IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/chosxx/v38y2023i7p1155-1190.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Rainfall challenges and strategies to improve housing construction in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Ghana

Author

Listed:
  • Albert Adu-Gyamfi
  • Michael Poku-Boansi
  • Leonard Darpoh
  • Michael Osei Asibey
  • Justice Kufour Owusu-Ansah

Abstract

Even though elsewhere in the Western world and the gulf regions, many studies explore the effect of extreme weather conditions on the construction of houses, little is known in sub-Saharan Africa. This study therefore engages homeowners and various construction workers in a qualitative study to analyze how rainfall affects the building of houses. A total of 75 participants, comprising 20 homeowners and 55 construction workers were purposively selected to share their experiences about the impact of rainfall on the construction of houses using in-depth interviews. The narratives of the participants made several revelations to deepen knowledge on the effect of climatic conditions such as rainfall on housing construction. The study revealed that rainfall causes financial losses to homeowners and creates hazardous work environments for construction workers. Financial losses are encountered through the destruction of building materials, increases in the cost of building materials in the wet season and extra labour costs incurred in carrying out reworks. This challenge posed by extreme rainfall has implications of hindering many prospective homeowners in achieving their aspiration of becoming homeowners.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Adu-Gyamfi & Michael Poku-Boansi & Leonard Darpoh & Michael Osei Asibey & Justice Kufour Owusu-Ansah, 2023. "Rainfall challenges and strategies to improve housing construction in Sub-Saharan Africa: the case of Ghana," Housing Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(7), pages 1155-1190, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:chosxx:v:38:y:2023:i:7:p:1155-1190
    DOI: 10.1080/02673037.2021.2014412
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/02673037.2021.2014412
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/02673037.2021.2014412?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. World Bank, 2010. "Economics of Adaptation to Climate Change : Ghana, Volume 1. Main Report," World Bank Publications - Reports 13212, The World Bank Group.
    2. Dumenu, William Kwadwo & Obeng, Elizabeth Asantewaa, 2016. "Climate change and rural communities in Ghana: Social vulnerability, impacts, adaptations and policy implications," Environmental Science & Policy, Elsevier, vol. 55(P1), pages 208-217.
    3. repec:idb:brikps:publication-detail,7101.html?id=4643 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. Chris Harty & Chris Ian Goodier & Robby Soetanto & Simon Austin & Andrew R. J. Dainty & Andrew D. F. Price, 2007. "The futures of construction: a critical review of construction future studies," Construction Management and Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(5), pages 477-493.
    5. Roger Jones, 2001. "An Environmental Risk Assessment/Management Framework for Climate Change Impact Assessments," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 23(2), pages 197-230, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kamaldeen Mohammed & Evans Batung & Moses Kansanga & Hanson Nyantakyi-Frimpong & Isaac Luginaah, 2021. "Livelihood diversification strategies and resilience to climate change in semi-arid northern Ghana," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 164(3), pages 1-23, February.
    2. Portia Adade Williams & Olivier Crespo & Mumuni Abu, 2020. "Assessing vulnerability of horticultural smallholders’ to climate variability in Ghana: applying the livelihood vulnerability approach," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 2321-2342, March.
    3. Monika Winn & Manfred Kirchgeorg & Andrew Griffiths & Martina K. Linnenluecke & Elmar Günther, 2011. "Impacts from climate change on organizations: a conceptual foundation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(3), pages 157-173, March.
    4. Channing Arndt & Felix Asante & James Thurlow, 2015. "Implications of Climate Change for Ghana’s Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-18, June.
    5. Ying Xu & Christopher Findlay, 2019. "Farmers’ constraints, governmental support and climate change adaptation: evidence from Guangdong Province, China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(4), pages 866-880, October.
    6. H.M. Tuihedur Rahman & Gordon M. Hickey, 2020. "An Analytical Framework for Assessing Context-Specific Rural Livelihood Vulnerability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-26, July.
    7. Issah Justice Musah-Surugu & Albert Ahenkan & Justcie Nyigmah Bawole, 2019. "Too weak to lead: motivation, agenda setting and constraints of local government to implement decentralized climate change adaptation policy in Ghana," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 587-607, April.
    8. Biola K. Badmos & Ademola A. Adenle & Sampson K. Agodzo & Grace B. Villamor & Daniel K. Asare-Kyei & Laouali M. Amadou & Samuel N. Odai, 2018. "Micro-level social vulnerability assessment towards climate change adaptation in semi-arid Ghana, West Africa," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 20(5), pages 2261-2279, October.
    9. Awudu Abdulai, 2018. "Simon Brand Memorial Address," Agrekon, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(1), pages 28-39, January.
    10. Balikisu Osman, 2023. "Climate and Food Insecurity Risks: Identifying Exposure and Vulnerabilities in the Post-Food Production System of Northern Ghana," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-19, November.
    11. Bahareh Kamali & Karim C. Abbaspour & Bernhard Wehrli & Hong Yang, 2019. "A Quantitative Analysis of Socio-Economic Determinants Influencing Crop Drought Vulnerability in Sub-Saharan Africa," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-18, November.
    12. Melania Michetti & Stefano Ghinoi, 2020. "Climate-driven vulnerability and risk perception: implications for climate change adaptation in rural Mexico," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 10(3), pages 290-302, September.
    13. Karly Bitsura-Meszaros & Erin Seekamp & Mae Davenport & Jordan W. Smith, 2019. "A PGIS-Based Climate Change Risk Assessment Process for Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Dependent Communities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, June.
    14. Carter, Chris & Crean, Jason & Kingwell, Ross S. & Hertzler, Greg, 2006. "Managing and Sharing the Risks of Drought in Australia," 2006 Annual Meeting, August 12-18, 2006, Queensland, Australia 25319, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Rasoul Maleki & Mehdi Nooripoor & Zeinab Sharifi & Dacinia Crina Petrescu, 2023. "Application of community‐based system dynamics for the management of rural households' vulnerability to the drying of Urmia Lake," Systems Research and Behavioral Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 573-585, May.
    16. Höök, Mikael & Tang, Xu, 2013. "Depletion of fossil fuels and anthropogenic climate change—A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 797-809.
    17. Präger, Fabian & Paczkowski, Sebastian & Sailer, Gregor & Derkyi, Nana Sarfo Agyemang & Pelz, Stefan, 2019. "Biomass sources for a sustainable energy supply in Ghana – A case study for Sunyani," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 413-424.
    18. Huicong Jia & Fang Chen & Enyu Du, 2021. "Adaptation to Disaster Risk—An Overview," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-21, October.
    19. K.S. Kavi Kumar & Richard J.T. Klein & Cezar Ionescu & Jochen Hinkel & Rupert Klein, 2007. "Vulnerability To Poverty And Vulnerability To Climate Change: Conceptual Framework, Measurement And Synergies In Policy," Working Papers 2007-019, Madras School of Economics,Chennai,India.
    20. Kingwell, Ross S., 2006. "Is Hanrahan sort of right? Will climate change ruin us all?," 2006 Conference (50th), February 8-10, 2006, Sydney, Australia 137961, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:chosxx:v:38:y:2023:i:7:p:1155-1190. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/chos20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.