African Study Monographs
Online ISSN : 2435-807X
Print ISSN : 0285-1601
Volume 41, Issue 2
Displaying 1-4 of 4 articles from this issue
  • Haneul JANG, Adam H. BOYETTE
    2021 Volume 41 Issue 2 Pages 1-16
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2021
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The subsistence techniques of the Congo Basin peoples are diverse and well-adapted to local ecological and socio-cultural contexts. Besides well-known fishing techniques using dams, nets, barriers, or poison, the BaYaka and Bantu in the northern Republic of Congo use ponds dug by humans, called mosongo. In the flooded forest, the ponds function as fish traps when fish seek refuge there at the end of the dry season. In March 2020, the authors conducted participant observation and interviews with the BaYaka and Bantu who engaged in pond fishing. Some mosongo were inherited from and managed by informants’ grandmothers or mothers. Generally, the Bantu fisher-farmers visit this area once a year to make money with the catch from pond fishing. As in a variety of foraging activities, the Bantu recruit the BaYaka for labor and compensate them with some fish. Much surplus catch is sold in markets. For the BaYaka, pond fishing was one of their important seasonal subsistence activities. Yet, the BaYaka also sold surplus fish to the Bantu. This report provides additional evidence for the diversity in subsistence techniques in the Congo Basin, and reaffirms the importance of inter-ethnic relationships in the subsistence strategies in this region.
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  • The Bawku Conflict in Northern Ghana
    Victor DOKE
    2021 Volume 41 Issue 2 Pages 17-34
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2021
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Ghana has a reputation as a peaceful country, nevertheless has experienced pockets of violent ethnic conflicts. The Bawku inter-ethnic conflict between the Kusasi and Mamprusi people has been characterized by recurrence of armed conflict surrounding the chieftaincy. This paper examines the prevention measures initiated in Bawku by stakeholders at different levels, namely, the state agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and community representatives as to (i) what kind of prevention measures were implemented, and (ii) which organizations initiated them. The idea of direct and structural prevention measures is applied for analysis. Mediations and security provisions among other measures were initiated by the state agencies to settle farmland issues to avoid court litigations. An early warning system and negotiations were implemented by the NGOs to detect and monitor signs of potential armed clashes. An alert call system was one of many measures initiated by the community representatives to investigate rumors of planned attacks on festivities. State agencies, NGOs, and community representatives as stakeholders have aimed to curb potential armed clashes at an early stage to sustain peace. They envisage further engagements towards resolving the Bawku conflict.
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  • The Influence of the Missionaries and the Birth of the Igbo Oriented Poetry
    Chukwuebuka Uchenna ORAEGBUNAM
    2021 Volume 41 Issue 2 Pages 35-50
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2021
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    Written Igbo poetry (henceforth, W.I.P.)(1) is generally known to have begun with the publication of Akpa Uche (An Anthology) in 1975. Recent evidence reveals that W.I.P. started in 1934, with the publication Akwukwo Ukwẹ n’Asusu Ibo by the Church Mission Society (C.M.S.). Igbo scholars have chronicled the development of Igbo prose and drama, but the historical trajectory of W.I.P. is yet to be explored in literature. To this end, this paper presents an account of the developmental journey of Igbo poetry from its oral form to its present written state, taking into consideration all the factors that contributed to its growth and metamorphosis. The study claims that the missionaries laid the foundation for the birth of W.I.P. in 1975. The study also finds that, since the final debut of W.I.P. in 1975 through 2015, a period that commemorates four decades of the existence of W.I.P in Nigeria, W.I.P. has grown tremendously in terms of quantity.
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  • Steven KAKOOZA, Andre Freire CRUZ, Edward WAMPANDE, Torahiko OKUBO, Sa ...
    2021 Volume 41 Issue 2 Pages 51-59
    Published: 2021
    Released on J-STAGE: December 25, 2021
    JOURNAL OPEN ACCESS
    The antibiotic resistance genes (ARG) of bacteria can be found in diverse environments such as the gut of mammals, soil, air, and water. In this research, we examined soils (for ARG) from 27 animal farms in Uganda (Mbarara, Wakiso and Mpigi districts) rearing poultry, pigs, dairy, or beef animals. Among these 27 places, there were antibiotic-free farms and those, which routinely used antibiotics to control diseases. DNA was extracted from soil samples using a commercial kit. A polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was performed to detect baScterial genes of resistance to sulphonamide (3 genes), beta lactam (1 gene), and Tetracycline (8 genes) antibiotics. The highest number of soils contaminated with these genes were from Mpigi district, whereas in Mbarara we found contamination of farm soils to a lesser extent. In all districts, the ARG were detected in farm soils regardless of the evidence of antibiotic usage; however, ARG were predominant in severe antibiotic consuming farms than the less consuming ones. Sulphonamide resistance genes were predominant in most district samples. In particular, the sul2 (Sulphonamide) and tetW (Tetracycline) genes were the most prevalent in all samples, suggesting that fecal disposal or use of animal manure could drive the accumulation of ARG in these soils, making it a deadly reservoir, especially in areas with vast consumption of antibiotics.
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