I am a human geographer mainly working in Ghana and other African countries. My research always involves fieldwork where socio-economic processes in local communities are viewed in context of processes on national and global scales. Research interests include gender, entrepreneurship, innovation, informal economies, market trade, food and nutrition security, small-scale fisheries, land tenure, petroleum industry, ICT development, migration, globalisation and political ecology.

Current research projects:

• 2021-2026: SAMAKI https://www.uib.no/en/news/153489/overlooked-role-small-fish-fight-malnutrition
• 2018-2022: Small Fish and Food security (SmallFishFood): Towards innovative integration of fish in African food systems to improve nutrition https://smallfishfood.org/ The SmallFishFood project is funded by LEAP-Agri (Long term EU Africa research and innovation Partnership on food and nutrition security and sustainable Agriculture, Horizon 2020) and is led by Jeppe Kolding, Department of Biological Sciences, UiB. Together, biologists, nutritionists, anthropologists and geographers investigate the contribution of small fish species such as anchovies and sardines to the food and nutrition security of low-income groups in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. My research focuses on the processing and marketing links of the fish value chain.
  • Project news:
    • Supporting small fish to fight food insecurity https://www.uib.no/en/matnat/117453/supporting-small-fish-fight-food-insecurity
    • Utilising small fish for global food security https://www.uib.no/en/geografi/103289/utilising-small-fish-global-food-security
• 2018-2023: Enclaving: Patterns of global futures in three African cities. This Research Council of Norway (FRIHUMSAM) funded project is led by Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, Department of Social Anthropology, UiB, and investigates urbanisation and multiple inequalities in three African cities: Johannesburg, Maputo and Accra. My research focuses on gender and socio-economic dynamics of households in a newly constructed high-cost residental area in the capital city of Ghana, Accra.
  • Project webpage: https://www.uib.no/en/urbanenclavingfutures
• 2019-2022: Mapping marine resource conflicts across sub-Saharan Africa: patterns, drivers and solutions for coastal communities (MARICA). Project leader. Elizabeth Selig, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA). Funding: NORGLOBAL, The Research Council of Norway.

Development; globalisation; gender; natural resource governance; agriculture; fisheries; food security; political ecology; migration; the power of maps; qualitative methodology; research ethics; theory of science.

 

Academic article

• Atter, Amy; Ofori, Hayford; Akonor, Paa T. et al. (2024). Enriched local convenience foods with two different small pelagic fish species increases the nutritional value without compromising taste. (external link)
• Rouille, Mailys Louise Marie; Overå, Ragnhild; Atter, Amy (2024). When borders close: Social networks, resilience and food security among informal cross-border fish traders on the Ghana-Togo border. (external link)
• Yekple, Edwige Enam Yawa; Overå, Ragnhild; Hidle, Knut Bjarne (2024). Living together but gates apart: aspirations and place caring practices among residents living outside a gated community in Peri-urban Accra.. (external link)
• Agyei-Mensah, Yaw Opoku; Annan, Theophilus; Overå, Ragnhild et al. (2023). The processing, preparation, and cooking practices of small fish among poor Ghanaian households: An exploratory qualitative study. (external link)
• Awoonor Williams, Kelvin; Overå, Ragnhild (2022). Contextualities of gender in Eritrean immigrant households: Exploring empowerment through integration in Norwegian society. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Atter, Amy; Amponsah, Samuel et al. (2022). Market women’s skills, constraints, and agency in supplying affordable, safe, and high-quality fish in Ghana. (external link)
• Akonor, Paa T.; Atter, Amy; Owusu, Margaret et al. (2021). Anchovy powder enrichment in brown rice-based instant cereal: a process optimization study using Response Surface Methodology (RSM). (external link)
• Denchie, Ernestina Ohenewaah; Ablo, Austin Dziwornu; Overå, Ragnhild (2020). Land governance and access dynamics in Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana . (external link)
• Adjei, Moses; Overå, Ragnhild (2019). Opposing discourses on the offshore coexistence of the petroleum industry and small-scale fisheries in Ghana. (external link)
• Svarstad, Hanne; Benjaminsen, Tor A; Overå, Ragnhild (2018). Power theories in political ecology. (external link)
• Badwi, Rosina; Ablo, Austin Dziwornu; Overå, Ragnhild (2018). The importance and limitations of social networks and social identities for labour market integration: The case of Ghanaian immigrants in Bergen. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2017). Local navigations in a global industry: the gendered nature of entrepreneurship in Ghana’s oil and gas service sector. (external link)
• Boamah, Festus; Overå, Ragnhild (2016). Rethinking Livelihood Impacts of Biofuel Land Deals in Ghana. (external link)
• Rusten, Grete; Overå, Ragnhild (2014). Local and global geographies of innovation: Structures, processes, and geographical contexts from a firm perspective. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Modernisation narratives and small-scale fisheries in Ghana and Zambia. (external link)
• Maddox, Bryan; Overå, Ragnhild (2009). New Technologies, New Demands and New Literacies: The Changing Literacy Practices of Fishing Communities in Bangladesh and Ghana. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2007). When men do women's work: structural adjustment, unemployment and changing gender relations in the informal economy of Accra, Ghana. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2006). Networks, Distance and Trust: Telecommunications Development and Changing Trading Practices in Ghana. (external link)

Academic lecture

• Pille-Schneider, Louis-Emmanuel; Overå, Ragnhild; Sundnes, Frode (2022). In the same storm but not in the same boat. Fisheries management, scalar politics, and blue (in)justice within and beyond the Joal-Fadiouth marine protected areas, Senegal. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2022). Life in the urban enclave: Aspirations, detachment, and differentiated outcomes of living in a private city. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2022). Privat byutvikling og urbane enklaver i Afrika . (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2020). Living the dream in a cool Place: Gender and spatial relations among enclave pioneers in Accra. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Motivations, challenges and performances of local entrepreneurship in the emergent oil city Takoradi, Ghana. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Modernization narratives and the sustainability of small-scale fisheries in Ghana and Zambia. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Local entrepreneurship in the context of the emerging oil and gas industry in Takoradi, Ghana. (external link)

Academic literature review

• Ahern, Molly B.; Thilsted, Shakuntala Haraksingh; Kjellevold, Marian et al. (2021). Locally-procured fish is essential in school feeding programmes in sub-Saharan Africa. (external link)
• Hasselberg, Astrid Elise; Aakre, Inger; Scholtens, Joeri et al. (2020). Fish for food and nutrition security in Ghana: Challenges and opportunities. (external link)
• Ablo, Austin Dziwornu; Overå, Ragnhild (2015). Networks, trust and capital mobilisation: Challenges of embedded local entrepreneurial strategies in Ghana's oil and gas industry. (external link)

Masters thesis

• Alstad, Anna Dybwad; Overå, Ragnhild (2018). The Gendering of a Farming System. A study of the relationship between gender and agricultural production in Ghana.. (external link)
• Adjei, Moses; Overå, Ragnhild (2017). GOVERNING THE OCEAN SPACE FOR THE COEXISTENCE OF FISHERY AND PETROLEUM INDUSTRY IN GHANA’S WESTERN REGION.. (external link)
• Nes, Petter Inge; Overå, Ragnhild (2017). Mobile Phones and Innovations. An Empirical Description of Farmers´ Utilizations of the Mobile Phone in Upper East Region, Ghana.. (external link)
• Denchie, Ernestina Ohenewaah; Overå, Ragnhild (2016). LAND GOVERNANCE AND COMPETITION FOR SPACE IN GHANA’S EMERGING OIL CITY, SEKONDI-TAKORADI.. (external link)
• Badwi, Rosina; Overå, Ragnhild (2016). INTEGRATION OF GHANAIAN IMMIGRANTS IN BERGEN’S LABOUR MARKET.. (external link)
• Dowokpor, Victoria; Overå, Ragnhild (2015). Impacts of the oil and gas industry on the livelihoods of men and women working in the firsheries: A study of Shama, Ghana.. (external link)
• Amiteye, Joanna; Overå, Ragnhild (2015). The Proposed Re-development of the Takoradi Market Circle and its likely Implications for Market Traders’ Access to Trading Space.. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Reddy, Dashakti (2014). Managing sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) in Liberia: Exploring the syncretisation of Western and traditional approaches.. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Kofi Asamoah, Vincent (2014). Ghana’s Emerging Oil and Gas Industry: Livelihood Impacts of the Ghana Gas processing Plant at Atuabo in Western Region, Ghana.. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Fagerlid Oduro, Beth Cathrine (2014). Irregular and Incomplete Primary School Attendance in Rural Ghana. A case-study of late enrolment and early drop-out in the Eastern Region.. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; N. Darko, Akua (2014). Health advocacy and practice: Exploring the influence of social structures in the health related lifestyles of adults in the Asokwa community in Kumasi, Ghana.. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Joanna Trier, Nicola (2014). The Role of Norad’s Oil for Development Programme in Environmental Management in Ghana.. (external link)
• Ayirewuje, Dickson; Overå, Ragnhild (2013). Housing in the era of black gold: A study of access to housing in the Sekondi-Takoradi metropolis, Ghana. (external link)
• Ablo, Austin Dziwornu; Overå, Ragnhild (2012). MANNING THE RIGS: A STUDY OF OFFSHORE EMPLOYMENT IN GHANA’S OIL INDUSTRY. (external link)
• Diana, Owusua; Overå, Ragnhild (2012). Gender and Informality in the Construction Industry in Ghana’s Oil City Takoradi. (external link)
• Razak, Abu; Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Processes and Effects of Land Sales on Local Livelihoods in Communities located near the Oil Industry in the Western Region of Ghana. (external link)
• Zaami, Marama; Overå, Ragnhild (2010). GENDERED STRATEGIES AMONG MIGRANTS FROM NORTHERN GHANA IN ACCRA: A CASE STUDY OF MADINA. (external link)
• Lindblom, Henrik Ødegård; Overå, Ragnhild (2010). Tilgang til vann gjennom det uformelle vannforsyningssystemet i Luanda, Angola. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild; Boamah, Festus (2010). Competition between biofuel and food? The case of a jatropha biodiesel project and its effects on food security in the affected communities in Northern Ghana. (external link)
• Dylewska, Agnieszka Barbara; Overå, Ragnhild (2009). The Impact of Tourism on Socio-Economic Development in Busua in the Western Region og Ghana. (external link)
• Owusu, Patrick Kuranchie; Overå, Ragnhild (2009). RESOURCE MANGAGEMENT IN THE ANLOEWE MIGRANT FISHING COMMUNITY ABAKAM IN THE CENTRAL REGION, GHANA. (external link)
• Freduah, George; Overå, Ragnhild (2008). Poverty mitigation and Wealth creation through artisanal fisheries in Dzemeni area at Volta Lake, Ghana. (external link)
• Ansah-Koi, Naa Ansaa; Overå, Ragnhild (2008). IBI TSE YIE ( SOME PEOPLE ARE BETTER OFF):RE-DISTRIBUTION MECHANISMS IN THE COASTAL TOWN MOREE, GHANA. (external link)
• Brayie Agyemang, Emmanuel; Overå, Ragnhild (2008). MIGRATION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES FOR RURAL LIVELIHOODS: A CASE STUDY OF KWAMANG IN ASHANTI. (external link)
• Musoke Semakula, Henry; Overå, Ragnhild (2008). Consequences of the reduction in the water levels of Lake Victoria on poor people’s livelihood in Rwanjaba lakeshore community, Uganda. (external link)
• Knatterud Wold, Lisa; Overå, Ragnhild (2007). Gender relations and household livelihood security in Lake Kariba fishing communities, Zambia. (external link)
• Dæhlen, Marte; Overå, Ragnhild (2007). Fattige fiskere: Fanget eller frigjort av eget fiskegarn? En studie av fiskeribistand og fattigdomsforebygging i Kasafal -India. (external link)

Doctoral dissertation

• Cabrera, Astrid Maria; Overå, Ragnhild (2017). Matsikkerhet i Aasiaat, Grønland. En studie av interaksjoner mellom matpreferanser, klimaendringer og globaliseringsprosesser.. (external link)
• Ablo, Austin Dziwornu; Overå, Ragnhild (2016). From local content to local participation? Exploring entrepreneurship in Ghana’s oil and gas industry. (external link)
• Boamah, Festus; Overå, Ragnhild (2015). Biofuels and land politics:Connecting the disconnects in the debate about livelihood impacts ofjatropha biofuel land deals in Ghana. (external link)

Editorial

• Benjaminsen, Tor A; Overå, Ragnhild (2011). Introduction to special issue : environmental governance in the South - discourses/science/policies. (external link)

Academic chapter/article/Conference paper

• Overå, Ragnhild (2008). Mobile Traders and Mobile Phones in Ghana. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (2005). When Sisters Become Competitors: Coastal Women's Innovative Utilization of Trawler By-Catch in Ghana. (external link)

Report

• Overå, Ragnhild (2005). 'Money has no name': unemployment, informalisation and gender in Accra, Ghana. (external link)
• Overå, Ragnhild (1995). Interpretation of other life worlds: An essay on the construction of gendered world versions. Paper in scientific theory for the Dr.polit. degree, The Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Bergen. (external link)

See a complete overview of publications in Cristin.

Gender

Entrepreneurship

Small-scale African fisheries      

Natural resource management                    

Agricultural markets

Informal economies

Main fieldworks: Ghana and Zambia