This poster analyses the origins of present-day economic and political circumstances in Ghana. We investigate how Ghana’s climate and resource endowment generated an environment under which the British colonial-era cocoa trade economy flourished, shaping economic cleavages that arise from agglomeration around colonial production centers, and political cleavages that are eased or hardened by the creation of new economic opportunities.

IV.1 Ad m i n i s t ra t i ve B ou n d ar i es an d P o l i t i ca l

Econ om i c S i gn i f i can ce

I I I . 2 E xport C r op P r oduc ti on a n d t h e R i s e o f F i nanc i a l C a p i ta l sIn the map depicting the Concnetration of poverty in Ghana,, it is clear that poverty is concentrated in the hinterland, while rates of poverty are much lower in the coastal area-which is the region behind tmost of the export production for agricultral products. Cocoa production in recent decades has accounted for the second largest export sector in Ghana, following minerals and oil. Notably, along the coastline is where the largest prooprotion of gold mines and mineral wealth is to be found..

I I . C o l on i a l E c onom yGhana is classified as being part of ‘Africa of the colonial trade economy’ (Amin). The end of the slave trade created a window of opportunity for a new kind of economic specialization in the region. The British were selective in their colonisation of the coastal zone, and subsequently organised a profitable system of colonial trade. Under the new organizational system, trade was promoted across the coast, with the hinterland being reduced to a source of labor, rather than of wealth. This redirection of trade had particularly adverse effects for the domestic trade, and led to the migration of many laborers towards the coast. The growth which the Gold Coast experienced under the cocoa boom, one of four cases of what Jervenrefers to as ‘boom and bust’ in African history, is testament to how profitable the export of cocoa was. During this period of ‘the cash-crop revolution’, the peasants turned to the production of cocoa as a result of its earning potential (despite the majority of profits going to the British), and a marked increase in domestic productivity and in the production quantities was achieved (Jerven). According to studies which have been conducted (Moradi et al.) the profits from the export of cocoa were able to promote development during this period of British colonial rule.

I . 1 L o c a t i o nG h a n a i s a c o u n t r y i n t h e r e g i o n o f We s t A f r i c a . I t h a s a l a n d m a s s o f 2 3 8 , 5 3 5 k m 2 a n d i t h a s a c o a s t l i n e t h a t s t r e t c h e s 5 0 0 k i l o m e t r e s a l o n g t h e A t l a n t i c . T h i s c o a s t l i n e w a s e s s e n t i a l fo r t ra d e d u r i n g G h a n a ' s c o l o n i a l p e r i o d .G h a n a i s b o r d e r e d b y t h r e e c o u t r i e s : t h e I v o r y C o a s t i n t h e w e s t , B u r k i n a Fa s o i n t h e n o r t h , a n d To g o i n t h e e a s t . To t h e s o u t h o f G h a n a i s t h e g u l f o f G u i n e a .

I . 2 A g r o -Eco l og i ca l Z o nesThereare sixagro-ecological zones in Ghana: Sudan Savannah, Guinea Savannah, CoastalSavannah, Forest/Savannah transitional zone, Deciduous Forest zone and the Rainforest zone(yieldgap, 2020). The agro-ecological set up of Ghana contributed to the natural migration that Ghana saw in the 20th century of citizens moving from the North to the South.

I.3ResourceendowmentGhana has an abundance of gold as well as amining industry in diamond, gold andmanganese. as of 2018, Ghana wasAfrica's largest gold producer, surpassing SouthAfrica in2018.It also has recent discovered crude oil incommercia quantities. Traditionally it is notedfor itscocoaandcoffeeplantationsaswell as it’sfishing industry. The population density reflectsthis, with the biggest population settling nearthe coast where the resources areconcentrated .

I I I . 1 C o a s t a l / H i n t e r l an d C l e av a g e a n d E f f e c t s o n E x p o r t P r o d u c t i o nGhana, as mentioned previously, was a country whose economic growth was based on colonial trade. L'economie de la traite, was based around the exploitation of agricultural resources, for ensuring exports . Economic growth therefore relied on geography, with the coastal area being the area of high opportunity and growth . This is depicted in the graph below, where the red area indicate s high economic development, in essence the area where coocaproduction took place. The hinterland is the blue area, and experienced economic underdevelopment, essentiallyproviding labourfor the agricultural coastal zone. This resulted in a regional disequilibrium and mass migration towards the coast, which has also resulted in changes in electoral cleavages for the state.

I I . 2 I n s t i t ut i onsT h e B r i t i s h , d r i v e n b y f i s c a l c o n c e r n s , s h a p e d t h e i r c o l o n i a l p o l i c y a c c o r d i n g l y. T h e y s o u g h t t o r e d u c e t h e n u m b e r o f E u r o p e a n a d m i n i s t ra t o r s a n d r e l i e d o n s o c i a l c l a s s e s o f t h e " t ra d i t i o n a l " s o c i e t y t o a p p r o p r i a t e t h e b e s t l a n d fo r c o c o a p r o d u c t i o n a n d t o o r g a n i z e i n t e r n a l m i g ra t i o n . T h i s fo r m o f i n d i r e c t r u l e m e a n t t h a t n o s u i t a b l e i n s t i t u t i o n s fo r a c q u i r i n g h u m a n a n d p h y s i c a l c a p i t a l w e r e fo r m e d . T h e e n d o f c o l o n i a l i s m i n 1 9 5 7 l e f t t h e g o v e r n m e n t , h e a d e d b y N k r u m a h , t o d e a l w i t h t h e c o m p l e x i t i e s o f e c o n o m i c r u l e . M o r e o v e r, t h e c o l o n i a l i n s t i t u t i o n s fo r c o l l e c t i n g t a x e s w e r e n o t s t r o n g , a n d e v a s i o n s w a s e a s y, s o m e t h i n g w h i c h w a s c o s t l y fo r f u t u r e d e v e l o p m e n t o f p o s t -c o l o n i a l G h a n a .

IV.2 El ec t ora l

Cl eavages Resu l t i n g

f rom Col on i a l Era

Di sp u t es an d

In eq u a l i t y o f Econ om i c

O p p ort u n i t y

Voting patterns in Ghana are rooted in

differences in economic prosperity. Voters

in the economically prosperous Ashanti

and surrounding cocoa-producing regions

often vote for the NPP. As Ashanti is

home to mainly ethnically Akan

Ghanaians, they tend to vote in favor of

the NPP (Ayee, 2008, pp. 192). Non-

cocoa producing regions, largely home to

Ewe Ghanaians, possess different

economic opportunities than Ashanti,

leading Ewe Ghanaians to vote for the

NDC to represent their economic ideals.

This creates a cleavage that on the surface

may look ethnic, but is rooted in

economic and colonial history, as British

colonizers recognized chiefly claims to

land by the Akan over cocoa-producing

Ashanti in exchange for extracting the

region’s economic benefit, making the

Akan the most powerful group upon

Independence (Boone, 2003, 147-148).

Today, the NPP still capitalize on this

colonial division and focus their campaign

efforts on areas where there are more

Akans, or areas surrounded by large

populations of Akans (Ichino and Nathan,

2013, 360). The strength of these voting

blocs has begun to waver in recent years,

with more political competition occurring

at the constituency level, and the NPP and

the NDC promoting similar platforms.

Despite party platform convergence, both

parties have retained their traditional

ethnic voting base, suggesting ethnic roots

may also influence voting cleavages.

C i t a t i onCourse Readings: Amin, S. 1972. Austin, G. 2010. Radelet, Steven. 2010.Ayee, Joseph R. A. 2008. "The evolution of the New Patriotic Party in Ghana." South African Journal of International Affairs 15 (2): 185-214. https://doi.org/10.1080/10220460802614064.Boone, Catherine. 2003. Political Topographies of the African State: Territorial Authority and Institutional Choice.Cambridge Studies in Comparative Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Ghana, Parliament of. 2018. Report of the Committee on Subsidiary Legislation on the Referendum (Creation of New Regions) Regulations. edited by Parliament of Ghana Library..Ichino, Nahomi, and Noah L. Nathan. 2013. "Crossing the Line: Local Ethnic Geography and Voting in Ghana." The American Political Science Review 107 (2): 344-361. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43654018.Minion, K. C. Morrison. 2004. "Political Parties in Ghana through Four Republics: A Path to Democratic Consolidation." Comparative Politics 36 (4): 421-442. https://doi.org/10.2307/4150169. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4150169.

Location and Endowment Political GeographyEconomic GeographyColonial Economy and Institutions

Introduction

DV435 Economic and Political Geography of GhanaOtobong Mmah, Ileana Nikolakopoulou and Logan Smith

Department of GovernmentDepartment of International Development

I . 4 P o p u l a t i o nG h a n a 2 0 2 0 p o p u l a t i o n i s e s t i m a t e d a t 3 1 , 0 7 2 , 9 4 0 p e o p l e a t m i d y e a r a c c o r d i n g t o U N d a t a . G h a n a p o p u l a t i o n i s e q u i v a l e n t t o 0 . 4 % o f t h e t o t a l w o r l d p o p u l a t i o n . G h a n a ra n k s n u m b e r 4 7 i n t h e l i s t o f c o u n t r i e s ( a n d d e p e n d e n c i e s ) b y p o p u l a t i o n . T h e p o p u l a t i o n d e n s i t y i n G h a n a i s 1 3 7 p e r K m 2 ( 3 5 4 p e o p l e p e r m i 2 ) . A s m e n t i o n e d e a r l i e r, a l o t o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n i s c o n c e n t ra t e d i n t h e s o u t h d u e t o t h e n a t u ra l g e o g ra p h y o f G h a n a b u t a l s o b e c a u s e o f i t ' s r e s o u r c e e n d o w m e n t i n t h e S o u t h a n d t h e i n d u s t r i a l i s a t i o n s u r r o u n d i n g i t .

1992 electoral map by region. Green – NDC, Blue – NPP. Map Credit: Nohen et. al. africanelections.tripod.com (2012).Data Cross-Referenced with Electoral Commission Ghana.

2016 electoral map by constituency. Green – NDC, Blue – NPP. Map Credit: PeaceFM Ghana (2016). Data Cross-Referenced with Electoral Commission Ghana.

Laderach, Peter & Martinez Valle, Armando & Schroth, Götz & Castro, N.. (2013). Predicting the future climatic suitability for cocoa farming of the world's leading producer countries, Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire. Climatic Change. 14

World Bank Group, Cocoa Production in Ghana Report

Economic Map of Ghana GDP per square kilometer. Map Credit: G-Econ, Yale, 2005.

World Bank Group, "Concentration of Poverty among regions,"Ghana's Challenges: Widening regional inequality and natural resource depreciation

Administrative Regions of Central and Western Ghana. Map Credit: University of Texas, Austin

Historical British Colonies and Protectorates. Map Credit: Citinewsroom (2019).

Ghanaian Administrative Regions (2018). Map Credit: Citinewsroom (2019).

The administrative borders of Ghana

have long been shaped by resource

endowment and the nation’s colonial

history. After independence, two

parties arose, the United Gold Coast

Convention, representing Western-

aligned elites with strong economic

prowess fueled by resource

productivity during colonial

administration; and the opposing

Convention People’s Party, famously

led by Kwame Nkrumah, which took a

populist approach, representing

working class Ghanaians (Morrison,

2004, 423). This class cleavage has

persisted through turnovers of political

authority, demonstrating the

pervasiveness endowment and colonial

authority have over Ghanaian politics.

World Bank, Export of Goods and Services (% Gdp)

Nkrumah supported state-led developmetn and pursued development policies to diversify the Ghanaian economy often with high economic and social costs. As of recently, Ghana, having introduced reforms since the 1980s (Bloom and Sachs), has been classed as an emerging country, which is the fastest growing country category with an average growth rate of 2.6 percent per capita over the period from 1996-2008 (Radelet).

IV.3. The Legacy of Cocoa

Production and its Effects on

Migration FlowsKwame Nkrumah worked in opposition to an

economically strong group of Ashanti chiefs

in the 1960s. To generate political support,

and stifle sub-nationalist Ashanti (Boone,

2003 pp. 143), he dubbed chieftaincies a

product of colonial history, and used cocoa

surpluses to fund roads, dams, and industry

via rent-seeking. This was a dramatic shift

from the ideals of British colonial rule, and

helped Nkrumah develop a Ghanaian identity

for his followers post-independence which

still influences political cleavages today.