The Political Ecology of Agricultural History in Ghana

This book takes an incisive, political ecology perspective of the development of agriculture in the West African nation of Ghana (formerly the British colony of the Gold Coast), focusing on agricultural, socio-cultural, economic, political and environmental issues during the pre-colonial (pre-16th century), colonial and post colonial periods (after 1957, up until 1992, the start of the last Republic). This integrated approach for the study of agricultural development and environmental change is very relevant to the Ghanaian context. Here, complex historical, political and socio-cultural factors have been combined, within a fairly short period, to contribute to an environmental metamorphosis. A complicated mosaic of indeterminate vegetation climaxes, such as depleted and secondary forests, derived savannah and savannah woodland, has gradually replaced the primeval rain forest, deciduous forest and savannah. Problems include soil erosion and desertification risk. This, largely due to human agency, is explainable by examining the political and economic relations behind the resource exploitation methods devised by the different actors in the political, economic and social system.