67.
The Village Women in Ghana. By Jette Bukh. Uppsala: Centre for Development Research Publication 1. 1979. Review by Anita Spring, University of Florida.
This is an excellent study concerned with the consequences of development. After studying the Ewe people in Southeast Ghana in general and men's participation in farming in the area in particular, the author realized that women were greatly important to the farming economy, and he began to survey their production and distribution. Research was carried out intermittently from 1973 to 1978 and eight different surveys were made. The author focuses on the long term consequences of cocoa production and male out-migration. Both were good for the colonial masters in terms of supplying raw materials and manpower, and for the Ewe people in terms of increasing the standard of living. However, cocoa and out-migration have produced devastating long term effects on agricultural production, division of labor, and family lif e.
Bukh explains the mechanisms by which cocoa was introduced, dominated the economy and undermined women's position. Traditionally the Ewe were completely dominated by small-holder production with half the land allocated for food crops and half for tree crops. When cocoa was introduced to men, they began occupying large tracts permanently and thereby limited the amount of lands for food crops. By custom, land was allocated by the lineage, but cocoa trees belonged to the individual to be bought or pledged. The first cocoa growers took the best fertile land, leaving smaller plots for later comers. Over time, this created a new propertied class and labor system. As men became more involved in cocoa production and/or migrated for wage labor, more of the household agricultural production fell to women, most of whom had always farmed. As a result of cocoa farming, there was less emphasis on food crops. Production was left to women and food farms were pushed from the most fertile land. Subsequently, there was a.major change in the crops grown; yams which had been cultivated by men was replaced by cassava and maize cultivated by women. Cassava and maize are less labor intensive than yams and women began growing these crops because they had to do numerous other jobs (such as trading, food processing and preparation for household consumption and sale, firewood and water carrying, domestic tasks and childcare) and had no input of male labor. As a result of cocoa production and male migration, Bukh argues, women wound up working harder and households began to rely on female labor exclusively. The end result was that agricultural production was lowered and remains low today.
Bukh details through charts and tables agricultural labor, household composition, and expenses in terms of men's and women's input. He shows that the incidence of female 'headed households has increased significantly and that 42% of all households are now headed by women. A consequence of this situation is that women take greater responsibility for their families' subsistence and at the same time have greater difficulty in access to resources. They do not qualify for programs or resources which are reserved for men. more women are divorced, more households are headed by women, and women are increasingly pauperized as their yields and lands decrease while the amount of labor expended increases.