Doctoral student Jennifer Hauck reporting from Navrongo, Upper East Region, Ghana
August 30 2007:
It is done! I finished my research in Ghana. I'm sure it does not come to you as a surprise that the last weeks in the field were very, very busy for me. Actually, I had scheduled the timetable for the last two weeks in a rather relaxed way, since one thing I learned here in Ghana is that everything takes a little bit of extra time. But, as usual, things went not the way I planned them to go.
During the last days of my stay in Ghana I fell ill - for the first time since I am here. As mentioned before, I had planned and scheduled trainings for the fishermen and fishmongers in my three villages. Weeks in advance, I had written letters of invitation and spent a lot of time organizing these trainings. Unfortunately, my falling ill coincided with the trainings, but there was no possibility to postpone them. I was more than thankful that I had planned a few days' break between the respective trainings in the three villages. These days helped me to recover a little bit, so I was somehow able to perform the trainings. Fortunately, I was not alone, so I handed over the facilitation of the trainings to the extension officers from the Ministry of Fisheries (MoFI) and an extension agent from a local NGO who actually came because he wanted to see what we were doing.
On top of the training agenda was group formation for both fishermen and fish traders. I think that a solid group can help more than any development aid and group formation should get a lot more attention. Many people and organizations take group formation too easily, but it is a process that takes a lot of time, understanding and a widely opened ear. All of the villagers expressed their interest to form an association. I decided to start the trainings with discussion about their motives to form such a group, since I was not to sure whether they really wanted such a group or they just wanted to do me a favour. Especially in those villages which had had fishermen groups before that did not work out, I really challenged them with the question why they wanted to try it again. After this discussion we elected executives for the association and started drafting a constitution. Besides holding regular meetings and collecting contributions these are necessary steps to acquire loans from local rural banks which had been mentioned as an important motive to form an association.
On a second training day we set up Hapas in the reservoirs. Hapas are some sort of robust mosquito nets turned up side down and fixed with sticks in a shallow part of the reservoirs. Young, small fish can be put in and fed. After some months the fish will be bigger and can be sold for a good price to the nearby towns. In order to manage and protect the Hapas a well working group is necessary, another reason why the fishermen decided to form the association. This method is rather cheap in comparison to cages or fish ponds. It therefore could be possibility to increase fish production, incomes, fish consumption or in general improve livelihoods without increasing the vulnerability of the fishermen too much. Whereas the extension agent from the local NGO "Community Self-reliance Center" did a wonderful job in bringing the fishermen together and facilitating the discussions and other processes of group formation, the MoFI came in with providing their technical knowledge.
In the end I thought that it was not too bad that my participation in the training was limited to sit there. Afterwards I realized that the staffs from the NGO and MoFI were complementing each other in a perfect way. In a meeting on regional level in the last week of my stay, they decided to start collaboration and find money for common projects.
I am now really looking forward to go home and spent some time with my family and friends and eat some solid German bread. But of course I am more than curious how the situation in the three villages and on the regional level will develop until I come back in the beginning of next year.
August 21 2007:
The last two weeks I spent in the village Binduri, which was the last of three villages where I conducted my field research. So this part of the research period is over now.
When I visited Ghana during the last rainy season, many people - after having interviewed them - asked me what I would do for them. I could have answered that they would benefit from the research in one way or the other. But that seemed to be not enough, neither for them nor for me. When I decided to use participatory research methods, I decided to share my knowledge. But what does that really mean? I was not satisfied with the ways "participatory" research is done in most cases and so I decided to go one step further: I promised the people that I would organize a training for fishermen and fish traders at the end of my research period. Since I am a student, the only thing I can really share with them is my knowledge and I can link them up to the Ghanaian Ministry of Fisheries (MoFI). I would have much liked to also link them to an NGO, but unfortunately one of the findings of my PhD is that there is no NGO working on fisheries in the Upper East Region, although it is an important livelihood strategy.
But back to the training: The last village for my research was at the same time the first one for the training. I started with a meeting for fish traders. In another study village I was able to observe that a well organized fish trader group can help in manifold ways. During my investigations, I had many chances to talk with the traders in Binduri about what would be a good training. What I proposed to them was to form a group. They agreed to meet me for half a day to form the Binduri Fishmonger Association.
I was surprised when 50 women showed up for the meeting, especially since it was rainy season, when everybody usually is very busy on their farms! Well, I thought, probably they still think I will give them something, although I - supported by my translator - made clear that I am only a student. But they apparently came to talk so we started discussing the problems with the fishing business and how a group could help. We defined some aims and objectives and some other guiding principles for the group.
Later, when I had electricity for my computer, I drafted a kind of constitution for them, to be discussed at their next meeting together with the Technical Officer (TO) from the MoFI. We also discussed the advantages and disadvantages of a registration fee for the association. The ladies decided to collect a registration fee of 5000 Cedis which is roughly 40 Cents per head. In the context of the Upper East Region this is a lot of money, which can feed a family for a day. Again to my great surprise, four days later they had collected 200.000 Cedis. Jointly, they decided to purchase some scales so they could weigh the fish when they bought it from the fishermen. It was very encouraging to see how they picked up the idea and started to help each other rather than relying on help from outside. The meeting ended with a treat of some small Pito (local Sorghum beer) from my side and a great traditional dance performed by all members of the newly established Fishmonger Association.
July 17 2007:
The last weekend I was busy with collecting water samples from my three reservoirs. The collection of water samples, just like the rest of my research is only possible with the support of the IPSWAT-Program, which is paying my stipendium and some of my research expenditures and the GLOWA Volta Project. Amongst many other facilities the project kindly allows me to use a project car and - much more important - their driver Ben. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the IPSWAT-Program, the GLOWA Volta Project and Ben for his outstanding work. I'm not exaggerating when I say that without his support, which goes far beyond his duty, I could not accomplish my work the way I do.
But now back to my last weekend: Before the samples could be collected a good day was spent on preparations. These consist of, for example, checking the instruments, ordering ice to cool the samples, checking the car, informing the labs and so on. Another important thing is to cross-check with the reservoir communities whether it is a "correct" day to collect water samples, since some of the reservoirs have taboo-days where nobody is allowed to enter the water. For example in on of my reservoirs in Dasabligo the water ghosts of the reservoir also go shopping when there is market day in Dasabligo. During this time ghosts from other water bodies can take over. These ghosts are usually up to no good and caused the drowning of several children. After the death of these children about 50 years ago, the local water priest passed a law that nobody is allowed to enter the water on market days.
After everything was prepared we finally started at six o'clock on Sunday morning to perform one of the most exhausting exercises my work includes. It was raining heavily in Navrongo, which is in the west of the Upper East Region. Thus, I decided to start with the reservoir that is located in the very east of the region, close to the Togolese border. I hoped the rain did not arrive there yet and I was lucky. So I could start the procedure in my small rubber boat at least without getting totally soaked from above. The whole procedure and the complementing measurements for each reservoir take about two hours. After finishing the first reservoir we worked our way through Dasabligo. After that we drove back to the reservoir which is close to Navrongo. Again I was lucky (or blessed as some more religious people here say), because it had just stopped raining there. After eleven hours of collecting and driving around it took me another hour to clean and store the instruments.
Since we also took samples for dissolved oxygen we had to drive another two hours to the next lab in Tamale. There, they were going to process the samples immediately during the next morning, otherwise the samples would spoil. While the chemists in Tamale were busy with my samples Ben drove me down to the capital Accra, to drop the next set of water samples there. This tiring but very interesting journey takes another day, but I always enjoy it, since it is a journey from a dry Savannah environment to the tropics. Even more interesting are the people who are at least as divers as their environment.
After two days in Accra we headed back north again. Luckily this was the last set of water samples that I had to collect. Right now, I just prepare myself to go to my last village for two weeks. Since I have no access to the internet over there, I'll report on my stay afterwards.
July 6 2007:
Some words on my PhD research
The basic assumption of my PhD thesis is that these small reservoirs constitute complex coupled social-ecological systems. This means that the reservoirs' ecology and water productivity is connected to the social structures of the user communities. This has positive as well as negative implications. Besides, according to my basic assumption, a proper management of these reservoirs has to be multi-layered. It is neither enough to do research on technologies that increase fish production, nor is it sufficient to focus on group dynamics or social conflicts only. The right technologies will only help when there are people who want to use them, but even a well-functioning group cannot act without knowing what a reservoir can produce and where the ecological sustainable limits of production are.
The focus of my research is on negative connections ("loops") that link ecological to social phenomena in the reservoirs. An example of such a feedback loop which seems to be rather simple is fishing. If there is a lot of fishing in the reservoir, the natural stocks are decreasing. Thus, catches are getting poorer, which in turn motivates the fishermen to fish even more, since they need the fish and / or the income (by selling the fish) to feed their children. In the end this negative loop can lead to the total depletion of stocks. Of course, behind this simple-looking example of a negative loop there is a long story of complex and often long-term causes such as climate change, adding to poor catches, social structures that do not allow common action to protect the resources, and so on.
To counteract this development, it is of utmost important to identify the negative loops which cause poor water productivity. With my PhD, I hope to uncover negative links and show ways to convert them into positive ones so that they can contribute to enhancing the resilience of local communities.
So far the theory - with working it out I try to satisfy my social sciences Professor, one of my two supervisors. The actual research work I am doing in this regard consists of collecting data through interviews, participatory research approaches, stock assessments and water quality measurements as well as through questionnaires on demand and supply of fish.
This is what has kept me fairly busy the last six months I've spent here. I intend to complete my field research by mid August this year. Later on, when the understanding of the system in the reservoirs is established (as far as possible for an outsider), I will try to apply my knowledge and insight from my three in-depths study villages to other reservoirs. The purpose of this more quantitative, generalizing step is to respond to the request of my Professor in natural sciences, who wants me to focus more on modeling the system and to "find the right buttons to push and thus enhance the system's performance".
Doing "field research"
I started my so called field research, which is an obligatory part of each PhD study conducted at ZEF, in January 2007. I am based in Navrongo, a small town in the Upper East Region close to the border to Burkina Faso. From here, I move in a two weeks turn to do research in three villages all over the region. In the villages, I live in teachers' compounds or with local families.
When I'm not involved in counting, measuring and separating fish species or bringing water samples to the different labs in Ghana, I stay in the villages, which makes the better part of my time. Though, it might not come to you as a surprise when I tell you that staying there is quite a challenge.
My days in the communities start somewhere between 5 and 6 o'clock am. Because the social scientist part of me really tries hard to adapt to the local conditions, I go to fetch water from the borehole and sweep the place to have a bucket shower. When I'm lucky I get some hot water to make a coffee, before the first five people come around to say good morning and observe how the white woman is doing. The work usually starts around 7 or 8 o'clock am, depending on when the translator decides to show up. Already in these early morning hours the cultural differences lurk around every corner, and one morning after the other I realize how much easier adaptation is being said than done.
I then try to follow my translator on my Phoenix bicycle, which I find now already much easier to ride than two months ago. Thankfully, the rainy season just started cooling down the temperature from over 40° to 20° - 30° Celsius.
However, all suffering is forgotten when I meet the first farmer. People here appreciate so much that I try to get an idea of their live and give me a very warm welcome and a big chunk of their very valuable time. Today, for example I completed two interviews with farmers where I tried to find out who are the people who have been influencing the fishing activities in the dam during the last few years. The scientific method I'm using for these interviews is called "Influence Network Mapping". It gives a good overview and distinction of people who pretend to have something to say and those who really have the power. After my translator and I organized the interviews for the following days I decided to give myself a break and sleep the night in the Navrongo guesthouse under a fan and enjoy a shower under running water.
July 3 2007:
Some personal background information
First of all, I'd like to introduce myself and tell you a little bit about my professional background. My name is Jennifer Hauck and I'm a 27 year old German geographer with a Master's Degree from the University of Bonn. During my study of geography I got involved in research on living aquatic resources in developing countries and found it a promising and challenging topic.
I started working at the Center for Development Research, ZEF, at Bonn University, as a student assistant in the ZEF-led GLOWA Volta Project in October 2003. During this phase I also worked on my Master's thesis dealing with changes in livelihoods caused by an aquaculture project in Bangladesh.
After receiving my Master's Degree in 2005 I decided to continue doing research and stayed with the GLOWA Volta Project at ZEF. Since my focus was on natural resources management, I thought it could be quite interesting to look into fisheries in Ghana. In 2006 I went to Ghana for two months to have a closer look at the fishing activities in the Upper East Region in the north of the country. It did not come to me as a great surprise that fish and fishery are playing a vital role in people's livelihoods. Anyhow, this visit motivated me to start a PhD on the topic and in the region in September 2006.
My region of research
The Upper East Region is part of the Guinea and Sudan Savanna and thus is a very dry area during most of the year. In order to cope with this for agriculture unfavorable conditions, many small reservoirs have been built for the local communities so they could store the water reserves collected during the rainy season. As in most other water bodies in the world, the reservoirs contain fish, which of course is being used to complement the local poor diet. But the reservoirs are not only used for fishing - it is not even the most important use. It is also being used for domestic purposes, such as drinking water for people and cattle, and often for dry season gardening. Thus, conflicts and overexploitation are unavoidable.
