Abdallah Smith
Professor Murphy
Africa’s
Development in a Global Context
April 19th 2012
WHO DOES THE DAM DAMN?
Negative Impacts on Local Communities Caused by the Akosombo
Dam
SECTION I:
When plans were first initiated in
1914 to construct Akosombo dam, it was destined to become the major source of
Ghana’s electrical energy. The hydropower-plant was going to produce
electricity for the whole country augmenting development and consequently
leading to modernization. However, as is the case with other mega-dams built
across the developing world, there have been some negative impacts that have
surfaced over the years due to the dams existence. Social, economic,
agricultural and environmental problems have risen due to the dams presence. The
purpose of this paper is to highlight and examine the negative consequences of
the Akosombo dams existence to local communities around the dam; That the Akosombo Dam has aided the
degradation of local livelihoods, who benefit very little from the dam. Even
though it is quite impossible at this juncture in time to remove the dam, my
paper looks to research the extent to which the dam has affected livelihood of
the local population and environment. With the current discourse on climate
change, and the impact of developmental projects, like the Akosombo dam, it has
become imperative to actually realize the extent to which these mega-projects
have negative impacts on surrounding regions.
For the first section of my paper, I
will present a Literature review that will discuss the major resources that I
would be using to cover the impacts of dams development locally, socially,
environmentally and agriculturally as well (to some extent), identifying the
variables that would be constantly appearing throughout my research. Variables
of the paper will most likely include local populations, environmental
standards, soil fertility, social issues etc. The next section of my paper will
focus specifically on the case study of Akosombo dam providing information on
the context of its construction and discussing the negative impacts of the dams
existence on the variables discussed above. Fourth section of the paper will
cover my discussion on what could have been done better or differently at
least, and discuss our duty to socio-environmental justice for the resettled
communities from an equity perspective. My personal position on the dams
existence will be voiced throughout the paper, but will be much more pronounced
in this section at which I will draw on what moral obligations we have to
socio-environmental justice. Finally, the fifth section of my paper will be the
conclusion, at which point I would argue for the dawn of the solar age of
energy production, haven already shown the empirically negative aspects of the
dam, and summarize on the discussions we have had throughout the paper. My
paper doesn’t look to answer questions on development policy, but rather to
show that states should look at mega-developmental projects with the lenses of
socio-environmental equity to ensure justice for the communities most harshly
affected.
SECTION II:
- Literature Review -
In my literature review I will be
drawing from different authors perspectives on the impacts of large dams on the
indigenous populations that are situated around the dam. The main source that I
derived the impacts of dams on the local populations was from Patrick McCully’s
work Silenced Rivers. Other
arguments made by other authors look to supplement the argument made by
McCully, such as William Jobin, David Brokensha and Singh. The gist of these
arguments all stem from the notion that developmental projects, especially in
the developing world, usually adversely affect the local populations located in
the project site. The variables I will touch on will be social, economic,
health and environmental impacts of these mega developmental projects on these
indigenous people. McCully explains that his decision to research on dams was
influenced by the deceitfulness of the builders of the Sardar Sarovar Dam who exploited
the Narmada Bachao Andolan.
“A conservative estimate of
worldwide dam evictees ... would be around 60 million - more than the entire
population of the United Kingdom [McCully, 2001; 67].” McCully argues that even
this staggering statistic is possibly false, because it only considers the
reservoir oustees and not those deprived of land and livelihood, or those
forced to move because of the ecological impacts of the dam. For the indigenous
populations forced off their land, McCully argues that there is a trauma of
resettlement because of the spiritual and traditional ties these populations
have to the land. In Brokensha and Scudder’s essay on resettlement they agree
with McCully on the trauma associated with upheaval from homelands. “Love of
birthplace, no matter how inhospitable it may appear to strangers, quite
possibly is a universal human characteristics,” they go on further to identify
the close relationship between the indigenous and the land they live on [Rubin
& Warren, 1968; 25]. However, they disagree with McCully that all members
of the culture are adamant to relocation, but rather suggesting that some
actually welcomed relocation, but this was usually undermined with doubts and
suspicions toward the government. While McCully leads the argument against the
continued construction of dams, William Jobin in his book provides the other
argument suggesting that more dams are needed. “Despite the growing and
increasingly vocal opposition to these water projects, our increasing
populations and rising water-consumption rates make more dams inevitable
[Jobin, 1999;1].” However, in his preface, Jobin also agrees on the inequity
involved with the indigenous people being torn from their land, but his
response is for better preparation rather than less dams. Dam projects do
provide the benefits Jobin talks about, but there are the negative impacts on
local economies that are overlooked.
“In almost all cases, the diversity
of fish species will drop. Furthermore, local people invariably have less
access to fish than before as reservoir fishing requires different skills and
equipment, and more capital, than river fishing [McCully; 153].” McCully then
explains that rural peoples ability to access fish is directly linked to their
lives. Fishing economies after the dam has been constructed, according the
McCully, become saturated by competition from other resettled peoples who are
pushed into the farming industry due to lack of available land for farming
[McCully; 152]. The resettled communities are usually subjected to government
led initiatives to reallocate land for agriculture, but with the obligation to
different agricultural techniques [Rubin & Warren; 30]. Brokensha and
Scudder agree with this assessment that government intentions to improve the
system of agriculture to enable locals capability to transition from
subsistence to cash economy [Rubin & Warren; 30]. In Satyajit Singh’s paper
on dams in India he argues that there is an emphasis for indigenous groups to
focus on more efficient mechanized forms of agricultural production [Singh,
1990; 561]. McCully backs the disgust of Singh by discussing how livelihoods of
the resettled groups aren’t provided by authorities. Compensations for McCully
don’t do enough to ensure reasonable income for the relocated groups who were
sustainably living in their previous homes. Often, it is observed that
employment opportunities for evictees are limited because the dam employment is
discontinued after the dam is built, increased unskilled labour in resettlement
communities reduces the wages and increases competition for limited jobs
[McCully; 79]. The case of compensation for farmers usually falls short for the
resettled farmer because it doesn’t replace their main source of livelihood in
their previous home.
“Long reservoirs, which not only
destroy forest but also become physical barriers. Deforestation of steep, hilly
land reduces agricultural productivity because of soil erosion,” Jobin
associates deforestation to the clearing of land for new reservoirs and
irrigated farms consequently leading to ecological degradation [Jobin; 21]. The
ecological degradation mainly refers to the soil erosion, but authors argue
different causes of soil erosion, some associating it to the soil salinity and
others from deforestation. Jobin argues for soil degradation through the
process of deforestation suggesting that top soils are exposed once there is
little vegetation to prevent wind and water run-off from sweeping away the
fertility of the top soil [Jobin; 22]. While McCully argues that irrigation
waters contain dissolved salts flushed out of rocks and soils, evaporation then
occurs leaving large concentrations of salt in the irrigated. Absence of good
drainage increases the water-table raising the salt to the crops and soil that
absorbs the salt, which swells the soil making the soil impermeable to water
and oxygen [McCully; 168]. Another contributing factor to soil degradation is
the intensive and unsustainable farming or over-grazing that indigenous farmers
partake in because of lack of accessible land and economic opportunity [Jobin;
22]. Other than the degradation of the soil and land in general, there is also
the increase in human degradation for the communities settled around the dam.
Singh argues that dams are also a
huge contributor to major health issues in local communities, claiming the
increase of water-borne disease are directly associated with dams/ reservoirs.
Almost all the authors agree with Singh’s assessment. Jobin is the only author
who attributes large dam projects to positive health care opportunities
claiming that health planners try and reduce the case of malaria (other
diseases) by contributing to the resettlement of communities to account for
safer cleaner environments and that improvements of infrastructure centered on
the dam makes the indigenous communities better exposed to health care
opportunities [Jobin; 30]. McCully is more pessimistic arguing that the
realization of reducing health issues is usually unfounded. The first health
risk of the dam is related to the incoming workers who carry diseases such as
tuberculosis, measles, AIDS, etc. that affect the indigenous people whose
immune systems are ill-prepared to the exposure to new diseases [[McCully; 86].
Schistosomiasis and malaria, for McCully, is also associated with dams since
they create habitats for bilharzia snails and mosquitos [McCully; 90].
Brokensha and Scudder agree with McCully pessimisms and add that
trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness) increased with dams and also bacillary
dysentery that contributed to majority of child deaths North of the Zambesi
after dam presence.
McCully was really the inspiration
behind the research study I did on the Akosombo dam, and other authors provided volumes of information and critical opinions that I could feed off, during my
assessment of the dam. There has been extensive studies on the issue of dams
and their negative impacts socially, economically, and environmentally, but
there are a few gaps in the study specifically to do with impacts on indigenous
people. In the excitement of development projects, its usually the local
communities that are caused injustice.
SECTION III:
- Decision
to Build -
The planned construction of the
Akosombo dam stretches to the period before independence was gained, as far
back as 1914. Gold Coast Government at the time were looking into the
possibility to exploit the vast endowment of bauxite that had been discovered.
In Robert W. Steel’s essay The Volta Dam: Its Prospects and
Problems in the book Dams
in Africa he discusses the
advent of the bauxite discovery by Sir Arthur Kitson the Director of the
Geological Survey of the Gold Coast [Steel, 1968; 63]. The indirect rule of the
British meant that Ghanaians still had a say in the affairs that run their
country, but more to do with the local affairs. Macro policies that were very
much economical in scope and to do with natural resource exploitation was the
forte of the British setup in the Gold Coast. After the independence was gained
on March 6, 1957, Kwame Nkrumah sought financial support for the dam, in what
was Steel’s words “cornerstone- of the Seven Year Development Plan, designed to
cover the period from 1963-1970 [Steel, 1968; 63].” The project was to commence
industrial support of the aluminum reserves in the country, but the
post-independence period brought global decline in aluminum prices and severely
dampened international interest in the dam project. Coupled with the
depreciating price of aluminum, was foreign uncertainty about the stability of
the new Ghanaian government politically and financially. In Gareth Austin’s
paper on factor endowments in Africa he suggest that domestic scarcity of
capital could be solved by foreign investment, but due to host government
economic policies, and fears of security of investment it usually deters foreign
investors to African states [Austin, 2008; 596].
The project was saved by the renewed
report on the construction of the dam by the Kaiser Corporation of California.
“The Kaiser report modified the project in various ways and suggested some very
important savings, including a new and more economical dam at Akosombo... from
.. originally selected Ajena [Steel, 1968; 63].” The revised plan for the
construction of the dam at Akosombo was widely accepted by all parties involved
including the USA, the International Bank of Reconstruction and Development and
Britain. In the RCEER Guide to Electric Power in Ghana they address the reconfiguration of the
plans by the Kaiser Corporation. The dams relocation at Akosombo was
advantageous because of the decreased width of the gorge which was 2,100 feet
compared to 3,740 feet at the Ajena site
[RCEER, 2005; 24]. An important point to note is that the Ghana government
agreed to finance the beginning construction of the project through the periods
of 1958-62, expending about 25 million Pounds Sterling according to Steel
[Steel; 65]. January 1961, the project was given the thumbs up by the Kennedy
administration, and the Italian consortium, Impregilo begun construction two
months later.
Officially the project started in
1962, and the first phase of the project was to install four generating units
with a total energy capacity of 588MW, which was completed in 1965 [RCEER;24].
Two additional generating units were installed to support the initial four and
the generating capacity of the entire dam according the RCEER was 912MW. Steel
reflects on the purpose of the dam “purpose of this generation has always been
directed towards the production of aluminum... Ghana could in fact become one
of the world’s major producers of bauxite [Steel; 65].” Ghana’s intention to
industrialized after independence were very much centered on the construction
of the Akosombo dam, with the hope that bauxite extortion could finance a
booming aluminum industry sector for the
country, supporting development and modernization for the newly formed African
state. The production of large amounts low-cost energy would spur an industrial
revolution in Ghana segwaying into other industrial sectors and a
transformation from a largely agrarian economy to a manufacturing. The Volta
River Authority were charged with the responsibility of generating low-cost
electricity from the water power capacity of the Volta river, and most of this
electricity served the aluminium smelter company Volta Aluminium Company (VALCO)
[RCEER; 26]. By 1972, the VRA had agreed a deal to supply neighboring Togo and
Benin with electricity from the hydroelectric dam, connected by a transmission
line from Akosombo to Lome (Togo).
There were other prospects of the
dam other than aluminium industrial capacity and energy hegemony in West
African region. Steel highlights other aspects of the dams construction
“fisheries, irrigation, navigation, and the exploitation of new resources
[Steel; 70].” The dams creation of a large water body would increase the
potential of fisheries to be developed at the dam, also increasing the protein
in Ghanaians diet and a transformation of the indigenous peoples local
economies for the better. Irrigation systems could potentially create more
availability of water on the Accra plains which were considered some of the
driest in West Africa, allowing for a more constant and reliable source of
water from the dam to support agricultural production of crops such as
sugarcane. Navigation along the river, would complement major industries, with
the ability to move ferries upstream and further connect to railway lines that
connect to Tamale, Bolgatanga, Ouagadougou and Niamey [Steel;72]. With
increased communication lines crossing to neighboring countries the sphere of
Ghana’s trade would incorporate a larger area for economic activities. One major expected consequence of the dams
construction was the diversification of the economy from the single-crop
production of cocoa. Diversification of the economy would enable the government
to not rely on the fluctuating global prices of cocoa for the majority of
wealth created in the West African state.
- Resettlement
Negative Socio-Economic Impacts -
The Volta River Authority were
charged with the responsibility of resettling the 80,000 residence in the
surrounding areas around the construction of the Akosombo dam. The magnitude of
the Akosombo project must be realized considering that it was, at the time,
largest man-made lake covering 3,275 square miles [Chambers, 1970; 10]. The
problems of resettlement discussed by Robert Chambers in his work The
Volta Resettlement Experience stem
from the sporadic distribution of the people within the flood basin. “Of some
740 groups, there was only one town (Kete Krachi) of over 4000 persons, while
600 groups had populations less than 100 [Chambers, 1970; 11].” Other from the
sporadic distribution of the groups within the flood basin, there was diversity
in linguistic in the communities, an example of one small community hosting 8
different languages. The tasks of the government once the plans to begin
construction were passed was identifying, compensating and resettling the
people who were to be displaced by the lake [Chambers; 12]. The calculated
commitment to compensation for the displaced inhabitants was little over 2
million pound sterling (including land, cocoa, private buildings etc) with a
policy of resettlement through self-help, guided by incentives. A revised
resettlement compensation was calculated and added to approximately 4million
pounds sterling [Chambers; 16]. However, the policy of resettlement through
self-help guided by incentives underwent considerable transformation by the
Ghana government, because of experiences elsewhere in Tema and Frafra. The new
policy, heavily supported by Nkrumah, would need more financial backing as
people saw the settlers having to leave their lands as sacrificing for the
greater good. The social welfare department that had aided the resettlement of
folk in the Tema harbor area wanted to increase the living standard of those
resettling in the Volta operation. Also, the Ministry of Agriculture sought to
transform the traditional agricultural methods of the resetters to fit the
Seven year developmental plan by encouraging modern methods of agriculture [Chambers;
22]. However, all the plans for the uneducated settlers by the Social Welfare
Department and Nkrumah administration met some serious problems.
In Chambers work on the resettlement
at Lake Volta he presents some of the inconveniences for the new settlers. The
houses accumulated so much heat during the day, and lost that heat during the
night resulting in fluctuating house temperatures compared to the mud huts the
settlers used to reside in. “The honeycombs, designed to allow free circulation
of air, also let in water when it rained and dust when the wind blew,” due to
this occurrence a number of the roofs ripped off, resulting in many of the
people to leave the homes to find shelter elsewhere [Chambers;33]. The major
problem of the new houses, identified by Chambers, was the single room
allocation of the house with many polygamous men complaining about overcrowding
of households due to amount of wives under one roof [Chambers; 38]. All the
core houses initially developed by the government were left in their core
stage, so settlers decided to attach makeshift rooms to the houses to create
more space. In general, the Social Welfare Department and VRA had gotten tired
of dealing with the social welfare aspect of the resettlement, usually tied
down my financial constraints. In F.K Yeboah’s essay Mitigative
Actions Taken by the VRA on Dam affected Communities he highlights how the habitants of the
inundated land had lost ancestral land, traditional groves, farm lands, and
their religious grounds. Yeboah then provides some stats on the compensation
for the resettled “1,300 houses, 82 school blocks, 46 markets 146 public
latrines,” and compensation was initially only paid for farmlands, crops, and
economic trees destroyed by the lake [Gordon & Amatekpor, 1999; 129]. By
the latter stages of the 1960s, there was slack pace of house completion and
the VRA had sold off major construction equipment to other government agencies
to handle building leaving many houses
incomplete[Chambers; 41]. At this juncture, the program for resettlement had
shifted its attention from social welfare to economic development in the new
communities.
The social impacts of the Akosombo
dam can be linked to the economic downturn for these resettled communities.
Previous economic activities centered around fishing on the Volta river was
drastically changed to capital intensive forms of agriculture that the settlers
needed extensive training on. In Chambers work it discusses the drawbacks of
mechanized cultivation. The settlers were unsure of the machinery, suspicious
of the agricultural staff so preferred to farm when they weren’t present, the
staff themselves were under trained to deal with the settlers and after the
tractor services weren’t free to the settlers they opted out of the mechanization
scheme [Chambers; 45]. The situation with the livestock was no better. “Severe
cuts of imports in 1964-66 resulted in
much greater demand for local foodstuffs,” but the inadequacies of the
agricultural program resulted in under supplied livestock, which the government
had to heavily subsidies [Chambers; 46]. The major problem economically for the
settlers was that in their previous settlements they had been able to subsist
for themselves, but now they were forced into a new environment, climate and
agricultural practices that they had no familiarity. The whole resettlement
process had become a social and economic fiasco, and the issue was exacerbated
by the effects on the environment.
- The
Neglected Environment -
There are the more obvious consequences
of the dams construction and its effects on the environment, but there are also
the longer term effects that take time to become a reality for those locals
affected by the degradation of the environment. As discussed above the
environment seems to always be a victim of developmental projects across the
globe, and the Akosombo dam is no exception. What we find with the Akosombo
example is deforestation, soil erosion, growth of aquatic weeds, and siltation.
The first issue of deforestation
arises with the very construction of the dam itself, and the clearing of land
for the mega-project which covers 3.6% of Ghana’s surface area according to the
Center for Columbia River History report. The next issue of deforestation
becomes problematic with the resettlement of communities and the clearing of
agricultural land for farming and grazing. In Yonatan Girmay’s research on the
Akosombo and Kpong Dams he highlights the problem of permanent conversion of
forest land to agricultural lands, mostly due to slash and burn processes
[Girmay, 1992; 33]. Coupled with the need for agricultural land for the
resettled populations is the increase of the population in the area, there
intensifying pressures on land to sustain the livelihoods of more people.
Consequentially “increased population pressure, combined with poverty and
landlessness with uncontrolled human settlement, lack of awareness of forest
fires and demand for fire wood,” all increase the rate of deforestation in the
surrounding areas according the Girmay [Girmay;33].
In Titriku’s paper on Agriculture at
the Volta Basin he discusses the consequences of deforestation. The major
problem for both Titriku and Girmay is the increased rate of soil erosion and
decrease in soil fertility caused by deforestation. The soil fertility directly
affects the livelihoods of the locals because it reduces the yield of the crops
grown [Gordon & Amatekpor, 1999; 113]. The practices of the local in
agricultural practices can also be blamed for the decline in soil fertility and
increased rate of soil erosion, because of rash bush burning which then reduces
the efficiency of cultivation practices. Titriku provides some statistical
support for his claim of reduced soil productivity stating that “yield
estimates for cassava in Atebubu... is 9.40 metric tons/hectare and for maize
0.83 metric ton/hectare. Under optimum conditions of climate and soil type
yields of 25-20 tons/ hectare could be
obtained for cassava and 4.5 ton/hectare for maize [Gordon & Amatekpor;
114].” Another environmental consequence of deforestation is siltation.
Siltation is defined by Girmay as sedimentation of stream-bed as a result of
accumulation of particles [Girmay; 5]. The problem with siltation is that it
replaces the water in the river with sedimentary particles, reducing water
volumes, and therefore changing the river ecology. Coupled with this
consequence is the reduction of the dams capacity to produce electricity,
because of the decrease in water volume that the dam’s turbines can process.
Siltation effectively reduces the lifespan of the dam. However, the dams
existence also reduced the lifespan of the river, due to the hydrological
effects caused by the Akosombo. In Honorable Adjei Minister of Lands and
Forestry statement he pleads that “The Volta Lake itself, with an area of 8,500
square kilometers, is our most important inland water resource..Thus the health
and sustainability of the resources of the Volta Basin have profound effects on
the entire population of Ghana [Gordon & Amatekpor; 16].”
One other environmental problem that
has been introduced by the Akosombo dam existence, is the increase in aquatic
weeds. The enclosed Volta basin provides a perfect habitat for these
problematic plant lifeforms. The aquatic weeds are associated with the aquatic
snail which provide a catalyst for the birth of the disease, bilharzia [Girmay;
45]. Coupled with poor sanitation and lack of pure drinking water source, the
surrounding communities are very vulnerable to these diseases, especially at
the lower Volta. The problems created by the aquatic weed will direct us toward
the next negative impact caused by the Akosombo dam for local communities.
- Health Issues for Local Communities -
The major disease that was inflicted on
the local people by the creation of the Akosombo dam was urinary bilharzia. The
Ewe fishing people who had settled on the southwestern shores, because of its
gentle slopes were suitable for “beaching their boats,” were also sharing a
home with the bilharzia snails which had rapidly settled on the lake [Jobin,
1999; 278]. The seriousness of the disease, now epidemic, had affected over 80%
of the people by 1970 [Jobin; 278]. The Ewe fishing community had uprooted from
their coastal homes, because of the potential of fish commerce at the Volta lake
now home to many fresh fish. The Volta Lake (among other African lakes) had the
habitat requirements of the bilharzia snail. According to William Jobin “if
shores contain sufficient vegetation, the snail populations have food and
protection from predators, thus the snails will flourish [Jobin; 280].” The Dam
had created the perfect conditions for the breeding and supporting of bilharzia
snail populations, and not enough was done by the VRA to predict and plan
appropriately for the problem caused by the urinary bilharzia disease.
Other health problems were
associated to the resettlement communities adjacent to the Volta lake, such as
cholera, river blindness and malaria. In Girmay’s research study on the impacts
of the Akosombo dam, he identifies two resettlement communities plagued with
the problem of cholera and river blindness “53.3% of Labolabo and 47.7% of
Senchi population have identified that cholera is the major environmental
health problem [Girmay; 35].” In the resettled communities, Girmay attributes
the problem of cholera to the poor sanitation and waste disposal facilities
available to the local population, accelerated by the lack of safe drinking
water resources. For the Senchi residence 47.5% regarded that Onchocerciasis,
or River blindness, as the major environmental health problem. According to
Gordon et al “this disease is characterized by the depigmentation of the skin,
nodules in the eye lesions that may lead to blindness. It is transmitted form
man to man by the bite of the blackfly, which breeds in rapidly flowing streams
and rivers [Gordon, 1999; 30].” Even though the creation of the dam has
considerably reduced the spread of the disease, it still persists in
surrounding areas to the dam. Another water related disease that has been on the
increase since the dams construction is malaria. At the Mepe community 82.7%
of the respondents suffered periodic
attack from malaria before Akosombo, but afterward this increased to 98.7%
[Boakye, 2001; 22]. According to Girmay “stagnant water and swampy areas are
perfect breeding grounds for malaria mosquitos [36].” The Volta Lake provides a
perfect breeding ground for malaria due to its stagnancy. Attempts to control
malaria involve the spraying of insecticides that have horrible adverse effects
on the environment and human health.
These are just the water-borne
disease affiliated to the construction of the dam, but there are other diseases
such as Yellow fever and dengue that affected resettled communities. For the
purpose of my research I will not delve into these external health issues. In
the next section of my paper I will contemplate whats steps could have been
taken to avoid the problems caused by the Dam, and support the moral ethics of
protecting local communities and ecosystems for the livelihood of mankind.
SECTION IV:
- Should’ve,
would’ve, could’ve -
When we see all the negative
consequences caused by the Akosombo dam we need to ask if a better job could
have been done for the resettled communities, especially with the health and
socio-economic effects. I ask these questions because of my beliefs in the Deep
Ecology movement. Deep Ecologist are biocentric egalitarians with specific
interests in social issues [Derr & McNamara, 2003; xx]. I believe that
elitist in developing countries benefit from the development projects like the
Akosombo dam, while local populations suffer the consequences, especially with
loss of cultural practices. Arne Naess is the pioneer of the Deep Ecology
movement and in his essay he talks about a need to “Live and let live,” to
preserve biodiversity in culture, animal and plant life, also emphasizing the
need to reject the anti-class posture which exploits and suppresses certain
marginal groups like the indigenous people around Akosombo [Pojman & P.
Pojman, 2001; 216].
My first should’ve for the horrific
resettlement program the VRA haplessly construed, would have been to focus on a
resettlement of the cultural practices of the local populations. As discussed
above the VRA had their mindsets on transforming the cultural practices of the
resettling groups to more modern agricultural methods. Instead of spending on
heavy machinery and training of the locals, there should have been cleared land
made readily available for the resettled groups, and a reasonable initial income
for them to restart their traditional practices in the new territory. In
Chambers paper on the resettlement at the Volta he claims that two adverse
situations occurred “either settlers were short of land, or their participation
in the mechanized agricultural program was unsatisfactory and unpredictable
[Chambers; 243].” In areas north of the
Akosombo, such as Afram Plains, were access to land was not a problem, settlers
had taken part in traditional agricultural practices completely neglecting the
mechanized program and sustaining a livelihood for themselves [Chambers; 243].
Ensuring that these relocated people had a sustainable livelihood that they
were familiar with would’ve helped with the settling in process, and also set
in motion the wheels for developing an economy in the community.
Another problem that could’ve been
better handled was the situation of soil erosion caused by deforestation. It is
only recently that the VRA has engaged in programs to access the extent of
damage to the environment, and have started projects of a-forestation. Settlers
should have been informed on the consequences of deforestation, and the VRA
should have taken steps to recover lost forests to the construction of Akosombo
by planting elsewhere. The VRA has now collaborated with the Forestry
department to declare areas around the Adjena Gorge as protected lands [Gordon
&Amatekpor; 27]. Farmers are now being encouraged to plant fruit trees on
these steep regions around the dam to ensure some sort of livelihood and sustainability.
If the VRA had calculated the advent of deforestation they could have prevented
the large extent of soil erosion that has subtracted from the productivity of
the land. Many of the problems were foreseen by the Dam Authorities, but in
some cases lack of funding affected their ability to handle the situation, in
particular this relates to the access to information.
From the very start of the
resettlement program there was a significant lack of information on most issues
concerning the local populations. Chambers discusses the problem of finding the
villages around the dam suggesting that locals, like Konkomba yam farmers,
often had other homes making it difficult for the Authorities to account who
lived in which village. Lack of information on the fisheries has lead to
over-density of fishermen on the lake. Gordon argues that increased density of
fishermen on the depleting lake (because of reduced rainfall) will lead to the
collapse of the fishing industry [Gordon; 83]. The increase in fishermen can be
directly related to the push factor away from agriculture due to lack of access
to land, and pull factor of increased fish in the Volta Lake. However, if there
had been extensive research on aquaculture sector, then the VRA could have
implemented legislation that outlawed over fishing, and supplied fishermen with
capture technologies that reduced impact on the fish population in the lake.
There are many more issues that could have been easily resolved if the the
information was analyzed beforehand, but eagerness of politicians to deliver
mega-developmental projects like the Akosombo dam usually overlook the
drawbacks to local communities such as Senchi, or Mpe.
- Duty
for Socio-Environmental Justice
-
The development craze of the Nkrumah
administration lead to the inadequate and underfunded resettlement campaign
that left local populations vulnerable to the myriad of problems discussed
above. Nkrumah and the VRA hadn’t taken into account the injustice to the
indigenous who were made to sacrifice their livelihoods for the betterment of
living standards of the more affluent populations in Accra. I believe that if
they had looked at the development project with the lens of socio-environmental
justice that Deep Ecologist vie for, there would have been better results in
regards to the resettlement program.
In Bullard’s essay on environmental
justice he discusses three principle equities that could be applied to ensuring
that injustices don’t occur, as they so often do, with developmental projects
such as the Akosombo dam. (1) Procedural equity generally refers to fairness in
the regulations, evaluation criteria, and application are imposed in
non-discriminatory way [Pojman; 645]. We see that there is a thorough lack of
fairness with the implication of private property laws, because even though
resettled populations were provided with compensation their livelihoods were
never ensured and land was never made accessible to them as they were in their
previous properties. (2) Geographic equity refers to the location of
communities and their nearness to environmental hazards [Pojman;645]. We find
that the VRA had unsuccessfully taken the spatial configuration of the
resettlement communities into consideration, because they were open to improper
sanitation, landfills and many diseases associated to the dams existence, such
as the bilharzia blindness. (3) Social equity refers to the role of
sociological dimensions such as “race ethnicity class culture lifestyles and
political power in environmental decision making [Pojman; 647].” In the
Akosombo case, we find that culture and lifestyles was seriously overlooked for
the resettlement communities who were uprooted from their traditional homes and
culture, and forced into communities that they were unsatisfied and unsuited for.
Ghanaian state failed in its duty to
provide and protect for its citizens in dealing with the Akosombo Dam project.
The western developmental hasn’t advanced the prospects of increased standard
of living for all in Ghana, so we must question its viability to the Ghanaian
landscape. Is there some other path to prosperity for all?
SECTION V:
- Solar
Age Conclusion -
I strongly believe in the potential for
African states to lead the world into the new age of solar energy. The problem
with western societies and renewable energy is transferring all the industrial
inertia surrounding coal plants to renewable industries. For places like Ghana
we don’t have that strong dependence on coal industries that is fueling climate
change and adversely affecting the globe, but we do have a lot of sun. The
western models of development, such as mega-dams, have significantly affected
the livelihoods of local communities to the point were we must question the
dams presence. Solar energy produced photovoltaic cells might cause some issues
with location, but they would reduce the amount of injustice associated with
current development projects of today.
In this paper we have discussed the
discourse on the impacts of dams on local communities, and researched the
empirical data that supports the negative impacts. The paper was meant to
provide evidence on the issues surrounding the construction of the dam and its
impact on local populations particularly to do with resettlement and
livelihoods. As an advocate for Socio-environmental justice I do not support
the construction of dams due to magnitude of injustices it causes mostly in the
developing world. Hopefully there would be more research into the African
states such as Ghana pioneering the dawn of the solar age, and its possibilities.
We do have to ask the question for energy production, since it is the key to
the future prosperity of posterity.
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