Using the home for income-generation; The case of Kumasi, Ghana

Using the home for income-generationThe case of Kumasi, Ghana 

^{Cities, Vol. 15, No. 6, pp. 417–427, 1998}

Author: Irit Sinai 

Resumed by Pindo Tutuko

Overview

In many cities in developing countries is using homes not only for shelter, but also for income-generation through informal-sector activities.This paper examine the characteristics of households.

Descriptive analyses of socioeconomic characteristics, migration history, housing and location indicators, and tenure are presented.Households that use their home for income-generation occupy more rooms, but their housing quality is not as good as the housing quality of other households. 

Kumasi

Kumasi is situated within a dense rain forest, about 260km from the capital, Accra, and the Atlantic coast. About half of Kumasi’s residents live in traditional compound houses. Typically, a compound house is a one-story structure consisting of a series of single rooms surrounding a square courtyard. Some rooms have an additional entrance via a veranda that is opened directly to the street. These cooking and bathing facilities are shared by all households residing in the compound. Many compound houses have no latrines. 

The Data

• Data collection involved detailed interviews of 596 heads of house- holds. 
• The questionnaire asked about housing quality indicators, location characteristics, the use of housing for income-generation, and other economic and demographic characteristics of household heads. 

Housing Uses in Kumasi

Every compound house in Kumasi is used for income-generation by one or more resident household.
Different parts of the home can be used for income- generation activities. First, the house itself – for most households this means the bedroom, since the majority of households in Kumasi occupy just one room. Second, the yard, which is shared with all households residing in the compound. Third, the veranda, which some households have exclusive use of, and others share with one or more other households. finally, the street adjacent to the house, which is part of the plot the house is built on.

Background characteristics 

• In Kumasi access to formal jobs does not necessarily discourage households from undertaking informal-sector activities. 

Formal-sector jobs are more prestigious, but they often do not pay enough to sustain households.

 Migration History

These findings indicate that in Kumasi informal- sector jobs are not a transition stage on the way to finding formal-sector positions. Recent migrants are more educated than migrants who have been in the city longer, and better education means easier access to formal-sector occupations.

Income

Some households use their home for income as a way to increase total household income.
Other households undertake informal- sector economic activities in the house because they cannot or do not want to find other work.
This result suggests that income levels are the same for formal and informal jobs in Kumasi.

Housing characteristics and tenure

Most respondents (90.7%) occupied rooms in compound houses, sharing cooking, bathing, and toilet facilities with other households residing in the com-pound. The dominant form of residence arrangement in Kumasi is renting.

Location characteristics 

• Kumasi is a large city. 
• Densely built, small tracts of undeveloped land within the city boundaries are still used for subsistence or market agriculture. 
• Most villages have a core area of traditional compound houses (in the larger villages there are also multi-story compounds). 
• Urban sprawl is all around them in the form of villa type houses. 
• The core area of Kumasi is surrounded by a circular road. 

When households use their home for income-generation, it is not always the occupation of the house-hold earners who earns the most money.But it is still not surprising that these households live closer to the work place of that household member than other households. The location of households in both groups are equally accessible to markets and public transportation.

Multivariate analysis

• Households that do not use their homes for income-generation enjoy a better quality of housing than households that do. 
• Migrants do not use informal-sector jobs as a stepping stone to formal-sector ones.

Conclusion

• Households undertake such activities in the city core and the periphery, regardless of income, tenure arrangement and accessibility to markets and public transportation. 
• Larger households, female-headed households, and those with older or less educated heads, use the home for income-generation more. 
• In single-household houses or apartments use their home for income-generation less than compound dweller. 
• Households that use their home for income-generation occupy more rooms, but their housing quality is not as good as the housing quality of other households. 

Source: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0264-2751(98)00037-7