A twelve-hour field journey
- Jan 1, 2026
- 4 min read
Updated: Mar 2
Dr Miriam Ameworwor's Y1|Q2 progress was reported as follows: Ethical clearance: The final decision on the ethical clearance application was received via a letter from the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research – Institutional Review Board (CSIR-IRB) on 8th October 2025.
Procurement: Most of the equipment, including the weighing scale, has been procured. The process for the water quality meter, the last piece of equipment needed, is ongoing.
Community Entry: Community engagements were done in Quarter 1. However, during these engagements, the Paramount Chiefs of the two traditional areas (Study areas) were not available. The project team had the opportunity to visit the Paramounts of Nawuni and Dipale in October. Although they had already been informed through their representatives, the visit was used to brief the chiefs on the project, their expected roles, and our activities so far in the communities. The team also took the opportunity to learn about any sacred areas in the community and on the river to avoid, as well as any potential conflicts and sensitive issues. The project team took photographs with the Dipale Naa (Dipale Chief) after the engagement, but was not allowed to take any pictures at the Nawuni Naa's palace.
Data Collection: Data collection for the fishery aspect of the research, which started in Quarter 1, was continued. By the end of October, 3 fish samplings have been completed, and the data is currently being cleaned and organised for upload to the UPData Repository. The Assembly persons in the two communities have been requested to select women and men fishers to participate in the Focus Group Discussions. The selection was to be done based on the Social Scientist's criteria.
Challenges: Dr Ameworwor had difficulty reaching contact persons in communities by phone during fieldwork planning. This is due to the poor communication network signals in the communities.
A Co-Management Action Plan will be developed and documented. All data collected will feed into this output. With the progress so far, it is expected to be done in September 2026. Interventions to promote gender inclusion in fisheries will be undertaken after the action plan is developed, probably in October 2026. Relevant conferences will be applied for once sufficient data has been collected for a compelling presentation. This is expected after the FGDs.
Stakeholders: Dr Ameworwor has started engaging with the project's stakeholders. This is who they are and what their roles are:
1. Fisher women
in Nawuni and Dipale Community
Give information to the research team on their fishing operations.
Allowing access to their fish catch for sample collection.
Helping to select participants for focus group discussions.
Participating in focus group discussions.
Taking the research team to the river to show them how the fishing is done.
Availing themselves and participating in the dissemination of research findings.
Participating in the Co-Management Action Plan development.
Selecting the Co-Management Committee members.
Availing themselves and participating in capacity-building trainings.
2. Men fishers
in Nawuni and Dipale Community
Helping to select participants for focus group discussions.
Participating in focus group discussions.
Allowing access to their fish catch for sample collection.
Allowing access to their canoes and paddling the research team onto the river for water quality measurements.
Availing themselves and participating in the dissemination of research findings, if necessary.
3. Traditional Authorities
of Nawuni and Dipale
Grant the research team audience access to introduce the project.
Accept the project to run in their community.
Implement the fishery management strategies outlined in the Action Plan.
4. The Assemblyman of Dipale and the Assemblywoman of Nawuni
Lead the project team to the traditional authorities.
Help convene community members during community engagements.
Help select participants for focus group discussions.
Help the project team secure a venue in the community and other logistics for focus group discussions.
5. Fisheries Commission
Allow access to historic catch data on women's fisheries if available.
Participate in and/or facilitate the dissemination of findings in the communities.
Participate in and/or facilitate the fishery Co-Management Action Plan development.
Facilitate capacity building when necessary.
Inaugurate the co-management committee.
According to the research work plan, the progress of the fishery data collection is two months behind schedule. This was due to delays in initial administrative processes at the beginning of the program. Data collection for the social aspect of the research, scheduled for Quarter 2, has not yet begun. This was due to the ethical clearance processing time, as the application was delayed by funding.
An interesting note about traffic conditions experienced during Dr Amaworwor's research: The journey from Accra, where I am based, to Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region and my study region, by bus is supposed to be 12 hours but usually takes a little more due to bad roads and traffic. On my journey from Tamale to Accra in November, the bus was delayed by 2.5 hours, so the journey started at 9 am instead of 6:30 am. Seven hours into the journey, we came across a road accident that delayed us by 3 hours due to the heavy traffic it caused. Three hours later, just as the bus reached a rest stop at 10 pm, it got a flat tyre, which took about an hour to fix. The bus finally arrived at their terminal in Accra around 1 am, and I got home around 4 am. This was the most frustrating field journey for me so far.
Dr Miriam Ameworwor reporting on his progress for the following research project: Sustaining the livelihood of women fishers along the White Volta River in Northern Ghana.
Edited by Heidi Sonnekus & Leti Kleyn for the FAR-LeaF programme.
