Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dk4vv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T08:07:21.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Livelihoods in risk: exploring health and environmental implications of e-waste recycling as a livelihood strategy in Ghana*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 November 2013

Ebenezer Forkuo Amankwaa
Ebenezer Forkuo Amankwaa*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Resource Development, Box Lg 59, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra
*
Email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Ghana's pursuit of socio-economic growth has necessitated joining the information communication technology (ICT) revolution, thus increasing the consumption and obsolescence rate of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and the creation of what is popularly called e-waste. The absence of legislation governing its importation and disposal, combined with the dynamics of Accra's urban economy, including neo-liberal policies and lack of formal job opportunities, has triggered people's ingenuity to engage in novel occupations such as e-waste recycling. Though a lucrative strategy, it comes with a price for those involved: environmental health risks, a fact well articulated by a burgeoning literature. Nevertheless, little empirical evidence exists relating to this perceived relationship. Using questionnaires, FGDs and in-depth interviews, this study fills the lacuna. The findings reveal that the mean daily income of an e-waste worker is GH¢30, far above the daily minimum wage of GH¢4·48. Despite the positives, the findings also show that the environment and health can be compromised.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 51 , Issue 4 , November 2013 , pp. 551 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2013 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I would like to thank the Carnegie Corporation of New York (under its ‘Next Generation of Academics in Africa’ project), through ORID University of Ghana, for the grant support, and Dr Martin Oteng-Ababio and Dr Mary Chama for their invaluable contributions. Special thanks to the anonymous reviewers and editors of The Journal of Modern African Studies, for their comments and feedback on earlier drafts of this paper. However, the views expressed in this paper are solely my own.

References

REFERENCES

Agyei-Mensah, S. & Oteng-Ababio, M.. 2012. ‘Perceptions of health and environmental impacts of e-waste management in Ghana’, International Journal of Environmental Health Research 22, 6: 500–17. http://dx.doi.org/10·1080/09603123·2012·667795.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
AMA (Accra Metropolitan Assembly). 2006. Medium-term Development Plan 2006–2009. Accra: AMA.Google Scholar
Ayee, J. & Crook, R.. 2003. Toilet Wars: urban sanitation services and the politics of public-private partnerships in Ghana. IDS working paper 213. Brighton: Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
BAN/SVTC. 2002. Exporting Harm: the high tech trashing of Asia. The Basel Action Network and Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition. February 25, 2002.Google Scholar
Boadi, K. O. & Kuitunen, M.. 2003. ‘Municipal solid waste management in the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana’, The Environmentalist 23, 3: 211–18.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brigden, K., Labunska, I., Santillo, D. & Johnston, P.. 2008. ‘Chemical contamination at e-waste recycling and disposal sites in Accra and Koforidua, Ghana’, Greenpeace Laboratories Technical Note, 1–23.Google Scholar
Caravanos, J., Clark, E., Fuller, R. & Lambertson, C.. 2011. ‘Assessing worker and environmental chemical risk at an e-waste disposal site in Accra, Ghana’, Blacksmith Institute Journal of Health & Pollution 1, 1: 16–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fobil, J., Armah, N., Hogarh, J. & Carboo, D.. 2008. ‘The influence of institutions organizations on urban waste collection systems: an analysis of waste collection system in Accra, Ghana (1985–2000)’, Journal of Environmental Management 86, 1: 262–71.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). 2008. The Ghana demographic and health survey 2008 preliminary report. The Ghana Statistical Service and the Ghana Health Service, Accra.Google Scholar
Gill, K. 2007. ‘Interlinked contracts and social power: patronage and exploitation in India's waste recovery market’, Journal of Development Studies 43, 8: 1448–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grant, R. 2009. Globalizing City: the urban and economic transformation of Accra. Ghana/New York, NY: Syracuse University Press.Google Scholar
Grant, R. & Oteng-Ababio, M.. 2012. ‘Mapping the invisible and real African economy: urban e-waste circuitry’, Urban Geography 33, 1: 1–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, E. 2006. High-Tech Trash: Digital devices, hidden toxics and human health. Washington, DC: Island Press.Google Scholar
Keirsten, S. & Michael, P.. 1999. A Report on Poison PCs and Toxic TVs, Silicon Valley Toxic Coalition. <http://svtc.org/cleancc/puds/poisonpc.htm>, accessed 21.6.2004.Google Scholar
Kessides, C. 2005. Growth and Poverty Reduction, and the Urban Transition in Sub-Saharan Africa: Implications for Economic Development. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization (ILO). 2002. Women and Men in the Informal Economy: a statistical picture. Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
International Labour Organization (ILO). 2004. Addressing the Exploitation of Children in Scavenging (Waste Picking): a thematic evaluation of action on child labour. Geneva: ILO.Google Scholar
Lundgren, K. 2012. The Global Impact of E-waste: addressing the challenge. Geneva: International Labour Organization. SafeWork and SECTOR.Google Scholar
Lynch, K. 1990. Wasting Away. San Francisco, CA: Sierra Club Books.Google Scholar
Medina, M. 1997. ‘The effect of income on municipal solid waste generation rates for countries of varying levels of economic development: a model’, Journal of Solid Waste Technology & Management, August: 149–55.Google Scholar
Ministry of Youth and Sports. 2010. National Youth Policy of Ghana. August 2010. Government of Ghana.Google Scholar
Oteng-Ababio, M. 2010. ‘E-waste: an emerging challenge for solid waste management in Ghana’, International Development Planning Review 32, 2: 191–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oteng-Ababio, M. 2011. ‘Governance crisis or attitudinal challenges: collection, storage and transportation of solid waste in Ghana’, in Kumar, S., ed. Integrated Waste Management Volume 1. Croatia: Intech Open Access Publishers, 3–22.Google Scholar
Oteng-Ababio, M. 2012. ‘When necessity begets ingenuity: scavenging for survival in a globalizing city’, African Studies Quarterly 13, 1 & 2Spring 2012. http://www.africa.ufl.edu/asq/v13/v13i1–2a1.pdfGoogle Scholar
Oteng-Ababio, M. & Amankwaa, E. F.. 2013. ‘E-waste blues in Ghana: a new world, a new waste, and a new challenge’, African Review for Economics and Finance (Forthcoming).Google Scholar
Owusu, F. Y. 2007. ‘Conceptualizing livelihood strategies in African cities: planning and development implications of multiple livelihood strategies’, Journal of Planning Education and Research 26, 450–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
People's Dialogue. 2010. Housing the Masses: Final Report to People's Dialogue on Human Settlements. Ghana, January, 2010.Google Scholar
Post, J. 1999. ‘The problems and potentials of privatising solid waste management in Kumasi, Ghana’, Habitat International 23, 2: 201–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Post, J. & Obirih-Opareh, N.. 2003. ‘Partnerships and the public interest: assessing the performance of public-private collaboration in solid waste collection in Accra’, Space and Polity 7, 1: 45–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Prakash, S., Manhart, A., Amoyaw-Osei, Y. & Agyekum, O.. 2010. Socio-Economic Assessment of Feasibility Study on Sustainable E-waste Management in Ghana. Freiburg: Institute for Applied Ecology.Google Scholar
United Nations. 2008. World Urbanization Prospects: The 2007 Revision. New York, NY: United Nations.Google Scholar
World Bank. 2007. Ghana Country Environmental Analysis. Report No. 36985 – GH, 2.11.2007.Google Scholar
Yankson, P. W. K., Kofie, R. Y. & Moller-Jensen, L.. 2004. Monitoring Urban Growth: Urbanization of the Fringe Area of Accra. Working paper, University of Ghana, Accra.Google Scholar