Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
on the harmful effects of burning off vegetation after clearing their lands, and this
has led to a significant reduction in the incidence of bushfires. In the last two
years they have not experienced any bushfires. The general consensus is that the
women who are members of the group have acquired the ability to manage their
financial affairs in more beneficial ways.
Active participation of the women in the project
The level of participation in project activities has seen a steady rise over the years.
The group, which started with 25 members, now has 432 members, distributed
among Jachie and five surrounding communities, namely Akwaduo, Swedru,
Apiankra, Nnuaso, and Homebenase.
Woodlot establishment
A major problem faced by the women was the shortage of fuelwood. This was
a consequence of forest depletion. To overcome this problem, the women
established a 10 ha plantation of teak (
Tectona grandis
) and
Cidrella
sp. in
1993. The teak was planted to provide electricity poles for the village and also
money for the group from the sale of electrical and building poles. The
Cidrella
sp. was harvested early to meet fuelwood needs. Today the woodlot
has become one of the major achievements of the group. Increased availability
of adequate electric poles and fuelwood has established support for the project.
Some of the teak trees have been planted on the land of the local Anglican
school. This has reduced the problem of encroachment of the land belonging
to the school. The trees also provide shade for children and adults in the
village.
A further benefit of the establishment of the woodlot has been the savings in time
previously spent in fuelwood collection. Prior to this the women had to spend about
four to five hours collecting one head-load of wood (approximately 30 kg). Now the
same quantity of fuelwood is obtained in two hours. Cooke (1998) reported that as
environmental goods such as fuelwood and fodder become scarce, rural households
in developing countries spend more time in their collection.
The popularity of the project with the women is a result of the excellent inter-
action between the researchers and the women. Together they have used partici-
patory rural appraisal (PRA) techniques in the preparation of detailed micro
plans. The women themselves determined which species was to be planted. They
gave very high ranking to species used for fuelwood, such as
Margaritaria
discoidea
(
pepia
- local Akan-Twi name) and
Celtis milbracdii
(
esa
),
Dacroydes
klineana
(
akyia
),
Ficus exasperata
(
nyankyene
),
Funtumia elastica
(
fruntum
),
Albizia zigia
(
okro
),
Rauvolfia vomitoria
(
kakapenpen
), and
Hevea brasiliensis
,
pararubber.
