DOCSLIB.ORG

Ghana: Changing Values/ Changing Technologies

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Ghana: Changing Values/ Changing Technologies CULTURAL HERITAGE AND CONTEMPORARY CHANGE SERIES II, AFRICA, VOLUME 5 GHANA: CHANGING VALUES/ CHANGING TECHNOLOGIES Ghanian Philosophical Studies, II Edited by Helen Lauer The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Copyright © 2000 by The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy Gibbons Hall B-20 620 Michigan Avenue, NE Washington, D.C. 20064 All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Ghana: changing values/changing technology: Ghanaian philosophical studies / edited by Helen Lauer. p.cm. – (Cultural heritage and contemporary change. Series II, Africa; vol. 5) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Technology—Ghana. 2. Technology—Philosophy. I. Lauer, Helen. II. Title: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies, II. III. Title: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies, two. IV. Title: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies, 2. V. Series. T28.G4C37 1999 99-37506 338.966706—dc21 CIP ISBN 1-56518-144-1 (pbk.) TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Preface George F. McLean xiii Introduction Helen Lauer 1 PART I. CULTURE AND CHANGE Chapter I. Culture: the Human Factor in African Development Kofi Anyidoho 19 Chapter II. Modern Technology, Traditional Mysticism and Ethics in Akan Culture George P. Hagan 31 Chapter III. Traditional Ga and Dangme Attitudes towards Change and Modernization Joshua N. Kudadjie 53 PART II. SOCIETY AND CHANGES OF VALUES Chapter IV. Counterproductive Socioeconomic Management in Ghana A.O. Abudu 79 Chapter V. Informalization and Ghanaian Politics Kwame A. Ninsin 113 Chapter VI. Manipulation of the Mass Media in Ghana’s Recent Political Experience Joseph Osei 139 PART III. TECHNOLOGY AND HUMAN CHANGE Chapter VII. Plant Biodiversity, Herbal Medicine, Intellectual Property Rights and Industrially Developing Countries: Socio-economic, Ethical and Legal Implications Ivan Addae-Mensah 165 Chapter VIII. High-technology, Individual Copyrights and Ghanaian Music John Collins 183 Chapter IX. The Impact of New Medical Technology upon Attitudes towards Euthanasia among Akans Kwasi Agyeman 203 Chapter X. Population Growth and Ecological Degradation in Northern Ghana: the Complex Reality Jacob Songsore 211 PART IV. TECHNOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE Chapter XI. Participatory Integrated Pest Management: IPM Training Methodology in Ghana Kwame Afreh-Nuamah 233 Chapter XII. Gold: the Link between Ancient and Modern Ghana William A. Asomaning 255 Chapter XIII. The Effect of the Volta Dam on Sociocultural Changes for the People Living in the Mangrove Economy of the Lower Volta Basin Kwadwo Tutu 269 Chapter XIV. The Nuclear Option for Ghana Josef K.A. Amuzu 281 EPILOGUE Some Thoughts on the Future of Ghanaian Universities J.S. Djangmah 293 Notes on Contributors 303 Index 309 PREFACE George F. McLean Cooperation between peoples is a notoriously difficult affair. This can be seen in the continuing struggles to maintain a wholesome neighborhood with appropriate healthcare and progressive education, even in the homogeneous neighborhoods of wealthy nations. It is reflected even more where these common problems must be faced by communities made up of different ethnic groups as occurs increasingly in the case of economic or political immigrants, for example, the "guest workers" in Western Europe or the African refugees in Southern Europe. This challenge, over long periods of time, can remain potentially explosive and be detonated with ferocious effect, as can be seen in a Kosovo or a Chechyna. Perhaps nowhere is this difficulty of cooperation and collaboration greater than in Africa where it has been complicated by successive waves of slaving both internal and external, colonial empire building, local ideologies, foreign commercial exploitation and manipulation by international financial institutions. The present volume describes this in great detail with regard to Ghana. Where the other volumes in this series have focused in the philosophical issues of social and cultural life, the present volume provides a special addition to them, namely, rendering these issues most concrete in terms of the primary physical resources of the country, the potentiality for cultural change, the efforts of the national government and interaction with external financial institution. The introduction identifies each chapter in detail and draws out some of its salient points. Here I would underline some crucial lessons which emerge from the work as a whole. The first is the importance of the culture of the people. Both by positive and negative examples, the first three chapters lay out the indispensable importance of building upon the culture of the people. This is not merely a pragmatic matter but the sole way to engage the people in any continuing project. It is then a matter not merely of efficiency, but of the very viability of development efforts. But beneath this and more radically it is a matter of working in a humane manner with the people, its proper dignity and its concerns. This is the point of real importance and the reason why any approach which ignores this is not only inefficient, but damaging to the people and hence doomed ultimately to failure. In this light there appears an interesting contrast between the first two chapters. Chapter II, "Modern Technology, Traditional Mysticism and Ethics in Akan Culture," by George Hagan proceeds on the Western rationalist and materialist act of faith that all is in principle physical and if only it could be adequately known all would be able to be stated in physical terms. In this reductionist view the mystical is but mystification and respect for African thought lies in showing how, despite its mode, it is capable of being materialistic with the best of the West, or at least not incompatible therewith. Chapter I, "Culture: the Human Factor in African Development," by Kofi Anyidoho, on the contrary, does not share that compulsion to be like the West, especially in its materialistic reductionisms, but seeks rather to take seriously what the culture of the people affirms. He sees their greatness in not having compromised with the abstractness of technological reason. He lets them say what they mean and, above all, mean what they say. This is not merely a request that a relic from the past be protected and preserved. The chapters show also how these cultural elements not only are not against progress, but provide the social grease which can enable newly imported developments to work. Moreover, as Kwame Gyeke shows in his chapter, "Traditional Political Ideas, Their Relevance to Development in Contemporary Africa," in Person and Community, Ghanaian Philosophical Studies, I (Washington, D.C.: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 1992), pp. 243-255, the culture contains elements needed, but sorely lacking, in the modern democratic structures of the North. The second is the immense difficulties faced by a country such as Ghana in its effort to protect and promote its people. Each effort taken by private citizens and government to employ technology or convert ancient forms into modern commodities bears great costs whether of health in processing minerals (gold), or of agriculture and fishing in generating power or irrigation (the Volta Dam), or of culture in seeking to draw revenue from folk music or medicinal herbs. Rich resources are not readily convertible into cash for a money economy; indeed they are very likely to be destroyed or to destroy people in the process. The third is the vulnerability of the people in these circumstances to exploitation by forces from within the country which possess the power, or from outside the country which either operate world commerce or control the monetary system. Most countries complain of the ruinous effect of policies imposed by the International Monetary Fund in favor of the lending nations, but seldom have the effects been more effectively or expertly analyzed from the point of view of a debtor nation than here in Chapters 4 "Counter-productive Socioeconomic Management in Ghana" and 5 "Informalization and Ghanaian Politics," and even in the Epilogue "Some Thoughts on the Future of Ghanaian Universities" where the concrete effects on the system of higher education are detailed. Chapter 5 analyses exhaustively the attempt to put a good face in this by considering it to be a liberative attempt to develop an informal economy where, in fact, it is no economy at all, but the desperation of impoverishment. Last is the importance of learning again how to live with, rather than against, the physical, social and cultural environment. While Chapter 1 describes a negative experience in this regard, Chapter 11 "Participatory Integrated Pest Management: IPM Training Methodology in Ghana" details at length the way in which this can be done in agriculture in ways that largely eliminate the dangerous use of pesticides and at the same time build human capacity and cooperation. It is a lesson emerging from the aids conference held in Natal in 2000 that Uganda and Senegal by intensive use of social means reduced the rate of infection by 50 percent and without access to the expensive and complex medicines which can be effective only with the health infrastructure of the first world. In view of the above, this second volume in the RVP series: Ghanaian Philosophical Studies reinforces the content of Volume I, Person and Community. That volume richly analyzed the nature and structure of Ghanaian culture as regards its identity and epistemology, anthropology and metaphysics, ethics, politics and religion. It richly identified what the wisdom of this culture had discovered regarding what was worth living for, and the quality of life. The present volume turns more toward how to live and carries this investigation into the concrete details of the travails of all dimensions of Ghanaian life. In so doing it illustrates the dangerous and dehumanizing delusion of attempting to substitute one’s own identity by another imported from without. Conversely, it implies that progress lies rather in adapting life carefully to the physical and social environment and that the needed resources are to be found first of all in the heritage of the people.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Class Struggle, Popular Culture and the Politics of Akpeteshie (Local Gin) in Ghana, 1930-67*
    Journal of African History, 37 (1996), pp. 215-236 215 Copyright © 1996 Cambridge University Press WHAT'S IN A DRINK? CLASS STRUGGLE, POPULAR CULTURE AND THE POLITICS OF AKPETESHIE (LOCAL GIN) IN GHANA, 1930-67* BY EMMANUEL AKYEAMPONG Harvard University Wunni ntramma na wo se nsa nye de When you do not have cowry shells, you say wine is not sweet (Twi Proverb). SOCIAL revolutions or movements of popular protest often begin innoc- uously. They are initially preoccupied with 'bread-and-butter' politics and with no sophisticated ideology of class-consciousness or a desire to overturn the social order. Adherents to such movements — the weak and poor — seek to minimize the disadvantages of the 'system' for their lives.1 In the Gold Coast from the 1930s, an excellent arena for popular protest centered on African demands to distill akpeteshie (local gin). Distilled from fermented palm wine or sugar cane juice, and requiring a simple apparatus of two tins (usually four-gallon kerosene tins) and copper tubing,2 akpeteshie quickly became a lucrative industry in an era of economic depression, incorporating extensive production and retail networks. But, far from being associated with just the right to distill spirits, akpeteshie became embroiled in African politics under colonial rule as world depression, World War II and the intensification of nationalism prompted an African re-evaluation of the colonial situation. Local distillation of akpeteshie became widespread in the Gold Coast after 1930, when temperance interests secured restrictive liquor legislation raising the tariffs on imported liquor. As previous increases in import duties on liquor had not adversely affected import levels and the liquor revenues so * Research for this article was made possible by research grants from the African Development Foundation in 1991-2 and from the William F.
    [Show full text]
  • Emmanuella Seyram Aku Kwamee
    Constructing Sexualities Across Transnational Spaces: Ghanaian Youth in the Netherlands A Research Paper presented by: Emmanuella Seyram Aku Kwamee (Ghana) in partial fulfilment of the requirements for obtaining the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Major: Social Justice Perspective SJP Members of the Examining Committee: Dr. Kees Biekart Dr. Roy Huijsmans The Hague, The Netherlands December 2018 ii Contents List of Appendices v List of Acronyms vi Acknowledgements vii Abstract viii 1. Setting the Case 1 1.1 Rationale 1 1.2 Essentializing Young People’s Constructions of Sexuality Across Space 2 1.3 Contextualizing the Research 3 1.3.1 Ghanaian Immigrants in the Netherlands 3 1.3.2 Sexuality in Ghana 4 1.4 Research Objective 6 1.5 Research Questions 6 1.6 Organisation of Chapters 6 2 . Methodological Orientation 8 2.1 Why a Qualitative Approach to Ethnography? 8 2.2 Sources of Data 9 2.3 Methodological Dilemmas 10 2.3.1 Positionality 10 2.4 Doing Ethnographic Research, Reflections on Theory and Practice 12 2.5 Introducing Research Participants 13 2.6 Ethical Considerations 13 2.7 Piloting 14 3. Theoretical and Conceptual Framework 15 3.1 Transnationalism 15 3.2 Sexuality and Gender Heteronormativity 16 3.3 Conceptualizing Migrant Generation 18 4. Sexuality Construction Among Young Ghanaians in the Netherlands 20 4.1 Childhood, an Important Stage for Constructing Sexuality 20 4.2 Conclusion 23 5 Adolescent Sexual Constructions Across Space 24 5.1 Dutch Schools as a Contested Space 24 iii 5.1.1 Discussion of Themes 24 5.2 Family
    [Show full text]
  • Inter-Media Agenda-Setting Effects in Ghana: Newspaper Vs. Online and State Vs
    Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2008 Inter-media agenda-setting effects in Ghana: newspaper vs. online and state vs. private Etse Godwin Sikanku Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the Journalism Studies Commons Recommended Citation Sikanku, Etse Godwin, "Inter-media agenda-setting effects in Ghana: newspaper vs. online and state vs. private" (2008). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 15414. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/15414 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Inter-media agenda-setting effects in Ghana: newspaper vs. online and state vs. private by Etse Godwin Sikanku A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Journalism and Mass Communication Program of Study Committee: Eric Abbott (Major Professor) Daniela Dimitrova Francis Owusu Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2008 Copyright© Etse Godwin Sikanku, 2008. All rights reserved. 1457541 1457541 2008 ii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES iii LIST OF FIGURES iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION AND STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 4 The agenda-setting theory 4 Agenda-setting research in Ghana 4 Inter-media agenda-setting 5 Online News 8 State Ownership 10 Press history in Ghana 13 Research Questions 19 CHAPTER 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Music of Ghana and Tanzania
    MUSIC OF GHANA AND TANZANIA: A BRIEF COMPARISON AND DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS AFRICAN MUSIC SCHOOLS Heather Bergseth A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate College of Bowling Green State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTERDecember OF 2011MUSIC Committee: David Harnish, Advisor Kara Attrep © 2011 Heather Bergseth All Rights Reserved iii ABSTRACT David Harnish, Advisor This thesis is based on my engagement and observations of various music schools in Ghana, West Africa, and Tanzania, East Africa. I spent the last three summers learning traditional dance- drumming in Ghana, West Africa. I focus primarily on two schools that I have significant recent experience with: the Dagbe Arts Centre in Kopeyia and the Dagara Music and Arts Center in Medie. While at Dagbe, I studied the music and dance of the Anlo-Ewe ethnic group, a people who live primarily in the Volta region of South-eastern Ghana, but who also inhabit neighboring countries as far as Togo and Benin. I took classes and lessons with the staff as well as with the director of Dagbe, Emmanuel Agbeli, a teacher and performer of Ewe dance-drumming. His father, Godwin Agbeli, founded the Dagbe Arts Centre in order to teach others, including foreigners, the musical styles, dances, and diverse artistic cultures of the Ewe people. The Dagara Music and Arts Center was founded by Bernard Woma, a master drummer and gyil (xylophone) player. The DMC or Dagara Music Center is situated in the town of Medie just outside of Accra. Mr. Woma hosts primarily international students at his compound, focusing on various musical styles, including his own culture, the Dagara, in addition music and dance of the Dagbamba, Ewe, and Ga ethnic groups.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 NOTE: This Is a Pre-Publication Version Made Available for Your Use
    NOTE: This is a pre-publication version made available for your use as a courtesy by the authors and the International Development Research Centre. A final, published version will appear in print and electronically in late 2010. GHANA Edith Wellington, John Gyapong, Sophia Twum-Barima, Moses Aikins and John Britton Executive Summary Despite considerable international activity in tobacco control including shaping the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), comprehensive national legislation has been a struggle to achieve. Accordingly, the most recent tobacco control efforts in Ghana, including the ATSA initiative, have focused on advocating for national comprehensive legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation has been stalled for more than five years. It is not clear how much support there is for the legislation in either the new cabinet or the national legislature. High-level changes in the health ministry have complicated these efforts so the advocacy community has been once again regrouping to assess the potential for high-level support. In the interim, the tobacco control community has identified other goals that may be more feasible in the short-term. With comparatively low prevalence rates (approximately 5%) and a public generally compliant with informal tobacco control norms – particularly smoke-free public places of various sorts (e.g. hospitals, educational institutions, public transport, etc.) – a formalization of existing rules and regulations with an emphasis on enforcement could be sought concurrent to the pursuit of the broader legislation. The Research and Development Division (RDD, formerly the Health Research Unit of the Ghana Health Service (GHS)) has been the principal lead of the ATSA team.
    [Show full text]
  • Welding Practices in Selected Metal Welding Industries in Ghana
    International Journal of Scientific & Engineering Research, Volume 7, Issue 6, June-2016 462 ISSN 2229-5518 Welding Practices in Selected Metal Welding Industries in Ghana Emmanuel Adu, Andrews Danquah Abstract— Welding is essentially a repair, maintenance, manufacturing and constructional engineering activity. In the last several decades, welding has evolved as an interdisciplinary activity requiring synthesis of knowledge from various disciplines and incorporating the most advanced tools of various basic and applied sciences. This paper discusses the current welding processes and investigates welding practices in some selected metal welding industries in Ghana. The project covers the categories of welding and welding techniques, welding quality control methods, welding process type used and general challenges that hamper welding productivity in Ghana. Two hundred and fifty (250) welding industries across the regions of Ghana both in the formal and informal sectors were selected for the study. Designed inquiry forms or questionnaires were administered to the selected welding industries. Two hundred (200) out of the two hundred and fifty (250) selected firms, representing 80% responded to the inquiry. The study revealed the different proportions of different industry groups and areas of application of welding activities. About ninety percent (90%) of the industries practice manual welding with little automated or robotic welding systems and much welded fabrications still relies on manual metal arc (MMA) welding. Majority (about 80%) of
    [Show full text]
  • The Future of Newspapers in a Digital Era: a Study of Daily
    University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh THE FUTURE OF NEWSPAPERS IN A DIGITAL ERA: A STUDY OF DAILY GRAPHIC AND DAILY GUIDE BY THELMA NAA ANERCHO ABBEY 10702649 THIS DISSERTATION IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF ARTS (MA) DEGREE IN COMMUNICATION STUDIES DEGREE OCTOBER, 2019 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DECLARATION I hereby declare that this dissertation is the result of my research work carried out at the School of Communication studies, University of Ghana, Legon. No part of this study has been submitted either in whole or in part for another degree elsewhere. All references cited have been duly acknowledged. ………………………………… THELMA NAA ANERCHO ABBEY (STUDENT) DATE: ……………………………………… ……………………………………… PROFESSOR AUDREY GADZEKPO (SUPERVISOR) DATE: ……………………………………… i University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my father Mr Jerry Abbey, my mother Mrs Gladys Abbey and my siblings Delphina, Nadia and Claudia Abbey. ii University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I would like to thank Jehovah God for giving me the strength and wisdom to conduct this study. I am grateful to my supervisor, Professor Audrey Gadzekpo for her time and effort in guiding me throughout the research. I would also like to acknowledge the guidance and encouragement I received from family and friends, I say thank you for your selflessness and support. I also want to thank all news editors, sales and circulations managers and news reporters who spent their precious time to help me in the collection of data and made it possible for me to carry out this study.
    [Show full text]
  • Negotiating the Integration Strategies and the Transnational Statuses Of
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of Birmingham Research Archive, E-theses Repository NEGOTIATING THE INTEGRATION STRATEGIES AND THE TRANSNATIONAL STATUSES OF GHANAIAN-LED PENTECOSTAL CHURCHES IN BRITAIN By BERNARD OTOPAH APPIAH A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham For the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Philosophy, Theology and religion College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham December 2014 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Christianity has seen phenomenal growth in sub-Saharan Africa and African churches in the West have also grown rapidly in the last few decades. The majority of members in these churches in the West are migrants and their children. In Britain, these migrant churches represent a vibrant form of Christianity with regard to their visibility and prominence. Considering the history of these migrants’ churches and the challenges they face in their efforts to evangelise the host community, most migrant members of these churches use the churches as the platform for their own expression of personhood, faith and mission.
    [Show full text]
  • Review and Reflections:Music and Dance Traditions of Ghana
    Review and Reflections: Music and Dance Traditions of Ghana by Doris Green, M.A. Retired Fulbright Scholar/US Department Cultural Specialist President of Pan African Performing Arts Preservation Association Doris Green is an ethnomusicologist, musician, dancer, certified teacher of Labanotation, and creator of Greenotation, a system for notating the percussion instruments of African ensembles that enables one to notate the music, and align it with the dance movements, creating an integrated score with a conterminous relationship just as it is in Africa. Born in Brooklyn, did her undergraduate and graduate studies at Brooklyn College and New York University respectively. She was a faculty member at Brooklyn College, Teachers College, New York University, New School for Social Research, and Adelphi University. She has received three CUNY Faculty Research Awards, enabling her to teach and conduct research in more than 25 nations in Africa. As the recipient of the Fulbright Award she spent a year teaching her system of notation in Ivory Coast and the Gambia. She is a former US State Department cultural specialist to Ghana where she taught members of the Ghana National Dance Ensemble and students/members of the Noyam Dance Group from the Ghana State Theater how to write dance on the computer (she and her students appeared on national Ghana television demonstrating dance performance). Samples of her work can be found at: http://www.dorisgreen.org/, http://web.me.com/dorisgreen/African_traditions/Welcome.html Introduction The music of Africa is an oral tradition that has existed since the beginning of time. Any society that is totally dependent upon oral communication for the transmission of its culture between generations is doomed to failure because of outside interpretation and the breakdown of the human memory over the course of time.
    [Show full text]
  • The Global State of Lgbtiq Organizing
    THE GLOBAL STATE OF LGBTIQ ORGANIZING THE RIGHT TO REGISTER Written by Felicity Daly DrPH Every day around the world, LGBTIQ people’s human rights and dignity are abused in ways that shock the conscience. The stories of their struggles and their resilience are astounding, yet remain unknown—or willfully ignored—by those with the power to make change. OutRight Action International, founded in 1990 as the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, works alongside LGBTIQ people in the Global South, with offices in six countries, to help identify community-focused solutions to promote policy for lasting change. We vigilantly monitor and document human rights abuses to spur action when they occur. We train partners to expose abuses and advocate for themselves. Headquartered in New York City, OutRight is the only global LGBTIQ-specific organization with a permanent presence at the United Nations in New York that advocates for human rights progress for LGBTIQ people. [email protected] https://www.facebook.com/outrightintl http://twitter.com/outrightintl http://www.youtube.com/lgbthumanrights http://OutRightInternational.org/iran OutRight Action International 80 Maiden Lane, Suite 1505, New York, NY 10038 U.S.A. P: +1 (212) 430.6054 • F: +1 (212) 430.6060 This work may be reproduced and redistributed, in whole or in part, without alteration and without prior written permission, solely for nonprofit administrative or educational purposes provided all copies contain the following statement: © 2018 OutRight Action International. This work is reproduced and distributed with the permission of OutRight Action International. No other use is permitted without the express prior written permission of OutRight Action International.
    [Show full text]
  • Small and Medium Forest Enterprises in Ghana
    Small and Medium Forest Enterprises in Ghana Small and medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) serve as the main or additional source of income for more than three million Ghanaians and can be broadly categorised into wood forest products, non-wood forest products and forest services. Many of these SMFEs are informal, untaxed and largely invisible within state forest planning and management. Pressure on the forest resource within Ghana is growing, due to both domestic and international demand for forest products and services. The need to improve the sustainability and livelihood contribution of SMFEs has become a policy priority, both in the search for a legal timber export trade within the Voluntary Small and Medium Partnership Agreement (VPA) linked to the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (EU FLEGT) Action Plan, and in the quest to develop a national Forest Enterprises strategy for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD). This sourcebook aims to shed new light on the multiple SMFE sub-sectors that in Ghana operate within Ghana and the challenges they face. Chapter one presents some characteristics of SMFEs in Ghana. Chapter two presents information on what goes into establishing a small business and the obligations for small businesses and Ghana Government’s initiatives on small enterprises. Chapter three presents profiles of the key SMFE subsectors in Ghana including: akpeteshie (local gin), bamboo and rattan household goods, black pepper, bushmeat, chainsaw lumber, charcoal, chewsticks, cola, community-based ecotourism, essential oils, ginger, honey, medicinal products, mortar and pestles, mushrooms, shea butter, snails, tertiary wood processing and wood carving.
    [Show full text]
  • Homosexuality in Ghana: Controversies in Science, the Law, and Religious Responses
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by International Institute for Science, Technology and Education (IISTE): E-Journals Developing Country Studies www.iiste.org ISSN 2224-607X (Paper) ISSN 2225-0565 (Online) Vol.7, No.6, 2017 Homosexuality in Ghana: Controversies in Science, The Law, and Religious Responses Victor Selorme Gedzi Yunus Dumbe Kwakye Siaw Ahenkora Department of Religious Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, KNUST Abstract The paper discusses homosexuality in Ghana and the uncertainties in science and the Ghanaian criminal law on the subject. The study also provides a religious assessment on the phenomenon. Study statistics demonstrate that the phenomenon is spreading in Ghana. For example, in 2010, an estimated 8,000 gay persons were living in the Western and Central regions; and over 30,000 men slept with men in Ghana in 2011 alone. In 2014 there were over 200,000 gays in the country, forming about one percent of the total population. Today with Ghana’s population over 26, 000, 000, these statistics might increase. The study involves a qualitative case studies and a survey of a selected cross-section of homosexual prone communities, and educational institutions in Ghana; and is framed by social learning theory. The study has realized that homosexuality in Ghana is a learned behavior. This present study calls for an urgent development policy discussion leading to a positive practical intervention by government and religious bodies. The study is important because it highlights the state of homosexuality in Ghana and suggests ways of dealing with it.
    [Show full text]