Forest Products, Livelihoods and Conservation

Dominic Blay 29

Banso

Banso is a large village with a population of about 2,000 far up the Ankobra

River about 10 miles from Draw River Forest Reserve. Access to Banso is poor,

as the only road is impassable for large parts of the year. The river is the only

other means of transport. A motorised boat plies it at least once a week and

many villagers have their own canoes. The main economic activities are

subsistence farming, coconut and palm fruit production and the distilling of

akpeteshie (local gin), which occupies many men full time. Farming is primarily

a woman’s task, men being responsible only for land clearing.

Betinasi

Betinasi, also with a population of around 2,000 people, is located further up

the Ankobra River north of Banso and borders the Draw River Forest Reserve.

The village is extremely isolated. It is two hours from Banso by river with

canoe as the main means of transport. There are no basic services in the

village such as a school or health post. Most people are subsistence farmers

and rely heavily on the forest for subsistence goods.

Nkwanta

Nkwanta is a growing village located to the west of Prestea, a thriving mining

town and the nearest urban market, and a few miles from the Fure River

Forest Reserve. The settlement has a population of around 3,000 people. Access

to market is fairly good and the road is passable during all but the worst of the

rainy season. Although the natives of Nkwanta are Wassas, in the last 10 years

the population has become more cosmopolitan so that outsiders now outnumber

natives. The main economic activities are food crop and cocoa farming, cane

Photo 1. Raw logs of Garcinia spp. prior to cutting into billets (Photo by D. Blay)

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