Bushfires in the Nandom District of the Upper West Region of Ghana : Perpetual Threat to Food Crop Production.

Abstract

Despite the numerous awareness creation exercises by the Environmental Protection Agency and Forestry Commission on bushfires preventive mechanism on the part of communities who are into cultivation of food crops, there appear to be no appreciation of the efforts of the organizations in question by beneficiary communities in trying to accomplish the goal of nature conservation. Specifically, in the case of Nandom, no formal effective strategies exist to facilitate the prevention of bushfires. This paper evaluates the effects of bushfires on food crop production by focusing on the case of Nandom district in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Apart from relying on primary and secondary sources of data, the study utilized quantitative and qualitative approaches in data collection, Analysis, and presentation. The study classifies the causes of bush fires into human and natural. Human causes as disclosed by the study are burning for farming purposes, burning for hunting, burning out of jealousy and burning to protect ruminants from reptiles. Natural causes on the other hand include lightening and thunder as well as excessive solar intensity. The effects of bush fires as disclosed by the study are reduction in soil fertility, destruction of food crops and reduction in crop yield. It is recommended that Non Governmental Organizations such as Care International and philanthropist should team up with the Environmental Protection Agency and Forestry Commission to intensify awareness creation of the masses on effective preventive measures of bush fires.

Key Words: Bushfires, Food crop, Production, Perpetual, Threat