Professor Joseph Awetori Yaro

Provost, College of Humanities

Contact info jayaro@ug.edu.gh

About

I am a human geographer with a research focus on rural development. 

Current courses taught.

  • Philosophy of the social sciences (FSSP 701)
  • Research methods (GEOG 326) 
  • Rural Development theories and principles (GEOG 455)
  • Rural Development Experiences (GEOG 456)
  • Rural Development Theories and Practice (GEOD 709)
  • Techniques of Research (GEOG 603) (MPhil) 
  • Philosophy of the Social Sciences (FSSP701)
  • Regional Development (GEOG 421)
  • Rural Development Policies and Experiences (GEOD 606)
  • Theories of Rural Development (GEOD 607)

Education

2004: Ph.D, Human Geography, University of Oslo, Norway.

2000: MPhil, Development Geography, University of Oslo, Norway.                      

1997: BA, Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana.

Research Interest

Human Geographer with specialization in Development Geography

  • Agrarian Change 
  • Sustainable rural livelihoods and food security
  • Economic Conditions and the environment: Poverty, environment and livelihoods
  • Land Tenure Studies &Transnational land deals and rural livelihoods

  • Climate change adaptation and resilience

    Current Research Projects

  • 2021-2024. Migration and Translocality in West Africa (MiTra-WA) project. Funded by the German government through WASCAL    
  • 2019-2024: UKRI’s GCRF South-South Migration, Inequality and Development Hub. (Ghana). Funded by the UK Government through UKRI.  
  • 2022: Socio-economic impacts of natural resource extraction in Ghana: The case of illegal mining and charcoal burning in Eastern Region and Northern Region respectively. Funded by USAID
  • 2018 - 2021: Small fish and food security. Funded by the German Government. 
  • 2016 - 2022: Agricultural Policy Research in Africa. Funded by UK Government through the Department for International Development (DFID) 
  • 2017 - 2018: Food systems research: The role of smallholders in Ghana’s food system. Open Society Foundation for West Africa (OSIWA) in collaboration with Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG).
  • 2017: Country lead, Cross-Cultural Learning and Shifting Identities: Research Training for a Transnational World. Funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) - Partnership Grants. 
  • 2013 - 2017: Valorizing African Agriculture. Funded by DANIDA
  • 2011 - 2019: Migrating out of Poverty. The linkages between migration and poverty in Africa and Asia. Funded by DFID.   
  • 2012 - 2015: Institutional Arrangements in Land Deals in Africa: Local Impacts of Global Resource Scarcity. Funded by the ESRC 
  • 2011 - 2013: Assessing Adaptive capacity to climate change and climate variability in the rural northern savannah of Ghana. Funded by the University of Ghana, Legon. 
  • 2009 - 2013: Transnational land deals in Ghana. Funded by the DFID
  • 2010 - 2012: Greening of the Car Industry in West Africa. Sustainability for the 21st Century: Overcoming Limitations to Creative Adaptation in Addressing the Climate Challenge. Centre for Environment and Development, (SUM) University of Oslo, Norway. Funded by Norwegian Research Council. 
  • 2009 - 2010: The Social Dimensions of Adaptation to Climate Change in Ghana. Economics of adaptation to climate change. Funded by the World Bank. 
  • 2009 - 2011: Stakeholder perceptions of climate change in Ghana. “Sustainability for the 21st Century: Overcoming Limitations to Creative Adaptation in Addressing the Climate Challenge”. Funded by Norwegian Research Council. 
  • 2008: Land rights and vulnerabilities in the Kete Krachie pilot Customary Land Secretariat area. Ministry of lands, Mines and Forestry project. Funded by the World Bank. 
  • 2008 - 2009: The Dynamics of Political Capital and rural food insecurity: The case of Northern Ghana in the era of globalization. Funded by the University of Ghana. R
  • 2007: Evolution of customary land tenure systems and sustainable livelihoods in northern Ghana. The Land Tenure and Land Policy Research Project. Funded by ISSER-USAID (2007).

Publications

  1. Yaro, J. A., Sheburah Essien, R., Ablo, A. D., Siakwah, P., & Zaami, M. (2024). Female farmers’ struggles and responses to COVID-19 in Ghana. African Geographical Review, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2024.2370865
  2. Teye, J. K., Yaro, J. A., & Wiggins, S. (2024). Modernizing cocoa production in Ghana: successes, constraints, and future possibilities of innovation diffusion in the cocoa sector. African Geographical Review, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2024.2357622
  3. Yaro, J. A., Teye, J. K., & Wiggins, S. 2024. Changing land and labour relations on cocoa farms in Sefwi, Ghana: Continuity and change. World Development Perspectives, 34, 100584. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wdp.2024.100584 
  4. Ayelazuno, R. A., & Yaro, J. A. (2024). Shea butter livelihoods and challenges faced by women in the Kassena Nankana districts, Ghana. SN Social Sciences, 4(1), 18.
  5. Pervarah, M., Yaro, J. A., & Derbile, E. K. 2023. Traditional and Western knowledge systems used by smallholders: Harnessing synergies for improved household food security in rural Ghana. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift-Norwegian Journal of Geography, 77(5), 296-309.
  6. Tanko, A.Y., Delali M. Badasu, Samuel NA. Codjoe, Christina A. Nti and Joseph A. Yaro, 2020. Trichotomous Analysis of Climate Change, Migration and Food Security in the Agro-Ecological Zones of Ghana. Science and Development, Volume 3: 84- 102.
  7. Leander Kandilige & Joseph Awetori Yaro 2023. Returns from the South: Effects of return migration of Ghanaian migrants from China on livelihoods and wealth inequalities in Ghana. International Migration, https://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13192 
  8. Agyemang, E. & Yaro, J.A. 2023. Knowledge, Attitudes, and Perception as Predictors of COVID-19 Safety Practices of Ride-Hailing Operators in Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study. Environmental Research and Public Health, 20, 4529. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054529
  9. Austin Dziwornu Ablo, Lydia Osei, Francis Xavier Jarawura, Joseph Awetori Yaro, 2022. Sacrificing the savannah woodlands for energy and livelihoods? Charcoal production in Ghana. Energy for Sustainable Development, Volume 70, Pages 549-559, ISSN 0973-0826, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esd.2022.09.001.
  10. Joseph Kofi Teye, Leander Kandilige, Mary Setrana, Joseph Yaro 2022.  Chinese Migration to Ghana: Challenging the Orthodoxy on Characterizing Migrants and Reasons for Migration. Ghana Journal of Geography, Vol. 14 No. 2.
  11. Azindow Yakubu Iddrisu, Stefan Ouma & Joseph Awetori Yaro, 2022. When agricultural commercialization fails: ‘Re-visiting’ value-chain agriculture and its ruins in northern Ghana, Globalizations, DOI: 10.1080/14747731.2022.2135423 
  12. Dinko, D. H., Yaro, J., & Kusimi, J. (2019). Political Ecology and Contours of Vulnerability to Water Insecurity in Semiarid North-Eastern Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 54(2), 282–299. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909618811838
  13. Yaro, J. A., Teye, J. K., & Torvikey, G. D. (2018). Historical Context of Agricultural Commercialisation in Ghana: Changes in Land and Labour Relations. Journal of Asian and African Studies. Vol. 53(1) 49–63 . doi: 10.1177/0021909616657368. Sage.
  14. Yaro Joseph Awetori, Teye Joseph Kofi & Torvikey Gertrude Dzifa (2017) Agricultural commercialisation models, agrarian dynamics and local development in Ghana, The Journal of Peasant Studies, 44:3, 538 554, DOI: 10.1080/03066150.2016.1259222
  15. Fuseini, I., Yaro, J. A., & Yiran, G. A. B. (2017). City profile: Tamale, Ghana. Cities, 60, Part B, 64-74. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2016.07.010
  16. Gertrude Dzifa Torvikey & Joseph Awetori Yaro & Joseph Kofi Teye, 2016."Farm to Factory Gendered Employment: The Case of Blue Skies Outgrower Scheme in Ghana," Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy, Centre for Agrarian Research and Education for South, vol. 5(1), pages 77-97, April.
  17. Awumbila, M., Teye, J. K., & Yaro, J. A. (2016). Social Networks, Migration Trajectories and Livelihood Strategies of Migrant Domestic and Construction Workers in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Asian and African Studies. doi: 10.1177/0021909616634743
  18. Awumbila, M., Teye, J. K., & Yaro, J. A. (2016). Of silent maids, skilled gardeners and careful madams: gendered dynamics and strategies of migrant domestic workers in Accra, Ghana. GeoJournal, 1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10708-016-9711-5
  19.  Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Teye & Mariama Awumbila 2015: The life struggles and successes of the migrant construction worker in Accra, Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography Vol. 7(2), Pages 113-131
  20. Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Teye & Simon Bawakyillenuo (2015) Local institutions and adaptive capacity to climate change/variability in the northern savannah of Ghana, Climate and Development, 7:3, 235-245, DOI: 10.1080/17565529.2014.951018
  21. Simon Bawakyillenuo, Joseph Awetori Yaro & Joseph Teye (2016) Exploring the autonomous adaptation strategies to climate change and climate variability in selected villages in the rural northern savannah zone of Ghana, Local Environment, 21:3, 361-382, DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2014.965671 
  22. Teye, J.K., Yaro, J.A. and Bawakyillenuo, S. (2015), "Local farmers’ experiences and perceptions of climate change in the Northern Savannah zone of Ghana", International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and Management, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 327-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCCSM-05-2014-0066
  23. Tsikata, Dzodzi and Yaro, Joseph Awetori 2014. When a Good Business Model is Not Enough: Land Transactions and Gendered Livelihood Prospects in Rural Ghana, Feminist Economics, Vol. 20, No. 1, 202–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2013.866261
  24. Azabre, BA., Teye JK. & Yaro JA. 2013. Malaria control strategies in the Kassena-Nankana East and West Districts of Ghana. Ghana Journal of Geography Vol. 5, 102-120.
  25. Yaro. J. A. 2013. The perception of and adaptation to climate variability/change in Ghana by small-scale and commercial farmers. Regional Environmental Change. Volume 13, Issue 6, 1259-1272 
  26. Yaro. J. A. and Dzodzi T. 2013. Savannah fires and local resistance to Transnational land deals: The case of Dipale in Northern Ghana. African Geographical Review. Vol. 32. No.1. pp. 72-87. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2012.759013
  27. Yaro. J. A. 2013. Neoliberal globalization and evolving local traditional institutions: implications for Access to resources in rural northern Ghana. Review of African Political Economy.  Vol. 40, No. 137, 410–427, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03056244.2013.816945
  28. Golo Ben-Willie Kwaku and Yaro Awetori Joseph 2013. Reclaiming Stewardship in Ghana: Religion and Climate Change. Nature and Culture, Volume 8, Number 3, 282-300(19).
  29. Owusu-Sekyere Ebenezer, Kanton Issaka Osumanu and Yaro Joseph Awetori 2013. Dompoase Landfill in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area of Ghana: A ‘Blessing’ or a ‘Curse’? International Journal of Current Trends in Research (2013) 2 (1): 87-96. 
  30. Yaro, J. A. (2012): ‘Re-inventing traditional land tenure in the era of land commoditization: some consequences in periurban northern Ghana’, Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography 94 (4): 351–368.
  31. Yaro. J. A.  and Hesselberg J. 2010. Poverty and land degradation linkages in the Developing World. Ghana Journal of Geography Vol. 2. Pp. 25-46.
  32. Yaro. J. A.  and Hesselberg J. 2010. The contours of rural poverty in Northern Ghana: Implications for food and nutritional security. Research Review Vol. 26 No.1. pp. 81-111.
  33. Yaro, J. A. 2010. Customary tenure systems under siege: contemporary access to land in Northern Ghana. Geojournal: Vol. 75. Pp. 199-214. Springer. DOI 10.1007/s10708-009-9301x. 
  34. Yaro, J. A. 2009. The dilemma of the peasant: Macroeconomic squeeze and internal contradictions in Northern Ghana. Ghana Social Science Journal. Vol. 5&6. No.1&2. pp. 27-61. Legon. 
  35. Yaro, J. A. and Abraham Z. 2009. Customary land tenure, Investment and livelihoods adaptation in Northern Ghana. Ogua Journal of Social Science (JOSS) Vol. 4. No.3.pp. 59-82. Cape Coast.
  36. Yaro. J. A.  2008. An examination of theories on Savannasation and the peasant-environment debate. West African Journal of Applied Ecology. Vol. 13: 1-20. ECOLAB, Legon 
  37. Yaro. J. A.  2007.  Peasant livelihoods and land degradation: Evidence from a participatory assessment in the Gia-Kajelo Community in Northern Ghana. West African Journal of Applied Ecology. Vol. 11: 109-128. ECOLAB, Legon
  38. Hesselberg J. and Yaro. J. A.  2006. An assessment of the extent and causes of food insecurity in northern Ghana using a livelihood vulnerability framework. Geojournal. Vol. 67: 41-55. Springer
  39. Yaro. J. A. 2006. Is Deagrarianisation Real? A study of livelihood activities in Rural Northern Ghana. Journal of Modern African Studies. Vol. 44, (1) 125-156. Cambridge University Press
  40. Yaro. J. A. 2005. Causality in Food Insecurity Research: A Critical Realist Approach. Scandinavian Journal of Geography. Vol. 55, 32-43. UMEA, Denmark
  41. Yaro. J. A. 2004. Theorising Food Insecurity: Building a Livelihood Vulnerability Framework for researching food insecurity. Norwegian Journal of Geography. Vol. 58, 23-37. Francis and Taylor, UK 
  42. Yaro. J. A. 2002. The Poor Peasant: One Label, Different Lives: The Dynamics of rural livelihood Strategies in the Gia-Kajelo community, Ghana. Norwegian Journal of Geography. Vol. 56, 10-20. Francis and Taylor, UK 

Books

  1. Yaro. J. A. & Hesselberg J. (Eds) 2017: Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability in Rural West Africa. Springer. 
  2. Asuelime, Lucky., Yaro, Joseph., Francis, Suzanne (Eds.) 2014. Selected Themes in African Development Studies: Economic Growth, Governance and the Environment. Springer International Publishing. ISBN: 978-3-319-06021-7 (Print) 978-3-319-06022-4 (Online) 
  3. Yaro. J. A. (ed) 2013. Rural Development in northern Ghana. Nova Science publishers, New York. 

Book Chapters

  1. Leander Kandilige, Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Mensah 2024. Exploring the Lived Experiences of Ghanaian Migrants along the Ghana-China Migration Corridor. In Meron Zeleke, Lahra Smith, African Perspectives on South–South Migration. London, Routledge.
  2. Yaro, J.A., Setrana, M.B. (2024). The Dynamics of South–South Migration in Africa. In: Crawley, H., Teye, J.K. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of South–South Migration and Inequality. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-39814-8_9
  3. Kofi Teye J., Torvikey G.D., Awetori Yaro J. (2021) Changing Labour Relations in Commercial Agrarian Landscapes in Ghana. In: Jha P., Chambati W., Ossome L. (eds) Labour Questions in the Global South. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-4635-2_19
  4. Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Teye & Simon Bawakyillenuo 2017: An assessment of determinants of adaptive capacity to climate change/variability in the rural savannah of Ghana. In Yaro. J. A. & Hesselberg J. Adaptation to Climate Change and Variability in Rural West Africa. Springer.
  5. Yaro, J., & Tsikata, D. 2015. Recent Transnational Land Deals & the Local Agrarian Economy in Ghana. In M. Mortimore, J. Yaro, J. Ariyo, W. Anseeuw, B. Chinsinga, M. Chasukwa, et al. (Authors) & R. Hall, I. Scoones, & D. Tsikata (Eds.), Africa's Land Rush: Rural Livelihoods and Agrarian Change (pp. 46-64). Boydell & Brewer. doi:10.1017/9781782045588.004
  6. Yaro, J. A. (2016). Squaring Growth with Green Transition in Africa’s Automobile Sector. Energy and Transport in Green Transition: Perspectives on Ecomodernity. A. Midttun and N. Witoszek. New York, Routledge: 152-173.
  7. Agyei-Mensah, Samuel., Yaro Joseph A., Mensah, Joseph 2014. Change and Continuity in the Practice and Development of Geography in Ghana. In Samuel Agyei-Mensah, Joseph Atsu Ayee, Abena D. Oduro, (eds) Changing Perspectives on the Social Sciences in Ghana. Springer Netherlands, Dordrecht. Pp. 51-74.
  8. Gyasi, Edwin A., Yaro, Joseph Awetori., and Owusu, Alex B. 2013. 'Central Themes, Concepts, and Methodologies of Geography', in George Owusu, et al. (eds.), Selected Readings in Geography. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra. Pp. 1-16.
  9. Yaro, Joseph Awetori 2013. 'Transnational Agricultural Investments/Land Grabbing: A Contemporary Solution or Challenge for Rural Development in Ghana?', in George Owusu, et al. (eds.), Selected Readings in Geography. Woeli Publishing Services, Accra. Pp. 63-178.
  10. Yaro. J. A.  2013. The story of northern Ghana. In J. A Yaro (ed.) Rural Development in northern Ghana. Nova Science publishers, New York. 1-16
  11. Yaro. J. A.  2013. Rural livelihoods at a cross-roads in northern Ghana. In J. A Yaro (ed.) Rural Development in northern Ghana. Nova Science publishers, New York. 83-100
  12. Abraham Z. and Yaro. J. A. 2013. Commercialization of Land Tenure Systems in Northern Ghana: The Dynamics and Drivers. In J. A Yaro (ed.) Rural Development in northern Ghana. Nova Science publishers, New York. 191-206
  13. Yaro J. A. 2000: Population growth, environmental problems and development in the South. In Hovedfagarsbok, Samfunnsgeografi. Tore J. et al. (Eds) Department of Sociology and Human Geography, University of Oslo. Pp 85-104.

Technical papers

  1. Yaro, J.A., Teye, J.K. and Wiggins, S. (2022) The Struggle to Intensify Cocoa Production in Ghana: Making a Living From the Forest in Western North. APRA Working Paper 84. Brighton: Future Agricultures Consortium, DOI: 10.19088/APRA.2022.006
  2. Kojo Amanor, Joseph Yaro and Joseph Teye 2021. Long-Term Patterns of change in the commercialisation of cocoa in Ghana: Forest frontiers and technological transformation. APRA Working Paper 076: Future Agricultures Consortium, IDS, Sussex. 
  3. Yaro JA, Ibrahim Wahab, Gloria Afful-Mensah and Michael Ben Awenam 2021. The Drivers of Medium-Scale Farms and the Emerging Synergies and Contradictions Among Socially-Differentiated Farmers in Northern Ghana. APRA Working Paper 7, Future Agricultures Consortium, IDS, Sussex. 
  4. Yaro JA, Ibrahim Wahab, Gloria Afful-Mensah and Michael Ben Awenam 2021: The Rise of Medium-Scale Farms in the Northern Savannah of Ghana: Farmland Invasion or an Inclusive Commercialised Agricultural Revolution? APRA Working Paper 70: Future Agricultures Consortium, IDS, Sussex. 
  5. Amanor KS, Yaro JA, Teye KJ 2020. Long-Term Change and Agricultural Commercialisation in Ghanaian Cocoa. Working Paper 31: Future Agricultures Consortium, IDS, Sussex.
  6. Wiggins S., Rachel Sabates-Wheeler and Joseph Yaro 2018. Rural Transitions, Non-Farm Rural Economies and Rural–Urban Links. APRA Working Paper. 
  7. Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Teye & Charles Nyaaba 2018. The Smallholder Farmer in Ghana’s Food Systems. CEDRAI Technical Paper 1., commissioned by the PFAG, and sponsored by OSIWA.
  8. Joseph Awetori Yaro, Joseph Teye 2017. A baseline survey of farmers’ access to quality seeds and fertilizers for sustainable enterprises in Ghana. Research commissioned by the The Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG). Sponsored by AGRA.
  9. James Sumberg, Nana Akua Anyidoho, Michael Chasukwa, Blessings Chinsinga, Jennifer Leavy, Getnet Tadele, Stephen Whitfield, and Joseph Yaro 2014. Young people, agriculture, and employment in rural Africa. WIDER Working Paper 2014/080. World Institute for Development Economics Research. UNU-WIDER.
  10. Yaro, J. A., & Bawakyillenuo, S. (2012). Irrigated Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Northern Ghana - The Case of Botanga Irrigation Project. In IDEG (Ed.), Agriculture and Social Deveopment in Ghana- Some Policy Issues. Accra.
  11. Yaro. J. A. et al. (Eds.) 2011. Migration and Population Dynamics: Changing Community Formations in Ghana.  Centre for Migration Studies, Technical Paper No. 2.  Sub-Saharan Publishers, Accra.
  12. Yaro J. A., Dogbe, T. D., Bizikova, L., Bailey, P., Ahiable, G., Yahaya, T. and K. A. Salam. 2010. The Social Dimensions of Adaptation to Climate Change in Ghana. Economics of adaptation to climate change. World Bank Discussion paper number 15. December 2010. Washington DC.
  13. Yaro J A. 2009. Stakeholder analysis of climate change in Ghana. In Atle Midttun (ed.) Stakeholders on climate change: North & South Perspectives. Report nr. 3. CERES21‐Creative Responses to Sustainability, Oslo. Pages 49-84.
  14. Yaro J. A and Zackariah A 2008. Evolution of customary land tenure systems and sustainable livelihoods in northern Ghana. Research report for the Land Tenure and Land Policy Research Project. No. 88. Accra, ISSER.
  15. Joseph Yaro, Francis Jarawura and Charles Nyaaba 2015. The Export Trade, Agricultural and Industrial Development Fund (EDAIF): A Blessing To Smallholder Farmers? Research commissioned by the The  Peasant Farmers Association of Ghana (PFAG).
  16. Yaro J A. 2009. The dynamics of political capital and rural food insecurity: The case of Northern Ghana in the era of globalisation. Funded by the Research and Conferences Fund Committee, Academic Affairs Directorate, University of Ghana
  17. Yaro J A. 2009. The dynamics of political capital and rural food insecurity: The case of Northern Ghana in the era of globalization. Funding organisation: Research and Conferences Fund Committee, Academic Affairs Directorate, University of Ghana
  18. Yankson W. K., A. B. Asiedu and J. A. Yaro 2008. Land rights and vulnerabilities in the Kete Krachi pilot Customary Land secretariat Area. Research report submitted to the Ministry Lands, Mines and Forestry. Funded by the World Bank.

National Policy documents

  1. Co-Author in the preparation of Ghana’s National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy. Ministry of Science and Environment and Environmental Protection Agency. 2010
  2. Co-Author of the chapter on ‘Migration and Climate Change’ for the Ghana National Climate Change Policy (NCCP). Ministry Of Environment, Science And Technology, Accra. 2013

Book Reviews

  1. Yaro. J A. 2002.  Lourenco-Lindell I: Walking the tight rope: informal livelihoods and social networks in a West African City. Department of Human Geography, University of Stockholm. Pages 275. In Environment and Planning A 34 (12), 2255-2256. Pion Ltd, London. 
  2. Yaro. J A. 2022.  Dan Brockington and Christine Noe (Editors), Prosperity in Rural Africa? Insights into Wealth, Assets, and Poverty from Longitudinal Studies in Tanzania. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. Pp. xxi +436. ISBN: 978-0-19-886587-2 hardback. In UTAFITI 17 (2022) 191–195 

Conference/Workshops

  1. Yaro J. A 2022, Chair of Roundtable Discussion. International conference on Land governance and conflicts in West Africa. The Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG) 6, Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa. 17 - 18 August 2022 Institute African Studies. Theme: Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, Accra. Topic: Adaptation experiences as new opportunities for land governance, harnessing potentials of ICT and AI 
  2. Yaro J. A 2022. Presenter. The changing land and labour relations in cocoa production in Western North Region, Ghana: lessons for policy making in Africa. MIASA Policy Conference “Policies for a Sustainable Rural Transformation in Africa”. 22-23 June 2022, ISSER Conference Hall, University of Ghana. Organized by Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA) and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
  3. Yaro J. A 2019. Managing demographics and demographic. Wilton Park dialogue: Enhancing effective development cooperation between the UK, Brazil and African partners. Maputo, Mozambique. Thursday 21 – Friday 22 November 2019 | WP1640. 
  4. Yaro J. A 2019. The history and political economy of cocoa in Ghana. Conference of the African Association of Agricultural Economist, Abuja Nigeria. Sheraton Hotel Abuja from the 23rd-26th September, 2019.
  5. Yaro J. A 2021. Moderator of APRA Panel discussion on Inclusive agricultural commercialisation: Lessons from Ghana and Nigeria. 8th Annual RENAPRI 2021 Stakeholder Conference: 17-19 November 2021, ISSER University of Ghana.
  6. Yaro J. A 2021. Presenter/panelist. Changing Land and labour relations on cocoa farms in Ghana. 7th (Virtual) School of Social Science International Conference 3-4th November 2021: Addressing Africa’s challenges in the 21st Century.
  7. Yaro J. A 2021. Presenter/discussant. Irregular migration and border deaths: The actors, Proximate and structural causes. An Interdisciplinary Workshop organized by the University of Southampton, UK. From the 17 and 18 June 2021: Saharan and Mediterranean Cross-Border Migration Deaths: The Impacts on Economic and Social Development of African Countries 
  8. Yaro J. A 2021. Chairperson. Pastoralism and climate change in West Africa: implications for policy and practice. June 2021. Organized by the Ghana Hub composed of the Institute for Development Studies, University of Sussex; University of Ghana and University for Development Studies.
  9. Yaro J. A 2019. Networking and collaboration among population studies institutes/departments in Africa for enhancing capacities in the continent. 8th African Population Conference. Entebbe, Uganda. November 18-22. 
  10. Kojo Amanor, Joseph Yaro, & Joseph Teye 2019. Long-term change in cocoa commercialisation in Ghana. APRA Annual Meeting in Kenya from 2-5 December 2019. Department for International Development (DFID) funded Agricultural Policy Research in Africa Research Consortium (APRA). Hosted by the Center for African Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE), Kenya. 
  11. Yaro J. A 2018. TrustAfrica Agriculture Advocacy Program’s Reflection Roundtable, 31st October and 1st November 2018, Dakar, Senegal .
  12. Yaro J. A 2018. Changing climate and agrarian relations in a complex globalism. Global Conference on Economic Geography. Cologne, Germany.      July 24 – 28.
  13. Yaro J. A; Stefan Ouma 2018. The Failed promises of world market integration: Organic Mango Production in Northern Ghana and the Dark Sides of Global Value Chains. Global Conference on Economic Geography. Cologne, Germany.  July 24 – 28.
  14. Yaro J. A 2017. Understanding Food insecurity and Famine in Africa. Presented at the International Development Studies theme of the Summer School, University of Oslo. 14th July 2017.
  15. Yaro J. A., Joseph Teye, Dzifah Torvikeh, 2017. The local impacts of agricultural commercialisation models in Ghana. 2017 Conference on Land Policy in Africa, Addis Ababa, 14-17 November 2017. Organized and Sponsored by the African Union.
  16. Yaro J. A 2016. Local farmers perceptions and adaptations to climate change/variability in Ghana. Public Lecture, Goethe University, as part of duties as a visiting research fellow. Organised by the Centre for Afrian Studies/Department of Human Geography.
  17. Yaro J. A., Joseph Teye, Dzifah Torvikeh, 2015. Farm to Factory Gendered Employment: The Case of Blue Skies Outgrower Scheme in Ghana. Presented at the eigth session of the Agrarian Summer School, between the  18th and 22nd of January 2016 at the Bronte Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe, on the theme “Progressive Social Forces, Social Movements and the Contemporary Agrarian Transformation in the South.” Organized by the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS) and partners.
  18. Yaro J. A., 2014. Are we matching towards food sovereignty in West Africa? Presented at the seventh session of the Agrarian Summer School, between the 20th and 24th of January 2014, on theme “Agrarian labour relations: diversification of rural work on and off-farms”. At the Bronte Hotel in Harare, Zimbabwe. Organized by the African Institute for Agrarian Studies (AIAS) and partners.
  19. Yaro J. A., 2013. Climate change and adaptive capacity: the struggle for sustainable rural livelihoods in northern Ghana. Presented at conference on “The Human Dimensions of Climate Change: the Politics of Food and Water Security in Africa”. Aberystwyth University from 18-20 September 2013, organised by the David Davies Memorial Institute of International Studies (DDMI).
  20. Yaro J. A., 2012. The nature of transnational land deals in Ghana: implications for rural livelihoods and economies. IESE´s III International Conference “Mozambique: Accumulation and Transformation in a Context of International Crisis” Maputo, 4th and 5th of September 2012
  21. Yaro J. A., 2012. Evolving ‘traditions’ in a neoliberal globalised world: Changing access to resources in rural northern Ghana. Canadian Association of African Studies conference 2012. 2-4 May 2012. Laval University, Laval, Quebec, Canada.    
  22. Yaro J. A., 2012. Transnational outgrower schemes under siege: bushfires avert land grabbing    in northern Ghana. AAG session: Fire, Humans, and Climate - Untangling Relationships, Causes and Consequences. Association of American Geographers Annual Meeting. 24-28 March 2012. Sheraton Hotel. New York.
  23. Yaro J. A., 2011. Guest lecture: Local responses to an agrarian crisis in northern Ghana. Center for Development Research/ Zentrum für Entwicklungsforschung (ZEF), University of Bonn, Germany. 25th September 2011.
  24. Yaro J. A., 2011. Panel member at the Berlin Summer Dialogue 2011. Adaptation to climate change. New structures of international cooperation – An expression of Global responsibility? Organised by Development and Peace Foundation in cooperation with GIZ, DIE, SID and SENWTF. 27 - 28 September 2011. Berlin Town Hall.
  25. Yaro J. A., 2011. Ghana and United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC): Challenges and Prospects. National Working Group on Trade and Development. June 23 and 24, 2011 Friedrich Ebert Stiftung Ghana, at Coconut Grove Regency Hotel, Accra
  26. Yaro J. A. with Tsikata D., 2010.  Land Market Liberalization and Trans-National Commercial Land Deals in Ghana since the 1990s. Paper presented at the International Conference on Global Land Grabbing 6-8 April 2011. Future Agricultures Consortium, the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex.
  27. Yaro J. A., 2010. Farmers perception of climate change in Ghana. Faculty of Social Studies Colloquium, University of Ghana. December 2010.
  28. Yaro J. A., 2009. Vulnerability to climate change in Ghana. EPA workshop on climate change adaptation. NODA Hotel, Kumasi, October 2009.
  29. Yaro J. A., 2008. Migration in West Africa: Patterns, Issues and Challenges. Lecture presented at the Regional High Level Seminar on Home Remittances for economic development. Organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM). April 21-24, 2008. Lagos, Nigeria.
  30. Yaro J. A., 2008. International Initiatives in Migration. Lecture presented at the Regional High Level Seminar on Home Remittances for economic development. Organised by the West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management (WAIFEM). April 21-24, 2008. Lagos, Nigeria.
  31. Yaro J. A., 2007. Evolution of customary land tenure systems and sustainable livelihoods in northern Ghana. Paper presented with Zachariah Ibn Abraham in Conference on Land Tenure and Land Policy Research Project. La Palm Beach Hotel, Accra, on the 27th and 28th September 2007. Organized by Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon.
  32. Yaro J. A., 2006. The contours of rural poverty in Northern Ghana: Implications for food and nutritional security. NUFU Seminar on ‘Emerging geographies of poverty in Ghana’. At the conference room, School of Research and Graduate Studies, University of Ghana, Legon, on 13th December 2006.
  33. Yaro J. A., 2002. Peasant-Environment Relations: A ‘People in Places Paradigm’. Paper presented at seminar on ‘Politicisation of Nature: New formulations of culture/nature research’ at the Department of Geography, University of Joensuu. 20-23 May 2002.  Organised by the Finnish Graduate Schools of Geography and Environmental Social Sciences
  34. Yaro J. A., 2002. Policy ramifications of international financial institutions on peasants in Ghana. Paper presented at seminar on The Third World in the Global Governance System. Organised by The Danish Ph.D. Network on Development and International Relations, University of Aalborg, Denmark. 24-27 February 2002.
  35. Yaro J. A., 1999. Poverty and Land Degradation: A Theoretical Perspective. Conference presentation: 12th to 14th June 1999. Organised by the Scandinavian Association of Development Geographers. Vaasa, Finland.