The new frontier

The rehabilitation of those regions of the tropics where monocropping has destroyed both local self sufficiency and biologically rich and stable environments is fundamental to the success of any strategy for sustainable development. Dr Amanor, a Ghanaian anthropologist, has conducted a case study within a region of Ghana looking at how rural people utilize resources and the impact of markets, national policy and environmental degradation on the utilization of these resources. It focuses on marginalized environments in areas which were formerly centres of export crop production but which now suffer from increasing degradation. It looks at small farmers who are involved in commodity production; and at cultivators on the edge of the forest who have not embraced modern high-input systems and who have reservations about their efficacy. Although the study itself is Ghana-based, Dr Amanor in his introduction draws on examples from many other parts of the world and these experiences lead him to suggest policies based on regeneration of the local economy and diversification of agricultural products and markets. He further stresses the importance of involving the local community and utilizing local-farmer knowledge before drawing up environmental agendas. The new frontier: farmer responses to land degradation - a West African study by Kojo Sebastian Amanor 1994 244pp ISBN 1 85649 242 7 Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK available from CTAThe new frontier: farmer responses to land degradation - a West African study by Kojo Sebastian Amanor 1994 244pp ISBN 1 85649 242 7 Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK available from CT