TITLE:
The Challenges of Curbing North-South Migration of Teenage Girls in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Georgina Ansong
KEYWORDS:
Teenage-Migration, Empowerment, Kayayei (Female Head Porters), Livelihood, Greener-Pastures
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Industrial and Business Management,
Vol.12 No.2,
February
28,
2022
ABSTRACT: Internal migration of the youth especially teenage girls from the five
Northern regions of Ghana to the cities of Accra and Kumasi has persisted for
over three decades yet no concrete strategies have been put in place to curb
the drift which is damaging the human capital base of the country in general
and the North in particular. The study therefore examined the challenges
bedeviling efforts by stakeholders at curbing the trend. Specific objectives
include identifying factors that promote the practice, examining the employment
opportunities available to these girls in Accra as well as identifying the
difficulties facing stakeholders in curbing the trend. In conducting the study,
random sampling technique was used to select 8 out of the 49 markets in Accra
metropolis where these girls operate. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the girls for their views while the
interview guide technique constituted the main research instrument.
Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) assisted in analyzing the
information captured from the field. The study found out that most of these
girls are pushed down to the South for reasons including running away from
forced marriages, inequalities in social amenities, the need to gather funds to
establish trade back home in the North as well as coming down to look for funds
to support parents and siblings back home. Challenges confronting government
efforts at curbing the trend include the lukewarm attitude of the migrated
girls towards getting back to classroom for formal education and vocational
training. Government is also challenged with amassing funds to build decent
hostel facilities necessary for ring fencing these girls for education and
other life enhancement training packages. The study recommended that government
makes conscious effort at educating, training and developing the skills of the
migrated girls in addition to improving upon socio-economic conditions in the
Northern regions. The Ministry of Health was also asked to deepen family
planning awareness campaign in the North to enable parents to have children
they can conveniently cater for. The teenage girls’ migration
syndrome is really damaging the human capital base of the North and for that
matter stakeholders must collaborate to stamp out the practice entirely.