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Agrarian change in Kusasi, north-east Ghana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2011

Paul Webber
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Extract

This article examines the nature of agrarian change in the Kusasi area of north-east Ghana. In focusing upon the dynamic of population growth the study has relevance to the recently rejoined discussion concerning the relationship between population growth and agricultural change. The context in which population growth is proceeding in Kusasi is presented as significantly different from that of other parts of tropical Africa where population growth has been recognised as the dynamic bringing about more productive and sustainable systems. In Kusasi's peripheral and subsistence-oriented economy population growth has led to increased pressure on the biological resources of the region. The permanent compound farming system of the area is now increasingly unable to provide sufficient subsistence for household needs, and, although expansion of farmland into areas recently freed from onchocerciasis is taking place, this is interpreted as merely a temporary respite in the interrelated processes of continuing environmental degradation and declining productivity under the prevailing agricultural system. The article raises the question of how, in the absence of progressive change brought about by population growth, development for regions like Kusasi is to be envisaged. Current programmes of agricultural development are considered in the context of past initiatives.

Résumé

Cet article examine la nature du changement agraire dans l'endroit de Kusasi au nord-est du Ghana. En se concentrant sur la dynamique de la croissance de la population, cette étude se rapport à la discussion récemment reprise concernant le rapport entre la croissance de la population et les changements agricoles. Le contexte dans lequel la croissance de la population se produit à Kusasi est présenté comme étant très different de celui des autres parties de l'Afrique tropicale où la croissance de la population à été reconnue comme étant la dynamique qui amène des systèmes plus productifs et plus prolongés. Dans l'économie périphérique et orientée vers la subsistance de Kusasi, la croissance de la population a resulté à augmenter la pression sur les ressources biologiques de la région. Le système agricole d'enclos permanents du terrain est désormais de moins en moins capable de fournir assez de moyens de subsistance pour les besoins des ménages, et bien que l'expansion des terres cultivées dans des terrains récemment libérés d'onchocerciasis soit en train de se produire, ceci est interprété comme étant une relâche temporaire dans les processus intimement liés de la dégradation continue de l'environnement et dans la productivité en déclin dans le système agricole actuel. Cet article pose la question, quant à savoir comment dans l'absence de changements progressifs amenés par la croissance de la population, doit-on envisager le développement de régions telles que Kusasi. Des programmes actuels de développement agricole sont considérés dans le contexte d'initiatives qui ont été crées dans le passé.

Type
The family calculus
Information
Africa , Volume 66 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 437 - 457
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 1996

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