Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change in West Africa (UNU, 1997, 141 pages): Opening address

Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change in West Africa (UNU, 1997, 141 pages)

Preface

Acknowledgements

Opening address

The context

1: General background

(introductory text...)

Ecological setting

Farming systems

Problem

References

2: People, land management and environmental change: Conceptual background, with focus on Africa

(introductory text...)

Background and context

Population, agriculture and environment in sub-Saharan Africa

Objectives of PLEC

PLEC in Africa

International collaboration for sustainable development

References

3: Indigenous African farming systems: Their significance for sustainable environmental use (Keynote address)

(introductory text...)

Concept of sustainability

Indigenous sustainable farming systems

Conclusion

References

4: Criteria for designing sustainable farming systems in tropical Africa

(introductory text...)

Sustainable agriculture

Farming systems of tropical Africa and their sustainability under changing conditions

Ingredients of sustainable farming systems and issues to be considered in the design of these systems

Sectorial interface requirements

Conclusions and recommendations

References

Pilot study of production pressure and environmental change in the forest-savanna zone of southern Ghana

5: Background and objectives of the study of production pressure and environmental change in the southern forest-savanna transition zone

(introductory text...)

Objectives

Hypotheses

The forest-savanna zone

References

6: A multidisciplinary integrated methodology

(introductory text...)

Field study

Conclusion

References

7: Land use and cover patterns

(introductory text...)

Methodology

Results

Summary

References

8: Soils

(introductory text...)

Materials and method

Analyses

Results and discussion

Conclusion

References

9: Floral and faunal diversity

(introductory text...)

Materials and methods

Results and other observations

Other observations

Discussion

Conclusion

References

10: Population growth and urban demand

(introductory text...)

Population growth

Urban demand

Conclusion

References

11: Ability of the farming systems to cope and strategies for sustaining farming

(introductory text...)

The agroenvironmental changes and adaptations

Declining yields

Strategies for sustaining farming

Conclusion

References

12: Gender and non-governmental organizations in environmental management

(introductory text...)

Gender and non-governmental organizations

Environmental and agricultural changes

Measures for coping with the adverse changes

The relative roles of NGOs and GOs

Conclusion

Related studies

13: Interacting with the environment: Adaptation and regeneration on degraded land in upper Manya Krobo

(introductory text...)

Upper Manya Krobo

Research methodology

Land degradation and its consequences

Adaptation, regeneration and innovation

Implications for research

Acknowledgement

References

14: Land use and cover change in the southern forest-savanna transition zone in Ghana: A sequence model

(introductory text...)

Introduction

Study area

Conceptual basis

Studies

Land use and cover sequences

Food cropping on abandoned land

Land use and cover sub-sequences

General indications and future trends

References

15: Women, environmental change and economic crisis in Ghana

(introductory text...)

Introduction

Background to the research: Economic crisis and structural adjustment

Environmental degradation in North-Eastern Ghana

Gender and agricultural systems in North-Eastern Ghana

The gender division of labour

Structural adjustment and its impact on health, nutrition and consumption patterns

Changes in educational status

Changes in income-generating activities

Changes in women's time use

Women's time use and seasonality

Conclusion

References

Conclusions

16: Conclusions and directions for future research

(introductory text...)

Research objectives

Methodology

Research extension

Other recommendations

Contributors

Opening address

Christina Amoako-Nuama

Mr. Chairman, Vice-Chancellor, Representative of the United Nations University, Participants, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great pleasure for me to be here to address you at the opening of the Regional Workshop on Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change, because the theme of the workshop is at the heart of the issue my ministry is trying to address. The environmental agenda for the 1990s is getting increasingly complex at both the national and global levels due to the growing threat on life support systems. There is therefore the need to examine the underlying causes of the threat to the citizenry of Ghana.

Most times, Ghanaians as a nation overemphasise the weight of the abundance of our natural resource endowment, with minimal or no emphasis at all on the importance of proper management of these resources. The mismanagement of these resources has resulted in a host of environmental problems which affect the quality of life we all yearn to enjoy.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ghana's environmental management strategy as set forth in the Environmental Action Plan (NEAP) aims at ensuring reconciliation between development and natural resource conservation in order to make a high quality environment, a key element in support of the country's economic and social development. The strategy recognises among others the need:

to maintain ecosystem and ecological processes;
to adequately protect humans, animals and plants, their biological com unities and habitats against harmful impacts and destructive practices and preserve biological diversity.

The guiding principle of this strategy is the preventive approach which commits government to a number of actions. Some of these actions which are relevant for this workshop are:

the creation of awareness among all sections of the community;
the development of procedures for the utilisation of land resources in a manner that ensures a maximum degree of economy in the use of land;
minimisation of land use conflicts;
encouragement of measures to protect critical ecosystems against any harmful or destructive practices;
and the promotion and support of research into environmental problems to improve understanding of environmental issues.

Mr. Chairman, it is therefore gratifying to note that these objectives have found expression in the effort of the United Nations University (UNU) and the University of Ghana in undertaking the pilot study of pressure on the environment and change in biodiversity and agriculture in Ghana's forest-savanna ecotone. This workshop is to me therefore significant in two principal ways.

The first is that it emphasises the importance of cooperation between local and international institutions to come together to provide insight into the emerging complex environmental problems facing mankind.

The second is that it seeks to involve small farmers in the study and their participation in the workshop in an effort to integrate such farmers into agroenvironmental research to achieve realistic community-based agroenvironmental enhancement programmes.

This is a departure from past efforts, where research was carried out without the involvement of farmers, who are the real decision makers on land use, and who can help redress environmental deterioration. This is heart-warming, as there is a growing awareness of the need for the involvement of local people as active partners in all aspects of the research and development process. The immense wealth of traditional know-how, especially in agricultural systems, should be brought to bear on improper land use practices by research projects such as this one to reinforce sustainable practices.

Ladies and Gentlemen, another significant aspect of the study is the question of the interrelationships between population dynamics and environmental change. This aspect of the study seeks to examine and disaggregate the processes of adaptation of indigenous resource management systems and land use through a series of field-based research projects in key aero-ecological zones of tropical and subtropical environments. Most of the environmental problems facing us are due to rapid population growth which puts pressure on environmental resources.

I wish to use this opportunity to congratulate all the collaborators in this study for their contribution towards good environmental management practice in Ghana. In the same vein, I wish to call on other scientists to emulate this example to make their research meaningful to the land users, and to pledge that my ministry will offer its full support and recognition to any such effort towards solving our environmental problems.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Participants, you have assembled here to consider a set of objectives during the workshop. These are:

to discuss the findings of the United Nations University Programme on Population, Land Management and Environmental Change (PLEC) pilot study of pressure on the environment and change in biodiversity and agriculture in Ghana's forest ecotone;
to identify possible strategies of extending PLEC research to other agroecological zones in West Africa;
and to integrate farmers' groups and other environmental actors and parties into an extended research programme, in the quest for sustainable systems of managing the environment by small farmers under conditions of population pressure.

The outcome of your deliberations on the findings is likely to affect the lives of many farmers and the status of the environment for good or ill. However, I am confident, based on the laudable objectives set for the workshop, that the outcome will be a positive one. It is therefore imperative on all assembled here to discuss the issues before you in a dispassionate manner, taking into account the many small-scale farmers who are struggling to eke out a living with attendant sideeffects on the environment. This group of people, wherever they are, are unknowingly counting on you to give them hope to provide the current formula to get them out of their environmental insecurity.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, on this note, I wish to declare the PLEC/INRA Regional Workshop on Environment, Biodiversity and Agricultural Change in West Africa opened.

I wish you fruitful deliberations. Thank you.