This paper uses two sets of Living Standards Surveys to determine poverty incidence and patterns within the different ecological zones of Ghana. To ascertain changes in the standards of living of households,the headcount, poverty gap index, Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) class of indices and the Sen’s index were employed to measure the incidence and intensity of poverty and the effects of various household characteristics on the standard of living of the household. The results show that the incidence
of extreme poverty increased between the two survey periods. The poor who were mostly found in the rural areas were involved basically in forestry and agriculture-related activities and across levels of the education system they had little or no education. Poverty incidence was also higher in the northern Savanna area compared to the Forest area, Coastal and northern Savanna areas.

This is part of a regional forest governance research programme, being implemented by CODESRIA, University of Illinois and IUCN titled 'Responsive Forest Governance Initiative'. in Ghana, the research is broadly investigating issues of democratic representation, citizenship and public domain as elements of democracy focusing on the extent to which collaborative forest management and participatory decision-making approaches produce democracy outcomes among rural communities.

Forest law enforcement is difficult in weak nations like Ghana in the face of conflicting interests and competing claims to forest resources. One area of interest in Ghana is the enforcement of a ban on chainsaw operation. Since 1998, chainsaw milling is legally prohibited in Ghana. However, today, there is enormous evidence to show that the practice is on the increase, exploiting about 2.5 million cubic meters of trees annually and employing about 100,000 people. This high level of illegality presents a big challenge to implementation of Ghana’s Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the European Union (EU) and also to Ghana’s REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation)-plus agenda. The paper explores the socio-political constraints facing law enforcement agencies in enforcing the ban. It observes that high levels of rural unemployment, corruption among law enforcement agencies including the Forest Services Division (FSD) and the police, low political motivation and high elite influence in the forestry sector are some of the socio-political factors constraining effective enforcement. Notwithstanding, the practice seems to be well accepted and more than half of forestry officials at the operational level feel that the ban should be reviewed.

Chainsaw milling, a practice of using chainsaw machines to process trees to lumber, has been banned in Ghana for over ten years by Act 547 and LI 1649. In spite of this, the activity has been going on posing a real challenge to forest monitoring and sustainable forest management in Ghana. In order to be able to fully understand the social and economic impact of any policy intervention to deal with the issue, there is the need for policy makers to have a clear understanding of the scope of the problem, in terms of the number of people involved. The paper makes a contribution to this need by reviewing the various studies that have attempted and gives a current estimation. The paper draws mainly on two main approaches based on volume of illegal harvest and actual market stock volume of chainsaw lumber to estimate the number of people who engaged in chainsaw milling. The paper estimates that chainsaw milling directly employs nearly 97,000 people. The paper argues that using volume of chainsaw timber in reaching the
market and a production efficiency parameter based on ratio of lumber to tree volume rather than lumber to log/beam volume is a more credible approach.

Forests outside the permanent forest estate (forest reserves) play significant role in the economic, social and environmental needs of Ghana. Over the last twenty years, timber outside forest reserves has consistently represented between one third and two thirds of the total annual recorded timber harvest in Ghana. In recent years timber harvest from off‐reserve areas has declined to about 30%. One major cause of the declining is the lack of economic incentive for farmers who nurture, maintain and preserve timber resources. The lack of economic incentive is as a result of inequitable policy governing tree tenure and benefit sharing relating to naturally occurring timber resources in off‐reserve areas. To safeguard the future and sustainability of the resources there is the need for policy revision that recognizes the input of stakeholders involved in off‐reserve timber resources management. This study sought to determine farmers’ timber tree management practices and the role, rights and responsibilities of stakeholders involved in off‐ reserve timber resources management. The study was conducted in the Asunafo North District of Ghana where a score of key stakeholders were interviewed and a total of eighty (80) farmers were selected using a stratified random sampling and subsequently interviewed. The study revealed weeding, thinning, pruning/pollarding, preservation of specific tree species (singling) and fire protection/prevention as specific management activities performed by farmers. Agricultural land use system was found to influence timber tree maintenance as well as species diversity, age composition, and density. Cocoa farming system hosted the highest number of timber species followed by fallow, oil palm farming system and the least was found to be food crop (annuals) farming system. The main factor influencing farmers’ management activities is perceived beneficial attributes of tree to agricultural crops. Farmers and Forestry Commission performed direct roles while District Assembly and Traditional Authorities preformed indirect roles in timber resources management in areas outside reserves. The results further revealed that Farmers, Forestry Commission and District Assembly have been able to assert their roles and responsibilities while Traditional Authorities are yet to do so. Stakeholders’ roles, rights and responsibilities were favoured as a basis for equitable benefit sharing scheme. It is concluded that there is a considerable potential for off‐reserve timber resources management if tree tenure and benefit sharing arrangement can be weighed more in favour of farmers/land owners coupled with recognition of roles, rights and responsibilities of stakeholders. Stakeholders need to have tools to perform their roles and responsibilities, and that coordination and collaboration between stakeholders and transparency through information dissemination is very much important for sustainable timber resources management in areas outside reserves.

The world has been daunted with many challenges especially that of poverty over the centuries. In order to confront these challenges more effectively, research institutions have been established by various governments (both developed and developing economies) with the aim of facilitating social development. Countries that have contributed greater percentages of their Gross Domestic Products (GDP) to research stand tall in socio-economic development among nations, while those that have contributed smaller percentages are confronted with many developmental challenges. Libraries in research institutions play an important role in mobilizing needed information for socio-economic development. Research is built upon existing knowledge. Libraries are the beginning and end of research activities. Perceived ideas for research are derived from available knowledge which the library stocks and enhances its dissemination. A research library continuously assembles, process, preserves and disseminates the evidence of research. Research and education are substantially improved when pursued in an environment with a library that provides access to deep and broad collections. Research libraries are mandated to build rich discipline-based collections in all formats (from manuscripts to digital objects) and to organize them to facilitate research. This paper examines the role of the Forestry Research Institute of Ghana’s Library in the socio-economic transformation of Ghana
 

This report synthesizes the various studies and discussions that have been carried
out on chainsaw milling (CSM) in Ghana. It is targeted to policymakers, researchers
and indeed all stakeholders, both in Ghana and elsewhere. It is intended to provide
up-to-date information about chainsaw milling in Ghana. It builds on various reviews
and studies conducted between 2005 and 2009 (Odoom 2005; Adam et al. 2007a, b
and c; Marfo, Adam and Obiri 2009; and TIDD/FORIG 2009), and on papers presented
at an African regional workshop on chainsaw milling, held in Accra on 25–26
May 2009 (TBI 2009).
Although CSM for commercial purposes is prohibited by the Timber Resource Management
Regulations of 1998 (Legislative Instrument 1649), the activity has thrived.
It provides jobs for about 130,000 Ghanaians and livelihood support for about
650,000 people. CSM enjoys much public support, and many stakeholders — including
more than half of District Forest Managers — think the ban should be reviewed.
The demand for timber and the conventional sawmill industry’s inability to supply
the domestic demand by legal means remains the principal driver not only of CSM
but also of illegality in the timber industry in general. It has been difficult to implement
the CSM ban for several reasons:
• the demand for jobs for both rural youth and urban timber businesses;
• corruption among forestry officials, police and the joint FSD-military task force;
• political interferences in FSD operations;
• lack of political will to enforce the ban and implement alternatives; and
• strong support for CSM by local communities, particularly farmers — the
practice brings in about Ghana cedi (GHC) 33.6 million per year in the form
of informal payments, most of which benefit FSD officials, police, farmers and
chiefs (at time of writing, 1 US$ = 1.4 GHC).
CSM is the main supplier of lumber to the domestic market. It contributes about
84% of this lumber, with an estimated volume of 497,000 m3 and a market value of
about GHC 279 million. The urban financiers who support CSM operations capture
about 28% of this revenue; rural-based operators receive 19%. CSM provides an
average profit of about GHC 67 per m3 of lumber. A projected aggregate annual
profit of GHC 37 million is realized across the CSM trade chain. Chainsaw milling is
also the major supplier of lumber for overland export to neighbouring countries,
with an estimated volume of 260,000 m3.
The study demonstrates that chainsawn lumber is 12–74% cheaper than conventional
sawmill lumber, depending on species, dimension and quality. The CSM sector
processes about 72 species in more than 100 dimensions. It processes an estimated
840,000 trees a year with a roundwood volume of about 2.5 million m3, exceeding
Ghana’s Annual Allowable Cut (AAC) of 2 million m3 for the formal industry. CSM
recovers about 30% of tree volume, a lower rate than improved CSM with Logosol
attachments (33%), Wood-Mizer portable sawmills (56%) and sawmills (38%). Ghana loses a possible GHC 25 million annually in stumpage revenue from trees
illegally harvested by chainsaw operators; illegal tree sales by farmers to operators are
equivalent to about 38% of this amount (GHC 9.5 million).
The supply of legal timber to the domestic market is the most crucial issue in
addressing the problems associated with illegal CSM. Three policy options are
recommended to this end:
• the legal sawmill industry supplies all timber;
• the industry shares the market with artisanal groups applying improved forms
of CSM such as the use of Logosol; and
• artisanal groups supply all timber.
This synthesis provides some reflections on these options. Equitable benefit-sharing
to include farmers, tree tenure reforms and provision of competitive alternative livelihood
schemes are crucial in the ultimate success of any policy intervention to address
CSM

The Ghana REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise was one of three ROSE country case studies conducted in 2009. It has provided the Katoomba Incubator with a solid basis for strategic engagement with REDD+ in Ghana, both at the project or sub-national level, and at the national or policy level. The ROSE study consisted of two main stages; a two-day key informant or expert workshop, and an analysis of legal and policy constraints by a small in-country team. This report focuses on the first part of the ROSE methodology, the expert workshop; a second Ghana ROSE report, entitled “REDD Opportunities Scoping Exercise: Implications of the Legal and Policy Framework for Tree and Forest Carbon in Ghana”, goes into greater depth on the legal and policy issues surrounding the development of REDD+ in Ghana

Stem anatomy of Calamus deeratus, Eremospatha hookeri, Eremospatha macrocarpa, Laccosperma acutiflorum and Laccosperma secundiflorum growing naturally in Ghana were investigated to explore the possibility of using anatomical features to distinguish between them. Although the anatomy of all the stems of the five species investigated exhibited a common monocotyledonous structure, they differed considerably in many of their anatomical features. Anatomical features of taxonomic and diagnostic significance at genus level included: the number of metaxylem vessels and phloem fields in a vascular bundle and type of ground parenchyma. However, the most important anatomical features to distinguish species are the epidermal cell size and shape. A combination of several anatomical features is used to develop a tentative identification key to the five rattan species occurring naturally in Ghana

Harvesting of trees for commercial and industrial purposes is 100 years old. One hundred years ago the axe and the platform were in use and it took days to fell a mahogany tree. There were no crawlers, skidders or wheeled tractors; no motorised chain saws; there were no sawmills, veneer mills, furniture and joinery outfits; no electricity and the road network was hardly developed. In short, our people looked to the forests for supply of dead wood as fire wood, and somehow manufactured small diameter trees and species into shingles, building members and household furniture. From small beginnings involving the export of round logs of Mahogany and Edinam, Ghana now boasts of an export industry producing lumber and lumber products, sliced veneers, plywood, furniture and flooring parts. At the national level, we can claim that through proper allocation of logs, timber utilisation can be optimised. This means that sawlogs, logs for peeling and logs for slicing can be directed to appropriate processing plants. From two (2) to three (3) species, the Industry is now felling 60-65 species annually, with the sawmills taking in 30 to 40 species; slicers, 31 species, rotary or peeled veneers 18 species.