THIRD  INTERDISCIPLINARY  FAMILY  SEMINAR

HELD  JOINTLY  WITH  HOME  SCIENCE  DEPARTMENT

FROM March  9-11, a seminar on aspects of  Family  Welfare  and  Planning  took
place  at  the  Institute  of  African  Studies,  the  third  in  a  series  of  interdiscl-
linary  family  research  seminars.  It  was  held  in  conjunction  with  the  Home
Science  Department.  Seventeen  papers  were  presented  on  a  variety  of  topics
by  members  of  several  departments  and  Institutes  of  the  University  of
Ghana  and  of  the  Department  of  Social Welfare,  Accra.

The  papers  dealt  with  a number  of  themes  including family  wellare  and
planning programmes; factors  affecting  family  size and birth  control, the  care,
health  and  nutritional  status  of  children  in the  several kinds of  domestic  and
institutional  settings; women's roles in the home and  at work;  and the  effects
of  conjugal  family  organisation  and  break  down  upon  members  welfare-

An  important 

theme  which  constantly  received  attention  was  that  °*
the  woman's  triple  roles as  mother,  worker  and wife  and  the  burdens  imposed
upon  her  by  simultaneous  child-bearing  and  child-care  and  the  task  of  earn-
ing  a major  part  of  the  family  living. The  strains  imposed  by  these  multiple
duties  made  it  imperative  to  examine  her  possible  sources  of  moral  ana
material  support  in  carrying  out  the  important  task  of  caring  for  the  emo-
tional  and  physical  needs  of  the  younger  generation.  At  least  two  papers
revealed  situations  in  which  adequate  help  from  husbands  and  fathers  was
not  forthcoming,  while several papers  explored  the  actual  and potential  roles
played  by Institutions  such  as  Orphanages,  Day  Care  Centres,  the  School
Welfare  Services  and  Nutrition  Education  Programmes  in  the  task  of  assist-
ing  mother  or  assuming  their  responsibiMties  in  part  or  fully.  One  paper
raised  the  important  question  of  the  extent  to  which  fostering  of  children by
non-parental  kin  is common in  Accra.

These  discussions  of  child-care  were  complemented  by  those  concerning
family  limitation  the  situations  in  which  parents  see  fit  to  limit  family
size.  The  cases  of  clerks  teachers  and  nurses  in  Accra  were  discussed  to
some  details  and  put  into  a  wider  historical  framework  by the  discussion  on
birth  control  movements  and  women  power.

Important  questions  were  raised  with  regard  both  to  future  research  in
these  areas  and  to  the  organization  of  relevant  and  adequate  welfare  pro-
grammes  and  services.

OXFORD  UNIVERSITY  COLONIAL  RECORDS  PROJECT

*V-

its 

task  at 

the  end  of 

The  project  completed 

last  year,  but
work  oontinues  on  the  preparation  of  guides  to  the 
larger  collections
of  papers.  Over  eighty  of  these  guides  have  So  far  been  produced,  as
well  as  material  of  general  Commonwealth 
interest;  they describe  papers
concerned  with  specific 
territories—East,  West  and  Central  Africa,  the
Middle  and  Far  East,  West  Indies,  Pacific  and  other  areas.  Copies  of  guides
concerning  a  particular  region  can  be  obtained  from  The  Librarian,  Rhodes
House  Library,  Oxford,  where  the  collections  are  housed.  There  is  no
charge,  but  refund  of  postage  is  welcomed.

AFRICAN  ADMINISTRATIVE  STUDIES

African  Administrative  Studies  are  published  by  the  African  Training  and

132

in  Administration 

Research  Centre 
for  Development  (CAFRAD)  whos#
function  is  to undertake  and co-ordinate all research  and  comparative  Studies
which  are  concerned  with  administrative  problems  connected  with  social
and  economic  development  in  African  countries.  By  30th  June  1973  twenty
African  States  had  become  members  of  CAFRAD.

CAFARD  organises  seminars,  conferences,  short 

training
courses  for  senior  African  Executives  in  the  public  or  private  sector  wfto
have  an  essential  role  in  development.

in-service 

CAFRAD  publishes  a  six-monthly  bilingual  review  in English  and  French

AFRICAN  ADMINISTRATIVE  STUDIES

This  review  contains  studies,  documents  and  monographs,  news  of

Institutes  of  Public  Administration  and  specialized  bibliographies.

Subscriptions:  Morocco:  36  Dirhams  (yearly)

Other  countries:  40  French  Francs,  $8  (U.S.)

or  £3.00  (sterling)—One  year.

All  correspondence  or  requests  for  information  should  be  addressed  to:

CAFRAD,
Publications  Unit,
B.P.  310,
Tangier  (Morocco).

COMMUNICATION

SEMINAR  ON  THE  BRONG  PEOPLE

An  interdisciplinary  seminar  on  the  Brong  people  of  central  Ghana  has
been  held  at  the  Institute of  African  Studies, University  of  Ghana, Legon  at
the  week-end,  March  16—18.

The  semiar,  aimed  at  reaching  conclusions  on  the  bases  for  distinguishing
following

the  Brong  from  the  other  Akan  sub-groups,  and  discussed 

the 

Prof.  M.  Posnansky:

Mr.  E.  K.  Agorsa:
Dr.  Kwame  Arhin:
Mr- K. A.  Britwum:

Dr-  Florence  Dolphyne:
Mr.  K-  O.  Odoom:
Dr.  Kwame  Daaku:
Mr.  Kwasi  Boateng:
Nana  Kwakye  Ameyaw:

(Takyimanhene)

Archaeological  aspects  of  the  Brong  Ahafo
Region
The pre-history  of  the  Begho  area.
Asante  Security  Posts  in  the  Northwest.
Kwadwo  Adinkra  of  Gyaman:  A  study  of  the
relations  between 
the  Brong  Kingdom  of
Gyaman  and  Asante.  1800—1818
Brong  (Bono)  Dialects-
Islam  in  the  Brong  Region
Politics  among  the Eastern  Brong.
Economic  Geography  of  the  Brong area-
The  origin  and  extent  of 
Kingdom.

the  Bono-Manso

133

l-r
-A

> A

t

%  The  archaeologist,  Prof.  Posnansky  and  E.  K.  Agorsa  of  the  department
of  Archaeology,  Legon,  reviewed  current  archaeological  work  and  findings
at  the  famous  ancient  trading  centre  of  Begho  in  north-western  Ashanti,
now  the  Brong  Ahafo  Region

Three  historical  papers,  (Arhin,  Agyeman  and  Daaku)  examined  aspects
of  Ashanfis  relations  with  her  conquered  territories  in  the  northwest  and
northeast  and  the  light  these  relations  throw  on  the  political  definition  of
'Brong'.  An  interview  by  Arhin  with  Nana  Kwakye  Ameyaw,  the  present
Takyimanhene,  dealt  with  the  origin  and  extent  of  the  Bono-Mariso  Kingdom
its  defeat  by Ashariti, and  the  fortunes  of  Techiman,  her  successor-state;  The
chief  thought  modern  'Brotng' is derived  from  'Bono'  the  first  arrivals  in  the
area,  who  established  the  Bono-Manso  state.

Mr. K. Boateng of  the Department  of  Geography, Legon, outlined  the tradi-
tional  and  modern  economies  of  the  Brong-Ahafo  Region.  Mr  Odoom  of  the
Institute  of  African  Studies  spoke  of  the  coming  of  Islam  with  the  establish-
ment  of  the  Mande trading-post  at  Begho. Dr. F. Dolphyrie of  the  Department
of  Linguistics,  Legon,  spoke  of  differences  within  the  Brong  dialect  ci/uster
and  between  Brong and  the  other  Akan  dialect  clusters.

It  is  hoped  that  the  papers  read  and  discussed  will  form  the  basis  of  an

interdisciplinary  publication  on the  Brong peoples.

I9>th  Mardh, 1973.

Kwame Arhin

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