30 Dental hygiene and livelihoods: a case of chewing sticks in Ghana
basket weaving, cane and chewing stick log collection and hunting. Traders
come from Accra and Kumasi as well as nearby markets for food and non-
timber forest products.Harvesting and trade
The average household size in the raw material production area is five to six
people. Around 90% of the households of the region are involved in the
harvesting of logs and within these households, almost all the able bodied
young men take part in the harvesting of chewing sticks. Thus while the age
group involved in harvesting ranges from 10 to 50 years, the active group is
between 20 and 40 years. The collection process does not require any particular
skill or high level of education and most of the collectors have attained only a
basic school education. The average daily wage for harvesting is US$0.90 and
the average annual income from harvesting ranges from US$300 to US$400,
with 80% earning between US$300 and US$390. Thus the income level of the
majority of harvesters is around the average national annual income of US$390.
Households engaged in harvesting do not earn any other income from forest
products. Hence the degree to which the product contributes to household
forest product income is 100 percent. However, all of the harvesters engage in
subsistence farming and this provides around 20% of total household income.
The income of many harvesters has been steadily declining because of
overexploitation, which has resulted in decreased density of the species as
well as a reduction in large individuals. Many people in the local and urban
communities regard the harvesting of chewing sticks as a ‘menial activity’, in
common with most forest-related activities, and therefore generally hold the
workers in low esteem.Processing
The processing of raw logs into chewing sticks basically consists of peeling the
bark off the logs and cutting them into billets of about 30 cm. Each billet is
then split into pieces of about 2 cm to 5 cm and put into small bundles of
about 20 to 30 pieces, the number depending on the amount the bundle will
be sold for. Hence, the processing of the logs into the final product requires
very little transformation and the value of the forest product in the finished
product is around 95%.
There are two categories of chewing stick processors. First order processors
process the cut stems and branches into round logs while second order
processors split the round logs into small shards for consumption. The first
order processors are male and they comprise around 15% of the total number
of processors. The second order processors make up the remaining 85% of the
total number of processors and these are mostly females. First order processors
can earn between US$300 and US$800 annually, second order processors,
between US$200 and US$500.
In Kumasi, nsokor logs are purchased daily at wholesale stations located
near production sites in markets and certain designated areas. First order
processors, normally working in two-man teams, cut the logs into billets that02chewingsticks.p65 30 22/12/2004, 11:04