Prof. John Manyimadin Kusimi

Contact info jmkusimi@ug.edu.gh

About

John M. Kusimi is an Associate Professor of Physical Geography in the Department of Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana. He has a multidisciplinary background that straddle between physical geography with focus on geomorphology as well as environmental science and natural resources management. He has conducted research on coastal erosion and flooding, shoreline change, riverine/urban flooding, bank erosion and river sediment transport and the impacts of small-scale mining in Ghana. He has won several international and local grants from institutions and organizations such as the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa, University of Ghana; the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard University; Building Global Partnerships for Global Challenges, University of Bristol; and Office of Research, Innovation and Development, University of Ghana for research and has several peer-reviewed publications to his credit. He is a fellow of the African Center for Advanced Studies, University of Ghana and the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa. Kusimi was a visiting fellow of Canadian Commonwealth to Simon Frazer University, Canada, TRECCAFRICA Staff Mobility Scholar to Institute of Resources Assessment in the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Cambridge studentship to Cambridge University and Linnaeus Palme Scholar to the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He is a member of some editorial boards including Advisory Board Member of the Journal of Earth Surface Processes and Landforms. Kusimi is also a member of several professional bodies; National Scientific Member (Representative of Ghana) of the International Association of Geomorphologists (IAG) and the President of Ghana Association of Geomorphologists (GAG).   I teach the following courses:

Undergraduate 

  • GEOG 483: Tropical Geomorphology                     
  • GEOG 486: Applied Geomorphology
  • GEOG 313: Arid lands
  • GEOG 212: Geomorphological Processes and Landforms
  • GEOD 213: Weather and Climate
  • GEOG 103: Introduction to Mapwork   
  • GEOG 111: Introduction to Physical Geography      

b. Post-graduate 

  • GEOD 627: Geomorphology
  • GEOD 628: Applied Geomorphology

Education

2014: Course in Statistics, University of Reading, Reading, England.

2013: PhD, Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Accra. 

2006: MSc, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. 

2005: MPhil, Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Accra.

2001: BA, Geography and Resource Development, University of Ghana, Accra.

Research Interest

My research has been on the impact of climate change on coastal erosion and flooding (shoreline change, livelihoods, adaptations), water pollution (ground and surface water), fluvial sediment transport, riverbank erosion and morphological analysis and natural hazards and disasters in cities (flooding and mass wasting activities). Others include socio-economic and environmental impacts of mining and land use and land cover change analysis. My current research focuses on the following:

  • Examining the Impact of sea-level rise, urban flooding, and coastal erosion on settlement and livelihoods in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria.
  • Monitoring urban floods hazards in informal settlements in Accra
  • Sustainability in West Africa’s Gold Mining Sector
  • Socio-economic and environmental impacts of riverine and urban floods
  • Mass wasting susceptibility mapping

  • Urban heat and adaptation strategies

    Current Research

  • 2024: Collaborator - Allocating vital things via Internet of Things: real-time rapid needs assessment for disaster relief allocation in Sub-Saharan Africa; Funded by the Dame Julia Higgins Postdoc Collaborative Research Fund, Imperial College - London.
  • 2024: Convenor - Sustainability in West Africa’s Gold Mining Sector; Funded by the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), University of Ghana.
  • 2023 – 2026: Country Lead - Examining the Impact of Sea-Level Rise, Urban Flooding, and Coastal Erosion on Settlement and Livelihoods in Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Nigeria; Funded by the Salata Institute for Climate and Sustainability, Harvard University
  • 2022: Country Lead - Using Photovoice in Artisanal and Small-Scale Goldmining Communities in southern Ghana; Funded by Research England, University of York.
  • 2019: Co-researcher - Managing small-scale mining: Assessing the potential for a more environmentally-sustainable and socially-inclusive small-scale gold mining industry in Ghana; Funded by Global challenges Research Fund, University of York 
  • 2018: Country Lead- Flood hazard management in informal settlements in Ghana; Funded by Building Global Partnerships for Global Challenges, University of Bristol 
  • 2013: Collaborator - Four years project on “The dynamics of a bushmeat hunting system under social, economic and environmental change” in collaboration with colleagues in Imperial College, London; Funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC).2012: Principal Investigator - Sediment yield and bank erosion assessment of Pra River Basin, Funded by ORID, University of Ghana.

Publications

  1. Otoo, D. A., & Kusimi, J.M. (2023). Shoreline change analysis of the coastline of Teshie in Accra, Ghana. Journal of Science and Technology, 41(2), 16 – 29.
  2. Asiedu, E., Kusimi, J. M., Pinto, E. N., Semabiah, C., & Attua, E. M. (2023). Studying Bankline Migration of the Lower Pra Basin using Remote Sensing and GIS. Ghana Journal of Geography, 15(2), 88-109.
  3. Justice, C., & Kusimi, J. M. (2023). Urban Sprawl and Landscape Transition in Awutu Senya East Municipal Assembly. In Urban Commons, Future Smart Cities and Sustainability (pp. 225-247). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  4. Peters, M.K., & Kusimi, J.M. (2023). Changes in wetland and other landscape elements of the Keta Municipal area of Ghana. Journal of Coastal Conservation, 27(1), 1.
  5. Yiran, G. A. B., Atubiga, J. A., Kusimi, J. M., Kwang, C., & Owusu, A. B. (2022). Adaptation to perennial flooding and food insecurity in the Sudan Savannah Agroecological Zone of Ghana. Environmental Research, 214, 114037. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2022.114037
  6. Kusimi, J. M., & Kusimi, B. A. (2021). Hazards of the Densu River Delta in Accra – Ghana. Natural Hazards, 107, 831-852. 
  7. Kusimi, J. M., Kusimi, B. A., & Amisigo, B. A. (2021). Evaluation of sediment yield predicting models of Ghana. Journal of Geographical Research, 04(01), 37-47.
  8. Kusimi, B. A., Donkor, A. K., Ayivor, J. S., Kyeremeh, K., & Kusimi, J. M. (2020).  Lifecycle of pottery processes and production in Mpraeso – Ghana. de arte, 55(3), 70-94. 
  9. Adjei-Mensah, K., & Kusimi, J. M. (2020). Dwindling water supply and its socio-economic impact in Sekyere Kumawu District in Ashanti Region of Ghana: public opinion on the role of climate change. Geojournal, 85,1355-1372.
  10. Asiedu, E., & Kusimi, J. M. (2020). Impacts of flooding and riverbank erosion on the environment and socio-economic activities in the Lower Pra River Basin. Ghana Social Science Journal, 17(2),19-42.
  11. Kusimi, J. M., & Yeboah, E. (2019). Flood hazards at Alajo: Causes, impacts and adaptations. International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, 3(8), 268-278.
  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. 
  13. Kusimi, J. M. (2018). Bank erosion and other channel processes of a tropical forest river basin in Ghana. Ghana Social Science Journal, 15(2), 31-56. 
  14. Dika, J. L., Kusimi, J. M., & Gyekye, K. A. (2018). The coastal environment of Elmina in Ghana - Appraising the causes and effects of coastal pollution. Annals of Geographical Studies, 1(1), 103-113.
  15. Dabie, P. K., Attua, E. M., Kusimi, J. M. (2018).  Urban sprawl, agricultural land use and food security in Shai Osudoku District, Ghana.  Researchjournali’s Journal of Geography, 5(1), 2349-5367.
  16. Kusimi, J. M. (2017). The contribution of bank and surface sediments to fluvial sediment transport of the Pra River. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 25(1), 69-85.
  17. Kusimi, J. M., Yiran, G. A. B., Attua, E. M. (2015). Soil erosion and sediment yield modelling in the Pra River Basin of Ghana using the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). Ghana Journal of Geography, 7(2), 38-57.
  18. Kusimi, J. M. (2015). Characterizing land disturbance in Atewa Range Forest Reserve and buffer zone. Land use Policy, 49, 471-482.
  19. McNamara, J., Kusimi, J. M., Rowcliffe, J. M., Cowlishaw, G., Brenyah, A., & Milner-Gulland, E. J. (2015). Long-term spatio-temporal changes in a West African bushmeat trade system. Conservation Biology, 29(5), 1446-145.
  20. Kusimi, J. M., Amisigo, B. A., & Banoeng-Yakubo, B. K. (2014). Sediment yield of a forest river basin in Ghana. Catena,123, 225-235. 
  21. Kusimi, B. A., Kusimi, J. M., & Yiran, G. B. (2013).Socio-economic and environmental impacts of mining within the catchment of mining companies at Tarkwa. Ghana Social Science Journal, 10(1 & 2), 25-52.
  22. Kusimi, J. M., & Awere-Gyekye, K. (2013). Explanations to the evolution of landscapes in Geomorphology. In G. Owusu., P. W. K. Yankson., S. Agyei-Mensah & E. M. Attua (Eds.), Selected Readings in Geography: Essays in Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the University of Ghana (pp.230-247). Ghana: Woeli Publishing Services. 
  23. Awere-Gyekye, K., Kusimi, J. M., & Yiran, G. A. B. (2013). Geomorphological processes and landforms of the coastal environment. In G. Owusu, P. W. K. Yankson, S. Agyei-Mensah, & E. M. Attua (Eds.), Selected Readings in Geography: Essays in Commemoration of the 65th Anniversary of the University of Ghana (pp.248-264). Woeli Publishing Services: Ghana.
  24. Kusimi, J. M., & Dika, J. L. (2012). Sea erosion at Ada Foah: Assessment of impacts and proposed mitigation measures. Natural Hazards, 64(2), 983-997.
  25. Kusimi, J. M., & Kusimi, B. A. (2012). The hydrochemistry of water resources in selected mining communities in Tarkwa. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 112, 252-261.
  26. Kusimi, J. M., & Appati, J. W. (2012). Bushfires in the Krachi District: The socio-economic and environmental implications. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XXXIX-B8, 39-44. 
  27. Kusimi, J. M., & Yiran, G. B. (2011). Application of local knowledge in land degradation assessment in the Bawku East Municipality. Ghana Journal of Geography, 3, 88-125. 
  28. Yiran, G. B., Kusimi, J. M., & Kufogbe, S. K. (2011). A synthesis of remote sensing and local knowledge approaches in land degradation assessment in Bawku East District, Ghana. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geo-information, 14, 204 – 213. 
  29. Kusimi, J. M. (2008). Analysis of sedimentation rates in the Densu River channel: The result of erosion and anthropogenic activities in the Densu Basin. West African Journal of Applied Ecology, 14, 1-14.
  30. Kusimi, J. M. (2008). Assessing land use and land cover change in the Wassa West District of Ghana using remote sensing. Geojournal, 71, 249-259.
  31. Kusimi, J. M. (2008). Stream processes and dynamics in the morphology of the Densu River channel in Ghana. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences. VXXXVII(Part B8), 1177-1182.
  32. Kusimi, J. M., Fobil, J., Atuguba, R., Erawoc, I., & Oduro, F. (2006). The conflicts in Northern Ghana: A mirror of answers to Sub-Regional stability and security questions. Asteriskos Journal of International and Peace Studies, ½, 209-228.