Exterior view of a shelter constructed at farm with walls made from woven mats and a thatched roof supported by wooden poles around the shelter's perimeter. In the foreground, right, a cutlass (machete) rests on a sharpening stone. In the shade of the shelter's eave to the right of its roof-support pole are a small fired clay eating bowl, a clay cooking pot turned upside down resting on its rim, and a larger fired clay water storage pot. Farm shelters provide shade, refuge from rain and a place to rest and prepare food while families are at their farms, which may be located some distance from their homes. Farm near Ahenkro, September, 1982.
Ma Mnama had a reputation as a successful farmer in the Banda area. Here she uses a short-handled hoe (kagbaan in Nafaanra; pl. kagbɛɛn) to cultivate her intercropped field, located to the east of Banda-Ahenkro, 1982
Interior view of a shelter constructed at farm with walls made from woven mats and a thatched roof supported by wooden poles around the shelter's perimeter. In the shelter's rear corner, calabash (gourd; chrԑ in Nafaanra) bowls and ladles rest on a low platform constructed of poles and thatch. Several other worn calabash and fired clay vessels are beneath the platform. A hearth, right foreground, is constructed of three stones in-between which dry wood collected from around the farm is placed. Several maize (corn; bleju in Nafaanra) shucks lie on the ground, lower left foreground. Farm near Ahenkro, September, 1982.
Interior view of a shelter constructed at farm with walls made from woven mats and a thatched roof supported by wooden poles around the shelter's perimeter. Pieces of firewood lay near the shelter's entrance with a small wooden double-ended pestle/grinder lying on its side in front of the wood. Several maize (corn) cobs (bledjukaan in Nafaanra) stripped of their kernels lay on the earthen floor of the shelter. Farm near Ahenkro, September, 1982.
A young cassava plant (dwa in Nafaanra) growing in an intercropped field. Manihot esculenta was introduced to Africa from the western hemipshere. It can be grown on soils that have been depleted of nutrients by other crops. Its cultivation requires little labor and its tubers, which provide a starchy staple, can be left in the ground for long periods. Other than as a source of calories, the tubers have little nutritional value. Cassava leaves, however, are used as vitamin- and nutrient-rich additions to soups. Lying on the ground around the cassava plant are dried maize stalks (bleju in Nafaanra) left behind from a previous planting cycle. Sabiye, 15 July, 2022.
