Poverty Dimensions of Public Governance and Forest Management ...

18
farming methods and inputs at Kokoago has led to equally high rates of short fallows. Low land
pressures are not necessarily associated with long fallows (for example, at Kokoago 39 percent of
farmers use short fallows of 1-2 years and at Subinso 23 percent of farmers used 1-2 year
fallows). In the settlements in the parkland zone where yam farming is of prime importance, short
fallows are rare (only 5 percent of Nsawkaw , 10 percent of Weila and 14 percent of Mansie farm
plots were previously fallowed for short periods of 1-2 years).
There also seems to be some evidence of matching crops to land and to fallow intervals on the
land. This is reflected in the high percentages of monocrop cassava grown with short fallows and
the high percentages of yam (usually intercropped with cassava) grown with medium-long
fallows (see Figure 4.2 and Table 4.2). However, there is no direct correlation between cropping
and fallow systems, since many farmers have sufficient land to allow for fallows of at least 3-6
years.
Factors other than soil restoration are also important in decisions as to length of fallows,
including build up of pests and weeds in the soil. This is a critical influence on yam production
methods, for example.
4.1.6 Population and Land Tenure
Land tenure regimes in the Brong Ahafo are conditioned by its comparatively low population
densities. Two distinct regimes are evident, corresponding to the variable ecology:
1. Family lands system: In the high forest areas, considerable labour needs to be invested in land
clearance. Once land has been cleared, there are pressures to maintain it, and a family land
system is likely to develop. ‘Intensification’ of this type is not necessarily the result of land
shortage as such, but rather reflects the impact of labour constraints on farmer decision
making.
2. Bush fallow system: Woodland areas are not so difficult to clear of their woody biomass,
though grasses can be problematic. The thinner organic matter of the parkland soils needs to
be tilled and organic matter built up. Labour intensive mounding techniques have been
developed. Such areas are prone to dry season bush fires, however, and under these
conditions, a store of invested labour cannot be easily maintained within the cleared fallows.
The major labour inputs are not in transforming woody vegetation, but in tilling the savanna
soils. Farmers move freely from area to area within the lands where their settlement claims
rights of ownership, clearing the most suitable regenerated land for their yam farms.
18