households using flashlight/torch (11.2%). The proportion

of households using electricity (mains) as the main source of lighting is highest in Berekum

Municipal (92.5%) and lowest in Asante Akim North (79.0%). On the other hand, the district

with the highest proportion of households using flashlight/torch is Sekyere Kumawu (17%)

with the lowest in Berekum Municipal (3.0%).

Cooking fuel

Table 2.17 also provides information on the sources of cooking fuel by households. The data

shows that the main source of cooking fuel is charcoal (44.0%) followed by wood (32.7%) and

gas (15.3%). The use of charcoal, wood and gas as the main source of cooking fuel for

households is predominant in all the districts.

26

Table 2.17: Main source of drinking water and general use, lighting for the dwelling and source of energy for cooking by district

Housing facilities

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Drinking water

Pipe-borne inside dwelling 18.0 1.0 5.0 11.5 5.0 17.5 9.7

Pipe-borne on compound 27.0 0.0 8.0 6.5 1.0 7.0 8.3

Pipe-borne outside dwelling 23.5 0.5 1.5 62.0 13.0 3.5 17.3

Public tap/standpipe 16.5 20.5 13.0 0.5 38.5 72.0 26.8

Borehole/pump/tube well 3.5 9.5 40.5 8.5 20.5 0.0 13.8

Protected well 0.0 0.5 0.5 1.0 1.5 0.0 0.6

Rain water 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

Sachet water 8.5 25.0 30.5 10.0 18.5 0.0 15.4

Tanker supply/vendor provided 0.0 10.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.7

Unprotected spring 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.4

River/stream 2.5 32.5 1.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 6.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Water for general use

Pipe-borne inside dwelling 21.0 1.0 13.0 15.5 8.0 18.5 12.8

Outside dwelling but on compound 28.0 0.5 12.5 10.5 3.0 7.5 10.3

Outside dwelling but from neighbour’s

house 21.0 1.0 2.5 59.5 14.5 3.0 16.9

Public tap/standpipe 16.0 12.5 20.0 0.5 47.0 71.0 27.8

Borehole/pump/tube well 4.0 14.5 47.5 11.5 23.5 0.0 16.8

Protected well 0.0 1.5 1.0 1.5 1.0 0.0 0.8

Rain water 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.3

Sachet water 1.5 14.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.7

Tanker supply/vendor provided 0.0 17.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 3.0

Unprotected spring 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.5 0.0 0.5

River/stream 8.0 36.5 3.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 8.0

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Lighting

Electricity (mains) 88.5 81.0 79.0 92.5 87.0 84.0 85.3

Electricity (private generator) 0.5 0.0 0.5 2.0 0.5 0.5 0.7

Kerosene lamp 1.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 1.4

Gas lamp 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.3

Solar energy 0.0 0.5 2.0 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.8

Candle 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2

Flashlight/torch 9.0 17.0 16.0 3.0 7.0 15.0 11.2

Other 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.2

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Cooking fuel

None, no cooking 6.5 8.0 8.0 13.5 4.5 2.5 7.2

Wood 20.0 42.0 32.0 32.5 23.5 46.0 32.7

Charcoal 56.5 43.5 42.5 33.5 50.0 38.0 44.0

Gas 16.5 6.0 16.0 19.0 21.5 13.0 15.3

Electricity 0.0 0.0 1.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.3

Kerosene 0.5 0.5 0.0 1.0 0.0 0.5 0.4

Crop residue 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1

Sawdust 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.0 0.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

27

2.21 Type of toilet facilities

Table 2.18 shows the types of toilet facility used by households in the study districts. The Table

indicates that most households (37.9%) use public toilets (e.g. WC, KVIP, Pit pan), followed

by Pit latrines (20.4%) and W.C (17.8%). An additional 16.3 percent of households are using

KVIP. The Table further shows that 7.2 percent of households have no toilet facility and

therefore, resort to open defecation. The district with the highest proportion of households

using W.C is Mampong Municipal (33.5%) followed by Berekum Municipal (25.0%). The data

again indicates that 37.5 percent of households in Nkoranza South use Pit latrines as their main

toilet facility with both Mampong Municipal and Nkoranza South having 10.5 percent of their

households resorting to open defecation.

Table 2.18: Type of toilet facility by district

Toilet facility

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

No facility (e.g. bush/field) 10.5 3.0 7.0 2.5 9.5 10.5 7.2

W.C 33.5 13.5 16.5 25.0 11.0 7.5 17.8

Pit latrine 13.0 19.0 28.0 6.5 18.5 37.5 20.4

KVIP 12.0 10.5 13.0 21.0 14.0 27.0 16.3

Bucket/pan 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5 0.4

Public toilet (e.g. WC, KVIP,

pit pan) 31.0 52.0 35.5 45.0 47.0 17.0 37.9

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

2.22 Ownership of household assets

Table 2.19 presents information on the proportion of households’ ownership of household

assets. The responses were multiple, meaning that a household could own several of these

household assets. The Table indicates that most households mainly own the following assets:

bed (88.3%), mobile phone (83.9%), radio (71.8%), TV set (67.4%), watch (59.5%) and

electric iron (55.9%).

28

Figure 2.3: Proportion of households owning household amenities by district

59.5

17.2

6.6

0.3

5.9

0.1

1.0

29.6

71.8

67.4

83.9

2.8

30.4

12.6

1.1

0.9

10.8

2.3

0.7

10.4

33.4

15.9

88.3

7.0

20.2

55.9

15.6

32.3

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0 70.0 80.0 90.0 100.0

Watch

Bicycle

Scooter

Animal drawn cart

Car/truck

Boat with motor

boat without motor

Wall clock

Radio

TV

Mobile phone

Landline telephone

Refrigerator

Freezer

Electric generator

Washing machine?

Desktop/laptop

Digital photo camera

Non digital photo camera

Video deck

DVD/VCD

Sewing machine

Bed

Microwave

Blender

Electric iron

Box iron

Satelite dish

Household amenities

29

CHAPTER THREE

KEY FINDINGS

3.1 Introduction

This chapter deals with characteristics of emigrants, heads of households receiving remittances,

prevalence of remittances, estimates of size and frequency of remittances and channels used to

remit households. The chapter also discusses the type of goods received by households, the

value of goods, uses of remittances, advice received to invest cash received, country of

residences of remitters, etc.

3.2 Age distribution of emigrants

This section discusses the characteristics of emigrants with regard to their age, relationship to

the head of household, their marital status, the number of years lived abroad, country of

residence and the main reason for moving abroad.

Table 3.1 shows that of the total of 1,208 emigrants recorded, those in the age group 35-39

years constitute the highest proportion (15.0%) followed by those aged 40-44 (14.8%).

Emigrants in the age group 30-54 years make up more than two-thirds (67.3%) of all emigrants

recorded in the study districts. The proportion of male emigrants rises from age group 20-24

(3.2%) and get to the peaks at age groups 35-39 years (15.6%) and 40-44 years (15.0%). On

the other hand, the highest proportion of female emigrants are at age group 30-34 years

(17.7%). This suggests that the highest proportion of females are younger than their males

counterparts.

Table 3.1: Age group of emigrants by sex

Age

group

Number Percent (%)


0-4 5 3 8 0.6 0.9 0.7

5-9 3 5 8 0.3 1.5 0.7

10-14 0 1 1 0.0 0.3 0.1

15-19 3 4 7 0.3 1.2 0.6

20-24 28 7 35 3.2 2.0 2.9

25-29 80 26 106 9.3 7.6 8.8

30-34 99 61 160

11.5 17.7 13.2

35-39 135 46 181

15.6 13.4 15.0

40-44 130 49 179

15.0 14.2 14.8

45-49 99 44 143

11.5 12.8 11.8

50-54 111 40 151

12.8 11.6 12.5

55-59 70 26 96

8.1 7.6 7.9

60-64 63 20 83

7.3 5.8 6.9

65+ 38 12 50

4.4 3.5 4.1

Total 864 344 1,208 100.0 100.0 100.0

30

3.3 Relationship of emigrants to head of household

In terms of relationship to the head of household, Table 3.2 shows that 37.8 percent of the total

population of emigrants are friends to the household head while 30.7 percent are

brothers/sisters to the head of household. Among these two groups (siblings and friends)

however, the proportion of female emigrants (73.5%) is higher than their male counterparts

(66.5%).

Table 3.2: Relationship of emigrants to head of household by sex

Relationship to head of

household

Number Percent (%)


Spouse (Wife/Husband) 18 1 19

2.1 0.3 1.6

Child (Son/Daughter) 64 34 98

7.4 9.7 8.1

Parent/Parent in-law 29 10 39

3.4 2.8 3.2

Son/Daughter in-law 16 7 23

1.9 2.0 1.9

Grandchild 7 2 9

0.8 0.6 0.7

Brother/Sister 252 121 373

29.2 34.5 30.7

Step child 5 2 7 0.6 0.6 0.6

Foster child 1 0 1 0.1 0.0 0.1

Friend 322 137 459 37.3 39.0 37.8

Other relative 128 30 158 14.8 8.5 13.0

Non-relative 19 7 26 2.2 2.0 2.1

Other 3 0 3 0.3 0.0 0.2

Total 864 351 1,215 100.0 100.0 100.0

3.4 Marital status of emigrants 12 years and older

Table 3.3 shows the marital status of emigrants aged 12 years and older. From the Table, 74.4

percent of the emigrants are married and 17.0 percent have never been married. The married

among the female population (76.1%) is higher than their male counterparts (73.8%). On the

other hand, the proportion of males who have never married (18.7%) is higher compared with

females (12.5%). The proportion of females who are divorced (7.2%) is nearly three times the

proportion of males (2.5%).

Table 3.3: Marital status of emigrants 12 years and older by sex

Number Percent

Marital status Male Female Total Male Female Total

Married 630 255 885 73.8 76.1 74.4

Consensual Union 35 7 42 4.1 2.1 3.5

Separated 5 1 6 0.6 0.3 0.5

Divorced 21 24 45 2.5 7.2 3.8

Widowed 3 6 9 0.4 1.8 0.8

Never Married 160 42 202 18.7 12.5 17.0

Total 854 335 1,189 100.0 100.0 100.0

31

3.5 Country of residence of emigrants

The country of residence of emigrants is shown in Table 3.4. Most emigrants from Ghana reside

in the USA (25.6%), Italy (17.4%) and the UK (16.7). In terms of sexes, the proportion of

Ghanaian female emigrants in the USA (33.1%) and UK (22.3%) is higher than males (22.5%

in USA and 14.5% in the UK). On the other hand, the proportion of male emigrants in Italy

(20.0%) and Germany (12.4%) is higher than females (Table 3.4).

Table 3.4: Country of residence of emigrants by sex

Country of

residence

Number Percent (%)


UK 125 78 203 14.5 22.3 16.7

USA 194 116 310 22.5 33.1 25.6

Germany 107 32 139 12.4 9.1 11.5

Italy 173 38 211 20.0 10.9 17.4

Canada 21 12 33 2.4 3.4 2.7

Holland 13 8 21 1.5 2.3 1.7

Spain 64 6 70

7.4 1.7 5.8

Belgium 14 12 26

1.6 3.4 2.1

China 1 1 2

0.1 0.3 0.2

South Africa 13 9 22

1.5 2.6 1.8

Nigeria 6 1 7

0.7 0.3 0.6

Ivory Coast 4 3 7

0.5 0.9 0.6

Other ECOWAS 6 0 6

0.7 0.0 0.5

Other Africa 47 2 49

5.4 0.6 4.0

Other 75 32 107

8.7 9.1 8.8

Total 863 350 1,213 100.0 100.0 100.0

3.6 Number of years lived abroad

The number of years an emigrant has lived abroad is an important indicator which determines

remittance flow from that individual to friends and relatives. Figure 3.1 shows that 55.3 percent

of the emigrants have lived abroad for at least 10 years and 3.3 percent have lived outside of

Ghana for less than one year. There is disparity between the sexes as 56.7 percent of male

emigrants and 51.8 percent of females emigrants have lived abroad for at least 10 years. .

32

Figure 3.1: Emigrants by number of years lived abroad and sex

3.7 Main reasons for moving abroad

People move abroad for different reasons which include employment, education, family

reasons and so on. Figure 3.2 presents information on the main reasons why people moved

from the districts surveyed to live broad. In all, employment issues (77.2%) was the main

contributor to migration followed by family issues (as people moved to join their families)

(13.0%). The Figure further reveals that the proportion of males (85.6%) who moved based on

economic gains is higher than females (56.5%). On the contrary, the proportion of females

(30.7%) who moved for family issues is more than the proportion of males (5.9%). Also, a

slightly higher proportion of males (8.2%) than females (7.6%) moved for educational

purposes.

Figure 3.2: Main reason emigrants moved abroad by sex

3.0

19.6 20.6

56.7

4.1

22.5 21.6

51.8

3.3

20.4 20.9

55.3

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

<1 1-4 5-9 10+

Percent

Years

Male

Female

Total

85.6

7.4 5.91.2

56.5

8.2

30.7

4.5

77.2

7.613.0

2.1

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

Employment Education Family Other

Percent

Reason

Male

Female

Total

33

3.8 Distribution of households receiving remittances

Table 3.5 shows that, out of the 1,200 households interviewed in the six districts, 307

households constituting 25.6 percent received remittances during the 12 months preceding the

survey. The districts with the higher proportions of households receiving remittances are

Asante Akim North (32.0%) followed by Berekum Municipal (31.0%) while the least is

Mampong Municipal (24.0%). About 57 percent of the households had relatives and friends

who lived outside Ghana. Forty-five percent of households who had friends and relatives living

outside Ghana received remittances during the reference period. This suggests that even

though households may have friends and relatives living outside Ghana, not all of them will

receive remittances.

Berekum Municipal (73.0%) has the highest proportion of households having relatives and

friends living outside Ghana, followed by Asante Akim North district (63.5%), with Sekyere

Kumawu district recording the lowest proportion (38.0%) of households having relatives and

friends living outside Ghana. However, in terms of households receiving remittances in the 12

months preceding the survey, Sekyere Kumawu District (52.6%) had the highest proportion

while Techiman Municipal (37.8%) recorded the least proportion (Table 3.5).

Table 3.5: Households receiving remittances in the past 12 months preceding the study

Number Proportion

District

Total

number of

households

Households

with

relatives

and friends

abroad

Households

receiving

remittances

Households

with

relatives

and friends

abroad

Total

households

receiving

remittances

Households

with

relatives

and friends

abroad and

receiving

remittances


57.0 24.0 42.1


38.0 20.0 52.6


63.5 32.0 50.4


73.0 31.0 42.5


55.5 21.0 37.8


54.0 25.5 47.2

Total 1,200 682 307 56.8 25.6 45.0

Households receiving remittances and characteristics of heads of household

Table 3.6 shows that out of the total of 307 households that received remittances, majority

(53.7%) of them are headed by males while the rest headed by females (46.3%). Sekyere

Kumawu (62.5%) recorded the highest proportion female-headed households who received

remittances and Nkoranza South had the lowest proportion (29.4%).

34

Table 3.6: Distribution of heads of households receiving remittances by district and sex

Number Percent (%)

District Male Female Total Male Female Total


62.5 37.5 100.0


37.5 62.5 100.0


48.4 51.6 100.0


58.1 41.9 100.0


40.5 59.5 100.0


70.6 29.4 100.0

Total 165 142 307 53.7 46.3 100.0

Out of the total number of households that received remittances, the highest proportion of

households heads that received remittances are in the age group 65 years and older (15.0%)

and the lowest proportion in the age group 15-19 years (0.7%). It is observed that two-thirds

(66.8%) of the household heads who received remittances are in the age group 25-54 years.

Among the male-headed households that received remittances, the age group 35-39 years

recorded the highest proportion (15.2%) followed by those age 65 years and older (13.9%).

For the female-headed households, those aged 65 years and older recorded the highest

proportion of 16.2 percent of those who received remittances (Table 3.7).

Table 3.7: Age of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Age-group

Number Percent (%)


15-19 1 1 2

0.6 0.7 0.7

20-24 9 10 19

5.5 7.0 6.2

25-29 19 16 35

11.5 11.3 11.4

30-34 22 13 35

13.3 9.2 11.4

35-39 25 16 41

15.2 11.3 13.4

40-44 16 11 27

9.7 7.7 8.8

45-49 16 19 35

9.7 13.4 11.4

50-54 13 19 32

7.9 13.4 10.4

55-59 8 8 16

4.8 5.6 5.2

60-64 13 6 19

7.9 4.2 6.2

65+ 23 23 46

13.9 16.2 15.0

Total 165 142 307 100.0 100.0 100.0

Almost half (48.9%) of the heads of households that received remittances are married, 18.2

percent have never been married and 11.4 percent are divorced. The proportion of males who

are household heads who are married (64.2%) is higher compared females (31.0%). Also, male

household heads who have never been married (20.5%) is higher than female household heads

(15.5%) of households who received remittances. On the other hand, the proportions of female

household heads who are divorced (19.0%) or widowed (16.2%) are higher than males.

35

Table 3.8: Marital status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Marital status Male Female Total Male Female Total

Married 106 44 150 64.2 31.0 48.9

Consensual Union 10 17 27 6.1 12.0 8.8

Separated 4 9 13 2.4 6.3 4.2

Divorced 8 27 35 4.8 19.0 11.4

Widowed 3 23 26 1.8 16.2 8.5

Never Married 34 22 56 20.6 15.5 18.2

Total 165 142 307 100.0 100.0 100.0

Table 3.9 shows that the majority (56.3%) of the heads of households that received remittances

have low level of education (below SHS level) with about one-quarters (25.7%) having Middle

School education while about one-fifth (20.8%) have JSS/JHS education. It is observed that

male household heads are more likely than females to have higher education. One in every ten

(10.1%) of the heads of households that received remittances have no education (17.6 percent

of females and 3.6 percent of males).

Table 3.9: Highest educational level of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Educational Level Male Female Total Male Female Total

None 6 25 31 3.6 17.6 10.1

Kindergarten 0 4 4 0.0 2.8 1.3

Primary 9 17 26 5.5 12.0 8.5

JSS/JHS 37 27 64 22.4 19.0 20.8

Middle 43 36 79 26.1 25.4 25.7

SSS/SHS 26 13 39 15.8 9.2 12.7

Secondary 9 6 15 5.5 4.2 4.9

Vocational/Technical/Commercial 9 2 11 5.5 1.4 3.6

Teacher training/Agric/Nursing certificate 3 2 5 1.8 1.4 1.6

Post-secondary diploma (HND, Teacher

training, Nursing University diploma) 11 7 18 6.7 4.9 5.9

Tertiary 10 3 13 6.1 2.1 4.2

Other professional (CA, ACCA, ICT etc.) 2 0 2 1.2 0.0 0.7

Total 165 142 307 100.0 100.0 100.0

Table 3.10 shows that, almost three-quarters (73.0%) of heads households that received

remittances can read and write a simple sentence in at least one language. About two-fifths

(42.7%) can read and write in English and a Ghanaian language with understanding. More than

one-half (58.2%) of male household heads are literate in English and a Ghanaian language with

less than one percent (0.7%) being literate in English, French and a Ghanaian language.

Illiteracy among female household heads is high with a proportion of 43.0 percent. About one-

quarter (24.6%) of female household heads can read and write a simple sentence in English

and a Ghanaian language (Table 3.10).

36

Table 3.10: Literacy status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Literacy status Male Female Total Male Female Total

None (not literate) 22 61 83 13.3 43.0 27.0

English only 31 19 50 18.8 13.4 16.3

Ghanaian language only 15 25 40 9.1 17.6 13.0

English and Ghanaian language 96 35 131 58.2 24.6 42.7

English, French and Ghanaian

language 1 1 2

0.6 0.7 0.7

Other 0 1 1 0.0 0.7 0.3

Total 165 142 307 100.0 100.0 100.0

Figure 3.3 shows that, out of the total number of heads of households that received remittances,

86.0 percent reported working while 14.0 percent indicated that they were not working. A

higher proportion of the male heads of household (91.5%) are working compared to female

heads of household (79.6%). Thus, more than twice as many male heads of household (8.5%)

as female heads of household (20.4%) that received remittances are not working.

Figure 3.3: Current activity status of heads of households 15 years

and older receiving remittances by sex

Occupation refers to the type of work a person is engaged in at the establishment where the

person works. Majority of heads of households that received remittances are engaged in Service

and sales work (34.5%), Skilled agriculture, forestry and fishery work (29.2%) and Craft and

related trades (12.9%). Female heads of household (55.8%) are more likely than male heads

(18.5%) to be engaged as Service and sales workers. On the other hand, male heads of

household (33.8%) are more likely than female heads (23.0%) to be Skilled agriculture, forestry

and fishery workers. Also, a higher proportion of male heads of household (15.9%) than

females (8.8%) are into Craft and related trades work (Table 3.11).

91.5

79.6

86.0

8.5

20.4

14.0

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

90.0

100.0

Male Female Total

Percent

Working

Not working

37

Table 3.11: Occupation of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Current occupation Male Female Total Male Female Total

Managers 4 2 6 2.6 1.8 2.3

Professionals 17 6 23 11.3 5.3 8.7

Technicians and associate

Professionals 7 1 8

4.6 0.9 3.0

Clerical support workers 2 3 5 1.3 2.7 1.9

Service and sales workers 28 63 91 18.5 55.8 34.5

Skilled agricultural, forestry and

fishery workers 51 26 77

33.8 23.0 29.2

Craft and related trades workers 24 10 34 15.9 8.8 12.9

Plant and machine operators, and

assembler 10 0 10 6.6 0.0 3.8

Elementary occupations 8 2 10 5.3 1.8 3.8

Total 151 113 264 100.0 100.0 100.0

In terms of industry of occupation of heads of households that received remittances, about a

third (31.4%) are engaged in Agriculture, forestry and fishing activities, one-fifth (20.8%) in

Wholesale and retail trade activities and one-tenth (9.8%) in Education. A higher proportion of

male household heads (36.4%) than females (24.8%) are into Agriculture, forestry and fishing

activities. On the other hand, a higher proportion of females (34.5%) than males (10.6%) are

into Wholesale and retail trade activities (Table 3.12).

Table 3.12: Industry of occupation of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Current industry

Number Percent (%)


Agriculture, forestry and fishing 55 28 83 36.4 24.8 31.4

Mining and quarrying 1 0 1 0.7 0.0 0.4

Manufacturing 8 7 15 5.3 6.2 5.7

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning

supply 1 0 1

0.7 0.0 0.4

Water supply; sewerage, waste management

and remediation activities 2 1 3

1.3 0.9 1.1

Construction 14 1 15 9.3 0.9 5.7

Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles

and motorcycles 16 39 55

10.6 34.5 20.8

Transportation and storage 12 0 12 7.9 0.0 4.5

Accommodation and food service activities 3 6 9 2.0 5.3 3.4

Information and communication 1 0 1 0.7 0.0 0.4

Financial and insurance activities 3 2 5 2.0 1.8 1.9

Professional, scientific and technical activities 4 0 4 2.6 0.0 1.5

Administrative and support service activities 1 0 1 0.7 0.0 0.4

Public administration and defence; compulsory

social security 2 1 3

1.3 0.9 1.1

Education 14 12 26 9.3 10.6 9.8

Human health and social work activities 5 1 6 3.3 0.9 2.3

Arts, entertainment and recreation 0 2 2 0.0 1.8 0.8

Other service activities 9 13 22 6.0 11.5 8.3

Total 151 113 264 100.0 100.0 100.0

38

Out of the total number of household heads working, nearly three-quarters (73.9%) are self-

employed (61.4 percent are self-employed without employees and 12.5 percent are self-

employed with employees). About one-fifth (20.8%) are working as employees with only 1.1

percent being unpaid apprentices.

For both male and female household heads, the proportion of those who worked as self-

employed (69.5 percent and 79.6 percent respectively) are more than the other categories of

workers (Table 3.13).

Table 3.13: Employment status of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Current status of employment Male Female Total Male Female Total

Employee 40 15 55

26.5 13.3 20.8

Self-employed with employees 20 13 33

13.2 11.5 12.5

Self-employed without employees 85 77 162

56.3 68.1 61.4

Contributing family worker 3 2 5

2.0 1.8 1.9

Casual worker 3 3 6

2.0 2.7 2.3

Unpaid apprentice 0 3 3

0.0 2.7 1.1

Total 151 113 264 100.0 100.0 100.0

More than 8 out of 10 (85.2%) heads of household that received remittances are working in the

Private sector while 11.7 percent are in the Public sector. There is not much variation in terms

of sexes.

Table 3.14: Employment sector of heads of households receiving remittances by sex

Number Percent (%)

Current sector of employment Male Female Total Male Female Total

Public (Government) 19 12 31

12.6 10.6 11.7

Semi-Public/Parastatal 3 3 6

2.0 2.7 2.3

Private 128 97 225

84.8 85.8 85.2

NGO's (Local and International) 1 1 2

0.7 0.9 0.8

Total 151 113 264 100.0 100.0 100.0

Recipients of most recent remittances

Generally, remittances (both cash and goods), are made to specific household members. From

Table 3.15, six in every 10 (60.3%) of cash recipients and 55.7 percent of goods recipients are

specific household members. With the exception of the Sekyere Kumawu district where a

higher proportion (55.8%) of cash remittances were sent to the household as a whole, larger

proportions of cash remitted were sent to specific household members in the other study

districts. The proportion cash remitted to a specific household member is highest in Berekum

Municipal (72.6%) and lowest in Techiman Municipal (52.2%).

39

With regard to goods sent, higher proportions of the recipients in all three districts in the

Ashanti region (Mampong Municipal, Sekyere Kumawu and Asante Akim North) were

specific household members. However, in the three districts of Brong Ahafo region (Berekum

Municipal, Techiman Municipal and Nkoranza South), the goods sent were mainly to the

household as a whole (Table 3.15).

Table 3.15: Emigrants by general recipient of most recent household remittances, type and district

Recipient

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Cash For household as a whole 40.0 55.8 35.1 27.4 47.8 44.6 39.7

For a specific member 60.0 44.2 64.9 72.6 52.2 55.4 60.3

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Goods For household as a whole 45.0 40.0 30.0 52.4 65.0 52.6 44.3

For a specific member 55.0 60.0 70.0 47.6 35.0 47.4 55.7

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

3.9 Distribution of specific recipients of remittances

Table 3.16 shows that 30.0 percent of household members who were cash recipients are

brothers/sisters, one-quarter (24.7%) are other relatives and 12.1 percent are non-relatives of

the sender. In Mampong Municipal, little more than half (51.5%) of the cash recipients were

brothers/sisters while more than half (52.6%) of the cash recipients Sekyere Kumawu District

were brothers/sisters or sons/daughters of the sender. Those who received cash remittances

from abroad in Asante Akim North District, Techiman Municipal, Nkoranza South District and

Berekum Municipal were mainly brothers/sisters (more than 60 percent) of the sender. In the

Berekum Municipal cash recipients were mainly brothers/sisters, spouses and other relatives

(54.8%).

In the case of goods, household members who received them were mainly brothers/sisters

(35.9%), other relatives (26.9%) and non-relatives (21.8%). Recipients within Asante Akim

North district, Berekum Municipal and Techiman Municipal follow this general trend. Within

Mampong Municipal, it was the brothers/sisters (54.5%) and non-relatives (27.3%) while

brothers/sisters (55.6%) and other relatives (22.2%) dominate in the Nkoranza South District.

Mothers and brothers/sisters dominate as recipients of goods in the Sekyere Kumawu

Municipal (Table 3.16).

40

Table 3.16: Emigrants by specific household recipient of remittances, type and district

Household members

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Cash Spouse 6.1 5.3 0.0 17.0 8.3 6.5 7.2

Son/Daughter 9.1 26.3 3.2 9.4 4.2 6.5 8.1

Son/Daughter-in-law 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4

Father 6.1 10.5 6.3 9.4 4.2 6.5 7.2

Mother 9.1 21.1 6.3 11.3 4.2 12.9 9.9

Brother/Sister 51.5 26.3 20.6 18.9 33.3 45.2 30.0

Parent-in-law 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.4

Other relative 12.1 10.5 42.9 18.9 29.2 16.1 24.7

Non-relative 6.1 0.0 19.0 13.2 16.7 6.5 12.1

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Goods Spouse 9.1 0.0 2.9 10.0 0.0 0.0 3.8

Son/Daughter 0.0 16.7 2.9 10.0 0.0 11.1 5.1

Son/Daughter-in-law 0.0 0.0 2.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.3

Father 0.0 0.0 0.0 10.0 0.0 11.1 2.6

Mother 0.0 33.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6

Brother/Sister 54.5 33.3 25.7 30.0 42.9 55.6 35.9

Other relative 9.1 16.7 34.3 20.0 42.9 22.2 26.9

Non-relative 27.3 0.0 31.4 20.0 14.3 0.0 21.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

3.10 Total and mean cash received by households as remittances

The total amount of cash received by households as remittances in the 12 months preceding

the study was GH¢1,361,678.00. Households in Berekum Municipal received the highest

remittances of GH¢532,272.00, followed by those in Asante Akim North (GH¢313,261.00)

while the lowest was from Techiman Municipal (GH¢69,700.00). The mean amount of cash

remitted was GH¢4,663.28. Berekum Municipal recorded the highest mean cash remittances

of GH¢9,177.10 while the lowest was in Techiman Municipal with an amount of GH¢1,834.21

(Table 3.17).

Table 3.17: Cash received in the 12 months preceding the study by district

District Households Mean cash (¢) Total cash (¢)

Mampong Municipal 45 4,497.44 202,385

Sekyere Kumawu 39 2,067.95 80,650

Asante Akim North 63 4,972.40 313,261

Berekum Municipal 58 9,177.10 532,272

Techiman Municipal 38 1,834.21 69,700

Nkoranza South 49 3,334.90 163,410

Total 292 4,663.28 1,361,678

41

Frequency of remittances received

Table 3.18 shows the frequency of receiving remittances by households in the 12 months

preceding the study. More than two-fifths (43.8%) of households received cash remittances

only once during the reference period while those who received cash remittances two times is

20.3 percent. Households in Mampong Municipal (60.0%) and those in Techiman Municipal

(58.7%) are more likely to receive cash remittances once than the other districts. Like cash

remittances, majority of households also received goods once (61.4%). About seven out of ten

households in Techiman Municipal (75.0%), Asante Akim North (74.0%) and Mampong

(70.0%) received goods once.

Table 3.18: Emigrants by frequency of remittances (cash and goods) sent in the 12 months preceding the study by district

Frequency

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Cash Once 60.0 30.2 41.2 35.6 58.7 41.1 43.8

Two times 9.1 18.6 22.7 16.4 19.6 33.9 20.3

Three time 5.5 18.6 11.3 16.4 10.9 8.9 11.9

Four times 1.8 9.3 12.4 17.8 6.5 7.1 10.0

Every month 18.2 23.3 12.4 13.7 4.3 5.4 12.7

Special occasions/

emergencies 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 3.6 0.8

Other 3.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.5

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Goods Once 70.0 40.0 74.0 28.6 75.0 52.6 61.4

Two times 5.0 0.0 14.0 38.1 15.0 31.6 17.9

Three time 15.0 20.0 4.0 4.8 10.0 5.3 7.9

Four times 5.0 40.0 2.0 23.8 0.0 5.3 8.6

Every month 5.0 0.0 6.0 4.8 0.0 0.0 3.6

Special occasions/

emergencies 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 5.3 0.7

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Cost incurred in receiving remittances

Overall, 63.4 percent of cash recipients in the study districts did not incur any cost on the money

received. Nearly one-quarter (23.8%) of the cash recipients spent between GH¢10.00 and

GH¢99.00 as cost on the money received and about 4.4 percent spent at least GH¢100.00 on

the amount received (Table 3.19). A similar pattern is observed in all the districts except

Nkoranza South where more than half of the cash recipients (53.6%) spent between GH¢10.00

and GH¢99.00 as cost on the money received while 30.4 percent did not incur any cost on the

money received (Table 3.19).

Table 3.19 further shows that the mean cost on the money received is GH¢81.37 with variations

in the districts. Asante Akim North District (GH¢276.33) recorded the highest mean cost while

Sekyere Kumawu (GH¢18.00) had the least mean cost.

42

Table 3.19: Cost incurred (Ghana Cedis) on remittances received in the 12 months preceding the study by district

District None 1-9 10-99 100+ Total Mean cost (¢) Total cost (¢)

Mampong Municipal 73.2 10.7 12.5 3.6 100.0 31.00 465

Sekyere Kumawu 65.1 4.7 30.2 0.0 100.0 18.00 270

Asante Akim North 71.6 10.5 13.7 4.2 100.0 276.33 7,461

Berekum Municipal 75.7 4.3 15.7 4.3 100.0 48.71 828

Techiman Municipal 54.3 13.0 28.3 4.3 100.0 20.57 432

Nkoranza South 30.4 7.1 53.6 8.9 100.0 37.13 1,448

All 63.4 8.5 23.8 4.4 100.0 81.37 10,904

Types of goods received by households

The survey elicited information about the type of goods received by household members from

emigrants. Figure 3.4 indicates that half (50.0%) of household members received goods in the

form of clothing/shoes, 17.3 percent received food and 11.4 percent had mobile phones. Only

4.5 percent received computers/laptops.

Figure 3.4: Type of goods received by household members

Total and mean value of goods received by households

The total value of goods received amounted to GH¢1,042,463.00 with Berekum Municipality

receiving the highest (GH¢717,725.00). This is followed by the Asante Akim North District

with GH¢127,002.00 while Mampong Municipality (GH¢30,801.00) recorded the least value

17.3

50.0

11.4

1.0 1.04.5 3.5 2.0

5.43.5

0.50.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Goods

Percent

43

of goods received in. The mean value of goods received as remittance in the 12 months

preceding the survey in the selected districts amounted to GH¢8,615.40 per household and it

is even higher than the cash remittances. At the district level, the mean value of goods received

ranged from GH¢1,811.80 in the Mampong Municipality to GH¢39,873.60 in Berekum

Municipality.

Table 3.20: Value of goods received in the 12 months preceding the study by district

District Households Value of goods Mean Value

Mampong Municipal 17 30,801.00 1,811.80

Sekyere Kumawu 10 39,100.00 3,910.00

Asante Akim North 40 127,002.00 3,175.10

Berekum Municipal 18 717,725.00 39,873.60

Techiman Municipal 19 38,520.00 2,027.40

Nkoranza South 17 89,315.00 5,253.80

Total 121 1,042,463.00 8,615.40

Channels used in sending remittances

Households which were recipients of remittances in the study districts were also asked of the

channels used in receiving these remittances. More than half (52.6%) of all recipients indicated

that they received their cash remittances through Money Transfer Operators (MTOs). A further

39.4 percent indicated that it was sent through friends/relatives with a small proportion (4.5%)

having the money transferred through the Post Office. However, there are variations in the

channels used. In all districts, except Techiman Municipal where about 60 percent (59.5%) of

households received the money through friends and relatives, MTOs are the main channels

through which remittances are sent. In the Asante Akim North District, 44.4 percent of

remittances are carried personally by the remitter. Apart from Sekyere Kumawu (37.8%) and

Berekum Municipal (35.1%), bank transfers is not a major channel of receiving remittances in

the survey districts.

Table 3.21: Households receiving money in the 12 months preceding the study by channel used and districts

Channel used

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Bank transfer (cheques,

drafts, direct deposit, etc.) 11.1 37.8 6.3 35.1 5.4 0.0 15.7

MTO (Money Transfer

Operator) 48.9 59.5 47.6 57.9 45.9 56.3 52.6

Post office (money order) 2.2 0.0 1.6 14.0 8.1 0.0 4.5

Agent/courier 0.0 5.4 9.5 3.5 10.8 12.5 7.0

Personally carried it 11.1 10.8 44.4 0.0 8.1 12.5 16.0

Sent through

friends/relatives 31.1 43.2 33.3 40.4 59.5 35.4 39.4

Other means 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

44

Preferred channels for receiving remittances

Households receiving remittances were asked of the preferred channels through which they

would have wished to receive their remittances. Figure 2.5 shows that nearly half (49.7%) of

the households indicated that they would have preferred remitters sending remittances through

the MTOs and about one-quarter (23.1%) showed preference to remitting them through friends

and relatives (Figure 3.5).

Figure 3.5: Households receiving money in the 12 months preceding the study

by preferred channels for receiving remittances

Table 3.22 shows that in all six survey districts more than two-fifth of households would prefer

receiving money through the MTOs, with Nkoranza South (58.3%) recording the highest

proportion and Berekum Municipal the least (42.1%). Apart from the MTOs, nearly a quarter

(23.1%) of households receiving remittances will prefer cash sent to them through

relatives/friends. The next preferred means is through Bank Transfer except for in Sekyere

Kumawu (27.0%) and Berekum (26.3%), where Bank Transfer is the second most preferred

channel to receive cash remittances. The least preferred channel again is through the Post

Office.

11.9

49.7

1.0

4.5

9.4

23.1

0.30.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

Bank transfer MTO Post office Agent/courier Personallycarried it

friends/relatives Other

Channels

Percent

45

Table 3.22. Households receiving money in the past 12 months by preferred channels used by remitters in sending remittances

Channels

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Bank transfer (cheques, draft,

direct deposit, etc.) 6.7 27.0 6.3 26.3 0.0 4.2 11.9

MTO (Money transfer org. e.g.

Western Union) 57.8 54.1 44.4 42.1 44.4 58.3 49.7

Post office (e.g. money order) 2.2 0.0 0.0 1.8 2.8 0.0 1.0

Agent/courier 0.0 2.7 4.8 3.5 5.6 10.4 4.5

Personally carried it 13.3 8.1 20.6 0.0 5.6 6.3 9.4

Sent through friends/relatives 20.0 8.1 23.8 24.6 41.7 20.8 23.1

Other 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.8 0.0 0.0 0.3

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Advice received to invest remittances

The impact of remittances on development depends on the use of remittances by recipient

households. This section provides information on households who received advice on how to

invest the remittances received. The results show that 12.6 percent of households received

advice to invest the remittances received. At the district level, relatively high proportions of

households in Berekum Municipal (28.3%) and Asante Akim North (18.8%) received advice

to invest the remittances received. In Sekyere Kumawu however, virtually no households

received advice to invest the remittances received (Figure 3.6).

Figure 3.6: Advice received by households to invest remittances received

12.6

3.7

0.0

18.8

28.3

11.1

3.7

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

Total Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South

Percent

46

3.11 Country of residence of remitters and type of remittances sent

to households

Table 3.23 shows remitters by country of residence, type of remittances sent and the recipient

of the transfer. Overall, 27.1 percent of all emigrant who made cash remittances and 30.7

percent of goods remitters were resident in the United States of America. This is followed by

residents in the United Kingdom with 16.5 percent of cash remittances and 17.9 percent of total

goods sent. Germany and Italy are other major sources with more than ten percent of both cash

and goods remittances received by households in the survey districts. Cash remittances from

African countries constituted 5.0 percent with goods being only 1.4 percent of the total goods

received in the six districts.

Table 3.23: Remitters by country of residence, type or remittance and recipient

Cash Goods

Residence of

remitter

For a

specific

member

For

household

as a whole Total

For a

specific

member

For

household

as a whole Total

UK 15.7 17.8 16.5 17.9 17.7 17.9

USA 26.5 28.1 27.1 38.5 21.0 30.7

Germany 10.3 15.8 12.5 9.0 16.1 12.1

Italy 14.3 11.6 13.3 10.3 19.4 14.3

Canada 6.3 0.7 4.1 3.8 1.6 2.9

Holland 3.1 0.0 1.9 5.1 1.6 3.6

Spain 8.5 11.6 9.8 1.3 11.3 5.7

Belgium 2.2 0.0 1.4 1.3 1.6 1.4

China 0.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

South Africa 0.9 2.1 1.4 0.0 0.0 0.0

Ivory Coast 0.0 0.7 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

Other ECOWAS 0.4 0.0 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.0

Other Africa 3.1 2.7 3.0 2.6 0.0 1.4

Other 8.5 8.2 8.4 10.3 9.7 10.0

Total 100.0 100,0 100,0 100.0 100.0 100.0

3.12 Uses of remittances

Households receiving cash remittances were asked how the money was used and the results are

presented in Table 3.24. More than three-quarters (79.1%) of households in the survey districts

indicated that the cash remittances received were mostly used to meet daily needs. The

proportion of households is highest in Asante Akim North (85.7%) and lowest in the Nkoranza

South (69.4%). Other important uses of the cash remittances received were for payment for

schooling or training of a household member (21.9%), and paying of medical bills (16.4%).

Table 3.24 further shows that 6.2 percent of respondents used the cash to support children with

the highest proportion being in the Berekum Municipality (22.4%). Less than five percent of

households in Mampong and Nkoranza South used the remittances to support children.

47

Table 3.24: Persons deciding on the use of remittances received by district

Uses of cash received

Percent

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Daily needs (buy food,

clothes, household goods, etc.) 77.8 82.1 85.7 75.9 84.2 69.4 79.1

Pay for rent / household

utilities 13.3 7.7 22.2 10.3 5.3 6.1 11.6

For agric purposes (land, farm

tools or machinery, etc.) 4.4 5.1 11.1 8.6 2.6 4.1 6.5

Start a business (non-farm) 2.2 0.0 1.6 6.9 0.0 20.4 5.5

Financial investment 2.2 0.0 11.1 0.0 0.0 2.0 3.1

Savings 0.0 0.0 6.3 0.0 2.6 2.0 2.1

Purchase of land for non-

agricultural purposes 2.2 15.4 3.2 1.7 0.0 10.2 5.1

Pay for sender's own marriage 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.7

Marriage of others 2.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.7

Purchase/pay for

house/dwelling (including new

house construction) 8.9 2.6 6.3 5.2 10.5 8.2 6.8

Pay off debt 4.4 0.0 1.6 1.7 0.0 0.0 1.4

Pay for schooling / training of

household member 13.3 17.9 31.7 22.4 21.1 20.4 21.9

Pay for funeral or other social

function 2.2 5.1 6.3 3.4 2.6 4.1 4.1

Pay for religious occasions 0.0 2.6 1.6 1.7 2.6 2.0 1.7

Pay for medical bills 13.3 35.9 20.6 15.5 2.6 10.2 16.4

Help others migrate / move

other family members /visit

abroad 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0 2.0 0.7

Child support 2.2 7.7 0.0 22.4 0.0 2.0 6.2

Donation 0.0 2.6 1.6 0.0 7.9 0.0 1.7

Pay community development

fund 0.0 0.0 1.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Other 0.0 2.6 4.8 8.6 0.0 0.0 3.1

48

Generally, the decision on spending or investment of remittances is the sole prerogative of the

household head in the six districts where the survey was carried out. Figure 3.7 shows that in

about seven out of ten households (69.7%) it is the household head who decides how the

remittances are used. Seventeen percent of households also indicated that persons deciding on

the use of remittances is the remitter while for 10.3 percent of households it is the recipient.

Figure 3.7: Persons deciding on the use of remittances received

In all the six districts, household heads form higher proportions of persons who decide on the

use of the money sent. The remitters are the next group of persons who decide on the use of

the remittances with the exception of Nkoranza South and Sekyere Kumawu districts where

the recipients come second after household heads (Table 3.25).

Table 3.25: Persons deciding on use of remittances received by households in the 12 months preceding the study by district

Person deciding Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim

North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Head of household 70.8 69.2 69.8 78.3 80.0 50.0 69.7

The remitter 18.8 7.7 22.2 11.7 17.5 22.0 17.0

The recipient 4.2 17.9 4.8 10.0 0.0 26.0 10.3

Parents 4.2 0.0 3.2 0.0 2.5 2.0 2.0

Siblings 2.1 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.7

Someone else 0.0 2.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.3

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

69.7

17.0

10.3

2.0 0.7 0.3

Head of household The remitter The recipient Parents Siblings Someone else

49

3.13 Main challenge encountered in receiving remittances

The survey sought to find out from households the main challenge encountered in receiving

remittances from abroad. The major challenges encountered by households include transfer

time (25.0%), accessibility of service (23.3%) and privacy (22.2%). The proportion of

households indicating cost incurred (10.8%) is the least. It must be noted that about one out of

ten recipients stated that perceived risk (15.9%) was a challenge.

Figure 3.8: Main challenge encountered in receiving remittances

Table 3.26 shows challenges encountered by households in receiving remittances in the

districts. There are varying responses pertaining to the challenges encountered by households

in the districts. For example, whereas perceived risk (32.0%) is the main challenge in the

Mampong Municipality, in the Sekyere Kumawu district, the main challenge faced by

households is accessibility of service (40.0%). Again, in the Techiman Municipality, 63.9

percent of households cited privacy as their main challenge, while in the Berekum

Municipality, the main challenge is transfer time (53.8%).

Table 3.26: Main challenge encountered by households receiving remittances in the 12 months preceding the survey by district

Challenges

Mampong

Municipal

Sekyere

Kumawu

Asante

Akim North

Berekum

Municipal

Techiman

Municipal

Nkoranza

South Total

Cost 12.0 8.0 5.9 23.1 11.1 0.0 10.8

Transfer time 20.0 12.0 29.4 53.8 0.0 29.4 25.0

Privacy 28.0 8.0 17.6 0.0 63.9 11.8 22.2

Perceived risk 32.0 28.0 11.8 2.6 2.8 26.5 15.9

Accessibility of service 8.0 40.0 29.4 15.4 22.2 29.4 23.3

Other 0.0 4.0 5.9 5.1 0.0 2.9 2.8

Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

10.8

25.0

22.2

15.9

23.3

2.8

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

Cost Transfer time Privacy Perceived risk Accessibility ofservice

Other

Challenges

Percent

50

3.14 Characteristics of return migrants

Results presented in Table 3.27 show that seventeen migrants had returned to Ghana and lived

with their households at the time of the study. Concerning the activities of the return migrants

while abroad, about 88 percent were working while 11.8 percent worked and studied at the

same time. A return migrant is likely to spend an average of 6.2 years working outside Ghana.

About 71 percent of the return migrants indicated that while abroad, they sent remittances home

while 29.4 percent did not send any remittances home. The average amount of remittances sent

by return migrants is GhȻ3,175.00. The highest mode of transferring remittances by return

migrants is through Money Transfer Operators (41.7%), followed by friends/relatives (33.3%)

and agent/courier (16.7%). Only 8.3 percent of the return migrants indicated that they

personally carried the remittances.

Table 3.27: Characteristics of returned migrants

Details Total

Number of returned migrants 17

Main activity abroad

Working only 88.2

Working and studying 11.8

Total 100.0

Average number of years worked outside 6.2

Sent remittances home (percent)

Sent remittances home 70.6

Did not send remittances home 29.4

Total 100.0

Average amount sent (GH cedis) 3,175.0

Channel of sending remittances

MTO 41.7

Agent/courier 16.7

Personally carried it 8.3

Sent through friends/relatives 33.3

Total 100.0

51

CHAPTER FOUR

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

This section presents a summary of the key findings and conclusions of the Baseline

Assessment of Household Remittances conducted in six districts in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo

regions of Ghana. Remittances are considered to be a major cushion to household income. Out

of the 1,200 households interviewed in the six districts, 682 had relatives and friends who lived

outside Ghana forming 56.8 percent of the total number of households covered. A total of 307

households, constituting 25.6 percent received remittances during the 12 months preceding the

survey.

Most emigrants reside in the USA (25.6%), Italy (17.4%), the UK (16.7) and Germany (11.5%).

Generally, more than half (55.3%) of the emigrants have lived abroad for at least 10 years. Of

all the emigrants, majority (77.2%) reported moving abroad for employment purposes. The

main factor why the male emigrants moved abroad is for employment purposes (85.6%) and in

the case of the females, they move abroad mainly for employment (56.5%) and to join their

family (30.7%).

Higher proportions of remittances (both cash and goods), are made to specific household

members. Six in every 10 (60.3%) of cash recipients and 55.7 percent of goods received were

for specific household members.

The total amount of cash received by households as remittances in the 12 months preceding

the study was GH₡1,361,678.00. Households in Berekum Municipal received the highest

remittances of GH₡532,272.00, followed by those in Asante Akim North (GH₡313,261.00)

while the lowest was for households in Techiman Municipal (GH₡69,700). The mean amount

of cash is GH₡4,663.28. Berekum Municipal recorded the highest mean cash remittances of

GH₡9,177.10 while the lowest is Techiman Municipal with an amount of GH₡1,834.21.

The total value of goods received amounted to GH¢1,042,463.00 with Berekum Municipality

receiving GH¢717,725.00 as the highest. The mean value of goods received as remittance in

the 12 months preceding the survey in the districts amounted to GH¢8,615.40. At the district

level, the mean value of goods received ranges from GH¢1,811.80 in the Mampong

Municipality to GH¢39,873.60 in Berekum Municipality.

More than two-fifths (43.8%) of households received cash remittances only once while those

who received cash remittances two times is 20.3 percent. Like cash remittances, majority of

households also received goods once (61.4%).

Half (50.0%) of household members received goods from emigrants in the form of

clothing/shoes, 17.3 percent received food and 11.4 percent had mobile phones.

More than half (52.6%) of all remittances received by households are channeled through

Money Transfer Organizations. (MTOs) while transfers through banks and Post Offices

52

account for 15.7 percent and 4.5 percent respectively. Remitters using informal channels is

quite high. For instance, 39.4 percent of households received remittances through

friends/relatives. Nearly half (49.7%) of the households indicated that they would have

preferred remitters sending remittances through the MTOs and about one-quarter (23.1%)

showed preference to being remitted through friends and relatives.

More than three-quarters (79.1%) of households in the survey districts indicated that cash

remittances received were mostly used to meet daily needs. Other important uses of cash

remittances were for payment for schooling or training of a household member (21.9%), and

paying of medical bills (16.4%). About 6 percent of households used the cash for child support.

Only 3.1 percent of recipient households reported that they made financial investment with the

remittances received while those who started business activities is 5.5 percent.

Overall, 27.1 percent of all cash remittances and 30.7 percent of goods remitters were emigrants

residing in the United States of America. This is followed by those who reside in the United

Kingdom with 16.5 percent of cash remittances and 17.9 percent of total goods sent. Germany

and Italy are other major sources with more than ten percent of both cash and goods remittances

received by households. Cash remittances from African countries constituted 5.0 percent with

goods being only 1.4 percent of total goods received.

Seven out of ten households (69.7%) indicated that it is the household head who decided on

how the remittances are spent. Seventeen percent of households also indicated that the person

deciding on the use of remittances is the remitter while for 10.3 percent of the households it is

the recipient.

The major challenges encountered by households are transfer time (25.0%), accessibility of

service (23.3%) and privacy ((22.2%). The proportion of households indicating cost incurred

(10.8%) is the least. It must be noted that about one out of ten recipients stated that perceived

risk (15.9%) was a challenge.

About 71 percent of the return migrants indicated that while abroad, they sent remittances home

while 29.4 percent did not send any remittances home. The average amount of remittances sent

by return migrants is Gh¢3,175.00. The highest mode of transferring remittances by return

migrants is through MTOs (41.7%), friends/relatives (33.3%) and agent/courier (16.7%) and

personally carried (8.3%).

Conclusions and policy implications

In terms of migrant numbers and the value of cash and goods received by households, the

greater proportions came from emigrants residing in the United States of America, United

Kingdom, Germany and Italy. It would seem that these are the main countries that would need

the attention of policymakers in the quest to reduce the cost of channeling remittances to Ghana.

Even though the study did not cover household income within the reference period (12 months

preceding the survey) recording total cash remittances of GH¢1,361,678.00 and a mean cash

of GH¢4,663.28 per household suggests that remittances contribute greatly to household

income. Furthermore, the value of goods sent by remitters is huge with an average value of

GH¢8,615.40. Looking at the size of these flows, remittances have the potential to help

households in improving their income and investing in viable ventures.

53

The study also emphasis on the circumstances in which migrants send remittances to relatives

and friends in their country of origin. The primary interest of these remittances received by

households is mostly to meet daily needs (buy food, clothes, household goods, etc.) as well as

paying for schooling or training of a household member, paying of medical bills and for child

support.

Despite the growth and significance of remittances as a source of income to households, the

results indicate that in receiving remittances, households encounter challenges such as transfer

time, accessibility of service, privacy and security.

54

REFERENCES

Adger et al., 2002; Adaptation to climate change in the developing world. University of East

Anglia, Norwich, June 2003

Addison 2004; Union and Employment Growth: The One Constant? A Journal of economy and

society, March 2004

Amuedo-Dorantes, 2007; Labour Market Assimilation of recent immigrants in Spain. An

International Journal of Employment Relations, May 2007

Bangko Sentral 2009; The Philippine Economy, Annual Report, Advocacy Programs 70

Institutional Building 76 International Economic Cooperation, July 2009

International Monetary Fund, 2009; ‘Do Workers’ Remittances Promote Economic Growth?’,

International Monetary Fund Working Paper, WP/09/153, Washington, DC.

Mazzucato et al, 2008; Remittances in Ghana Origin: Origin, Destination and Issues of

Measurement. International Organization Migration, February 2008

The Migration and Remittances Factbook, 2016

Quartey, 2006; The impact of migrant remittances on household welfare in Ghana. The African

economic research consortium (AERC), Nairobi, Kenya, February 2006

Quartey and Blankson, 2004; Development, social resilience and the improvement of

household welfare in Ghana, University of Ghana, June 2004.

Ratha, D., 2007; Leveraging Remittances for Development, Migration Policy Institute, World

Bank, Washington, DC.

United Nation Development Program (2011) Towards Human Resilience: Sustaining MDG

Progress in an Age of Economic Uncertainty.

WHO & UNICEF (2010). Progress on Drinking Water and Sanitation: 2010 Update. World

Health Organization, Geneva

World Bank 2016; Remittance flows to the Sub-Saharan Africa region

World Bank, 2010; ‘Outlook for Remittance Flows 2010-2011’, Migration and Development

Brief, World Bank, Washington, DC.

World Bank, 2016; Migration and Remittances: Migration and Development Brief 26, World

Bank, Washington, DC. http://www.worldbank.org/migration

http://www.worldbank.org/migration

55

APPENDIX

Participants in the Baseline Assessment of Household Remittances

Project Implementation Team

Baah Wadieh

Anthony Amuzu

Godwin Odei Gyebi

Peter T. Peprah

Owusu Kagya

Emmanuel George Ossei

Emmanuel Boateng

Abena Osei-Akoto

Jacqueline Anum

Samilia Mintah

Abakah Ansah

Amatus Nobabumah

Acting Government Statistician

Deputy Government Statistician (O)

Project Coordinator

Trainer/Field Monitor




Data Processing/Field Monitor



Ashanti Regional Statistician/Field Monitor

Brong Ahafo Regional Statistician/Field Monitor

Supervisors

Samuel Akrofi Darko

Emmanuel Owusu Boateng Gabriel Opoku Nyarko

Gershon Terkple Doe

Samuel Owusu Agyemang

Kwamena Mensah

Field interviewers

Kofi Binditi B. N. G

Lady Talata Bawa

Loama Kombat

Yaw Kyei

Charles Arthur

Alex Ntim

Charles Otchere Larbi

Ebo Abbiw Williams

Andrews Nii Sowah

Isaac Asante Mensah

Fatai Bashiru

Daniel Ansah

Comfort Addai

Egbert Vizeng Braimah

Kofi Worae-Kusi

Millicent Owusus Animaa

Daniel Appiah

Samuel Awuah

Drivers

Emmanuel Acquah

Felix Osei

Stephen Otoo

Roland Akrong

Wisdom Kuagbelah

Daniel Mensah

Data entry Officers

Gertrude Owusu Asamoah

Patience Amelorku

Sanita Agyemang

Michael Nartey

Faustina Quainoo

Report Writers/Reviewers

Mr. Baah Wadieh

Michael O. Acheampong

Emmanuel Boateng

Godwin Odei Gyebi

Emmanuel Cobbinah

Mr. Anthony Amuzu

Owusu Kagya

Gershon Togoh

Patrick Adzovor

Jacqueline Anum

Abena Osei-Akoto

Peter Peprah

Emmanuel George Ossei

Sarah Woode

Samilia Mintah

Support staff

Hanna Frempong Konadu

Alberta Eshun

Felix Adjei

Bernice Adjetey Mensah

Ephraim Kakpor

56

Questionnaire

STATISTICAL SERVICE

REPUBLIC OF GHANA

BASELINE ASSESSMENT OF

HOUSEHOLD REMITTANCES SURVEY

(ASHANTI AND BRONG AHAFO REGIONS)

QUESTIONNAIRE

57

IDENTIFICATION

LOCALITY NAME __________________________________________________

CLUSTER NUMBER__________________________________________________________

STRUCTURE NUMBER…………………………………………………………………………

HOUSEHOLD NUMBER………………………………………………………………………..

REGION___________________________________________________________________

DISTRICT_________________________________________________________________

NAME OF HOUSEHOLD HEAD _________________________________________

NAME OF PRINCIPAL RESPONDENT ______________________________________

CONTACT NUMBER(S) OF HOUSEHOLD _____________________/_____________

INTERVIEWER VISITS

1 2 3 FINAL VISIT

DATE

________

________

_________

DAY

MONTH

YEAR

INT. ID NUMBER

SUP. ID NUMBER

RESULT

INTERVIEWER’S NAME

SUPERVISOR’S NAME

RESULT

________

________

________

________

________

________

_________

_________

_________

NEXT VISIT – DATE

TIME

________

________

________

________

TOTAL

NUMBER

OF VISITS

RESULT CODES:

1 COMPLETED

2 NO HOUSEHOLD MEMBER AT HOME OR NO ELIGIBLE

RESPONDENT AT HOME AT TIME OF VISIT

3 ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD ABSENT FOR EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME

4 POSTPONED

5 REFUSED

6 DWELLING VACANT OR ADDRESS NOT A DWELLING

7 DWELLING DESTROYED

8 DWELLING NOT FOUND

9 OTHER (SPECIFY) _____________________

TOTAL PERSONS

IN HOUSEHOLD

LANGUAGE OF RESPONDENT LANGUAGE OF

INTERVIEW INTERPRETER USED

YES….1 NO…….2

LANGUAGE CODES:

ENGLISH = 1 | AKAN = 2 | GA = 3 | EWE = 4 | NZEMA = 5 | DAGBANI = 6 |

OTHER = 7 (SPECIFY) ______________

2 0 1 6

58

SECTION 1: HOUSEHOLD ROSTER AND BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

Start Time:……………………

HOUSEHOLD ROSTER AND BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

1

M

E

M B

E

R

I

D

2

Name of household member

3

SEX

Male.....1

Female..2

4

What is the relationship of (NAME) to head of

household?

Head …………………….01

Spouse (Wife/Husband) ...02 Child (Son/Daughter) ..….03

Parent/Parent in-law …….04

Son/Daughter in-law …….05 Grandchild …………..…..06

Brother/Sister ………..….07

Step child …………….....08 Foster child …………..…09

Other relative ……….….10

Non-relative ……….…...11 Other(specify)..................12

5

What is (NAME’s) date of birth?

ASK PERSON TO GET DATE OF BIRTH OR IF

NOT AVAILABLE, USE

HISTORICAL CALENDAR TO

ESTIMATE

(IF DON’T KNOW DAY

OR MONTH, USE

DD = 98 MM = 99)

6

How old is (NAME)?

AGE IN COMPLETED

YEARS

FOR PERSONS 12 YEARS AND OLDER 10

What is (NAME’s) religious denomination?

No religion.................... 01 Catholic........................ .02

Protestant ………..……03

Pentecostal/ Charismatic....................04

Other Christian.............. 05

Islam.............................. 06 Traditionalist................. 07

Other (specify)…..….... 08

7

What is (NAME’s)

present marital status?

Married...................1

Consensual Union...2 Separated................3

(>> 10)

Divorced.................4 (>> 10)

Widowed................5 (>> 10)

Never Married........6

(>> 10)

8

Does

(NAME’s) spouse live

in this

household?

Yes.......1

No........2

(>> 10)

9

COPY THE I.D.

CODE OF THE SPOUSE

(IF MORE THAN ONE SPOUSE,

COPY ID OF

THE FIRST ONE)

DD MM YEAR YRS. I.D.

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

59

SECTION 1: HOUSEHOLD ROSTER AND BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS - CONTINUED

HOUSEHOLD ROSTER AND BACKGROUND CHARACTERISTICS

M

E

M B

E

R

I

D

11

Was (NAME)

born in this

town/village?

Yes……..1

(>> 13)

No……..2

12

In what region/country was

(NAME) born?

Western...................................01

Central.....................................02

Greater Accra..........................03 Volta........................................04

Eastern.....................................05

Ashanti....................................06 Brong Ahafo............................07

Northern...................................08

Upper East................................09 Upper West..............................10

Other ECOWAS......................96

Africa other than ECOWAS....97 Outside Africa..........................98

13

Has (NAME)

been living in

this town or village since

birth?

Yes……..1

(>> 17)

No……..2

14

How long has (NAME)

been living

continuously in this town/village?

Less than 1 year…….1

1 year < 5 years……..2 5 years < 10 years…..3

10 years+……………4

15

In what region/country was

(NAME) living before moving

here?

Western....................................01

Central.....................................02 Greater Accra..........................03

Volta........................................04

Eastern.....................................05 Ashanti.....................................06

Brong Ahafo............................07

Northern...................................08 Upper East...............................09

Upper West.............................10

ECOWAS.....................96 Africa other than ECOWAS...97

Outside Africa.........................98

16

What was (NAME’s)

main reason for

moving here?

Work…………....1 Family……....…..2

School/training….3

Conflict …..… ... 4

Disaster (flood,

drought, fire)…..5

Other (Specify)...6

17

What is (NAME’s) nationality?

Ghanaian by Birth....................01 Ghanaian and other Nationality..02

Ghanaian by naturalization......03

Gambian...................................04 Burkinabe.................................05

Malian......................................06

Nigerian...................................07 Ivorian......................................08

Togolese...................................09

Liberian....................................10 Nigerien………………………11

Other ECOWAS......................12

Other African...........................13 European..................................14

American (North/South/).........15

Asian........................................16 Oceania....................................17

(IF ANSWER IS

03 – 17 >> NEXT SECTION

18

To which

ethnic group

does (NAME) belong?

REFER TO

CODES

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

>> 14

60

SECTION 2: EDUCATION AND LITERACY

FOR PERSONS 3 YEARS AND OLDER FOR PERSONS 11

YRS AND OLDER

M

E M

B

E R

I

D

1

Has

(NAME) ever

attended

school?

Yes........1

>> 3

No..........2

2

What is/was the main reason why

(NAME) never attended school?

Too young ………....…….01

Disabled/ illness….....……02 No school / school too far..03

Cannot afford schooling....04

Family did not allow

schooling…........................05

Not interested in school......06

Education not considered valuable……………..…...07

School not safe…...............08

To learn a job….……........09 To work for pay ……........10

To work as unpaid worker

in family business/farm…11 Help at home with

household chores….……..12

Other………………….......13 (specify)

3

What is the highest

educational level (NAME) attained?

Nursery.............................01

Kindergarten.....................02

Primary.............................03

JSS/JHS............................04

Middle..............................05

SSS/SHS...........................06 Secondary.........................07

Voc/Tech/Comm..............08

Teacher Training/Agric Nursing/Cert....................09

Post Sec. Dip (HND,

Teacher training, Nursing, Unive. Dip…...10

Tertiary............................11

Other professional (CA, ACCA, ICT,etc.)….12

4

Did (NAME)

attend school/college at

any time during

the past 12 months?

Yes…...1

No……2 >> 7

5

Is (NAME)

still in school?

Yes……..1

No............2

6

Is (NAME)

attending public or private

school?

Public……...1

Private.……2

7

Why did (NAME) stop

schooling?

Completed …………..….....01

Disabled/ illness….....……..02 No school / school too far....03

Cannot afford schooling.......04

Family did not allow

schooling….........................05

Not interested in school........06

Education not considered valuable……………..….....07

School not safe….................08

To learn a job….……..........09 To work for pay ……..........10

To work as unpaid worker

in family business/farm….11 Help at home with

household chores….……...12

Other…………………........13 (specify)

8

How long has

(NAME) been out of school?

(RECORD IN

MONTHS)

9

In what language can

(NAME) read and write?

None (not literate)….. .1

English only………….2

Ghanaian

language only….…….3

French only………….4 English and Ghanaian

language………..........5

English and French…………..........6

English, French and

Ghanaian language......7 Other (Specify)……....8

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

>> 11 SKIP TO Q9

SKIP

TO Q9

61

SECTION 3: ECONOMIC ACTIVITY

FOR PERSONS 15 YEARS AND OLDER

Now I would like to ask some questions about your current work status.

M E

M

B E

R

I D

1

Is (NAME) currently working - either for

someone else for

pay, or for himself/ herself, for profit or

in a family farm or

business?

Yes…………..1

No…………...2 (>>

SECTION 4)

PROBE TO IDENTIFY

ALL MEMBERS

WORKING (E.G.

TRADERS, FARMERS,

DRIVERS, ETC.)

2

What is the main work (occupation) that (NAME) is currently doing?

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF OCCUPATION

SEE ISCO CODES FOR Q.2

3

What is the main product or service

of the establishment where (NAME)

is currently working?

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF

INDUSTRY

SEE ISIC CODES FOR Q.3

4

What is (NAME’s) employment status in

that establishment/ industry?

Employee ……………………….……..1

Self-employed with employee…………2

Self-employed without employee………3

Contributing family worker ……..……..4

Domestic employee (house help)……….5

Casual worker………………………..…6

Paid apprentice………………………….7

Unpaid apprentice ……………………...8

Other …(Specify)……………..……… 9

5

In what sector was (NAME) mainly

working?

Public (Government)………………1

Semi-Public/Parastatal……………..2

Private………………...…………....3

NGO's (Local and International)…4

International Org……………..…….5

Other…(Specify)…………………...6

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF OCCUPATION

ISCO

CODE

MAIN PRODUCT OR SERVICE

ISIC

CODE

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

62

SECTION 4 : MIG RATI ON

PART A : EMIG RA NTS AN D THEIR CHA RA CTERIST ICS

CODES FOR Q4 IN SECTION 4 PART A

Spouse (Wife/Husband) …………...01

Child (Son/Daughter) …………..….02 Parent/Parent in-law ……………….03

Son/Daughter in-law ………………04

Grandchild …………..……………..05 Brother/Sister ………..…………….06

Step child ……………………….....07

Foster child …………..……………08 Other relative ……….……………..09

Friend……………………………...10

Other non-relative ……….………..11

Other (specify).................................12


None…………………………….......01 BECE/Basic………………………...02

MSLC………………….…………...03

SSCE/WASSCE……………………04 ‘O’ Level…………………………...05

‘A’ Level…………………………...06

Vocational/Tech/Comm……………07 Teacher Training/

Agric Nursing/Cert………………...08

Diploma/HND………..………….....09 Bachelor degree……………………10

Postgraduate degree………………..11

Other prof. (ACCA, IMA,ICT)……12


Married............................1

Consensual Union………2 Separated.........................3

Divorced..........................4

Widowed.........................5

Never Married…….........6

Now, I would like to ask you questions about family members and friends, if any, living outside the borders of Ghana.

1. Do you have any family member(s) or friend(s) living outside the borders of Ghana?

Yes.………………..1

No………………….2 (>> PART E)

P

E

R

S

O

N

I

D

2

Name of family

member or friend or

person living outside

the borders of

Ghana.

3

SEX of

family

member or

friend or

person living

outside the

borders of

Ghana.

Male….....1

Female…..2

4

What is the

relationship

of (NAME)

to head of

household?

(REFER

TO

CODES)

5

How old

is

(NAME)?

6

In what

country

does

(NAME)

live?

(REFER TO

COUNTRY

CODES)

7

Is

(NAME)

a citizen

of Ghana

Yes….1

No…..2

8 What is the

highest

educational

qualification

(NAME) has

attained?

(REFER TO

CODES)

9

What is

(NAME’s)

present

marital

status?

10

When

did

(NAME)

leave

Ghana?

YYYY

11

What was the

main reason

(NAME) decided

to move abroad?

Employment....1

Education……2

Family……….3

Other……….4

(Specify)

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

63

SECTION 4 : MIG R ATION

PART B: CA SH REM ITTANCE S RECEI VED F R OM EMIGR ANT S IN THE P AST 1 2 MONTHS

Now, I would like to ask you questions about family members and friends living outside the borders of Ghana and the remittances your household received from them in the past 12 months.

1. In the past 12 months, has this household or any member of the household received any money or goods from any family member(s), friend(s) or someone else living outside the borders of

Ghana?

Yes, cash................1 Yes, goods..............2 Yes, both cash and goods………...3 No.........................4 >> PART E

P

E

R

S

O

N

I

D

2 The last time this

household received money

from (NAME), was it for a specific member of this

household or for the

household as a whole?

For a specific

member………………..1

For household as a

whole………………….2 >> Q4

3 To whom did (NAME) send

the money the last time?

Spouse………………….01

Son/Daughter…………..02 Son/Daughter-in-law…...03

Father…………………..04

Mother………………….05 Brother/Sister…………..06

Parent-in-law……..…….07

Other Relative………….08 Other Non-Relative…….09

Other (specify)…………10

4 In the past 12 months, how many times

has (NAME) sent money to your

household?

Once…………………………….1

Two times……………………….2

Three times……...………………3

Four times…………...………….4

Every month………………...…..5

Only on special

occasions or emergencies.......6 Other (specify)……………….....7

5 What was the total amount of

cash this household received from (NAME) during the past

12 months?

QUOTE AMOUNT IN

GHANA CEDIS

CONVERT TO

GHANA CEDIS IF

AMOUNT IS IN FOREGN CURRENCY

6

Will these remittances be

paid back at

some future

time?

Yes…….1

No……..2

7

Did (NAME)

disclose to

you the cost

incurred on

the money

sent to you?

(MOST

RECENT) Yes……….1

No………..2 >>9

8

How much did

(NAME) pay on

the most recent

money sent to

you?

9 What is the total

cost incurred in receiving money

sent by (NAME) in

the past 12 months? QUOTE AMOUNT

IN GHANA CEDIS

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

64


PART C : GOO DS REMITT ANCE S RECE IVED F ROM EMIGR ANTS

CHECK : RESP ON SE TO Q UESTION 2 I N SE CTION 4 PART B IS EITHE R “ YES, GOODS” O R “ YES, BOTH CAS H A ND GO ODS”

P

E

R

S

O

N

I

D

1

The last time this household received food or

goods from (NAME), was it for a specific

member of this household or for the household

as a whole?

For a specific member………..1

For household as a whole…….2 >> Q3

2

To whom did (NAME) send

food or goods the last time?

Spouse…………………….01

Son/Daughter……………..02

Son/Daughter-in-law……...03 Father……………………..04

Mother…………………….05

Brother/Sister………….….06 Parent-in-law……..……….07

Other Relative…………….08

Other Non-Relative……….09 Other (specify)……………10

3

In the past 12 months, how many

times has (NAME) sent food or

goods to your household?

Once…………………………..1

Two times……………………..2

Three times……...…………….3

Four times…………...………..4

Every month…………………..5 Only on special occasions

or emergencies.....................6 Other (specify)………………..7

4

What was the total value of

goods this household

received from (NAME)

during the past 12 months?

QUOTE AMOUNT IN

GHANA CEDIS

CONVERT TO GHANA

CEDIS IF AMOUNT IS IN FOREGN CURRENCY

5

What kind of goods did

this household receive

from (NAME) in the past

12 months?

REFER TO CODES

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

65


PART D : MEA NS AN D U SA GE OF REMITTA NCES RE CEIVED F ROM EM IGR AN TS

1. Did (NAME) use any of the following methods to send

money to this household? (MULTIPLES RESPONSES)

YES NO D.K.

A. Bank transfer (cheques,

Drafts, direct deposit, etc.)

B. MTO (Money Transfer Org.,

e.g. Western Union)

C. Post office (money order)

D. Agent/courier

E. Personally carried it

F. Sent through friends/relatives

G. Other (specify)……………..

2. Which of the transfer methods did (NAME) use most?

Bank transfer (cheques, draft,

direct deposit, etc.)

MTO (Money transfer org.

e.g. Western Union)

Post office (e.g. money order)

Agent/courier

Personally carried it

Sent through friends/relatives

Other (specify) ………………….

3. How did the household spend the money received?

(CIRCLE ALL THAT APPLY)

Daily needs (buy food, clothes, household goods, etc.)….A

Pay for rent / household utilities ……………...………….B

For agric purposes (land, farm tools or machinery, etc)….C

Start a business (non-farm) ……………………..……......D

Financial investment …………………………….……….E

Savings…………………………………………………....F

Purchase of land for non-agricultural purposes….………G

Pay for sender’s own marriage ……………………….....H

Marriage of others ……………………………………….I

Purchase/pay for house/dwelling

(including new house construction) ……………………..J

Pay off debt ……………………………………………...K

Pay for schooling / training of household member ...........L

Pay for funeral or other social function ………………...M

Pay for religious occasions ...................................………N

Pay for medical bills ………………………………….....O

Help others migrate / move other

family members /visit abroad ……………………………P

Child support ……………………………………………Q

Donation ……………………………………...…………R

Pay community devt. fund ……………………………....S

Other (specify): _________________________ ……….X

4. Who usually decides how the money, food and goods sent

to this household from abroad are spent?

Head of household ……...1

The remitter …………….2

The recipient ……………3

Parents…………………..4

Siblings………………….5

Someone else……………6

Other (specify)…………..7

Don’t know ……………..8

5. What is the main challenge encountered in receiving

money, food and goods sent to this household?

Cost………………………………………..1

Transfer time………………………………2

Privacy………………………………....…..3

Perceived risk………………………………4

Accessibility of service………………….....5

Other (specify)………………………….…..6

CHECK IF Q1 A AND/OR Q1 B IS YES, ELSE GO

TO SECTION 4 PART E

6. Were you or any member of your household advised by the

bank to save the money received with the bank?

Yes ……………..1

No ……………..2

7. Were you or any member of your household advised to

purchase any of the bank’s products?

Yes ……………..1

No ……………..2

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1 2 3

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

66

SECTION 4: MIGRATION

PART E: RETURNED MIGRANTS – PAST 5 YEARS

INTERVIEWER: I would now like to ask you questions about household members who used to live outside the borders of Ghana and have re-joined this household in the past 5 years.

M

E

M

B

E

R

I

D

I

D

O

F

R

E S

P

O D

E

N T

1

Within the past 5 years, did you

have any member of your household who was previously

living outside your household and

has since returned to your household?

(Do not include anyone who is currently living and working

outside of your household)

Yes...................................1

No....................................2

( >> SECTION 5)

IF YES, WRITE NAME OF FORMER MIGRANT FROM

HOUSEHOLD ROSTER IN

SECTION 1

2

What was the main

activity of (NAME) when he/she lived outside this

household?

Working only……….....1

Working and Studying...2 Studying only………….3

(>> NEXT MEMBER)

Other (specify)…..…….4 (>> NEXT MEMBER)

3

If (NAME) was working

or working and studying outside the household,

where did (NAME) live

and work?

UK……………..01

USA……............02 Germany……….03

Italy……………04

Canada…..……..05 Holland…...........06

Spain…………...07

Belgium………..08 China…………...09

South Africa……10

Nigeria...……….11 Niger…..……….12

Ivory Coast…….13

Botswana...…….14 Other ECOWAS.15

Other Africa…....16

Other (Specify)...17

4

What was the main

occupation of (NAME) when he/she lived and

worked outside your

household?

WRITE CODE OF

OCCUPATION USING

ISCO

5

For how long did

(NAME) live and work outside the

country?

(CODE ZERO IF

LESS THAN

ONE YEAR)

6

When (NAME)

lived and worked outside the

country, did

he/she send any money to your

household?

Yes………….1

No…………..2

(>> SECTION 5)

7

How did (NAME) usually send

this money to your household?

Bank transfer (cheques,

draft, direct deposit, etc.)..…1 MTO (Money transfer

org. e.g. Western Union).…...2

Post Office…………………..3 Agent/courier….……………4

Personally carried it…….…..5

Sent through friends/relatives…………….6

Other (specify)………...…....7

8

How much money

did (NAME) send on the average to your

household per year?

(PROBE FOR

ACCURATE

DETAILS, AND CONVERT MONEY

TO GHANA CEDIS

IF AMOUNT IS IN FOREIGN

CURRENCY)

NAME OF FORMER MIGRANT YEARS QUOTE AMOUNT IN GHANA CEDIS

01

02

03

04

05

06

07

08

09

10

67

SECTION 5: HOUSING

Now, I would like to ask you some questions about your dwelling.

1. In what type of dwelling does the household live?

Separate house (Bungalow).......................................................01

Semi-detached house..................................................................02

Flat/Apartment............................................................................03 Compound House.......................................................................04

Huts/Buildings [same Compound]............................................05

Huts/Buildings [different Compound]......................................06 Tents...........................................................................................07

Improvised dwelling (kiosk, container).....................................08

Living quarters attached to office/shop......................................09

Uncompleted building................................................................10

Other (specify)...........................................................................11

2. What is the main construction material used for the outer wall of the dwelling?

Mud bricks/earth……………………01

Wood………………………………..02

Metal sheet/slate/asbestos………….03 Stone…………………………….....04

Burnt bricks………………………..05

Cement blocks/concrete…………...06 Landcrete…………………………..07

Bamboo…………………………....08

Palm leaves/Thatch (grass/Raffia…09 Other (specify)…............................10

3. What is the main construction material used for the floor of the dwelling?

Earth/Mud……………..…..……………….....01

Cement/Concrete…………….…………….....02 Stone………………………………………....03

Burnt bricks………………………………….04

Wood……………………………...................05 Vinyl tiles……………………………………06

Ceramic/Porcelain/Granite/ Marble tiles……07

Terrazzo/Terrazzo tiles.……………………..08 Other (specify)……………………………...09

4. What is the main material used for the roof of the dwelling?

Mud bricks/earth ……………..……01 Wood………………………………02

Metal sheet………………………...03

Slate/Asbestos…..……………….....04 Cement/concrete……….………..…05

Roofing tiles……………………….06

Bamboo…………………………......07 Palm leaves/Thatch (grass/raffia)…..08

Other (specify)…...............................09

5. How many rooms does this household occupy? (COUNT LIVING

ROOMS, DINING ROOMS, BED ROOMS BUT NOT BATHROOMS, TOILET & KITCHEN)

6. How many of the rooms are used for sleeping?

7. What is the present holding/tenancy arrangement of the dwelling?

Owning .......................................................01

Renting........................................................02

Rent-free.....................................................03 Perching......................................................04

Squatting.....................................................05

Other (specify)……………………………06

8. What is the main source of water supply for drinking and general use?

DRINKING

Pipe-borne inside dwelling.................................01

Pipe-borne outside dwelling but on compound..02

Pipe-borne outside dwelling but from neighbour’s house.................................03

Public tap/standpipe...........................................04

Borehole/Pump/Tube well..................................05

Protected well.....................................................06

Rain water...........................................................07 GENERAL USE Protected spring................................................ .08

Bottled water......................................................09

Sachet water.......................................................10 Tanker supply/Vendor provided........................11

Unprotected well................................................12

Unprotected spring.............................................13 River/Stream......................................................14

Dugout/Pond/Lake/Dam/Canal..........................15

Other (specify)...................................................16

68

9. What is the main source of lighting for your dwelling?

Electricity (mains) ........................01

Electricity (private generator)…....02

Kerosene lamp...............................03 Gas lamp…………………….......04

Solar energy..................................05

Candle……...................................06 Flashlight/Torch............................07

Firewood………………………...08

Crop residue…………………......09 Other (specify).............................10

10. What is the main fuel used by the household for cooking?

None, No cooking………………………......01

Wood……………………………………......02 Charcoal………………………………...…..03

Gas……………………………………...…..04

Electricity……………………………...……05 Kerosene………………………………..…..06

Crop residue………..………………….…....07

Sawdust……………………………………..08 Animal waste………………………….…....09

Other (specify)……......................................10

11. What type of toilet facility is usually used by the household?

No facility (e.g. bush/beach/field)...……1 (>> Q13)

W.C…………………………………......2 Pit latrine……………………………….3

KVIP……………………………………4

Bucket/Pan……………………………...5 Public toilet (e.g.. WC, KVIP, Pit Pan)....6 (>> 13)

Other (specify)……………………….....7

12. Do you share this toilet facility with other households?

Yes, with other household(s) in same house………………….1

Yes, with other household(s) from different house……………..2 Yes, with other household(s) and located In different house....3

No……………..………………………………………………4

13. Does your household have:

YES NO

i A watch? 1 2

ii A bicycle? 1 2

iii A motorcycle or motor scooter? 1 2

iv An animal-drawn cart? 1 2

v A car or truck? 1 2

vi A boat with a motor? 1 2

vii A boat without a motor? 1 2

viii A wall clock? 1 2

ix A radio? 1 2

x A television? 1 2

xi A mobile telephone? 1 2

xii A land-line telephone? 1 2

xiii A refrigerator? 1 2

xiv A freezer? 1 2

xv An electric generator/Invertor(s)? 1 2

xvi A washing machine? 1 2

xvii A computer (Desktop/laptop)? 1 2

xvii A digital photo camera? 1 2

xix A non-digital photo camera? 1 2

xx A video deck? 1 2

xxi A DVD/VCD 1 2

xxii A sewing machine? 1 2

xxiii A bed? 1 2

xiv A microwave? 1 2

xxv

xxvi

xxvii

xxviii

A blender

An electric iron

A box iron

A satellite dish with/without decoder

1

1

1

1

2

2

2

2

69

ISCO CODES FOR SECTION 3 Q. 2

Managers…………………………………………………………......1

Professionals………………………………………………………….2

Technicians and associate Professionals…………………………..…3

Clerical support workers……………………………………………..4

Service and sales workers……………………………………………5

Skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers……………………6

Craft and related trades workers…………………………..………….7

Plant and machine operators, and assemblers………………………..8

Elementary occupations………………………………………………9

Armed forces occupations……………………………………..……..0

ISIC CODES FOR SECTION 3 Q3

Agriculture, forestry and fishing……………………………………………..…01

Mining and quarrying…………………………....……..……………………….02

Manufacturing…………………………………………………………………..03

Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply……………………………..04

Water supply; sewerage, waste management and remediation activities……….05

Construction……………………………………………………………………..06

Wholesale and retail; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles………………..07

Transportation and storage……………………………………………………....08

Accommodation and food service activities…………………………………….09

Information and communication……………………………………..………….10

Financial and insurance activities………………………………………………..11

Real estate activities……………………………………………………………...12

Professional, scientific and technical activities…………………………………..13

Administrative and support service activities………………………………..…...14

Public administration and defence; compulsory social security……..…………...15

Education…………………………………………………………………………16

Human health and social work activities .……………………….……………….17

Arts, entertainment and recreation………………………………………….…….18

Other service activities……………………………..…………………………..…19

Activities of households as employers; undifferentiated goods and

services – producing activities of households for own use………..………………20

Activities of extraterritorial organizations and bodies………………………….....22

COUNTRY CODES FOR SECTION 4 PART A Q6

UK………………01 South Africa…..….10

USA……..............02 Nigeria...……...…..11

Germany………..03 Niger…..………….12

Italy……………..04 Ivory Coast………..13

Canada…..………05 Botswana...………..14

Holland…............06 Other ECOWAS…..15

Spain……………07 Other Africa….........16

Belgium…………08 Other (Specify)........17

China…………....09

70

CODES FOR SECTION 4 PART C Q5

Food……………………………………........01

Clothing/shoes ………………………….......02

Mobile phone………………………………..03

Tablet………………………………….…….04

Television………………………………….. .05

Computer/Laptop ……………………………06

Other electronics ……………………………07

Vehicle (e.g. car/van/truck/motor, etc.) ……..08

Other durable goods (fridge,

cooker, etc.) ………………………………...09

Linen / Blankets……………………………. 10

Medicines …………………………………...11

Books/CDs/DVDs …………………………...12

Other (specify)……………………………….13

map of ghana showing the study areas · 2017-04-26 · municipal in the brong ahafo region. one...

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