Young men prepare calabash (gourd; chrԑ in Nafaanra) ladles for market. The calabash is split, its pulpy interior removed, and the gourd's interior surface scraped clean before drying. Banda, July, 1982.
Joshua Tandor uses a metal blade and a mallet to split a calabash (chrԑ in Nafaanra) in half. The pulp and seeds are removed and the calabash walls scraped clean before being set aside to dry. The resulting calabash bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ) are sold at market while the seeds are a prized soup ingredient (fnumu). Farmstead on the outskirts of Banda-Ahenkro, August, 1982.
Family members work together at farm to process calabash (gourd; chrԑ in Nafaanra) grown as both a cash crop and a source of household objects and its seeds as a soup ingredient. The men use large knives to split the calabash, after which they will remove its pulpy center and scrape its interior walls. Pictured here are (left to right) Maa Afia (girl), Ama Bosin (woman), O. K. Kwabena Krah, Nduo Wulo Kwadwo and Joshua Tandor. Farm on the outskirts of Banda-Ahenkro, August, 1982.
Typical farm from the 1980s, showing intercropping of yams (finyjie in Nafaanra), cassava (dwa), calabash (chrԑ) or gourd and other crops. Banda, 1982.
Kwasi Millah of Dompofie sits under the shade of a tree while processing calabash (gourd) bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra). The interior is scraped clean and the calabash set aside to dry. While some are kept for household use, many are sold at market. Once dried, the calabash bowls are durable utensils used for cooking, bathing, and other household tasks. Dompofie, June, 1995.
Calabash (gourd) seeds (fnumu in Nafaanra) are a prized ingredient used to prepare a much-valued soup (fnumu chiin; calabash seed soup). The pulp is set aside to decay, making it easier to remove the seeds, which are then cleaned, dried, and cracked by hand to remove the seed coat. Here women on Nduo Wulo Kwadwo's farm outside Banda-Ahenkro prepare to carry seeds home for processing. Outskirts of Banda-Ahenkro, August, 1982.
Nduo Wulo Kwadwo at farm, preparing calabash (gourd) bowls (chrԑgbͻͻ in Nafaanra) for market. After removing the pulp and seeds, he scrapes the gourd's interior surface with a metal blade to clean and thin its walls before drying. Farm on the outskirts of Banda-Ahenkro, August, 1982.
Banda farmers began planting cashew trees as a cash crop in the early 2000s. Farms dedicated to the production of this export crop, like this one along the road south of Bongase, are increasingly common across the area. Bongase, 14 November, 2018.
A clear-cut, tractor-plowed field at the base of the Banda hills, northwest of Ahenkro. Production of commercial tobacco in the 1980s and 1990s introduced clear cutting and tractor plowing to the area. Once opened up, these fields are not well suited for growing yams or intercropping. They are typically put to production of other cash crops. Northwest of Ahenkro, June, 2009.