CHAPTER 5 Community well-being in Ghana: an African perspective

CHAPTER 5

Community well-being in Ghana: an African perspective

Bernard Yangmaadome Guri and Bas Verschuuren

This chapter tells the story of well-being in the Forikrom community through its search for conservation and revitalization of sacred caves as part of the development of an ecotourism and environmental restoration project. The community applies the endogenous develop-ment approach and is supported by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD), a Ghanaian NGO. The focus of the chapter is to demonstrate that different well-being assessment approaches and methods have been applied and how these helped both the community and the NGO to a better understanding of the changes in commu-nity well-being before and after the development projects.

Keywords: community well-being, biocultural landscapes, endogenous development, well-being assessment, Ghana, Africa, sacred sites

Humans have venerated nature for thousands of years and this particular spiritual aspect of the environment has evolved with human well-being over countless generations. Sacred natural sites are natural features or areas of land and water that have special spiritual signifi-cance to people (Wild and McLeod, 2008). They can be forests or a single tree, a mountain, or a whole mountain range, but in the case of the Forikrom community in western Ghana it is a complex of caves set in rocky outcrops. These sacred natural sites are also directly linked to the spiritual well-being of the communities that have cultural responsibilities for looking after them. Surprisingly, sacred natural sites are increasingly known for the high levels of biodiversity that have been preserved on their environs, especially in India and Africa (Dudley et al., 2010). Often the surrounding landscapes have suffered from human impacts leaving sacred natural sites as nodes of hope for restoration of bioculturally diverse landscapes (Verschuuren et al., 2010; Guri, 2012). As we will see, this is also the case in Forikrom where agricultural pressure on the landscape and the sacred caves complex is increasing. Moreover, sacred natural sites are of critical importance to the conservation of biodiversity not only at the local but also at the national level, and this is especially true for a country like Ghana which is covered with sacred groves that include significant tracts of land that are not officially part of the protected area system or the state forests (Ormsby, 2012a). In many instances these cultural mechanisms are under pressure from cultural change and globalization. Tourism is one of such pressures but can also be a

http://dx.doi.org/10.3362/9781780448374.005

GHANA: AN AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE 79

saviour of these fragile places by generating economic and educational benefits (Ormsby and Edelman, 2010; Ormsby, 2012b). The case described here is revitalization of the sacred caves of Forikrom through the development of an ecotourism and environmental resto-ration project, one of the seven projects implemented by CIKOD in the ETC-COMPAS programme on endogenous development 2007–2011. In this chapter we take a closer look at how these projects have affected the community’s perceptions on well-being and we especially focus on the spiritual dimension that play an important role in the conservation of the sacred caves of the Forikrom community.

The sacred caves of the Forikrom communityThe sacred caves of Forikrom have been central to the community’s well-being throughout the ages and as such they are swathed in history and legend. One cave served as a refuge for people in times of war. Another is the site of a cemetery of the village’s ancestors, while a third is famed as a place to pray for rain in times of drought. They have long been a site for meditation and worship, and for ritual cleansing to remove curses. They used to attract a trickle of visitors – both local people and outsiders – who climbed the winding, rocky paths up through the forest from the village.

Nowadays, more and more people from outside the area are coming to Forikrom to see the caves, many of them Christian pilgrims. So many pilgrims come today that it is safe to say that on top of the traditional values, the caves have grown into a significant Christian pilgrimage destination and are increasingly showing the potential to become an important source of income for the villagers. Like so many other tourist developments, the people of Forikrom find it a challenge to manage the visitors and the area so that the natural, religious and cultural character of the area is not harmed, and in such a way that everyone in the community benefits.

This was not always so and the changes towards maintaining the spiritual values of the area while creating income are the result of an intervention project run by the Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development (CIKOD) as part of the ETC-COMPAS programme on endogenous development in Africa. CIKOD introduced the Forikrom community to the concept of endogenous development, which helps them to recognize and appreciate their local resources – spiritual, social, material, and natural – as a starting point for community development (COMPAS, 2007). The community then reflected on how they could use the caves as a resource for eco-cultural tourism to attract worshippers and tourists and bring economic gains to the community.

On the road from Techiman at the entrance

to Forikrom stands a sign to draw visitors to the traditional

and now Christian sacred

caves and mountains of

the community.

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80 COMMUNITY WELL-BEING IN BIOCULTURAL LANDSCAPES

Figure 5.1 A map of Ghana with the location of the Forikrom community

Source: adapted from Wikimedia Commons, 2004

Planning to use the resourcesNana Kwaw Adams, a local sub-chief, invited CIKOD to help the villagers identify ways to develop the village in a sustainable way. Staff of CIKOD and the NGO Sacred Natural Sites Initiative (SNSI) interviewed Nana Kwaw Adams (see online videos: CIKOD, 2011; SNSI, 2012). A CIKOD team first met with the village chiefs and elders, and then a forum of all 500 villagers took place, during which the endogenous development approach was explained (COMPAS, 2007).

The villagers drew a big map of resources in the area on the ground in front of the chief’s palace. The map showed the forests, fields, streams, roads, and houses – as well as shrines and the sacred caves. The villagers also mapped and described social and spir-itual resources, such as the clan and family systems and religious festivals and ceremonies. The methodology used by CIKOD is described as Community Organization Development (COD)

(Guri et al., 2010; Guri, 2010). It is important to realize that many of these resources have tangible as well as intangible links to the ecosystem and that is what helps identify the indicators for resilient biocultural landscapes (Bergamini et al., 2013).

The CIKOD team then asked the villagers to imagine what they wanted Forikrom to look like in 10 years’ time. In other words this was a call that appealed to the community’s vision for well-being. A lot of people said they hoped for electricity; others wanted to improve their farming. Some people suggested developing the caves as a source of income. This idea stuck and with the road from Techiman recently being asphalted, and rising numbers of visitors coming to the caves, the community started to think about how the village as a whole could benefit from developing the caves sustainably.

Following this visioning exercise, CIKOD helped the villagers develop an action plan to turn their ideas into reality, building on the resources the community had identified together. The plan also included approaches to various other organizations to seek support for the


project. It is worth noting that the experience of CIKOD and other African ETC-COMPAS partners has helped streamline the endogenous development approach (Millar et al., 2008). These experiences also resulted in an African methodology for endogenous devel-opment (COMPAS, 2011).

The Forikrom Council of Elders, which is made up of the heads of the seven clans in the village, asked the Abrono Organic Farmers Project (ABOFAP), a local community organi-zation, to coordinate the work. ABOFAP approached the United Nations Development Programme’s Global Environment Facility (UNDP-GEF) to engage the community in an effort to revitalize and conserve the caves, rejuvenate the sacred forests, protect wildlife, and put in place proper management systems as well as to develop and run a centre for community ecotourism. UNDP-GEF provided some funds to start a tree nursery, build paths into the hills up to the caves, and construct a small visitor and demonstration centre and an office on the edge of the village.

Managing the cavesABOFAP manages the visitor centre. It employs a receptionist to register visitors and sell entrance tickets for the caves. The charge is two cedi per person (approximately $1) which pays for running the centre, as well as for a guide to take the visitors up to the caves and explain their history and significance. ABOFAP organized the training of several young men and women to act as guides. However, it was found that there was not enough work to keep them all employed on a full-time basis, so they had to move on to other jobs. This was a development that had not been anticipated by the project management and the guides were disappointed that their expectations were not met.

The local Akan people regard one day of the week as a ‘taboo day’, when farm work is prohib-ited. In the Forikrom area this day is Tuesday, so on certain Tuesdays throughout the year, ABOFAP organizes the young people to plant trees from the nursery around the caves to replace those that have been lost to fire and to restore the environment and make it more attractive for flora and fauna as well as visitors.

Fire remains a danger. Especially during the dry season, the long grass around the area catches fire easily. ABOFAP has recruited people from the community to spot fires, raise the alarm, and beat them out before they can spread. Every year, this voluntary fire brigade removes a strip of vegetation around the forest to act as a fire break. The local fire service has trained the volunteers how to prevent and tackle fires.

Taxi drivers and traders benefit directly from the flow of visitors. Several residents

Many traditional healers derive

their plants and materials from the landscape

surrounding the traditional area

of the sacred mountains

of Forikrom community.

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of Forikrom have bought taxis to serve tourists, religious visitors, and other travellers. Taxi drivers from Techiman, a regional town about 10 km to the west from Forikrom, also bring in visitors. Local women set up stalls in the village centre to sell cooked meals and snacks to visitors during their visit. Most Ghanaian visitors like to buy locally grown food crops such as yams, cassava, plantains and maize, aubergines, tomatoes, okra and pepper, which are cheaper than in the market in town. Some traders sell palm wine, beer and apeteshi (a distillate derived from palm wine). The farmers who grow the crops and the people who make the drinks also benefit from increased sales.

Benefits

SpiritualThe Christians who visit the area often stay in camps organized by their churches. The groups use the area to pray and set up camp or stay overnight in one of the caves. These activities fit into a Christian tradition of hermitages and seeking solitude. However, the area currently lacks the appropriate facilities, especially sanitary services, to be able to receive such high levels of visitors.

Nonetheless, the profits from the ticket sales from the visitor centre are substantial and go into a community fund managed by the Council of Elders. The fund is used for develop-ment projects in the village such as the purchase and placement of electricity poles. The village was finally connected to the national power grid in 2008, fulfilling one of the aspira-tions many people had expressed in their community vision.

The community has reserved most of the caves further away from the community centre for traditional rituals. An area closer to the community, known as the Holy Mountain, has been designated for use by Christians. This cave is a popular Sunday destination for Christian worshippers and pastors from churches in and around the larger nearby town of Techiman. Members of these congregations come to the holy mountain cave to pray for healing. Large groups of such people often hire lorries to bring them to Forikrom. The community charges such groups one cedi per person. Over time, however, it has proven increasingly difficult to collect the fees because the people bypass the local office and the receptionist is no longer comfortable going out for the collection of entry fees. Many religious visitors feel that it is their sacred site and that they should not be charged to visit it. In many cases they are not sensitive to the local protocols and litter the place or stay overnight illegally without taking or recognizing responsibility for keeping the place clean. Indeed, lots of visitors mean lots of litter. Initially ABOFAP organized groups of young people every Sunday evening to pick up the litter, bring it to one place, and burn it. This approach worked for some time but visitor levels increased and most visitors stopped using the bins provided. Currently the litter is disproportionately affecting the visitor experience and the nearby farm fields. New ways of management are required to tackle the problem.


Material One of the caves has another benefit for the community. Hundreds of bats stay there, leaving a thick layer of droppings on the cave floor. These droppings provide a renewable source of excellent fertilizer. ABOFAP trains farmers how to mix this manure with crop residues and kitchen waste to make compost, and how to use the compost to grow lettuce, aubergines and other high-value vegetables, as well as staples such as maize and cocoyam. ABOFAP restricts the amount of manure that can be removed from the cave to make sure it is used in a sustainable way. This helps farmers avoid overharvesting the bat drop-pings and prevents them from having to buy expensive fertilizers. Recently agricul-tural practices have been expanding with a growing population of young people in the community seeking to cultivate land. The demand for fertilizer is also increasing and the thick layer of bat droppings has reduced to the level where the local popu-lation of bats can no longer meet the needs for fertilizer. The increasing quest for land also puts pressure on other resources such as forests that are used by the traditional healers as a source of medicinal plants.

Assessing well-beingIn applying the endogenous development approach, three types of information were gath-ered, followed by triangulation by an independent researcher (see Figure 5.2):

most significant change stories;self-assessment quantitative survey; video documentation of change stories.

CIKOD trained five community members as story collectors and to do the self-assessment survey. The story collectors came from the various villages where CIKOD was collaborating on other intervention projects. The collectors conducted and facilitated all the interviews for the change stories and the self-assessment quantitative survey. A professional film-maker made the videos. He first interviewed the people who had contributed the stories, then went with them into the field to shoot footage. The resulting video from Forikrom can be seen at CIKOD TV, CIKOD’s YouTube channel (CIKOD, 2011). CIKOD also tested the UNU-IAS framework on community well-being introduced in Chapter 2, based on Subramanian and Pisupati (2009).

Bote shrine is a cave in the

traditional area of the sacred

mountain complex at

Forikrom community. The cave is used for rituals and the bat droppings

found here are used as a

fertilizer on the surrounding

fields.

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Most signifi cant change stories: a qualitative approachAs a fi rst step, CIKOD staff defi ned the domains for collecting the change stories from six locations (with multiple villages) in two regions where CIKOD implements the endogenous development approach, Upper West Region and Brong Ahafo Region. In this chapter we focus on the latter.

Domain areas for the Brong Ahafo Region (where Forikrom is located) included:

Badu: capacity to design community development activities in the community after three-year modular training;Forikrom: capacity to mobilize local resources for eco-cultural tourism after COD training;Tromeso: changes in capacities to revitalize their traditional medicine practices;Hansua: changes in the capacity of the queens to mobilize the community for preven-tion, care and campaign against stigma in HIV/AIDS.

These different communities and domain areas show the breadth of the application of the endogenous development approach as applied by CIKOD in Ghana. For this chapter, we focus on the eco-cultural tourism intervention in Forikrom.

Figure 5.2 Triangulation evaluation method used in Forikrom

Quantitative scoring ofcommunity capacity

changes for endogenousdevelopment by the

community facilitated by CIKOD

Qualitativeassessment of

change stories byForikrom community

Visualdocumentation ofchange stories by

professional filmmaker(see www.cikod.org)

Researcherview


The local story collectors were trained in using the most significant change stories tech-niques developed by Davies and Dart (2005). They subsequently carried out the exercises, asking respondents to think of the most significant change that had taken place in the community as a result of the project intervention. The survey team interviewed 24 indi-viduals: four male elders, four female elders, four male adults, four female adults, four young men, and four young women. The interviews followed an interview guide following a simple format also based on Davies and Dart (2005):

1. What do you know about the organization (CIKOD)?2. How long have you been associated with CIKOD?3. As far as you remember, what programmes has CIKOD implemented in your community?4. In your opinion, what are the most significant changes that have taken place since

then?5. Why do you say so?6. What is the influence of CIKOD in that change?7. What name would you like to give to this story?

This method allowed the respondents to explain how the project has influenced their lives, and enabled the interviewer to probe for details. The interviewers recorded the stories and, if necessary, they went back to the respondents to check on items that might have been missed the first time round. Below is the change story of Nana Kwaw Adams.

My name is Nana Kwaw Adams, am I fifty-four years old, born on the 6th of October 1956. I am the Twafoohene [chief] of Forikrom, under the Techiman traditional area. I am a farmer and also have a small NGO, called Abrono Organic Farming Project [ABOFAP], a commu-nity-based organization of which I am working as a development worker. I know CIKOD is working with indigenous institutions like chiefs and queens. CIKOD came to Forikrom to train groups on community institutional mapping. I was one of the team members. We did local group discussions with churches, traditional authorities, and indigenous groups and did the institutional commu-nity mapping. After CIKOD left we started from there. CIKOD supported in many ways on environment and forest management. CIKOD has even trained me as a chief in natural resource and conflict management. We selected leaders of different groups to brainstorm and prioritize the needs of the commu-nity. After we identified the needs, we came out with action plan. CIKOD also helped us to identify the institutions and resources. CIKOD has opened the eyes of the Forikrom community since they showed us where we can get support.

Nana Kwaw Adams, the Twafoohene

(chief) of Forikrom

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We now can sit down and plan for ourselves. We get additional income and employment for the people in the community. We have electricity, enjoy television and cold water. We also had learning and sharing [LeSa] training from CIKOD where Forikrom community liaises with Ha-ve community in the Volta region of Ghana. When CIKOD exited, we have continued sharing experiences with them.

When all the stories had been collected, the interviewers transcribed them and presented them at a forum of the whole community, facilitated a discussion about them, and related them to the community’s worldview.

Self-assessment scores, a quantitative surveyWhile developing the methodology for strengthening endogenous development (COMPAS, 2011) the COMPAS Africa programme partners identified 13 areas necessary for commu-nities to develop their capacity so they can achieve their vision of well-being. CIKOD, together with the community and the evaluators, selected six areas of capacity that were relevant to the Forikrom community:

1. to manage natural resources;2. to promote community livelihood;3. to plan, monitor, assess local initiatives;4. to manage, valorize and revitalize cultural and spiritual resources;5. to negotiate access to external resources;6. for effective local leadership and governance.

The survey team then linked these to the other seven capacity areas. They convened a focus group discussion involving 15 villagers representing a cross-section of Forikrom: male and female; young, adults and elders. The focus group debated each of the capacity areas and reached consensus on one score for each one and the results of this survey are shown in Table 5.1.

The survey made use of images of a tree maturing from a seedling to represent change along a five-point scale (Figure 5.3). The respondents were asked to rate the value of the six community capacities before and after the development intervention. Although the scale had only five points, sometimes the respondents chose an intermediate value (e.g. 4.5) between two of the drawings.

The results of the scoring exercise presented in Table 5.1 have also been plotted in a spider diagram which allows a better visual understanding of the change achieved over the time of development intervention; see Figure 5.4.


Table 5.1 Self-assessment scores before and after CIKOD intervention in Forikrom

Type of capacity Before intervention After intervention Change

MATERIAL

Manage natural resources 2.0 3.5 +1.5

Promote community livelihoods 2.5 4.0 +1.5

Plan, monitor, assess local initiatives 2.0 4.0 +2.0

SOCIAL

Negotiate access to external resources 1.0 4.0 +3.0

Effective local leadership and governance 3.5 4.0 +0.5

SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL

Manage, valorize, revitalize cultural and spiritual resources

2.0 4.0 +2.0

General score by community 2.0 4.0 +2.0General score by independent researcher 2.0 3.0 +1.0

Figure 5.3 The tree seedling scoring method

Source: Wim Hiemstra, based on COMPAS, 2011

1

Embryonic,nascent, dormant

2

Sprouting,emerging

3

Growing, young, butnot yet fruiting, stillneeds nourishment

4

Matured,well-developedwith some fruits

5

Fully mature,and producing

many fruits


Figure 5.4 Graphical representation of the data in Table 5.1

Triangulation: validation of the resultsThe fi ndings derived from these three key sources (most signifi cant change stories, a quan-titative survey, and the video documentation) were followed by a triangulation performed by an independent researcher from the University for Development Studies in Tamale in the north of Ghana. Triangulation is a process in which a piece of information is validated after it has come from at least three different sources (Bernard, 2006). The independent researcher triangulated the various types of evidence that had been gathered and did an independent assessment of the impact of the programmes on the community. The inde-pendent researcher wrote a report based on this analysis. The report was shared with all the relevant stakeholders – the chief and elders of Forikrom, CIKOD, and ETC-COMPAS.

For the community capacity of Forikrom to mobilize local resources for eco-cultural tourism after COD training, the researcher compared the different sources and stated his opinion as follows:

The video and two change stories (one of which is by the same person in the video, Nana Kwaw Adams) are very strong on the building of capacity to mobilize the community. However, in both sources the eco-cultural tourism is only mentioned in one sentence. If

0

1

2

3

4

Managenatural resources

Promotecommunitylivelihoods

Plan, monitor,assess localinitiatives

Negotiate accessto external resources

Effective localleadership and

governance

Manage, valorize,revitalize cultural and

spiritual resources

Before After


capacity domain was broader I would give it 4 (matured), but this capacity is specific to eco-cultural tourism. I gave 3 (growing), because change stories and video show capacity has been built within the community to engage in development projects.

As an overall measure of progress, the independent researcher gave an overall score of 2.0 for the start of the project, and 3.0 at its end. This was lower than the final score of 4.0 chosen by the focus group of Forikrom residents (bottom two rows of Table 5.1).

Applying the UNU-IAS frameworkAfter CIKOD had applied the endogenous development approach, the UNU-IAS frame-work for assessing community well-being was tested. The framework was used by the Forikrom community to assess the implications of their biocultural enterprise – the Forikrom Eco-cultural Tourism project – on the well-being of community members.

MethodologyThe UNU-IAS framework uses some thirty predefined indicators to measure the mate-rial, socio-cultural and spiritual dimensions of community well-being based on scoring by community members based on Subramanian and Pisupati (2009). It asks local people to score the changes in their well-being using for each an indicator on a five-point scale: –2 (steep decline), –1 (moderate decline), 0 (no change), +1 (moderate improvement) and +2 (big improvement); see Table 5.2.

The assessment was carried out through a focus group discussion. The group comprised the chief of the village, the queen mother, four male and four female youth, and five male elders (total of 15 people). This exercise was a follow-up to an earlier exercise with the same group to assess the factors that facilitated their success of the eco-cultural tourism project. Some of them were also involved in the collection of change stories that was carried out by CIKOD earlier in 2010. All members of the group were therefore familiar with the concept of community well-being and the need to describe and monitor this through operational-izing well-being indicators.

The facilitator first explained the purpose of the exercise and the framework that was going to be used, and then suggested a means of structuring the discussion that would form the basis for scoring the indicators. In order to contextualize the framework, participants had to translate the meaning of each indicator in the framework into their own understanding and local vocabulary. The output of the discussions was further analysed and documented into a draft report. At a second meeting of the group, the report was validated, corrections made and gaps filled to come out with this final report. Table 5.2 shows the final commu-nity perceptions on changes in the well-being using the UNU-IAS framework.


Table 5.2 Community perceptions of changes in well-being using the UNU-IAS framework

Indicator Explanation of trend Trend

MATERIAL

Basic needs

1 Food security By-laws on bush burning have improved the fertility of the soilBat protection and preservation have provided organic manure to increase crop yield and food consumption

2

2 Health Health has moderately improved as many herbs have been protected through non-bush-burning by-laws

1

3 Shelter No change as people are not achieving economic benefits yet 0

Security needs

4 Settled lives Somewhat unclear as the control over natural resources is ambiguous

1

5 Economic security Improvement in various waysTaxi drivers from Techiman are making savingsPetty trading has increased along the street

2

6 Alternative economic opportunities A lot more people have entered into petty trading Beekeeping enabled as a result of good environmentSome women are now fishing in the river

2

7 Security from natural risks: insurance to life and property

No formal support scheme, dependent on external family system

2

8 Security from natural risks: access to community funds

Investment fund from UNDP-GEFHave clan tax as social security

2

9 Conservation alternatives: improvement in protection and sustainable use of natural resources

Introduction of by-lawsIncreased respect for customary laws

2

SOCIAL

Belonging needs

10 Social organization: improved number of organized ethnic and social groups

Committee to mange projectEmergence of social groupsChurch association for the holy caves

2

11 Gender equity: improvement in the engagement of women in economic activities and leadership

As a result of the project, women have taken up petty trading, fishing and are now actively participating in decision makingWomen are part of the tourist committee

1

12 Social inclusiveness: access to resources Equal rights of access to resourcesCommunity owns the project, so each citizen has equal access to site, benefit sharing, and contribution of ideas

2

13 Social inclusiveness: access to leadership positions

Positions are open to all who are interested and are competent and qualified

2

14 Access to benefit sharing By-laws have been set to show benefit sharing, the percentage that are apportioned to committees of consent

2



15 Traditional institutions and governance Traditional leaders and institutions in place and well respected:

serve as custodians of culture and heritageshave power to support and back a projecthighest decision authority in the communityare able to manage and ensure development able to monitor projects and initiate projectsfreely gave out the lands for a tourist project to the community

2

16 Regulation over resources Somewhat present. Nananom people own the land but state has control over resources underneath

1

17 Autonomy over economic activities Enterprises and economic ventures are owned by individuals

2

18 Autonomy over local governance Local governance shared between traditional authorities and formal local government institutions

1

19 Education: improvement in physical and financial accessibility of educational institutions where members of the community aspire to learn

No change in access to educational institutions 0

20 Confidence: improvement in the ability of the respondent communities to negotiate with external agencies to arrive at mutually desirable outcomes

Community has developed successful partnerships with a few agenciesCommunity has been able to negotiate with forestry department for seedlings for afforestationGEF to support on setting up a tourist office

1

SPIRITUAL AND CULTURAL

Tangible

21 Respect for sacred sites Inadequate personnel to manage the project. Management staff have alternative livelihoods and only render occasional checks

1

22 Respect for totemic species Totemic species varies from clan to clan and they serve as ancestral lineages and clan symbolsThe bats in the cave site are not harvested for anything, it is only their droppings that can be taken after a period for soil fertilization

2

23 Respect for religious, spiritual, cultural and archaeological artefacts

Initiated activities to retrieve and protect heritage 1

Intangible

24 Number of festivals celebrated Forikrom has 3 festivals and all are celebrated by a majority (some Christians do not attend e.g. Appoh Festival)

1

25 Traditional craftsmanship secured Traditional crafts and practitioners are present but nearly all have disappeared. Crafts are not highly pursued

–2

26 Recognition of and respect for religious beliefs

Christianity and Islam are on the increase while spiritualism are less well regarded and respected as a result of the Christian and Islam education

1



27 Peace traditions Traditions exist; co-existence of different religionsNone of these religious beliefs are in conflict as they co-exist and live in harmony

2

28 Language and oral traditions Languages and oral traditions secured and some increase in speakersLocal dialect is used as a medium for communicatingTraditions are secured in the form of telling tales, oral narrations from chiefs, eldersMany young people are able to recount heritage stories and have fair knowledge about their history

2

As CIKOD applied the framework together with the focal group of Forikrom community members, the framework itself was still under revision. UNU-IAS and ETC-COMPAS staff made small changes as a result of testing the framework in Sri Lanka. This also explains why the framework presented in Table 5.2 is different from the final framework presented in Chapter 2.

The discussion below is based on a documented dialogue between CIKOD staff and the COMPAS facilititors that are also part-authors of this chapter and editors of this book. It first offers reflections on the application of the endogenous development approach, then on the UNU-IAS framework, and in closing we reflect on the differences between the two methodologies.

Discussion on the endogenous development approach

Did the assessment influence CIKOD staff capacity? Describing their experiences after the assessment, CIKOD staff indicated that although the exercise looked difficult at the beginning, they now understand it and they are inter-ested in integrating the collection of change stories, both narrative and videos, into their normal project planning as a monitoring tool. For the community members of Forikrom, the value of the exercise is in the opportunity to collectively reflect on their work and see for themselves what progress they are making. It raises awareness of the value of their local resources and capacities and inspires them to strive to strengthen these local capacities even more for other interventions that the community is or will be involved with.

Can the results be generalized? A legitimate question that may be asked is, ‘Can the results from the endogenous devel-opment approach be generalized?’ According to the practitioners at CIKOD, the answer is ‘yes’, based on the assessment method piloted in two other communities in Ghana, which delivered comparable results. In these two additional locations, the thematic areas


of intervention were different but the same mix of tools was used for self-assessment of community well-being by the community members themselves. The results are also similar: 1) change stories provide good indications of community perceptions about changes in the community as a result of endogenous development intervention; 2) community scores support the views gathered from the change stories; and 3) video documentation captures the stories in their live forms allowing for more detail or a better feel of the experience and change described by the respondents. In all three cases the three-pronged approach applied here helps to understand the complexity of the well-being of the community from their own worldview perspective.

Is the donor getting value for money using this approach?The results from the endogenous development approach for self-assessment are certainly important for creating opportunities for community members to reflect and openly discuss the impact of interventions on their well-being. It will not provide the level of objec-tive quantitative results as expected by many external and international donors who are very far removed from the target community. The methodology does, however, offer a perspective that is perhaps unique and contributes significantly in providing a realistic understanding of the achievements ascertained by the interventions. The question then is, are we getting value for money in using this approach? The answer of course depends on the position from which you address the question. For the local NGO implementing an endogenous approach to community development, this assessment method will help to better understand the complex reality of community well-being from their own local African perspective. It is therefore worth the time and cost of using this approach. For a donor who is far removed from the action and who wishes to measure deliverables obtained with the money invested in a community, quantitative results are definitely more appealing.

What is the potential for mainstreaming the approach?Mainstreaming the endogenous development approach means convincing govern-ments and mainstream development organizations to adopt the approach as part of their development strategy. It requires the use of simple formats and organizing training courses for community workers. The endogenous development approach is probably more relevant in countries where a decentralized local government system is in place; see, for example, the well-being assessment methodology developed and applied in Bolivia, described in Chapter 3. Decentralization entails transferring authority for plan-ning to local levels to be able to meet the aspirations of local citizens (Norton, 2001). Despite a government willing to decentralize its power, someone assessing the impact of development interventions will be faced with the complex realities of local people. This is especially challenging when maintaining a measure that is reproducible and compa-rable across communities and still allows local communities themselves to determine the appropriate measure for their well-being. The endogenous development approach is most appropriate for this.


Local traditional healers market and showcase their produce at the annual Forikrom community festival. Healers are now organized, registered and better prepared to tackle resource and management issues.

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Reflecting on well-being from the spiritual perspectiveMeasuring community well-being from the spiritual perspective is a special niche for the endogenous development approach. The oral testimonies of local people give them an opportunity to express, from their own worldview, ‘Are we living well?’ For traditional or local people this gives the opportunity to assess progress from their perspective rather than according to pre-fixed questions that narrow the scope for the narrator describing the change that took place as a result from a development intervention. The endogenous development approach assesses changes in spiritual well-being using tangible and intan-gible proxies such as the size of sacred groves and sites, number of rituals, changes in the perceptions of the youth and participation in community rituals. Approaching spirituality from what partner organizations in the COMPAS programme call a ‘worldview’ angle is slightly different from what others have done in other fields of interventions such as that of health. Most work generally takes a more psychological approach to identifying spirituality as a determinant for well-being.

Discussion on the UNU-IAS frameworkThe indicators presented in the UNU-IAS framework were discussed step by step in Forikrom community and this resulted in elaborated insights on some of these indicators. These will be briefly presented here for each category of needs of the framework.

Basic needsThe community preferred to discuss food security in terms of increased yields resulting from the improve-ment of soil fertility using the bat droppings from the ancient caves. As a result of the project the traditional authorities (chief and elders) banned indiscriminate collection and supported controlled collection and equitable sharing of bat droppings among all farmers through instituted by-laws. This resulted in improved yields of maize, yam and cassava and a decrease in the duration of the hunger season between January and April. It has to be noted, however, that the stocks of bat droppings were depleting, which may indicate ineffec-tive implementation of by-laws or disturbances in the bat populations.

The community agreed to ‘distance to a health-care centre’ as an indicator for health security as suggested in the UNU-IAS framework. However, they said this should not be the only measure. Availability of medic-inal herbs in the community is an important measure


of health security in their community as over 80 per cent of community members depend on that for their heath security. As a result of by-laws for bush burning the medicinal plants were better protected in their natural habitat, which helped in securing stocks. Traditional healers indicated that fire control is an important prerequisite for keeping medicinal plant stocks in check, but they also noticed increasing pressures on medicinal plants by outside plant collectors and trade of plants to bigger cities.

Safety needsAlthough traditionally all the lands and sacred sites belonged to either specific families in the community as ‘stool’ lands (meaning they are communal lands), the legal ownership of natural resources emerging from these lands is not clear. Although the land belongs to the community, all natural resources beneath the surface of the land, as well as all biore-sources such as timber and wildlife, belong to government by national law. That means that the community needs approval from the appropriate government authorities before they can exploit their natural resources. The community gave the highest rating to land tenure. Although all community members know the boundaries of the sacred lands and respect them, the group recognized the need to properly document the sites on paper and officially register them with the appropriate government agency to avoid any ambiguity in future.

Community members recognized that taxi drivers from Techiman, a nearby urban centre, are making cash savings from services to visitors to Forikrom. Other revenues gathered from visitor fees are insufficient to employ local guides or sustain the management of the site in a satisfactory manner. Despite the fact that petty trading by women has increased as a result of the increased market opportunity created by religious tourists visiting Forikrom, economic security is relatively low and indeed an area that could be improved upon, but there is no community business model or management planning to support this. Other economic benefits are experienced indirectly, for example through the improved conser-vation of the sacred caves, sacred forests and the general landscape which has led to an increased water flow in the river, which allows for more fish to be caught. Similarly, beekeeping has been introduced by ABOFAP to farmers in the community as an alternative livelihood.

All this contributes to security from natural risks but the community still relies on the extended family system in times of crisis. The community therefore proposed the use of ‘extended family support’ as an indicator rather than the ‘presence of economic insurance scheme’ for the measure of community well-being. The community has not yet generated enough funds from its operations to support other community development schemes. This is, however, likely to happen when the entrepreneurial aspect of the project improves. Another important indicator not yet captured is the ‘traditional clan tax’ that is levied on members of all clans to support funerals and other social activities. Access to community funds is seen as a useful indicator of well-being in the community but then there needs to be a way for the benefits of the project to start being added to such funds.


As a result of the intervention, by-laws have been instituted that prohibit uncontrolled felling of trees and bush burning. Farming on the sacred sites is also prohibited in order to conserve these lands for posterity. The traditional priest reactivated customary respect for taboo days, preservation of totemic plants and animals, and performance of rituals that preserved the spirituality associated with the sacred sites. In addition, ABOFAP has been engaged in community education on the need to revive and conserve the natural resources so as to improve the tourist potential of Forikrom. For these, the group concluded that the project had brought much improvement in the conservation and sustainable use of their natural resources. This was accepted as a useful indicator of well-being in the community.

Belonging needsAs a result of the project, many functional social groups emerged in Forikrom. The council of elders was charged to supervise the implementation of the project and ensured that by-laws were obeyed by all, community members and visitors. A faith-based group emerged to manage the activities around the ‘Christian Caves’. An organic farmers group emerged that managed the use of the bat droppings for organic farming in the community. Many women and youth groups were formed by ABOFAP to undertake communal labour as well as livelihood activities. Some women have taken up petty trading and fishing and now actively participate in decision making. Similarly, women are represented in the committee of elders and the other social groups emerging having brought moderate improvement in the well-being of the community in terms of gender equity.

Equity in access to resources has greatly improved as the intervention was conceptual-ized and developed by the community and sustained by communal resources. As such, all members have equal rights to enter the sacred caves as well as undertake any related activities that would enhance their economic, social and spiritual development. The project appeared to have reinforced the sense of community ownership over its resources. In rela-tionship to leadership, by-laws have been put in place allowing any person – man, woman, youth – to occupy any position in the different groups and committees that have emerged. This happened despite the fact that, traditionally, leadership is reserved for elders. As a result of the intervention this had been opened up to any person who is suitably qualified for leadership in any particular activity. Whilst space was given to new people, the commu-nity also indicated that traditional institutions such as the ‘okomfo’ or traditional priest, the clan heads, hunters, as well as leadership institutions like the chief and queen mother that were already present in Forikrom, had been reinforced too. This was mostly achieved by increasing their responsibility as custodians of the biocultural resources, decision makers, initiators of development activities, and enforcers of customary laws.

There are customary laws guiding benefit sharing in the use of natural resources in Forikrom. This varies from sharing in the use of land and related assets, such as rivers and minerals, to use of bioresources, such as trees and wildlife. Customary laws such as the Abono and Abusa system with various modifications are traditionally applied in the sharing of these resources. By-laws that fall within prescribed national law have been put in place to ensure that economic benefits are equitably shared among all stakeholders – the traditional


leadership, the community, the district assembly, and the ministry of tourism. Thus the intervention has greatly contrib-uted to community well-being in terms of improving their share in the benefits from their natural resources.

Self-esteem and self-actualization needsMale and female chiefs, and to a certain degree traditional priests, normally have ownership and control over use of their lands and biocultural resources. The Forikrom community has become more aware of the value of their biocultural resources and the importance of remaining in control of them. Therefore they have put in place mechanisms for ownership and control by the community itself. However, the fact remains that the government has the legal authority to give out any land in Forikrom – be it sacred land or otherwise – to mineral prospectors or other commercial and private entities exploiting natural resources. Because of this level of state control the community score given to autonomy was ‘somewhat present’ whereas the autonomy over economic activities was scored ‘highly present’. Related enterprises such as transport, food, lodging and petty trading that emerged as a result of the project intervention are solely owned by community members.

As across the whole of Ghana, there are two parallel governments in Forikrom, the state and traditional governance structure. These are bodies represented by the zone councils set up by the Techiman district assembly the traditional council respectively. The state institutions have the constitutional responsibility to facilitate all development initiatives in the commu-nity. Thus, legally, the project intervention and the resulting enterprises and benefits are under the responsibility of the traditional council and the district assembly. Therefore the community did not feel that they could give a high score to ‘autonomy over local govern-ment’. This may be seen as somewhat remarkable given the high degree of change in leadership roles and rule making that took place as a result of the project intervention.

Cultural and spiritual needsLooking at the number of cultural and sacred sites and people respecting and using them, the community explained that, as a result of the intervention, many sacred caves and sites have been identified and revived. These are now all being respected and used for traditional rituals as well as Christian worship. Therefore the community concluded that cultural and spiritual needs of the community are being met as a result of the project. The numbers of totemic species (plants and animals) safeguarded and the number of people

At the Christian section of the

sacred mountain at Forikrom community,

preachers from outside the community

organize bible lectures and

camps for people who

come from all over Ghana.

People often spend a day

or more at the site, including

overnight in the caves.

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respecting them was hard to define as these had not been recorded as part of a baseline survey. However, it was indicated that totemic species are generally viewed as important symbols of identity for the different clans in the community. Each clan therefore takes steps to ensure the totemic species by which they are identified are protected. As result of awareness raising on totemic species, the community estimated that 60–80 per cent of these species are still being respected despite the influence of non-traditional religions and modern education. The intervention was therefore perceived to have a positive effect on the cultural and spiritual well-being of the community.

The religious, spiritual, cultural and archaeological artefacts of the community were explained to include shrines, traditional architecture, farm implements, implements for storage and processing, symbols of leadership such as the stool, palanquins, and adinkra symbols. The community scored these artefacts significantly high and they also indicated that, as a result of the project intervention, general awareness has now been created on the need to protect these from adverse impacts and also to attract more tourists. The project intervention was therefore seen to contribute to meeting the spiritual and cultural needs of the community, mainly through the protection and retrieval of these cultural assets.

Forikrom community also has three traditional festivals that are regularly celebrated by citi-zens of Forikrom as well as from outside the community. However, it is not unusual to find Christians refusing to participate in these festivals because they believe that some of the practices conflict with the Christian doctrine. The project intervention has created motiva-tion for the community to attract more tourists to these festivals. Traditional craftsmanship, such as that of goldsmiths, carvers and printers of fabrics in the community, has died out. One can hardly find any crafts in the community except for those of the traditional healers. The need to retrieve and revitalize these traditional crafts was expressed, as future genera-tions in the village would otherwise miss out on this cultural resource base. More effort should be made to educate the elders to retrieve this knowledge and develop it as part of their heritage and to boost the tourism project.

Christianity and Islam are reported to be on the increase in Forikrom. As such, although tradi-tional spiritualists exist, they are less regarded and respect for them is waning. The need to create space for different types of tourist experiences led to a demarcation of ancestral caves for traditional rituals and making these more prominent and attractive for those who appreciate them. In this way the project intervention added value to the traditional beliefs and increased the opportunity for traditionalists in the community to meet their spiritual well-being needs.

It is clear from the richness of experiences and the 10 powerful short films (CIKOD, 2011) that the stories describe a holistic understanding of changes, which in several cases also includes the spiritual dimensions of their lives. Instead of asking the ‘what’ or ‘how’ ques-tion, the ‘why’ question is important to get more in-depth understanding of the underlying worldviews. In Ghana, all the CIKOD written documentation and the videos reflect the linkage between cultural identity and worldviews very strongly.


About the authorsBernard Yangmaadome Guri is the founder and director of CIKOD – Centre for Indigenous Knowledge and Organizational Development in Ghana. He is a development practitioner with a special interest in indigenous knowledge and institutional development. He holds an MSc in Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague and a Diploma in Rural Policy and Project Planning from the same institute. He also holds a certificate in Organizational Systems Development and is a doctoral student at the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana. Bern is the coordinator for COMPAS Africa, chair of the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA), and lecturer at the Coady International Institute of the St Francis Xavier University in Canada, where he teaches courses in indigenous and endogenous development.

Bas Verschuuren ([email protected]) is affiliated with the ETC-COMPAS network and the department of Sociology of Development and Change at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He is also the co-chair of IUCN’s Specialist Group on Cultural and Spiritual Values of Protected Areas and coordinator of the Sacred Natural Sites Initiative (www.sacrednaturalsites.org). As a freelancer and core member of EarthCollective (www.earthcollective.net) Bas has experience in working with local and indigenous communities on conservation and development issues in North, Central and South America, Asia, Africa and Australia. He has published several articles and books on the cultural dimensions of nature conservation in practice, management and policy.

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CHAPTER 5 Community well-being in Ghana: an African perspective

Documents