The contribution of Humans to vegetation degradation in Northern Ghana

     It is a well-known fact that land is a free gift of nature which is limited in supply. The activities of mankind on land may always either make or unmake it. The old adage that “when the last tree dies, the last man dies” sounds simple, but contains a very strong message of caution to mankind about the relevance of trees and even nature in general to survival. In general, the extent of the activities of humans on land may vary from one place to another depending on the natural endowments that these lands hold. For instance, if the major source of livelihood for the people in a particular place is the land, then we can expect more human activities on the land over there.

     In the Northern part of Ghana in West Africa, the vegetation cover is basically savanna. Most of the land there is flat, with trees and vast lands of natural grass cover. The Shea tree and mango trees are the commonest trees in this zone. Most of the people in this area are peasant farmers who rely solely on small scale cultivation of the land for survival. A great deal of cattle rearing also takes place in this zone because the environment there is suitable for that purpose. Quite regrettably, the people of Northern Ghana have over the years engaged in activities that have caused a faster deterioration rate of the vegetation over there compared to any other part of the country. Before recent times, the mining communities located in the central part of the country use to have the fastest land degradation rates. These human activities in the North are not farfetched: they include: (1)the continues practice of indigenous farming methods such as shifting cultivation,(2) Over grazing, (3)bush burning,(4) charcoal burning (5) sand winning activities among others. In the upcoming paragraphs, I shall proceed to discussed each of these human activities in Northern Ghana in detail except that on bush burning since I already discussed it in great detail in one of my earlier posts titled “causes of bush fires in northern Ghana”.

     By definition, shifting cultivation is a form of agriculture, in which an area of ground is cleared of the vegetation and cultivated for a few years and then abandoned for a new area until its fertility has been naturally restored. The practice of this form of agriculture is very common in Northern Ghana. The farmers in this area, most of whom are illiterates produce mostly yam and corn. These farmers believe that yaw can only be cultivated on newly cleared lands. For this reason, they move onto new lands very year. The implication here is that several acres of the vegetation cover in this area are cleared each year to make way for the cultivation of yaw-the staple food of the people over there. For the most part this practice can be blamed on the illiteracy of these farmers and also the complete absence of education and information in the area regarding the downside of destroying the vegetation. It turns out that this issue may need exigent attention before things spin out of control.

     Secondly, over grazing is an issue in this part of the country. In simple terms, overgrazing refers to the situation whereby grass-eating animals such as cattle are allowed to graze so heavily on a particular piece of grassland land to the point that it actually gets damaged or get bare and liable to erosion.  Almost all cattle raisers in this area rely of the natural grass lands close to valley areas to feed their cows and even sheep. And more often than not these animals are constantly brought to the same spots to graze until they get bare and exposed.

     Thirdly, Charcoal burning is another major contributor to the “rape” of the vegetation in the northern part of Ghana. On the same post mention earlier above on bush fires, you can find a detailed the description of how charcoal is produced. But in the nutshell it involves the cutting down and burning of tree logs and putting the fire out just before the logs are completely consumed to get a black substance called charcoal. Charcoal is the major source of domestic fuel for cooking in most parts of Ghana not only in the north, but it is mainly produced in the north and transported to all other parts of the country.

     Finally, sand winning is another issue which is increasing becoming a problem in this area. This was never an issue in the area at least in the two decades. Increased settlement has led to the rise in the demand for sand for molding blocks used in housing construction. Sand is collected indiscriminately especially from water ways exposing these areas to serious erosion when it rains.

     In summary, rapid measures need to be put in place to arrest this situation immediately otherwise the possibility of the place becoming a complete desert in the next few decades is just a matter of time.