Engendering the blue economy : offshore oil extraction and the livelihoods of women in Ghana

Ghana joined the league of oil and gas producing countries in 2007 when oil was discovered in the Gulf of Guinea. Through the years, however, concerns have emerged over the impacts of oil and gas activities on coastal livelihoods, especially since the benefits of extraction do not seem to trickle down to these communities. This thesis employs the Feminist Political Economy framework to examine the gendered disparities embedded in relations between offshore oil extraction and livelihoods of women in Ghana. Through an exploratory approach and a mixed methods design, I reveal how the intersection of culture, geography, politics, race and class foster the dispossession of coastal women. Among other findings, this thesis reveals that fishing is still the main source of livelihoods, and a culturally import source of food for the Western Region. It also shows that the advent of oil in the region has not improved but worsened women's livelihoods.