Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how framing of conflict in different phases is constructed and how the specific framing affects the development of the conflict and its management in the farmer–herder conflict in the Asante Akyem North District of Ghana. Design/methodology/approach The study area is Agogo which falls within the Asante Akyem North District in Ghana. The study used a qualitative approach whose philosophical ontology and epistemology believe that meaning is constructed (interpretivism). It further used a case study design using in-depth interviews, focus group discussion and observation guide. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select the respondents. The data were analysed using the thematic analysis approach. Ethical considerations such as informed consent, willingness and anonymity of respondents were duly respected. Findings The findings highlighted that the conflict actors formed frames such as identity-relational, affective-intellectual and negotiation-win frames as the drivers of the conflict. In this conflict, the farmers who are indigenes and custodians of the land feel more potent over the transnational migrants who are pastoralists and argue that the herdsmen be flushed out without negotiation. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the papers that bring to light the psychological dimension of the causes of the farmer–herder conflict in Ghana.

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Farmer–herder conflicts occur in many agroecological areas in Ghana. These conflicts are often violent with devastating consequences. Interestingly, many victims of farmer–herder violence still live in conflict zones despite the dangers and threats to their lives. In order to survive in such situations, some coping strategies are needed. The study aims to provide a context-specific understanding of how conflict actors emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally cope with the effects of violent conflicts in their own ways. The study is a qualitative inquiry that uses a phenomenology design, with farmer–herder conflicts in the Asante Akyem North District as a case study. The study purposively and by snowball techniques selected key informants and victims from both the farming and herding factions. The study found that religion, nonforced migration, working harder, sociocultural support, avoidance, and economic strategy were the six primary coping strategies utilized to manage the psychosocial stressors connected with farmer–herder conflicts. The importance of delving into this aspect of the conflict is to gain a nuanced understanding of coping abilities and capabilities of conflict victims. The study also revealed the resilience of the conflict actors and recommends psychosocial healing for the victims.

The issues facing surrogates are labour issues. However, there is scanty literature on the working conditions of surrogates in sub-Saharan Africa. This article explores the labour conditions of these unprotected and invisible reproductive workers in Ghana. In-depth interviews were conducted with key informants between 2018 and 2019. The study revealed the following: 1) Baby agents were increasingly playing a dominant role in the surrogacy industry, and through the surrogacy homes are able to create docile and disciplined surrogates. 2) Surrogacy agreements were oppressive and designed to reinforce the control over the bodies of surrogates. 3) Pregnancy-related scars leave emotional scars on the minds of surrogates. We recommend state regulation of the industry to ensure strict supervision of baby agents to minimise exploitation of surrogates.  KEYWORDS: surrogacy home; baby agents; surrogates; commercial surrogacy; Ghana