Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Other taboos or laws of prohibition include the following:
•
certain forests are not to be entered into on certain days because of beliefs that
the spirit being in those forests is roaming around at the time
•
some animals are considered sacred or totem organisms and they are not to be
hunted (Adarkwa-Dadzie, 1999; Telly, 1999; Voado, 1999)
•
particular types of farm implements are not to be used because they impact
negatively on the soil and tear roots
•
snails are not to be picked at night because, being nocturnal, a whole population
of snails may be out to feed and could be decimated
•
certain types of food crops are not to be harvested and eaten until the per-
formance of some rituals by the whole community
•
in some communities, it is forbidden to farm and fell trees on slopes and in
watershed areas.
The earth is expected to rest or get restored after use in one of the seven days
of the week. During this time no one is allowed to till the land, or fish from the
river. This practice is similar to the Sabbath observation in Christian and Jewish
religions.
Each locality had its own day of rest. In the coastal areas ethnic groups had
taboo days during which there should be no fishing. There is also a long period
during which no fishing is expected to be done in lagoons and other coastal water
bodies. This resting period coincides with the period when the fish in the lagoons
lay their eggs.
Apart from the apparent fear of spirits, which these taboos instilled in the people,
there were also physical sanctions against breaking the taboos. To ensure the propi-
tiation of the spirit, which involved the spilling of blood, the culprit had to offer
sheep and some bottles of schnapps, a liquor. These sanctions were considered deter-
rent to scare people from breaking taboos deliberately.
There was a taboo against the clearing of the vegetation right up to the edges
of streams and rivers. The people were aware that this could check excessive
evaporation from the rivers and streams.
Bush fallow farming, shifting cultivation, rotationary agroforestry, com-
pound farming, home gardens, and other low-impact farming systems were
encouraged. Gyasi (1999) considers these farming systems as mimicking the
natural forest ecosystem, inherently self-regenerative, and/or protective of the
soils and biological diversity because of their close adaptation to the local
ecological niches and the natural biophysical environment they are designed to
imitate.
Benneh (1997), while extolling the virtues of shifting cultivation as a good
example of a traditional organic farming system, indicated that the system enjoys
the advantages of:
•
minimizing soil erosion
•
preserving agrobiodiversity
•
maintaining ecological stability
