Socio-economics of fisheries dependent communities in the Volta Basin of Ghana

The Volta basin of Ghana forms 70% of the total area of the country and 45% of the nation's land surface. The population is primarily into agriculture, just like many parts of rural Ghana. Most of the inhabitants are into farming, livestock rearing and fishing. Communities along the Volta Lake and the other major rivers found in the Volta Basin are generally referred to as fisheries dependent communities because fishing and fish processing activities are their primary source of livelihood. The paper reveals that over-dependence on fishing as a source of livelihood is fast depleting the natural resource and deepening poverty. Also the fishing communities in the Volta Basin are severely disadvantaged with respect to social and physical infrastructure such as health care facilities.