A Photography Journal of Emerging Challenges

Agbogbloshie, Ghana: Men are burning cables in the open to recover the copper materials inside. It had rained heavily, and the man in the black shirt is keeping himself warm as he waits for his copper wires. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

Hazardous child labour: A 12 years old boy carries a cathode-ray tube-based TV on the head. He used a hammer to break it apart for the iron materials inside. An estimated 152 children worldwide between 5 and 17 years are in child labour. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

A 'burner boy' holding freshly recovered copper wires and smoking a cigarette at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. Agbogbloshie 'burner boys' use styrofoam packaging and scrap tires as fuel to burn insulated copper wires in the open to reclaim the copper materials inside. This is a major source of air pollution Accra, Ghana's capital city. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

Sad Man Thinking Photo: Urban poor man thinking in Accra, Ghana. Many young Africans, who have no education, flee hunger and poverty in rural areas to live in urban slums, where their situations are further worsened by lack of basic sanitation, housing, and other essential services. Over 40% of the youth between 15 – 35 in Ghana have no education. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Child Poverty: Smiling Kwadwo Michael is a 7 years old urban poor who lives on the fringes of Agbogbloshie, Ghana. He uses his bare hands and stones to break apart e-waste for the precious metals inside, exposing himself to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium, and arsenic. Worldwide, 73 million children between 5 and 17 years are in hazardous child labour, according to the ILO. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Child labour image: A 15-year-old boy engaged in hazardous child labour is using his bare hands to dig into a mixture of dirt and small metals, including rusty nails. He is sifting dirt from the metals before selling them at $0.15 per kilo at Agbogbloshie, Ghana. An estimated 73 million children worldwide aged 5-17 works are in dangerous working conditions, according to ILO statistics. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Urban Poverty: Poor Woman Crying Photo in Accra, Ghana. Around 55% of women in Ghana are in informal employment in urban areas. More than 46% of women in Ghana did not attend school because their families did not allow schooling, according to a 2016 report by the Ghana Statistical Services. © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Fish smoking in Ghana: A woman uses metal drum kilns to smoke tuna fish in Accra, Ghana. Using traditional kilns to smoke fish exposes fish smokers to substances such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), fine particles, and carbon monoxide. PAHs are known carcinogens and have been linked to skin, lung, and several other cancers. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

African man working and smoking photo. Thousands of young people with no education flee rural hunger and poverty to cities in search of economic opportunities every year in Ghana. Many end up in urban slums, where they lack basic sanitation and other essential services such as safe water and healthcare. Over 40% of people between 15 – 35 in Ghana have no education, according to a Ghana Statistical Services report. © 2019 Muntaka Chasant

Climate change in Africa: Little of the greenhouse gas emissions altering our natural environment comes from Africa. But the continent and other developing regions remain the most vulnerable. Ocean warming is shifting marine species distribution, threatening livelihoods, and food security among poor and vulnerable populations in countries such as Ghana. Copyright © 2020 Muntaka Chasant

Finding Aluminium

Coming Soon: The Cocoa Farmers

Ongoing: Wetlands and People

Ongoing Project: Geographies of Waste

Ongoing: Geographies of Waste

Ongoing Project: Centering the Experiences of Urban Poor Women

Ongoing Project: Snakebite Envenoming: A Hidden Health Crisis

Ongoing Project: Snakebite Survivors

Ongoing: Snakebite Survivors

Ongoing Project: Hazardous Child Labour

Ongoing Project: Women on the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis

Ongoing Project: A Boxing Ethnography

Ongoing: A Boxing Ethnography

Coming Soon: Changing Landscapes/Biodiversity Loss

Ongoing: Wetlands and People

Ongoing: A Boxing Ethnography

Ongoing Project: Spatial Injustice

Ongoing: Spatial Injustice

Coming Soon: The Environmental Cost of “Fast Fashion”

Dandora, Kenya

Ongoing Project: Biodiversity Loss (Mangrove Degradation)

Ongoing: A Boxing Ethnography

Ongoing Project: Wildlife and Changing Habitats

Street Photography: Tokyo, Japan

Ongoing Project: Hazardous Child Labour

Ongoing: Hazardous Child Labour

Hazardous Child Labour

Ongoing Project: Climate Change and Fisheries

Ongoing: Wetlands and People

Coming Soon: Changing Landscapes

Ongoing: Wetlands and People

Ongoing: Risky Livelihoods

Wildlife and Changing Habitats

Coming Soon: Changing Landscapes/Biodiversity Loss

Ongoing: Centering the Experiences of Urban Poor Women

SELECTED INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

People

Rain and Fire

Coming mainly from areas with low literacy rates, thousands of young people — more than 50% of Ghana’s population is under the age of 25 — migrate from rural to urban areas in search of economic opportunities every year. But the unemployment rate in Ghana is higher in urban (13% in 2015) than in rural […]

Muntaka Chasant

Photo Essays From

On the Banks of the Korle Lagoon, Where Memories and Dreams Come Together

Muntaka Chasant

‘I’d Never Come if I knew Life in Accra was Going to be this Tough’

Muntaka Chasant

Centering the Experiences of Urban Poor Women.

Muntaka Chasant

Rain and Fire

Muntaka Chasant

Child Labour in Photos: Electronic Waste

Muntaka Chasant

Tear Sheets

The Guardian

Het Financieele Dagblad

The Guardian

Food & Agribusiness

Het Financieele Dagblad

The Guardian

US Department of Labor

The Africa Report

The Guardian

Figyelő

The Sunday Post

BBC

The Economist

New Scientist

The Guardian

Disegno Journal

Le Grand Continent

The Sun

Le Figaro Magazine

Yale Climate Connections

La Vie

The Times

Valeurs Actuelles

The Guardian

The Africa Report

The Guardian

Business AM

The Guardian

The Mirror

Jeune Afrique

iFeng

The Guardian

The Irish Sun

People’s Daily

Belin Éducation

Business AM

France Info

L’Opinion

Jauns

Newsmonkey

The Sun

People’s Daily

Le 1

Svet24

Là-bas si j’y suis

Elle

Jeune Afrique

France Info

Utdanningsnytt

The Guardian

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STORIES

Agbogbloshie Urban poverty

Agbogbloshie Demolition: The End of An Era or An Injustice?

Emerging consequences of the Agbogbloshie demolition, betrayals, recounts of events, and a glimpse of everyday struggles in Accra and how urban marginality is experienced. Beyond the role of the State in dispossessing Accra’s urban poor, the Agbogbloshie demolition should be viewed within the context of socio-spatial entanglements.

Muntaka Chasant

Wetlands and People in Distress

The tropics are in trouble. The current trend in biodiversity loss in the tropics is shaping local livelihoods.

Muntaka Chasant

Tropical Wetlands: The Life of Simon Nwi

Tropical wetlands — long seen as the reservoirs of much of the world’s biodiversity — are dangerously in decline. Anthropogenic medications and climate variability have resulted in the loss of key ecosystem services and functions. This is a quick peek into the tropical life of a rural fisherman who relies on tropical wetlands as a source of job.

Muntaka Chasant

Visit Nzulezo (Nzulenzu) — But Read This

The cultural commodification of Nzulezo (Nzulenzu) challenges their traditional identity. This cultural voyeurism fuels tensions between the stilt village, the nearby Beyin town, the local traditional council, and government agencies, who all want a share of your tourist dollars.

Muntaka Chasant

Wake Me Up When the 21st Century Ends

WARNING: This post contains very graphic images.

Muntaka Chasant

Fisheries and Mangroves in Ghana: Atidza and the Densu Delta Ecosystems

Tidal river fishermen have degraded the mangrove forest cover around the Densu Delta — a Ramsar-designated wetland — for traditional fish traps. Only around 16 red mangrove trees (Rhizophora species) are left standing, having all been cut down for the traps, fuelwood, and timber. But mangrove biomass is critical for fish assemblages, which the fishers depend on. This habitat degradation has led to a loss of biodiversity in the area — leading to a decline in fish stocks in the Densu intertidal zone. The video below explores this problem.

Muntaka Chasant