GENDER RELATED ISSUES AND ECOSYSTEM SERVICE UTILIZATION WITHIN THE VOLTA BASIN: FIELD LEVEL QUALITATIVE EXPERIENCES

Abstract

Ecosystem services are considered as essential factors to determine the quality of the wellbeing of populations. This research paper focuses on establishing the contributions of ecosystem services in ensuring food security and its subsequent impact on the socio-economic wellbeing of both men and women within the Volta Basin and what accounts for unequal access to ecosystem services by men and women. It also identifies the socio-cultural issues on ecosystem utilization within the given area. The approach employed for the gathering of data for this study was multi-disciplinary and local knowledge centered. Focus Group Discussions, household surveys, stakeholder consultative meetings, seminars and workshops and biophysical observations were the methods and tools employed in obtaining the needed data. Communities selected within the Volta Basin comprised Bawku West (Kokori through Aring to Binaba), Namdan District (from Sakote through Pelungu to Damolgo), Jirapa District (from Tuggo through Konzokala to Wulling) and Lawra District (from Dasuuri through Eramon Tangzu to Bompari). Findings from the study revealed that communities within the area of study relied on natural and human modified ecosystems to sustain and maintain human lives. The findings however established that traditional laws often provided land for women, wives, and widows through means other than, for instance, equal land shares on inheritance. Systemic gender biases existed in the form of customs, beliefs, attitudes and laws that confined women to cultivating some type of crops within the study communities. Also, most communities have lost their livestock as a result of theft and some farm fields have been destroyed by cattle grazing, making it difficult to access organic manure for farming resulting in the use of chemical fertilizer. Therefore, to ensure positive contribution of the ecosystems to food security, the study recommends that government should create regulations that strengthen tenure security in the majority of the studied locations. Also, efforts should be made to document and publicize benefits of gender inclusion in ecosystem service utilization. Studies should also be conducted on human attitudes and perceptions regarding ecosystem services as a tool for understanding the complex problems associated with environmental change in the context of cultural landscapes. Promote joint planning and consensus building with Fulani, farmers, decision makers and livestock owners to help solve the issue on livestock theft and over grazing.