Members of the Banda Research Project, Maria Dores Cruz (left) and Osei Kofi (right) stand near a surveying level mounded on a tripod. The level was used to map the site's contours and establish grid lines to orient excavation units. A local-made short-handled hoe lies in front of the tripod, its wide flat blade standing upright. Bottom left are stacked headpans used to move soil between excavation units and screens. Station 6, Makala Kataa, June 1994.
To the right of a large tree, a field planted with tobacco is seen from the roadside. After clear-cutting, the rectangular field was tractor-plowed and planted with seedlings provided by the Pioneer Tobacco Company. Trees left standing mark the edges of the field. Visible in foreground is scarring created by construction of a new grated road. Near Nyrie, June, 1994.
A roadside agricultural field is planted with cassava (Manihot esculenta). The palmate leaves of the mature plants are visible growing among trees that were left standing when the intercropped field was first prepared. Regular weeding is needed to control spear grass, which can be seen growing at the edge of the field. Cassava is grown for its tubers, which can be harvested over a long period and store well when processed and dried. Its leaves are valued as an ingredient in soups. Planted early in the rainy season (April-May) the tubers mature in 6-18 months, depending on variety. Cassava tolerates poorer soils than yams (Dioscorea sp.), which are a preferred food in the area. Therefore, cassava it is grown in intercropped fields after yams are grown in the first year or two and before fields are left to fallow. Roadside near Nyire, August, 1994.
