Aid to a village community

Ghana has a huge problem when it comes to food--the country produces a lot but much of it goes to waste since there is very little processing. 

There are government grants available for village communities meant to eliminate inefficiencies in the production, storing and/or marketing of foodstuff. The process for obtaining such a grant is relatively simple: the village elder (the spokesman) and the community queenmother agree to apply to the agricultural department of the government. This request is then forwarded to agricultural specialists and researchers who will visit the village several times to determine whether the money would be spent wisely. Cass, Jeff's partner, happens to be one of two of the Sunyani Polytechnic researchers (a natural resource and agricultural specialist)  and he gave us the rare opportunity to accompany them to a village near Dobro, about 40 km east from Cote d'Ivoire northwest of Sunyani and observe how  they go about evaluating the villagers.

The two Polytechnic researchers

Upon our arrival we were welcomed into the home of one of the farmers (see photo to the left). The home was a cottage around which  new walls were built to hold several new rooms--a kind of remodeling Ghana-country style, also a new roof. Make no mistake, it all was very simple but a huge difference from the cottage it once was.  

The floor was sort of concreted over but the unevenness of the soil underneath showed; there was no furniture except for a long narrow bench. All farmers came with plastic chair in hand, 10 farmers in all and the queenmother.

All of us minus the photographer Jeff

Queenmother and Cass

We were part of the initial formalities, sat in a circle and everyone introduced themselves in Twi ( our partners served as interpreters). None of the farmers spoke English.

After the introductions, the farmers were put into two groups and interviewed while we three visitors decided to have a closer look at the village. The villagers engaged primarily in growing cashew and corn--good cash crops for the region. 

The village is electrified and is clearly in better shape than any of the other villages we had seen. We saw evidence of new, larger house construction with modern sheet metal roofs and relatively primitive outhouses were replaced by well constructed outhouses.  

Close-up of old outhouse

New outhouse

The drainage ditches were natural and could have used some work.










The two wells that we saw in front of several cottages had actually faucets indicating that an electric pump was installed. 

As we walked in the incredible heat along the main road of the village, We saw a water tower but heard it wasn't working.  

Main road--the only object of color is the mosque.

The Mosque in the center of the village
 shows that the villagers are predominantly Muslim.

Even though we are still in the same region as the town of Sunyani is, this village is predominantly Muslim. It is interesting to note that I was told that many of the villagers came from the north and settled here because of the fertile soils bringing their cultures and Muslim faith with them. It is believed that the queenmother is an indigenous person, which basically means that she and her family do not come from the north but from this area but they adopted the faith at some point.

There were several small shops in the village, one sporting a large freezer. 

There was also a tiny market where some fresh wares were offered-- so clearly some subsistence farmers are able to make an income  this way.

There were places outside where people cooked but I got the impression that people used gas for cooking as well.

After the interviewing was finished we were all invited to eat -- rice  because white people tend to not eat fufu (ha!)--and chicken; they probably killed a chicken for us. All of us quietly left most of the chicken in the pots so the villagers could eat it.

Handwashing ritual before eating. Actually we were given spoons so that we didn't have to eat with the hands.

Saying goodbye to the lady of the house (left) and the queenmother.

Cass and his colleague will now identify problems in food growing, harvesting, storing and marketing and suggest ways on how to eliminate these inefficiencies. Both feel confident that this village will receive its aid; a sum of $ 50,000 which will most likely pay for some machinery and needed silos.

Ethnicities and Political Structure

Politically Ghana is subdivided into the following regions with each region having an identified center.  We lived in Sunyani within the dark green Brong-Ahafo region, and usually ventured out from there towards the northwest and northeast.

This relatively simple regional division of the country becomes much more complex if traditional chieftancies are taken into account.  Chieftancies are determined by ethnic groups and within these groups there are subdivisions as well.

Ethnic Composition Ghana
Source: The Akans of Ghana, 2004

The largest of these groups is that of the Akan (see map below) which exhibit linguistically and culturally homogeneity; they are subdivided into 14 different groups, two more groups reside in Cote D'Ivoire and another three groups are considered half Akan. They are comprised of roughly 50% of Ghana's population and take up about 2/3rds of the land.
T


The language of the Akan is Twi, a language almost used as a lingua franca throughout Ghana. The language is broadly divided into Twi and Fante with many mutually intelligible dialects. For more information on the language click here .


The Akans
Every Akan belongs to a clan, always that of his/ her mother (matrilineal). Clan members are  brethren and cannot intermarry. They inherit spirituality from their fathers which ultimately determines their general character.


Each Akan group and also the other tribal groups are governed by a paramount chief symbolized by a black stool. 
He serves as chief justice and is advised by a group of elders. The position of the paramount chief is supported primarily by his ability to attract development to the particular region, thus has close ties to the ruling government. There are sub-divisional chiefs as well some of who will serve as counsel to the paramount chief.  Kwame is such a counsel in his tribe. The voice for women is represented by the 'queenmother', also elected by the elders, and is not necessarily the wife or mother of the chief. She has the responsibility to determine a new chief in case of his destoolment or death. 

Of the Akans probably the most known is the subgroup of Ashantes or Asantis; the link will give you a quick historic overview.

Entrance to the palace museum.
The new residence (palace) of the present king (chief) is next door.

There is a house of chiefs when all chiefs come together to communicate and there is a National House of Chiefs which plays an important role in the ruling of the country. More on the topic can be found at chieftaincy.

Ecotourism - Elephants

Mole park was established in 1957; became a National Park in 1971. People living around the immediate environment outside the park are extremely poor, live in abject poverty so their tendency to want to poach and collect firewood is more than understandable as they have to survive somehow.

Poor living conditions, firewood in the background.
Electrification present!

Creating ecotourism around this national park was a smart idea as it keeps poaching and encroachment of people using the environment for grazing ( goats!) and firewood collecting in check. In theory, at least. Guards and other employees will have a vested interest in preserving the savanna while employing some people for all kinds of jobs. I was told by a Flemish (ok, Belgian) lady that there are several projects underway to finance such small enterprises; most financed by micro- financing from abroad (EU--Others?). This woman showed me a brochure showcasing a guesthouse with four rooms-- really pretty to look at, relatively high standard--an enterprise ('project' as they are called here) which is supervised and financed via micro-loans by the Netherlands. 

There was a stark contrast between the living conditions of the commoners (see photo above) and the lodge. The lodge sported a swimming pool (!! ) in an area where water is at premium and a beautiful veranda and other areas to roam about. The guest rooms were simple but adequate. The food was astounding. 

We arrived just as the sun was setting but missed photographing that event because the sun went down so fast, a matter of 5 minutes.

So, we sank into bed relatively early and were awakened by one of those incredible torrential storms. Our roof made of corrugated metal made  a very loud noise which was here and there accentuated by roaring thunder. It lasted ca. 30 minutes and I was wondering whether one could even drive in the savanna after such a rain event. I shouldn't have worried--the only evidence of that rain was a wet bush and a smallish puddle or two.

So, the next day we set out and did a Safari-type 3-hr drive around the savanna prior to eating breakfast. We had came to the park to see animals and that we did. We saw whole wild hog families, deer and antilope-- the latter kept  a healthy distance. 

Deer

Antilope

We were able to glance at several monkey species occupying various niches of the savanna, baboons, red monkey and some other species. And then we saw the most exciting thing of all - the animal we had hoped to see but, of course, were not guaranteed to see--elephant. Two elephants simply crossed the road as we were standing there--astonishing. These two were trailed by a flock of white cattle egrets since these guys form a symbiotic relationship with elephants, cattle, buffalo and other large animals that get bothered by bugs. One of the egrets to the lower right of the photo.

At the watering hole we saw an entire family (or clan) of eight, of which three young ones were frolicking in the water. Notice the flock of cattle egret in the tree; they were waiting for their companions bathing time to be over.

Ecotourism

Another income generator for Ghana is ecotourism, tourism that attempts to keep the money spent within the local population so that this particular local population becomes invested in the natural environment around them and stop poaching and deforestation. Here is a good site explaining Ghanas community-based ecotourism. Some of the most impressive national parks are located in the north as well as the east of the country near Lake Volta. One of our partners, Cass, is specialized in natural resources / agriculture which was quite helpful in answering our many question. In addition, he actually spent three years at Mole National Park as a park ranger.









On our way from Sunyani to Mole National Park we also stopped at the  Baobeng Fiema Monkey Sanctuary. The sanctuary was created to protect the monkey population around the villages Baobeng and Fiema. The inhabitants of the villages regard the Mona monkey as sacred, as part of their ancestors' souls and this is the reason that the significant monkey populations have survived here in contrast to most other parts of Ghana. 

The natural environment of this particular sanctuary -- a relatively small, dry rainforest -- does not allow for the growth of bananas but locals have been selling bananas to tourists--so the monkeys are well adapted to the peeling of bananas; very skilled.

Of course we bought bananas and of course we fed those little cute creatures who appear well fed and not afraid of humans at all--they do keep a short distance so won't jump on people but they do jump on the cars.

Mona monkey on our van !!

Kwame feeding Mona monkey!

Mona Monkey with baby
--also hungry but ended up not getting anything because she was shyer.

The story goes that these monkeys are the spirits of deceased people and for this reason they are not only protected from the inevitable soup they would normally end up in but also be given a grave if a dead one is found.

Quite clearly the monkey sanctuary has been conceived as an ecotourist destination--the village was immaculate, there was a local guide and there was an opportunity to buy touristy stuff from local artists. The village sported well kept huts and small houses and it was incredibly clean-no trash. This is also the village where our exchange partner Emanuel comes from.

When entering the village where the sanctuary is located one can see that the village is well kept, it is clean and people are well organized. Even the deep gutters on both sides to the main dirt road--necessary to catch the water from those torrential rainfalls--were clean. 
From there we went to Kintampo waterfalls:

Some geologic facts: The Volta Basin is one of the supracrustal basins of the West-African craton. It is moderately folded in its eastern margin and partially involved in the Panafrican Dahomeyide orogenic belt (basically metamorphic rock).

Rocks belonging to this formation are mainly sedimentary and exhibit horizontal alignments.  Sand stone, shale, mudstone and limestone are the principal examples of these rocks.  The Voltain formation was created soon after the Precambrian era when sagging of land occurred resulting in scarp slopes (hence waterfall possibilities) due to different levels of sagging.

The area has been named the 'District of Waterfalls', here the Pumpum river falls 70m down some beautiful rocky steps to form the Kintampo waterfalls, the water of which continues its journey towards the Black Volta at Buipe and the Fuller Falls 7 km west of Kintampo.

Kwame at the waterfalls

Ghana's North and Poverty

In order to combat poverty there needs to be opportunity to somehow get out of the vicious cycle. My example with Kwame shows that it is indeed possible to use education as a means to lift yourself out of these situation but most likely this opportunity is only available to those students who are both: bright and willing to study hard. This might work for individuals, i.e. on a small scale, but what about larger scale changes?

On the map to the left you see the relative income distribution for the country with the region around Accra leading as the greatest income generator and with much of the northern portion of the country, roughly one-third of the country, being in abject poverty.

There is a difference between poverty and poverty. The northern area is the driest part of the country, with a dry season that can last up to eight months of the year. The natural vegetation in this dry zone is grassland and savanna woodland. The soils are not very fertile so not much can be used as an income generator.

As a result, there is not much that people in the rural regions can do to somehow feed the family. You can build cheap houses with thatched roofs which won't cost anything. If you have electricity you can have light at night but if you don't have money there is not a whole lot you can buy to use that electricity. The photo to the left shows one such desolate place of the north; it is electrified but not much has been done with it. In these dry places the wells for the necessary water might be far away and before and after school it might be the task for the children to fetch it taking away from time to do homework.

Contrast this with the village where Kwame grew up--no electricity but a well in the middle of the village plus fertile land around--here people might have a chance especially should electricity ever come.




So, what are the options for the people in Ghana's north? Young people will migrate to the south where there are better living conditions; often those are the people one sees on the streets in Accra selling their wares on their heads to the car drivers. Or, people might just migrate to areas with better soils and continue in agriculture. Since the people in the north used to be more nomadic before the savanna dried up and/ or became
deforested, they would move down south in search for better living conditions. Here then they would meet the indigenous population, i.e. those people that have lived in the region for a long time. A third option would be to stay put and put energy into something that would guarantee some income.

There are several ways in making an income, all very meager incomes at that. One option would be that of charcoal making. Branches and trunks of smaller trees are collected and then slightly burned in a large hole and mixed with soil. The result is charcoal which can be sold further south.

Thus one can find along the roads loads and loads of those big white bags containing charcoal which will be sold and then transported south where people will pay good prices for its use. 

Car loaded with charcoal

In the past, the Ghanaian government had made cooking gas available at cheap prices but prices increased and the poor were simply not able to buy it anymore. Charcoal is much cheaper! 

Of course, the cheapest alternative is collecting the wood and using it in your yard. Unfortunately this is what many people in the north do--thus contributing to the fragility of an already very fragile area--desertification, the making of deserts.






Another option to make a living in the north is the making of shea butter. 
Shea butter trees grow in dry climates just fine and the final product can be used as a fat in cooking or as an ingredient in body lotion. In the photo to the right you see such a tree with Thomas, Emanuel and our driver Kofi looking at it and being our teachers.

Shea butter nut

The final product as one sees it on the market for sale: