Ebenezer Forkuo Amankwaa

Education
BA, MPhil, PhD (Ghana)

Awards and Visiting positions
2020-2024  Affiliate, African Academy of Sciences (AAS)
2017–2022 Visiting Fellow, Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, UK
2017-2019  Guest Lecturer, Geography and Environment, Loughborough University, UK

Research interest
My research focuses on urban sustainability and cuts across the fields of social, economic and development geography. I am particularly interested in promoting inclusive development and environmental sustainability including an analysis of pro-poor urban governance, climate change adaptation and the application of transdisciplinary research methodology.
• Infrastructure and service provision
• Youth mobility and livelihoods
• Environmental sustainability and public health 
• Climate/environmental change adaptation and disaster risk reduction

Courses taught
GEOG 464: Cities in Economic Development and Problems of Urban Management
GEOG 324: Regional Geography of West Africa (with Reference to Ghana)
GEOG 112: Introduction to Human Geography
UGRC 131: Understanding Human Societies: Culture and Development

Recent research grants and experience

• 2020-2023  Re-Energize Governance of Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience for Sustainable Development. Project partners include University of Ghana, University College London (UK), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US), Hamad bin Khalifa University, Qatar Computing Research Institute (Qatar), Waseda University (Japan), University of Salerno (Italy), University of Mauritius (Mauritius). PI Spataru Catalina (UCL), Funded by Belmont Forum [Total funds £1,810,000; University of Ghana’s component £99,143]. Role: Co-Investigator. Project website: https://www.govdisasters.com/
• 2019-2022  Reducing the Impact of Extreme Heat to Improve Well-being in Cities (REFIT). Project partners include University of Ghana, Loughborough University (UK), University for Development Studies, and BRRI-CSIR, Ghana. PI Kate Gough. Funded by the British Academy, under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). [Total budget £300,000; University of Ghana’s component £34,565]. Role: Co-Investigator.
• 2018-2022 Pan African Research College on Sustainable Cities. Project partners include University of Ghana, University of Nairobi, the United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa, the University of Cape Town and Wits University. Funded by the Robert Bosch Stiftung Foundation. Total budget € 903,370,94. Role: Postdoc Research Fellow (2019-2020)
• 2018-2019  Dealing with Single-use Plastics: Examining the Economic Effect of a Ban in Ghana. Project partners include University of Ghana and the Ministry of Finance, Government of Ghana. Funded by the International Growth Centre (IGC) through UKAID and directed by LSE. Total budget £19,961. Role: Co-PI
• 2017-2019 Vulnerability to extreme weather events in cities: implications for infrastructure and livelihoods (VEWEC). Project partners include Loughborough University (UK), University of Ghana and University for Development Studies. Funded by the British Academy under the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Total budget £260,000; University of Ghana’s component £80,526. Role: PDRA
• 2014-2016 Recyclers at risk? Analysis of e-waste livelihoods and blood lead levels at Ghana’s recycling hub, Agbogbloshie. Project partners include University of Ghana and University of Minnesota. Funded by the International Growth Centre (IGC) through UKAID and directed by LSE. Total budget £10,000. Role: PI

Recent publications
Amankwaa, E. F., Esson, J. and Gough, K. V. (2020). Geographies of youth, mobile phones and the urban hustle. The Geographical Journal, DOI https://doi.org/10.1111/geoj.12354

Codjoe, S.N.A, Gough, K.V., Wilby, R.L., Kasei, R., Yankson, P.W.K., Amankwaa, E.F., Abarike, M.A., Atiglo, D.Y., Kayaga, S., Mensah, P., Nabilse, C.K. and Griffiths, P.L. (2020). Impact of extreme weather conditions on healthcare provision in urban Ghana, Social Science & Medicine, 258, 113072. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.113072

Gough, K.V., Yankson, P.W.K., Wilby, R.L., Amankwaa, E.F., Abarike, M., Codjoe, S., Griffiths, P., Kaba, C., Kasei, R., and Kayaga, S. (2019). Vulnerability to extreme weather events in cities: implications for infrastructure and livelihoods. Journal of the British Academy, 7(s2): 155–181. 

Amankwaa, E.F. and Blay, K.B. (2018). Cities at risk? Exploring the synergies between smartphones and everyday vulnerabilities. Cities, 83, 129-139.

Amankwaa E. F., Adovor Tsikudo, A.K. and Bowman, J. (2017). ‘Away’ is a place: the impact of electronic waste recycling on blood lead levels in Ghana. Science of the Total Environment, 601–602, 1566–1574.

Yankson, P.W.K., Gough, K.V., Esson, J. and Amankwaa, E. F. (2017). Spatial and social  transformations in a secondary city: the role of mobility in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, 117 (2), 82-92.

Amankwaa, E. F. (2017). Women and men at the traffic lights: The (re)configuration and (re)gendering of street water vending in Ghana. GeoJournal, 82 (2), 329-344.

Oteng-Ababio, M., Smout, I., Amankwaa, E.F. and Esson, J. (2017). The divergence between acceptability of municipal services and urbanization in developing countries: insights from Accra and Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana. Geografisk Tidsskrift-Danish Journal of Geography, 117 (2), 142-154. 

Owusu, G., Owusu, A. B., Amankwaa, E. F. and Eshun, F. (2017). Analyses of freshwater stress with a couple ground and surface water model in the Pra Basin, Ghana. Applied Water Science 7 (1), 137-153

Esson, J., Gough, K.V., Simon, D., Amankwaa, E.F., Ninot, O. and Yankson, P.W.K. (2016). Livelihoods in motion: linking transport, mobility and income-generating activities. Journal of Transport Geography, 55, 182-188.

Eshun, F., Owusu, A. B., Owusu, G. and Amankwaa, E. F. (2015). A missed opportunity? Unravelling the marketing potentials of tourism in Ghana through GIS. International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 4 (3/4), 260-278.

Amankwaa, E. F. (2014). E-waste livelihoods, environment and health risks: Unpacking the connections in Ghana. West African Journal of Applied Ecology 22 (2), 1-15.

Chama, M. A., Amankwaa, E. F. and Oteng-Ababio, M. (2014). Trace metal levels of the Odaw river sediments at the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site. Journal of Science and Technology 34 (1), 1-8.

Oteng-Ababio, M. and Amankwaa, E.F. (2014). The e-waste conundrum: balancing evidence from the North and on-the ground developing countries realities for improved management. African Review of Economics and Finance 6 (1), 181-204.

Amankwaa, E. F., Owusu, A. B., Owusu, G. and Eshun, F. (2014). Accra's poverty trap: Analysing water provision in urban Ghana. Journal of Social Science for Policy Implications 2 (2), 69-89.

Oteng-Ababio, M., Amankwaa, E.F. and Chama, M.A. (2014). The local contours of scavenging for e-waste and higher-valued constituent parts in Accra, Ghana. Habitat International 43, 163-171.

Oteng-Ababio, M., Chama, M. A. and Amankwaa, E. F. (2014). Qualitative analysis of the presence of PBDE in ashes, soils and vegetables from Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site. Journal of  Environmental Research and Management 5 (4), 071-080.

Amankwaa, E. F. (2013). Livelihoods in risk: exploring health and environmental implications of e- waste recycling as a livelihood strategy in Ghana. Journal of Modern African Studies 51 (4), 551-575.

Membership of professional bodies
• International Academy of African Business and Development (IAABD) (2013-Present)
• International Society for Development and Sustainability (ISDS) (2014-Present)
• Global Development Network (GDN) (2014-Present)    
• Ghana Geographers Association (GGA) (2015-Present)
• The Water Network (TWN) (2016-Present)
• UK Research and Innovation -International Development Peer Review College (2018-Present)
• Affiliate, African Academy of Sciences (AAS) (2020-Present)