Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin, 1969. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Bibliography: leaves 121-123.

Agricultural development involves the large scale economic production of plant and animal crops through modification and exploitation of ecosystems. Since crop species themselves are integral parts of the ecosystemic complex, any effort to raise the productivity of tropical agriculture must acknowledge ecological constraints as well as the opportunities for improved production. In the tropics this fundamental principle has been overlooked in the reduction of diversity of the ecosystem through monoculture of a very few export crops. In addition to reducing ecosystemic stability this has led to reduced production of basic food staples. The rich fauna is being replaced by domestic cattle, sheep, goats, pigs and poultry. Monoculture has led to the adoption techniques requiring a large energy subsidy, i.e. selective breeding programmes, fertilization, mechanization and irrigation. Although the approach has proved conceptually sound in temperate regions and results in some practical benefits in the tropics, it has had a disastrous impact on the socio-economic stability of the traditional society. Undernourishment, poverty and the social unrest which have characterised Ghana in recent past are inevitable consequences of the mismanagement of agriculture. The underlying hypothesis of the study is that the development of tropical agriculture within an ecologically sound framework is a fundamental pre-requisite to modernizing the system, to increasing productivity and to providing a sound basis for agricultural development planning in West Africa. Properly implemented it would safeguard the future of tropical agriculture and the environment. This study is based on an examination of available literature, information from a mailed questionnaire and personal familiarity with the study area. Since most of the data refer to Ghana, I have focussed on the Ghanaian situation while drawing on experience from elsewhere. An ecological approach to tropical agricultural development is described, followed by a comparative study of systems of production in the tropical and temperate zones. This permits an assessment of the impact of the "Green Revolution" on tropical agrarian systems and reforms. The consequences of mismanagement of tropical agricultural development are assessed with respect to socio-economic and political difficulties. Most of the source data support the hypothesis. Suggestions are made to redress the underlying causes of low tropical agricultural production. It is the conclusion of this thesis that tropical agriculture can be best developed by recognising the nature of tropical ecosystems. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

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This survey investigates the origin and growth of the mosque in pre-colonial West Africa emphasizing both the traditional and Islamic context. Initially the traditional West African society is observed with special emphasis on those features which were to affect the mosque. The origin of Muslim places of worship is examined, indicating the types of people and places involved. The various activities performed in the mosque and the role of the mosque personnel are seen to cover every aspect of Muslim life and to be similar to what obtained in other Muslim lands. It is discovered that because the mosque is an institution introduced from without, conflict took place between Muslims and traditional worshippers with regard to the use of places of worship. Nevertheless, the interaction between the old and the new faiths is still a remarkable feature of West African Islam.

The purpose of this study is to show there is no special economic or general development theory tailor-made for West Africa. Maybe, when all general theories are valid, some are more valid than others. The recent emergence of "development theories" from academics in the "Third and Fourth World" countries is both an expression of serious doubts with orthodox development theories, as well as a serious search for self-assertion. These attempts to devise an appropriate theoretical concept geared towards the interpretation and analysis of the development process in these regions are, at bottom, also a response to the dynamics of economic and social change. The growing awareness of these views reflects the extent to which these processes of change are at work. As we shall soon observe, the attempts by the various orthodox authors of development theories to diagnose the underlying causes of development, the link with the world systems and the proposed future strategies, have very little in common. Take, for example, the economic system of the sixteenth century that generated modern industrial capitalism. This system was made up of three interdependent parts: a developed core in Western Europe, a partially developed semiperiphery in southern and eastern Europe, and an underdeveloped periphery of the rest of the world. From this, one can see, with some persuasion, that the dynamic of capitalism (or of a fully developed market economy) is based on the structural imbalance created by integrating the West Africa economies at different levels of development in what Prof. Wallerstein called a "world-system." There are probably few who would quarrel with this part of the formulation - although its neglect as a serious theory of economic development by economists, is, to this author, certainly one of the more interesting occurrences in modern history. The question that is open to debate is the degree to which this imbalance (in West Africa) tends toward permanence - the degree to which "underdevelopment" develops along with development to become a relatively stable economic adjustment. None of the development theories reviewed in the thesis has sufficient time depth to assess the question of permanence with empirical data, nor do they attempt to do so. Instead, the problem is tackled as follows. The nonindustrial nations of the world have not developed because they have failed the preconditions for it - a market mentality, local economic differentiation, "modern" socio-cultural institutions receptive to economic development (entrepreneurship). But none of these holds in the indigeneous societies of West Africa where there is no lack of entrepreneurship and little in the way of social and cultural impediments to growth. The most common alternative explanation is that the "surplus" necessary to endogenous growth is being drained in export-import trade with the developed systems. This thesis explores the dimensions of development in the economies like those of West Africa which are in a period of drastic change and dissatisfaction with the conventional paradigms. Structurally, this study has been divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter defines the uniqueness of the West African case. This uniqueness arises from uncensured acceptance of Western norms and models and reliance on growth - through capital-intensive imported technology. Coupled with this is also the idea of measuring the successes (if any) and the failures with the yardsticks accepted and applicable in the West, Chapter two will review the general literature in development (Dualism, Strategical, Foreign Trade, Sociological and Psychological, and Marxist theories) and then prescribe an indigenous model, Self-Reliance, as an alternative to the reviewed theories. Chapter three examines the physical environment and economy of the region. Chapter four deals with the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis that is, when all general theories are valid, some are more valid than others and Chapter five deals with the policy implications and conclusions. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Unknown

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M.Com. (Economics) / This dissertation examines the level of trade between African states in general and West African states in particular. After discussing the background history of the continent and setting out the purpose and nature of the study in Chapter 1, the dissertation examined various international trade theories in Chapter 2. Economic and other arguments for and against free trade or more protection, as well as forms and examples of economic integration and co-operation are discussed in Chapter 3. There are very strong arguments in favour of free trade since both developed and developing countries undeniably benefit from trade, and specially from free trade. In Chapter 4, the performance of Africa in world trade and trade between various countries of the continent was examined. The formation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, the review of the economy of the ECOWAS region and the review of economies of some member states, were set out in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 examines intra-ECOWAS trade and assesses the successes and failures of the Community. Finally Chapter 7 contains a summary of the findings of the study. The dissertation draws some tentative conclusions based on the findings on intra-African trade in general, and intra-ECOWAS trade in particular. It seems that most African countries do not realise that it is necessary to unite in order to break away from the vicious circle of poverty in which they find themselves. The leaders of Africa today, unlike the leaders of the 1960s and early 1970s, fail to recognize the economic importance of the unity of the continent. It was a vision of the final economic emancipation of the African continent that led the earlier leaders to promote the idea of a continental unity ...

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