The Effects of Water Hyacinth Invasion on Smallholder Farming along River Tano and Tano Lagoon, Ghana

Abstract

Water hyacinth invasion and its associated effects have been reported to be a source of problems to riparian people, posing challenges to activities like fishing and farming along invaded waterbodies. Based on cross-sectional research with 55 farmers who were sampled using the snowballing sampling technique, this study assesses the effects of water hyacinth invasion on smallholder farming activities in the Jomoro District. Four communities along the River Tano and Tano Lagoon in the district were purposively selected for the study. Individual surveys and Focus Group Discussions were used as data collection methods to assess the situation. Among the problems posed by water hyacinth invasion to smallholder farming in the study area were the destruction of farm produce due to the blockade caused by water hyacinth on the water bodies, reduced profit from farm output and economic hardship. We recommend that interactive participation involving farmers, district and traditional authorities, and rural development agencies should be adopted to control the spread of the water hyacinth to a level where it will cease to impede the activities of the riparian people. Emmanuel Honlah ABOUT THE AUTHOR Emmanuel Honlah holds Bachelor of Arts in Geography and Rural Development (KNUST), Master of Arts in Environmental Management and Policy (University of Cape Coast) and Master of Philosophy in Geography and Rural Development (KNUST). His interest areas are Urban Geography, Environmental Management and Policy, and Rural Development. He focuses on the socioeconomic effects of invasive species in riparian environments. He is particularly interested in the effects of water hyacinth invasion in the Jomoro District where the presence of the weeds in the River Tano and Abby-Tano Lagoon poses challenges to riparian people who rely on the two water bodies to make a living. How water hyacinth invasion affects the income and sustainability of farming work in the district is also studied. This study forms part of a larger research that assessed "Biofuel production from lignocellulosic materials" financed by DANIDA Fellowship Centre (2GBIONRG) and coordinated by the Technical University of Denmark.

Socioeconomic effects of water hyacinth (Echhornia Crassipes) in Lake Tana, North Western Ethiopia

“…De Groote et al (2003) reported that close of 1/3 rd of the respondents was affected by the itching. An increasing the prevalence rate of malaria and bilharziosis that were reported in previous studies [28,33] were not observed by the respondents and participants of FGDs after the weed infested Lake Tana. However, the research done by [38] in the same study area revealed that the physical abstraction of water hyacinth provided a very good habitat for the proliferation of mosquito larvae.…”

“…The effect of water hyacinth on the farming activities was also observed along River Tano and Tano Lagoon, Ghana [28]. The influence of the weed on farm activities of smallholder farmers however was not creating the work burden by increasing labor demand like Lake Tana area.…”

“…The influence of the weed on farm activities of smallholder farmers however was not creating the work burden by increasing labor demand like Lake Tana area. According to [28], the weed affected the farming activities by making the crossing of the river very difficult and creating a challenge to the proper management of farm fields.…”

El Jacinto de Agua como material de construcción en África Subsahariana

“…Los cuerpos de agua en estos contextos son focos de desarrollo económico, convirtiéndose en los cimientos de la economía de la zona (Güereña et al, 2015;Honlah et al, 2019;Waithaka et al, 2017). Alrededor de ellos se desarrollan actividades económicas como la pesca, la agricultura, infraestructuras de generación de energía o actividades recreativas vinculada al turismo, entre otros (Téllez et al, 2008;Villamagna and Murphy, 2010;Waithaka et al, 2017).…”

“…La densa red que genera el JA impide la salida del puerto de las embarcaciones de menor calado, dificultando la actividad pesquera. Este tipo de embarcaciones son las más perjudicadas ya que invierten mucho tiempo en el transporte, lo que se traduce en un aumento del gasto en gasolina y, por lo tanto, una reducción en los beneficios de su actividad productiva (Güereña et al, 2015;Honlah et al, 2019;Mbula, 2016). Según los datos reportados del trabajo de campo realizado por Oladimeji et al a lo largo del río Níger a su paso por Nigeria (Oladimeji et al, 2016), la infección de JA provocó una pérdida del 20 % de la actividad productiva pesquera.…”