Poverty Dimensions of Public Governance and Forest Management ...

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clearing, but outside of two settlements (Subinso and Kokoago), few farmers make investments in
high input technologies.
Annex 2 presents detailed case studies of the four main study areas.
4.1.16 Fallow tree resources and agriculture
In the environmental policy literature in Ghana, the Brong Ahafo region is frequently portrayed
as a zone prone to desertification, in which savanna is advancing and forest retreating, largely as a
result of human intervention and farming practices.
This literature makes no attempt to differentiate between the diverse environments within Brong
Ahafo, and the different tree resources found there. Two basic types of tree formations exist in
the area, each with its distinct tree species:
a) dry semi-deciduous forest
Dominates in the south of the transition zone, and also occurs in riverine areas as gallery forests
and on the sites of old settlements. Mosaics of savanna grassland and parkland also exist in this
zone, which may reflect relicts of earlier transformations of the environment, or which may relate
to edaphic features. Tree species are often larger, taller, less numerous, more vulnerable to fire
and other stresses and less able to regenerate from coppice and root shoots than those in savanna
woodland.
b) savanna woodland
This is characteristic of the more northerly areas. Tree cover is interspersed with grasslands
dominated by Andropogon spp. Gallery forests with typical semi-deciduous pioneer species occur
in riverine areas. Tree species tend to be smaller, more numerous, robust, and drought-resistant,
to be fire resistant and able to regenerate from coppice regrowth, root shoots and suckers.
In both areas, trees are valued by farmers in bush fallowing systems as playing important roles
on-farm and farmers preserve some tree varieties on their farms (the preferred species are
reviewed in Annex 2.6 of this report).
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