Geography and National Development: Historically and in the Contemporary Period.

Abstract

From its formative years in ancient Greece, the discipline of geography has always been relevant to human endeavours to some extent. It had been a handmaid of history and imperialist colonialist expansions out of Europe to the rest of the known world. However, beyond this colonial project and the partitioning of Africa during the Berlin Conference, spatial analysis and spatial science in its applied form have been at the heart of development imperatives. As the saying goes, ‘geographers are not planners, but they are the stuff out of which planners are made’. Social relations and structures ultimately play out in space, while resources are unevenly distributed. The relevance of geography can be exemplified in almost every human endeavour in Ghana. This ranges from the academe to the role of the topical specializations in advancing the course of national development in Ghana. This paper seeks to elaborate on these themes as we strive to advance the course of geography as a science for its own sake and in its applied aspects, given the enormity of Africa's development challenges.