Search

The biomass sector in Ghana is very important for supplying essential food and non-food biomass-based resources to many people for a wide range of uses. There is, however, limited deliberation on these culturally important biomass-based resources at a community level in the country. The aims of this study are three-fold, namely to (i) document various kinds of biomass-based resources and their cultural importance to local actors, (ii) examine socio-demographic factors influencing local actors' knowledge base on biomass-based resources, and (iii) identify value webs, challenges, and future actions for sustainable use of biomass-based resources. Individual interviews were thus performed using structured questionnaires to cover 180 local actors (consisting of 120 smallholder farmers and 60 local commercial intermediaries) across six rural communities in the Northern and Upper East regions of Ghana. Cereals, e.g., maize (Zea mays), Guinea corn (Sorghum bicolor), rice (Oryza sativa), millet (Pennisetum glaucum), and legumes, e.g., groundnuts (Arachis hypogaea) are cultivated as major crops in the study areas and also considered by local actors as the most culturally important food crop species, as well as minor crops like tubers and vegetables. Ethnicity and residential status of local actors were found to significantly influence local knowledge on biomass-based resources. The value webs of selected food biomass-based resources are not elaborately developed and still remained simple and traditional in nature, since no cascading uses of by-products were identified. Several challenges and the future actions for managing locally produced biomass-based resources are addressed. The sustainable utilization of these biomass-based resources and value addition to their products are required to help increase family incomes and improve their livelihoods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the importance of local ecological knowledge of forage plants, there has been little discussion on how local agro-pastoralists perceive forage species diversity, abundance trends, habitat distributions and ecological drivers influencing changing abundance trends over time in rural West Africa's savannas. In estimating, assessing and investigating the ecological variables, we performed elaborate ethnobotanical surveys in seven villages in northern Ghana and nine villages in southern-central Burkina Faso. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analysis and cognitive salience index calculations to disentangle the dynamics of local responses to ecological variables considered in this study. Our results revealed that agro-pastoralists exhibited extensive knowledge on forage species diversity, habitat types, abundance trends and ecological drivers. According to agro-pastoralists interviewed, about 82 percent of all forage species known to them were commonly available in local landscapes, while a majority of our interviewees indicated that available forage resources have shown a gradually increasing trend over the past few years. Rainfall variability, tree cutting and drought were the topmost perceived threats causing changes in the trends of forage species abundance. Given our findings, local perceptions of agro-pastoralists could have substantial practical implications in favor of forage-related biodiversity conservation and sustainable livestock production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This paper provides an insightful quantitative ethnoecological analysis and affirms that agro-pastoralists have a multiplicity of criteria for valuating their natural forage resources. Rural households in West Africa are not only confronted with water resource scarcity but also have to cope with limited forage resources to feed livestock in both wet and dry seasons based on local knowledge. Local agro-pastoral social-ecological systems (SESs) in the study areas stem from the daily utilization of available forage resources by dominant domestic livestock (cattle, goats, and sheep) over the years. However, there is very little systematic knowledge documentation on forage-related valuation criteria in this part of the world. Hence, this study aimed at examining (1) forage resources used for different seasons and livestock types, (2) explicit forage-related valuation criteria and associated salience, and (3) effects of socio-demographic and climatic aridity on local valuation criteria. Methods: To address these aims, a total of 526 individual ethnoecological interviews (encompassing Dagbani, Gurunsi, and Mossi ethnic groups) were conducted in 16 villages coupled with vegetation sampling of 144 plots in Ghana and Burkina Faso. Rigorous model selection, generalized linear mixed-effects models, cognitive salience indices, and descriptive statistics were applied. Results: The results revealed that majority (73%) of the agro-pastoralists regarded herbaceous forage plants to be very palatable for livestock consumption in the rainy season and for cattle while woody vegetation and crop-related forage plants were rather perceived to be more important in the dry season and for goats and sheep. The findings also indicated that climatic aridity significantly influenced the number of forage-related valuation criteria cited by agro-pastoralists for different seasonal and livestock types (p < 0.001). It was also found out that agro-pastoralists did not only judge forage plants based on their availability but also on other criteria such as palatability, stimulation of milk production, and healthy growth of livestock. Conclusion: Local agro-pastoralists' knowledge on natural forage resources and their valuation criteria is geared towards sustainable domestic livestock production. This study is thus interesting and crucially important for fellow scientists, policy-makers, and other stakeholders in the agricultural production sector in local farming landscapes within West Africa and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]