Emergent livelihoods: A case study in emergent ecologies, diverse economies and the co-production of livelihoods from the Afram Plains, Ghana

In the far northeastern corner of the Afram Plains, Ghana, a history of large-scale developmental interventions has led to the emergence of a dynamic ecological and economic assemblage that underpins the formation of emergent livelihood strategies among farming and fishing communities in the region. The cornerstone of these livelihood strategies are local bartering institutions, which have been maintained by these communities for over 60 years. This paper combines the diverse economies and emergent ecologies literatures in order to theorize and situate emergent livelihood practices within an emergent socio-ecological system in the context of historical and contemporary processes of developmental change. Using the lens of feminist political ecology to understand the unequal and gendered dimensions of these livelihood strategies, this research proposes the concept of emergent livelihoods as a way of encapsulating a rich empirical case study that draws diverse economies and emergent ecologies into conversation with critical development studies through a co-production of livelihoods framework.