The Dynamics of Urban Poverty in Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metropolitan Area: Youth Unemployment and Coping Strategies

This study examines three main issues concerning the youth in the Ashiedu Keteke Sub- metropolitan Area. These include their poverty profiles, unemployment problems and coping strategies. Central to the increase in urban poverty is the rise in unemployment especially among the youth. This provides the point of departure for this dissertation. The first section shows how Ashiedu and its environs, although constituting the commercial heartland of Accra, have not reached its potential in economic development. The Submetro houses all the important commercial facilities like markets, restaurants and lorry parks in Accra, as well as all the major financial institutions. But it is the most deprived Sub-metro in the Greater Accra Region. It also accommodates almost all the poor communities in Accra like Old Fadama (Sodom and Gomorrah), Salaha, and Jamestown among others. Being the commercial center of the Metropolis, it has become densely populated and also attracts migrants from all parts of the country. The commercial activities in the area, 'low cost areas' (slums) as wen as fishing activities have made the place a haven for the youth who did not go to school or have dropped out of school and do not have regular employment. The study identifies rural-urban migration as one of the main causes of urban unemployment especially among the youth. Low level of education as a result of high drop out rate was also seen as one of the major problems that lead to poverty and unemployment in the Sub-metro. The survey sampled three deprived communities in Ashiedu Keteke (one from each Electoral Area) for the study. Having outlined the causes and dimensions of this sluggish economic position of the Sub-metro, the study considers how the unemployed youth survive through both economic and non-economic strategies. Most of the youth living in these areas are living in extreme poverty. Their living standard is low and most of them face accommodation problem. They have low level of education; they do not have regular jobs and are involved in so many activities to survive. Some also use immoral and illegal means to survive. Family support and support from network groups as well as involvement .in non-formal sector money making activities were also seen as some of the survival means for the youth. With this in mind it is argued that addressing the current situation of urban youth unemployment, growing poverty and inequality (as well as redressing the legacy of past inequities) requires broad municipal response to urban youth unemployment. Instead of the current tendency to view poverty simply as the product of income and consumption deprivation, a more widely defined response to urban poverty reduction, based on a livelihoods framework, is proposed.