Tackling Rural – Urban Drift in Ghana: Labour Intensive Public Work as a Tool in the Wa East District

Abstract

Rural-urban drift has been among the topical developmental challenges in many countries. In Ghana, available statistics estimate that about 52% of the total population above age seven are the most mobile population. This current study seeks to examine the extent to which the Labour Intensive Public Work can be an efficient strategy to retain potential migrants in their respective communities using Wa East District as the study area. The paper argues that, although 93.8% of the respondents admitted that the Labour Intensive Public Work is beneficial, 70.8% still had the intention to migrate again if the project is not sustained especially during the off-farming season. This study therefore conclude that Labour Intensive Public Work can be a good social intervention tool for curbing rural-urban drift if it is sustained and efficiently implemented.

Keywords: Rural-Urban Drift, Labour Intensive Public Work, Wa East District, Ghana.