Author: Francis Darko
Darko, Francis, 2025 Internal migration and multidimensional wellbeing: A contextual study of northern Ghanaian youth migration to Sunyani, Flinders University, College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
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For many young people in Ghana, internal migration represents a means of escaping rural hardship and moving toward perceived opportunities in urban centres. While migration is often assumed to enhance wellbeing, existing research both in Ghana and internationally shows that outcomes are diverse and extend beyond economic gains. Yet relatively little is known about the nature of these outcomes, particularly whether and how internal migration shapes multidimensional wellbeing and social integration in sub-Saharan Africa. This thesis takes up the challenge by examining the drivers of internal migration, the post-migration wellbeing outcomes, and the social integration experiences of young northern Ghanaian migrants employed in Sunyani’s informal economic sector, a secondary city in Ghana with socio-cultural diversity. Using a mixed-method design, the thesis combines a wellbeing survey of 251 young migrants with in-depth yarning interviews with 17 migrants and three local government stakeholders to capture both objective and subjective wellbeing among migrants and their integration experiences in Sunyani. Drawing on the driver-complex and aspirations, capabilities frameworks, as well as a multidimensional wellbeing approach adapted from Sen’s capability framework, the thesis assesses six domains of wellbeing: living standards, health, education and skills, community vitality, environmental resilience, and governance.
The findings reveal that migration is driven by intersecting structural factors, personal aspirations, and agency. These include entrenched poverty, socio-economic inequalities, environmental vulnerabilities, and aspirations for financial independence. Although most migrants report increased income, overall wellbeing remains low, with major constraints in health and education dimensions precluding the attainment of overall wellbeing. Higher economic participation does not necessarily lead to a higher quality of life or social integration unless other aspects of wellbeing are actively addressed. Yarning interviews expose notable hardships in living conditions. When the combined data are analysed through a social integration framework, the limitations of equating financial success with broader social integration become evident. Connections within the host community are limited, resulting in uneven social integration; migrants rely heavily on ethnic networks, which foster a sense of belonging but also reinforce social isolation from the host community. Stakeholder perspectives reflect ambivalence, with concerns about the strain on municipal resources and limited policy responses.
By offering a multidimensional and context-sensitive analysis of migration drivers and outcomes, this thesis contributes empirically by providing one of the first multidimensional assessments of internal migrants’ wellbeing in Ghana. Theoretically, it advances migration research by adapting international migration frameworks to internal migration and by distinguishing what is context-specific to Ghana from insights that are generalisable to wider debates on migration and wellbeing. Methodologically, the thesis contributes to migration research by demonstrating the value of combining respondent-driven sampling with yarning to reach marginalised populations. The thesis, therefore, offers new perspectives for migration scholarship and for inclusive social policy in Ghana and comparable contexts.
Keywords: Ghana, Internal migration, Migration governance, Multidimensional wellbeing, Social integration, Youth wellbeing
Subject: Multicultural Studies thesis
Thesis type: Doctor of Philosophy
Completed: 2025
School: College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences
Supervisor: Susanne Schech