Most traditional or native societies based on various sources have constructed particular systems dealing with every aspect of human life. Besides social, religio-cultural, economic and governing systems, they created also what is academically known today as work ethics. In this article, the authors have explored one of such systems developed by the traditional people of Ghana, namely, Akan. As the authors clearly pointed out, there are numerous foundations based upon which work ethics among Akan people are worked out. Here, it is not only their religious and cultural believes that played very important role, but also their personal attained knowledge and experiences over the ages as well as ecological environment that naturally supports the development of given ethical approaches to work that in this respects refers predominantly to agricultural and fishing industries or more precisely, terrestrial and oceanic spaces of work. The study also highlights an entire cosmography of Akan as well as their worldview regarding the Supreme Being and the rest of creation seen in hierarchical order that makes a web of interconnected universe. The proper knowledge of this hierarchy of beings on the one hand and the natural world on the other hand results in harmony within different types of beings as it provides the best economical results for the working people.

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For centuries, the Westernisation of Ghana has lead to the devaluation of indigenous ways of life, thought and spirituality or ‘Indigenous Knowledge Systems’ (I.K.S.). It is argued that in general Western thought has also decoupled nature from humankind, which has led to the environmental crisis. Due to the limitations of modern technological and scientific solutions— which originate from the same cultural mindset that caused the destruction to our planet in the first place—it is argued that indigenous religious environmentalism could provide effective solutions. Exploring the case of the Asante Sekyere people of Southern Ghana, this paper shows that I.K.S. still preserved in their native culture is a source of environmental ethics that is inspired by their spiritual cosmology, values and traditional ways of life. The paper outlines how their ‘ecocentric’, environmentally orientated culture is informed by their multifarious spiritual beliefs, encompassing: belief in a transcendent God or Gods; the veneration of ancestors; nature spirits that animate the natural environment (animism); and totemic beliefs based around a sacred identification with an animal, plant or natural phenomenon. These beliefs inform the Sekyere’s core environmental values— respect, cooperation, communalism, care and reciprocity— that manifest in regulatory taboos that conserve natural resources. The paper concludes that alternative ways to solve environmental degradation can be sought in the cultural resources of indigenous people like the Sekyere.

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