Interplay between Coping/Survival Strategies and Child Trafficking in Fishing Communities in Ghana

The interrelatedness between poverty and child trafficking has been widely documented, with poverty being the consequence of child trafficking in West Africa. This paper focuses on poverty coping/survival strategies that relate to child trafficking in three fishing communities in Ghana. This includes two rural coastal fishing communities: Agavedzi and Akorsua village in the Volta and Central Regions respectively, and one rural inland fishing community along the Volta lake Bakpakorfe in the Volta Region. Seventy-eight household heads and five fishermen were interviewed. In addition, one focus group discussion each was held in Agavedzi and Akorsua village. Poverty and desperation of the poor households to survive have compelled some of them to resort to strategies that reinforced pre-existing traditional practices that culminate in the intensification of the trafficking of their children. The three commonly identified coping/survival strategies can be specifically classified under the definition of ‘child trafficking’ within the study communities. These strategies are ‘child bonded labour’, ‘child domestic servitude’ and ‘outright selling of children’. There is the need for government and other stakeholders to improve the living conditions in these communities through poverty eradication measures. Human rights awareness or education is also needed to enhance advocacy for the need to respect and protect the rights of children in the prevailing traditional practices exacerbated by abject poverty and vulnerability in especially rural coastal fishing communities.