Sankore - Sankore Foundation Indigenous Knowledge Study

GHANA REGIONAL PROFILE
Ghana, the gateway to West Africa, is boarded by the Ivory Coast, Burkina Foso, Togo, and the Guinean Sea. Ghana has a population of 18 million people. The capital Accra is situated on the coast in southern Ghana and is very tropical. In contrast, Northern Ghana is very dry. Temperatures in Ghana are around 14 – 42 degrees Celsius. There are two main season’s in Ghana the raining season which brings windy days between April – October and the hamaltan season which brings about cool winds in the night, however temperatures get hotter in February and March.

Southern Ghana has more rains than Northern Ghana, resulting in more fertile land and green environment with high forests. Northern Ghana consists of Savannah landscape with savannah woodlands. However northern Ghana has short and drought resistant trees with large rocky outcrops, such as shea-nut, dawadawa, and baobab, which are very important economic and medicinal resources for the north.

One overriding aspect of Ghana is that Southern Ghana had education hundred years before northern Ghana. This resulted in the people of the south having long been affected by money, a better economy, Western education, and Christianity. Resources are finite and this phenomenon has left northern Ghana less developed and with much higher poverty rates. However, the Western focus on the south has left the rich indigenous culture largely unadulterated, historic, and mystic. Northern Ghana consist of three regions, Northern, Upper East and Upper West Region of Ghana For more information on tangible gifts, scholarships, and sponsorship opportunities, please CONTACT US .

NORTHERN REGION

People of various ethnic groups inhabit northern region. However, the Dagomba’s custodians of Dagbon founded by Naa Gbewa inhabit Tamale, the regional capital. Dagomba’s speak Dagbanli and their paramount chief is entitled Ya-Naa who lives in Yendi the largest village in West Africa. Yendi is 99 – 100km east of Tamale.

The region has a total land area of about 70,384-km, which is 29% of the land area of Ghana. It is located between latitude 8 30” and 30” N and lies completely in the Savannah belt. It has Togo, La cote D’ Ivories to the East and West respectively, as it international neighbors. Further south, the region shares boundaries with Brong Ahafo and Volta Region and to the north, it shares borders with the two Upper Regions. It is divided into eighteen political/administrative districts headed by the District Chief Executives. The districts are further subdivided into local council zones.

Climate
This is tropical with temperatures ranging from a low of 14 degrees Celsius night temperature during the harmattan season to as high as 42 degree Celsius during the hot dry season. The rains begin lightly in April and rise steadily to peak in August – September and gradually decline by the end of October. The dry harmattan winds engulf the whole region between December and February. In recent years, the rains have been starting late, in May and peaking in September – October.

Population Characteristics
The 2000 census report puts the populations of the region 1,820,806 at a growth rate of 2.9 per anum the estimated population as at 2005 is 2,090,400.

This population is characteristically distributed in small settlements with populations of 200 – 500 people. There are over 5,000 settlements in the region, out of which 54.4% have populations less than 200 people. The distances between settlements are far apart.

Economic Activities
Poverty is high and widespread and many cannot afford the cost of basic health services. Agriculture remains the predominant sector. With over 90% of the productive age group being petty farmers. Mechanized agriculture is possible on this terrain although limited in practice because of high cost of inputs. However, the peasant farmers produce the bulk of the cereals, tubers and groundnuts in the region. Shea - nut is the most important cash crop in the region.

Cotton ginnery is perhaps the only industrial sector with a high out-put level and lately mango production. Not withstanding the low activity in this occupation the establishment of the intermediate Technology Transfer unit has been a booster to entrepreneurs who depend on it for the manufacture of spares, tools etc. for their light industries. Leather tanning is also done on a large scale. A number of mining activities have sprung in some districts, notably Bole but hit is still on a low scale.

General Infrastructure
The state of the roads in the region is generally bad. The only stretches that are tarred are the Buipe through Tamale – Bolgatanga as well as Tamale – Yendi stretches.

There has been a significant improvement in telecommunication over the past four years; most of the district capitals can now be reached by telephone.

UPPER EAST REGION

Upper East Region is located in the eastern part of northern Ghana. Burkina Faso bound it in the north. It covers an area of 8,842sq.km and has a population of 920,089. The Gruhi, Bulsa, Grushi and Kusasi tribes inhabit upper East region. The regional capital Bolgatanga is inhabited by the Gruhi who speak Grune and their paramount chief is entitled (Bolga Naba) who lives in the capital town. In Bolga you have Christianity, Islam and Traditional religions as the main religions.

Bolga
Bolga the upper east capital is 100 miles from tamale and shares a boarder with Burkina Faso, Bolga, through small tourist attraction areas e.g. Paga crocodile pond, Pikworo slave camp, Tongo hills etc. Houses in Bolga are mainly story high concrete aluminium roofing sheets. In the capital you have electricity and pipe borne water. Access to health centers, Markets, shops, Internet café and schools in Bolga are not a problem. You also have access to commercial transport set-ups at very affordable prices.

Climate
The combination of low altitude and the proximity to the Equator gives Ghana a typical tropical climate. Due to the location, Ghana does not expericience different seasons, like Europe or North America. Within Northern Ghana climate, two different periods divide the weather circumstances. Starting with the raining season, which takes off in April and continues upto September, with an annual rainfall of approximately 1100 mm. The Harmattan, the dusty and dry dessertwinds from the Sahara, follow up on the rainseason around November and can last upto late March, merging together with the dry season, which brings heath both in day and night time. During the dry season, temperature will easily hit 35 degrees celcius and rising during daytime with about 20-25 degrees celcius during the nights. The raining season usually brings refreshment with lower temperatures.

Population Characteristics
The 2000 census report puts the populations of the region 1,820,806 at a growth rate of 2.9 per anum the estimated population as at 2005 is 2,090,400.

The Upper Region is part of the northern region which is the largest of the 10 regions of the country in terms of landmass, occupying 70,384 square kilometres and accounting for 29.5 per cent of the total land area of Ghana

Economic Activities
Poverty is high and widespread and many cannot afford the cost of basic health services. Agriculture remains the predominant sector. With over 90% of the productive age group being petty farmers. Mechanized agriculture is possible on this terrain although limited in practice because of high cost of inputs. However, the peasant farmers produce the bulk of the cereals, tubers and groundnuts in the region. Shea - nut is the most important cash crop in the region.

Cotton ginnery is perhaps the only industrial sector with a high out-put level and lately mango production. Not withstanding the low activity in this occupation the establishment of the intermediate Technology Transfer unit has been a booster to entrepreneurs who depend on it for the manufacture of spares, tools etc. for their light industries. Leather tanning is also done on a large scale. A number of mining activities have sprung in some districts, notably Bole but hit is still on a low scale.

General Infrastructure
The state of the roads in the region is generally bad. The only stretches that are tarred are the Buipe through Tamale – Bolgatanga as well as Tamale – Yendi stretches.

There has been a significant improvement in telecommunication over the past four years; most of the district capitals can now be reached by telephone.

UPPER WEST REGION
The upper west region, which is also the youngest region of Ghana with a total land area of 18,476km square and a population of 573,860, is in the extreme west fringes of northern Gahana. The Wales, Dagabers and Sisalas inhabit the regional capital Wa. The regional capital Wa is inhabited by the Wales who speak wali and their paramount chief is known as “Wa Naa”. In Wa, there is a freedom of worship so you can be a Muslim, Christian or a traditional worshiper.

Wa
Wa is 150-km drive from Tamale. Wa had over 300-years long slave trade, which left landmarks in many places. Cultural routs have sites such caves, hypo sanctuary and mystery foot and fringe prints of trees and rocks. Health centers, markets, shops, and has a lot of development projects on going.

HOW PEOPLE OF NORTHERN GHANA LIVE
There are many communities in Ghana, and each community has its own culture. Some of the culture is similar whiles others are slightly different. You can tell the difference in culture by the language, dress, food ect.

Language
Northern Ghana has about twenty languages, and you can tell the community of a Ghanaian if you know his language. Four of the languages are written and studied in our schools. The four are Dagbani, Gonja, Dagaare/wale and Kasem. However there is in every home at list one person that speaks English or Hausa. Dress

Most northerners wear cloth, which is the traditional wear. Men wear smock and batakari and the women there wear the torso. Northerners will dress in these clothes when outing or at ceremonies. However it is very important to dress properly. Bare thighs and hip are a taboo, so people do not wear short or transparent clothes. Northern women also wear beads around their waist and must always wear earrings.

Food
We have different types of food in Ghana. In the three Northern Regions, tuo zaafi (saam) and Kapal (fufu) are the most common food. Food is highly respected in the northern tradition, to exhibit this the youngest person in a group of people eating together must always hold the bowl of food whilst eating. Northerners share their food with their neighbors and visitors, so food is always in excess.

Friendship
Ghanaians love meeting people and playing games together. And northerners are very friendly. You do not need to ask one to be his or her friend, just by meeting a person once or twice makes the person your friend. Ghanaians visit each other as often as possible without appointments or invitation.

Games
Most Ghanaian games have songs that go with them. The songs make the games interesting. These games are mainly played at night, especially when the moon is up. Also both adults and children play games.

Music
Ghanaians love music. They show their feelings and actions through songs, drumming and dancing. You can tell whether a Ghanaian is happy or sad when he sings or dances. Most of these songs go with drumming and dancing. Some are those sung on occasions such as funerals, festivals, marriage or naming ceremonies ect. Others are sung in our story telling. Some of our jobs have songs that go with them. Fishermen, for example, enjoy pulling their nets with music and some farmers sing while weeding

Dancing
Dancing usually goes with most Ghanaian music. There are different types of dances in Ghana. For example, in Northern Regions we have simpa, damba, poone, and a lot more.

Religion
Generally, the Ghanaian believes there is God, but different Ghanaians have different ways in which they understand that there is God. There are three main forms of religion; Traditional, Christian and Islamic.

THE SOCIAL SYSTEM

Living Together
In the Ghanaian society, people find it important to live together, Even young children learn to know that they need to live together. In the olden days, when there were many community wars, the people lived together to protect each other. When they were united, it was difficult for the enemies to defeat them. That is why we still want to live together.

Members of a community come together to do work. This is known as communal labor. All members of the community take part in it. Those who do not take part in it are bad citizens. Both men and women are encouraged to be hard working. They are taught to love their community. Children are also advised to play together. Parents advise their children to share things such as food and meat with their brothers, sister and playmates. A child who shares his things is a good one. If a person wants to be alone we say he doesn’t like other people, and that is not good.

Most of our Ghanaian culture can be seen through the following: the clan, the village, good manners and a lot more.

The Clan
Every Ghanaian belongs to a clan. Different communities have different names for a clan. Northerners belong to their father’s clan and the southerners belongs to their mothers clan

The Extended Family (Relatives)
In every home, a father, a mother and their children form a family. In Ghana, other relatives are also members of the family e.g. aunties, uncles, cousins, grandparents and grand children all live together as one family.

GREETINGS AND GOOD MANNERS

Greetings
Greetings are very important in Ghana. When a person fails to greet, Ghanaians say he is not friendly or not polite. Such a person has no respect for others, or maybe he has not been trained well. Greetings bring people together. In Ghana, a person does not greet only those he knows. A good Ghanaian greets anybody, whether he is familiar or not. When a younger person greets an older person, the older responds and asks how you are? Usually younger people do not ask older people how they are? Unless they know the older person is not well. In northern societies, the older person greets first. When a person enters a house or goes to a place, he has to greet first. At other places he is welcomed first before he greets.

Every greeting has its response. The greetings and the responses bring the two people closer together. It is really bad if a person fails to respond to a greeting. When one fails to respond to a greeting, it may mean that that person has offended the other. Greetings are important when we want to bring peace between people. When two people quarrel, older people try to bring them together. They make sure the two people shake hands and greet each other any time they meet or see each other.

The Use of the Left Hand
It is generally good to greet or shake hands with right hand, and not the left hand even to eat. We do not use the left to do anything, especially before an older person. When we use the left-hand people think we do not respect them. Our elders believe that the left hand is not clean. For example, it is not good to use the left hand to point something out to people, or make a sign to call people. If we have to use the left hand because the right hand is busy, we have to say, I am sorry to use left hand, and we have to explain why.

Respect for Chiefs and Older People
In some Ghanaian societies a younger person with a hat or cap on must not greet a chief or an older person. We have to remove our hats or caps when greeting such people. We also have to remove our sandals when going into a room or to a chief place. There are other things, which it is important to know in our society. For example, men in cloth who want to greet or speak to chiefs or elders need to pull their cloth down from their shoulders. They also have to remove one sandal. In some communities, we would have to bend, or kneel and in some places, we even have to lie down flat on our stomach in front of the chief or the elders down flat on our stomach in front of the chief or the elders we are greeting or talking to.

Again, when adults are conversing, children are not allowed to take part unless they are invited to do so. Children should also note that it is good for them to give their seats to adults when it is necessary. They must help adults, especially the old men and women, in all ways. For example, when children see adults carrying loads they must help them.

The Use of Please and Thank you
In every Ghanaian language we have ways of saying please and thank you. Ghanaians begin asking questions with please. If they are able to get what they want or not, they say thank you.

Insults
We may insult people by using words or actions. Both are bad. WORDS
Ghanaians do not like to insult or to be insulted. We usually feel disgraced and annoyed when we are insulted, especially in public.We also feel bad if someone tells us that what we have said is an insult. We do not use certain words in the communities.

For example, we should not call people sheep goats or pigs etc. It is also an insult to say look at his head/his mouth/his leg etc. Theses are also insults.

Actions
We can use parts of the body to insult. For example, we can insult a person by clenching the fingers, and leaving the thumb standing out to point to a person. We may wink the eyes, etc. If you do not need enemies, do not insult people. Smile and love all.