Where Is Not Home?’: Dagaaba migrants in the Brong Ahafo Region, 1980 to the present

The 1980s marked the beginning of a significant shift in the pattern of Dagaaba migration to southern Ghana. Instead of the mining centres of Obuasi (Ashanti region) and Prestea and Tarkwa (Western region) respectively, many Dagaaba men and women have been migrating to predominantly agricultural areas in the Brong Ahafo region. There is also evidence that Dagaaba migrants, who previously worked in the southern and coastal regions, have been relocating to the Brong Ahafo region when they either lost their jobs or retired. This article explores the factors that have culminated in the mass movement of Dagaaba men and women to the Brong Ahafo region and the reasons why ‘step’ Dagaaba migrants are relocating to the Brong Ahafo region in large numbers instead of going back home (to the north) as many of their predecessors did. The article adds to the ongoing discussion on the migration phenomenon in sub-Saharan Africa by foregrounding the internal ways in which communities themselves shape migration through extended, gendered social debates over production and reproduction.