Accra Plains Research Articles

A comparison of thicket clumps on the Accra and Winneba plains of Ghana

A comparison of thicket clumps on the Accra and Winneba plains of Ghana

Comparative studies on growth traits of Sanga and Friesian-Sanga crossbred calves raised on natural pasture on the Accra Plains of Ghana

Data collected from 1993 to 2006 at the Animal Research Institute of Ghana was used to compare the performance of Sanga and Friesian-Sanga crossbred calves on natural pasture. Performance traits analyzed were birth weight (BWT), weaning weight adjusted to 210 days (WW7), preweaning average daily gain to 210 days (ADG 1), weight at 12 months adjusted to 365 days (W12), weight at 18 months adjusted to 540 days (W18) and postweaning average daily gain (ADG 2, from weaning to 540 days). Effects in the model describing these traits were breed, season, sex and first-order interactions between these effects. With the exception of heavier birth weight of Friesian-Sanga crossbred calves (19.98 kg vs. 19.18 kg), body weights of Sangas at weaning, 12 months and 18 months exceeded those of the Friesian-Sanga crossbred calves by 3.76 kg, 35.06 kg and 46.24 kg respectively. The Sangas were also superior in preweaning average daily gain (0.35 kg/day vs. 0.26 kg/day) and postweaning average daily gain (0.28 kg/day vs. 0.21 kg/day). There was a tendency of increasing weight difference between the two breeds with advancing age. It was suggested that improved nutrition such as supplementary feeding would be necessary for crossbreds to express their potential for growth.

The Accra plains c. AD 1400 - 1800: An overview of trade, politics & culture from the perspective of historical archaeology

This paper discusses the canons of Historical Archaeology research methods as employed by western scholars, in which there is heavy reliance on European written sources and abundant data from datable archaeological remains of foreign imports. However, it argues for the formulation of a peculiar Sub-Saharan African variant of the discipline's research method which emphasises use of ethnohistories and ethnoarchaeology alongside normal archaeological excavation principles, as well as a rather subdued measure of archival documentation. The paper demonstrates synthesis of multi-source data for elucidating trends in the development of European-African mercantilism, urbanism, state formation, indigenous cultural complexes in the Accra Plains in c. AD 1400-1800.Institute of African Studies: Research Review Volume Research Review Supplement 17 2006: pp. 1-20

Frontier archaeology of the Akuapem ridge and the eastern Accra Plains

The paper examines the links between the social groups on the Akuapem ridge and the Shai area, who occupy contrasting landscapes. Oral, ethnographic, historical and archaeological evidence suggests that agricultural produce from the Akuapem ridge was exchanged for pottery from the Shai area. Sixteenth and seventeenth century pottery on the Akuapem ridge provides strong archaeological evidence for the socioeconomic links between the two landscapes. These interactions, which led to word borrowing on both sides, did not, however, result in significant sociopolitical influences. The dominant Akan community exerted the greatest influence on the groups. Institute of African Studies: Research Review Volume Research Review Supplement 17 2006: pp. 91-106

Excavations at Wodoku and Lodoku and their implications for the archaeology of the Accra Plains

Finds from excavations at Wodoku and Ladoku, the original home of the Nungwa and La people respectively are described, and their implications for the archaeology of the Accra Plains, particularly as they relate to the pottery sequence, Ga-Dangme origins, chronology of settlements, economy and subsistence practices are discussed. Institute of African Studies: Research Review Volume Research Review Supplement 17 2006: pp. 55-89

Land use & environment in early Accra (1300 - 1800 AD)

Documentary evidence and oral sources of information describe the Accra Plains as a traditional vibrant economy as early as in the 13th century. Exposure to the outside world through early slave merchants, missionary work, and other commercial interests including colonisation created not only an added impetus for trade, but also resulted in the intensification of environmental resource utilisation namely, food crop production and rearing of domestic animals, hunting bush meat, iron mining and metal works, vivacious local architecture that went along with settlement expansion, and improving fishing technologies. This article looks at the major land use patterns in early Accra around the 14th to the end of the 18th centuries. It relates land use practices to both natural endowments as well as technologies around that time, and argues that Accra was already a competitive place and commanded an honoured place among its neighbours. The likely impact of these land use patterns of the environment is explored, giving indications that land degradation was quite minimal. It concludes with a note that unlike present day Accra, where urban developments have overshadowed Accra's potential for food production, the area was a food basket for its people as well as its neighbours.Institute of African Studies: Research Review Volume Research Review Supplement 17 2006: pp. 21-35

The effect of farm (herd) and season of calving on the reproductive performance of Sanga cows in smallholder peri-urban dairy farms in the Accra plains

The effect of farm (herd) and season of calving on the reproductive performance of Sanga cows in smallholder peri-urban dairy farms in the Accra plains

Hydrochemical characterization of groundwater in the Accra plains of Ghana

Chemical and isotopic analyses are used to characterize and identify the relevant water-rock interactions, which are responsible for the poor groundwater quality in the Accra Plains. Four main water types are identified. Processes that singly or in combination influence the chemical composition of each water type include halite dissolution carbonate dissolution and precipitation, seawater intrusion, cation exchange, evaporative concentration of solutes and aluminosilicates dissolution. These processes contribute considerably to the concentration of major ions in the groundwater. Stable isotope contents of the groundwater suggest mainly direct integrative recharge. A few samples plot along the meteoric-seawater mix line which is coincidentally the evaporative line. The Cl−/Br− ratios of some of these are close to 300 confirming marine origin, others probably concentrated by evaporation have their Cl−/Br− ratios significantly lower than 300. Groundwater is qualitatively good for drinking purposes only along the foothills of the Akwapim Togoland ranges.

Free-range village chickens on the Accra Plains, Ghana: Their contribution to households

A cross-sectional survey investigating the contribution of free-range village chickens to household economies was carried out in four administrative districts within 60 km of Accra. Answers were provided by 101 men and 99 women. Nearly all respondents claimed to keep chickens for meat, with a far smaller percentage claiming to keep them for egg production. Over 80% of respondents kept chickens to supplement their incomes. The proportion of the flock eaten varied between administrative areas (p = 0.009 and p = 0.027), although this was possibly a consequence of differences in consumption patterns between occupation of the respondent, land area cultivated and flock size. The proportion of chickens sold varied as a result of differences in flock size (p = 0.013), the proportion sold increasing with number of birds in the flock. Respondents generally agreed that chickens could be sold without difficulty. A majority of chicken sales were from the farm gate, directly to consumers or traders. Sales were on demand or when the owner needed money. Money from the sale was kept by the owner of the chicken and the money was spent on personal needs. The proportion of the flock sold varied between administrative areas (p = 0.025) and occupation of the respondent (p = 0.040). Respondents describing animal production as their main occupation tended to have greater reliance on chicken sales for their income. Consideration is given to estimating the offtake from the flock and the financial contribution to the household.

Free-range Village Chickens on the Accra Plains, Ghana:Their Husbandry and Productivity

A cross-sectional[4pc] survey investigating husbandry and productivity of free-range village chickens was carried out in four administrative districts within 60 km of Accra. Responses were provided by 101 men and 99 women. The mean (SD) household flock size was 28.7 (25.97) and the median was 20. The factors included in the final model investigating variance in flock size were sex of the respondent (p = 0.011), administrative area (p = 0.004), the numbers of members in the household (p = 0.017) and the number of cattle, sheep and goats owned by the household (p = 0.031). Chickens were owned by individual members of the household, but women and children were the predominant providers of care for chickens. All respondents described their chickens as scavengers that were provided with supplementary feed, and over 80% of respondents named maize as a supplementary food source. Approximately 50% of respondents claimed difficulty in providing supplementary feed, with the degree of difficulty varying between administrative areas (p < 0.001). A majority of respondents (approximately 65%) claimed that their chickens laid 3-4 clutches of eggs per year. Over 70% of respondents estimated that each clutch contained 10-20 eggs, and approximately 70% of respondents estimated that 75% of the eggs hatched. Opinions on mortality varied, but 60% of men and 70% of women estimated that between 50% and 75% of both chicks and adult birds died each year. Approximately 80% of respondents named Newcastle disease as the most important health issue. The opportunities for and consequences of controlling Newcastle disease are discussed.

On-farm introduction of some dry season feeding strategies to cattle farmers on the Accra Plains of Ghana and the response of cattle to these strategies. 2. On-farm studies on the use of urea-ammoniated rice straw as a dry season feed supplement for cattle

On-farm introduction of some dry season feeding strategies to cattle farmers on the Accra Plains of Ghana and the response of cattle to these strategies. 2. On-farm studies on the use of urea-ammoniated rice straw as a dry season feed supplement for cattle

On-farm introduction of some dry season feeding strategies to cattle farmers on the Accra Plains of Ghana and the response of cattle to these strategies. 1. A survey on reasons for non-adoption of strategies

On-farm introduction of some dry season feeding strategies to cattle farmers on the Accra Plains of Ghana and the response of cattle to these strategies. 1. A survey on reasons for non-adoption of strategies

Moving through and Passing on: Fulani Mobility, Survival, and Identity in Ghana

Yaa P. A. Oppong. Moving Through and Passing On: Fulani Mobility, Survival, and Identity in Ghana. New Brunswick, N.J.: Transaction Publishers, 2002. xiv + 259 pp. Maps. Tables. Figures. Appendixes. Bibliography. Index. Price not reported. Cloth. Yaa Oppong conies to this study with an uncommon set of talents and a background that permits her to ferret out information and insights that often remain hidden in ethnographic investigations. She has command of Twi and Ga, two principal languages in southern Ghana, and she studied Fulfulde in France in preparation for her eighteen months of fieldwork among Fulani immigrants. The bibliography of the monograph reveals Oppong's intimate familiarity with both published literature and with unpublished materials in the library of the University of Ghana at Legon. Oppong seems to have been predestined to her study. Her father served thirty years earlier as a veterinarian on the Accra Plains, and he subsequently wrote a Ph.D. thesis on skin diseases of cattle in the region. Her mother, an academic, eagerly supported her daughter's work: On one occasion while Oppong was in the field she gave her cows as a birthday gift, an act that could only endear the ethnographer to her subjects, who prize cattle so highly! The cows remain in Ghana, but Oppong moved on to the School of Oriental and African Studies in London and then to Harvard. Moving Through and Passing On focuses on the nature and perpetuation of Fulani ethnicity in the Greater Accra Region, an administrative area stretching about 120 km chiefly eastward from Accra and reaching inland approximately 40 km from the coast. The Fulani, resident in this area less than one hundred years, have retained their traditional interest in cattle, but increasingly they are being swept into the vortex of urban Accra and crowded by the expansion of that city. The initial two chapters of the book recount movements of Fulani in West Africa through space and time. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 constitute the core of the study. The final three chapters analyze elements instrumental in perpetuating-and dismembering-Fulani identity in this setting: secular education versus traditional Koranic instruction, deliberate displays in public parades, development of associations to foster Fulaniness, and the like. The study is based on ethnographic data developed through the life stories of 99 females and 105 males, with the informants divided roughly equally between urban, peri-urban, and rural settings. …

Assessing the population of buried seeds on the Accra plains

Assessing the population of buried seeds on the Accra plains

Diversity and structure of terrestrial small mammal communities in different vegetation types on the Accra Plains of Ghana

Diversity and structure of terrestrial small mammal communities in different vegetation types on the Accra Plains of Ghana

Diversity and structure of terrestrial small mammal communities in different vegetation types on the Accra Plains of Ghana

AbstractSmall mammal communities (shrews and rodents) were studied using mark‐and‐recapture techniques from November 1991 to June 1992 at six sites on the Accra Plains of Ghana. The sites were two traditionally protected ‘sacred groves’, two plots in the legally protected Shai Hills Resource Reserve, and two fire‐protected sites: secondary forest and a Gmelina tree plantation. A total of 241 individuals representing four species of shrews and nine species of rodents was caught. Abundance, diversity, and composition of small mammals varied greatly between sites. Praomys tullbergi was the most abundant species in the sacred groves, whereas Mastomys erythroleucus dominated in the fire‐protected site and in the plantation. The more open grassland areas in the Shai Hills were dominated by Lemniscomys striatus and Uranomys ruddi. Shrews were caught only in forests having dense leaf litter. Legally protected reserve sites had the highest diversity of small mammals but population densities were low. In contrast, the sacred groves had lower diversity levels but much higher population densities, resulting in 1.9 to 14.6 times the biomass of any of the other sites. The rodents Mus minutoides and Hylomyscus alleni and the shrews Crocidura buettikoferi and C. lamottei were found only in the sacred groves. Sacred groves play an important socio‐cultural role. Their local ecological and economic importance as reservoirs for rare and useful plants is well known. This study shows that they are also important refuges for certain small mammal species and support characteristic mammal communities. An attempt to measure the impact of the invading exotic tree Azadirachta indica (neem tree) on small mammals was inconclusive, although trapping success was low in areas with dense stands of neem.

A survey on processing and marketing characteristics of peri-urban agropastoral Dairying in Ghana

A survey was conducted in five districts on the Accra plains to characterize the peri-urban dairy production system. Results from the survey indicated that farmers were keeping cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry (Guinea fowl, turkey, chicken, and duck), cattle being the only species milked. The mean flock size was 73.6 TLU with a coefficient of variation of 103 per cent. The average cattle herd size was 133. Farmers made limited use of agro-industrial by-products. Cultivation of pastures, improved fodder, and multipurpose trees was non-existent, and neither was any system of cut and carry practised. The use of concentrate and protein supplementation was also negligible. The mean length of the dry season was 5.2 1 0.7 months. Offtake was low at 8.9 per cent per annum. Replacement and calving rates were 0.7 and 0.67, respectively. The mean age at first calving and calving interval were 36 and 14.4 months, respectively. The mean lactation length was 8.5 months. There were no crossbreds of the type 'exotic W local'. The Sanga was the predominant breed of cattle and constituted over 76 per cent of cattle kept on the Accra plains. Feeding of calves was by suckling residual milk from dams after partial milking. Calves were allowed to suckle until the cow was nearly dry, leading to a long mean calf weaning age of 8.4 months. Cows were milked once daily usually in the mornings. The mean daily partial milk yield per cow was 1.55 1 0.22 l. Mean partial annual milk yield per farm was 10,040 1 2952 l. It was concluded that the system required substantial transfer of improved technologies to increase milk production. Ghana Jnl.agric. Sci Vol.32(1), 1999: 53-58

Post-partum reproductive performance of Sanga cattle in smallholder peri-urban dairy herds in the Accra plains of Ghana.

The reproductive performance of 76 Sanga cows was studied from February 1995 to July 1996 in smallholder peri-urban dairy systems in the coastal savanna zone of the Accra plains of Ghana. The interval from calving to resumption of cyclic ovarian activity was 101 +/- 7 days; that from calving to conception was 152 +/- 4 days; gestation length was 292 +/- 16 days; and the calving interval was 444 +/- 16 days. The effects of location, season of calving, parity, body condition score and sex of calf were studied. Calving to cycling interval was significantly shorter in the dry season than in the wet season, and decreased significantly with increasing body condition score. Calving to conception interval was affected only by location. Gestation length was not affected by any of the variables studied. Calving interval was affected by location, season of calving, parity and body condition score. It is concluded that long post-partum anoestrus leads to prolonged calving intervals and poor reproductive performance. Feed supplementation to improve the nutritional status and body condition score of cows and early weaning of calves could be introduced to enhance reproductive performance.

A survey on live- stock and milk production characteristics of peri-urban agropastoral dairying in Ghana

A survey was conducted in five districts on the Accra plains to characterize the peri-urban dairy system. Results from the survey indicated that sale of milk (fresh or processed) by farmers as well as the amount marketed varied according to districts. A high percentage of farmers in Ga Rural (82.4 per cent), Tema (85.7 per cent), and Ewutu-Effutu-Senya (91 percent) districts which are close to marketing centres mainly sold fresh milk, while farmers in the North Tongu and Dangbe West districts farther away from marketing centres mainly sold processed milk, 76.2 and 66.7 per cent, respectively. Consumption of processed milk by farmers in the various districts was significantly (P

Effect of rainfall variability on grassland herbage production and ruminant livestock productivity in the Accra plains of Ghana

Even though rainfall amount influences herbage production, there is a wide range outside which there can be depression of forage dry matter yield on the Accra plains. Low rainfall amount does not seem to depress livestock numbers but may affect the performance of individual animals. However, very heavy rainfall may affect the animals in various ways leading to an eventual reduction in their numbers. Ghana Jnl.agric. Sci Vol.31(2), 1998: 147-152