Report
The environmental impacts and the future of industrial crop production in Ghana
 |
↑ The forest of palm trees
← Akpeteshie distillation |
Shogo Shimada
M1, Department of Applied Chemistry,
Graduate School of Engineering
Destination and period: University of Ghana, Accra Ghana, 12 -26 August, 2012
Abstract:
The main objective was to investigate the environmental impacts of some industrial crops in Ghana and assess
the potential production problems and benefits through questionnaires, site surveys and acquisition of information
from some research institutes and other governmental organizations. We successfully carried out the surveys and
gathered information from many organizations such as JIRCAS, Juaben Oil Mills Limited, Kwame Nkrumah University
of Science and Technology. Also, we investigated the constituents of Akpeteshie. Akpeteshie is one of the common
locally produced spirits in West Africa. It is the product of distilled palm wine which has been fermented over a long
period of time. It is widely believed among the local people that drinking the initially distilled Akpeteshie can cause
sore throat, inflammation of the stomach linings or even cause death. For this reason, the traditional producers try
a long process of redistilling it over several hours before obtaining a relatively safer product. The process is not only
time-consuming but it also requires a huge amount of fuel which usually comes from firewood. Although this belief
presupposes that Akpeteshie might contain harmful chemicals such as organic acids, it is also possible that it might
contain chemicals that may be industrially useful. Samples of Akpeteshie were collected from different locations in the
Eastern, Central and Ashanti regions of Ghana and transported to Japan for analysis. By this field training, I have learned
that many problems cannot be figured out without being on the field. The way of planning and implementing projects is
different for different countries due to differences in socio-cultural values and behavior. For example, things are planned
according to schedule in Japan but in Ghana so many factors usually prevent projects from being completed according
to plan.
Key words: Industrial crops, Palm, Cassava, Jatropha, Cocoa