A historical exploration of women’s production of Fante Kenkey at Yamoransa in Ghana’s central region

Abstract

Women’s contributions to development through their activities in the informal sector have been extensively examined in a plethora of literature. There is, however, a lacuna with respect to a focus on women’s specific informal sector economic activities and their impact on local communities. Dwelling on a variety of sources of information, this study fills that gap through a historical exploration of women’s production and sale of Fante kenkey and its impact on the people of Yamoransa from the pre-colonial period up to 2016. The study establishes that the production and sale of Fante kenkey underwent significant transformations and the women (Akutiabↄfo) who engaged in it contributed immensely to social and economic development in Yamoransa, the Central Region and Ghana as a whole. The major challenge of the (Akutiabↄfo), which was lack of a safe market place for sellers of Yamoransa Fante Kenkey, however remained unresolved.

Keywords:

• Yamoransa
• Fante Kenkey production
• central region
• Ghana

Reviewing Editor:

• Samuel Adu-Gyamfi, History and Political Studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology College of Arts and Social Science, Kumasi, Ghana

Subjects:

• Rural Development
• Gender & Development
• Industry & Industrial Studies
• History

Introduction

Fante Kenkey production, traditionally a preserve of women, has been the livelihood of many families in Yamoransa. It has contributed immensely towards social and economic development in Yamoransa, a small town with a population of about 5000 in the Mfantseman Municipality of the Central Region in Ghana. This research utilises several sources of information to examine changes in Fante Kenkey manufacturing and emphasises the role of women in promoting socio-economic development in Yamoransa through their involvement in this informal sector economic activity.

Arthur Lewis is recorded to have used the term informal sector to describe the type of employment that was viewed as falling outside of the modern industrial sector.¹ Existing literature indicates that feminization of the informal sector dates back to the pre-colonial period. During that period, women’s dominance of the informal sector was attributed to traditional norms and cultural values.² For the colonial period, it has been established that the male dominated nature of the colonial economy in the urban areas limited women to ‘commercialization of domestic skills: brewing, preparing and selling cooked food, taking in laundry, prostitution, and [other] domestic work.’³ Scholars such as Boserup, Akyeampong and Fofack (2012, 2013) and Akyeampong (1996)⁴ have examined how women’s economic contributions during the post-colonial period have been categorised as part of ‘household production and their labour formally unaccounted for in national accounts.’⁵ Subsequently, the contributions of women to national development through their informal sector activities have been extensively examined in a plethora of literature.⁶ These notwithstanding, there is a gap in relation to the absence of a focus on the specific role of particular informal economic activity in the development of specific local communities. In line with the perspective of the Moderate Post-Modernists,⁷ this gap becomes relevant and necessary to be filled in an attempt to shift attention from the macro to the micro level and illuminate the varied people, spaces and time that have been submerged in the grand narratives on women’s contribution to economic development.

Methodology

The present investigation employed a qualitative research methodology. We collected data from life histories obtained through purposive and snowball sampling techniques, archival documents, and secondary sources. We undertook a historical study of the changing fortunes of Fante Kenkey production in Yamoransa to identify the women’s specific contribution to the development of that community. This task is executed under three themes including the origin of the people of Yamoransa, transformations in the production of Fante Kenkey and the producers’ socio-economic contribution to the development of the people of Yamoransa. In regards to the interview, a semi-structured interview method was utilised to conduct interviews with a sample size of twenty-five (25) individuals. The utilisation of the semi-structured interview approach enabled the researchers to delve further into emerging clues that might enhance the focus of the study. The researchers meticulously selected the respondents using a purposive sampling approach. We selected participants based on their age and expertise in Fante kenkey production at Yamoransa. The majority of the informants were over the age of sixty. A greater proportion of females than males took part in the interviews throughout our participant selection process. A notable proportion of participants were interviewed in their workplaces and public areas, in addition to their residences. We selected our respondents from individuals with extensive knowledge and experience in Fante kenkey production within the Yamoransa area. The sources cited were gathered, organised, and evaluated to provide a cohesive historical account. The data gathered was examined with the interpretive and narrative technique. All of these concepts were developed under the interpretive research philosophy.

Although today, Fante Kenkey is produced and sold in different parts of the Central Region of Ghana, Fante Kenkey produced and sold in Yamoransa has a long history. As gathered from informants of this study, Yamoransa Fante Kenkey producers supplied the people of Cape Coast, Elmina and other places with their Fante Kenkey from the precolonial through to the colonial and post-colonial times. As the first and leading producer of Fante Kenkey, the authors considered the use of Yamoransa as a case study unavoidable.

The origin of the people of Yamoransa

The founding of Yamoransa has been pegged at the sixteenth century, a period identified by most scholars for the founding of settlements in present day Ghana. Tradition has it that the people of Yamoransa formed part of the larger Borbore Fante group that migrated from Takyiman in the Bono kingdom of present day Bono East Region of Ghana under the leadership of their three great leaders: Oburonmankoma, Odapagyan, and Oson. The larger group was made up of sub-groups one of which was the Nkusumkum who were led by one Kwesi Mensah (Kwaa Kum Ko). According to one of the traditions of Yamoransa, the Nkusukum were referred to as such due to the fact that they had the ability to change the weather making it cloudy and using it to their advantage during wars or skirmishes with their enemies. It is recounted that the Nkusukum, after chanting some recitals, created a thick smoke in the sky making it difficult for their adversaries to see and harm them particularly during wars. Nkusukum is, therefore, synonymous with cloudiness.⁸

As the Nkusukum migrated southwards from Takyiman, they moved along with the seedling of a tree which they planted at any spot that they stopped for settlement with the belief that wherever the seedling was planted and it bore fresh leaves in three days implied that spot was suitable for settlement. It was at present day Mankessim that the seedling they planted started to bear fresh leaves after three days. They, therefore, concluded that the site was good for permanent settlement. After settling at Mankessim for some time, the Nkusukum spread out in groups westward and founded the various Nkusukum states of which Yamoransa is the paramountcy.⁹ There are about twenty Nkusukum states some of which are Duadze, Saltpond, Kuntu, Anoekyi, Akatekyiwaa, Yamoransa, Biriwa, Eguase, Esaaman, Edwuma, Abonko, and Woraba. Yamoransa’s headship over all the Nkusukum states stems from the role Kwesi Mensah (Kwaa kum ko) played in helping the group to defeat the Asebu who inhabited the area prior to their arrival there. For his bravery, Kwesi Mensah was nominated as the chief of the Nkusukum and since Yamoransa was founded by members of his clan, the Twidan clan, it became the seat of government of the Nkusukum.¹⁰

There are three different traditions that traces the founding of Yamoransa. One of the traditions indicates that the founder of Yamoransa was called Kwaa Kum Ko. He left Akatekyiwa on a hunting expedition and reached the present site of Yamoransa where he hunted and killed bush pigs. Sooner than later, other people got to know about the success of his hunting activities and began to visit him at that location in order to buy the meat of the bush pig. He later ran out of stock of the bush pig meat and so when people went there to enquire about it, his response was ‘Yamo no asa’ meaning the bush pig meat is finished. ‘Yamo no asa’ was later corrupted to Yamoransa.¹¹ The second tradition also suggests that an ancestor and founder of Yamoransa called Egya Yamoa kept a large farm on which he cultivated all sorts of food crops. He, however, cultivated maize in greater quantities and constructed a barn in which he stored the harvested food products. As the years passed by, a severe famine broke out compelling people to frequent his area of settlement in order to buy food items. Egya Yamoa also tapped and brewed local gin and palm wine. Whenever people wanted to patronise Egya Yamoa’s food stuffs at his location, they stated that ‘Yerekↄ Egya Yamoa ne sen ase’ meaning we are going to Egya Yamoa’s barn.’¹² People who believed that drinking alcohol enabled one to forget about his/her worries and became relaxed also patronised Egya Yamoa’s alcoholic beverages saying, ‘Yaa mona nsa’ meaning sorrow breeds alcoholism.¹³ As people who went there to patronise his foodstuffs and alcohol gradually settled there, his site became populated and served as the beginning of Yamoransa. ‘Yamoa ne sen ase’ and ‘Yaa mona nsa’ were corrupted to Yamoransa. The third tradition indicates that one Amo was the first man to have settled at the present location of Yamoransa. He had a brother called Ansah who initially settled at present day Moree but due to solitude he moved to join his brother at his location. When people were going to that site they stated that ‘Yerekↄ Amo na Ansah akurase’ meaning we are going to Amo and Ansah’s village. It was Amo na Ansah, according to the tradition, which was corrupted to Yamoransa.¹⁴ Of the three traditions, the second with the phrase ‘Yerekↄ Yamoa ne sen ase’ dominated in the responses that respondents provided to the question on the origin of the people. Irrespective of its dominance in the traditions and without ruling out the truth in the other traditions, the authors subscribe to it since it better explains why people moved there or what attracted people to that location.

Yamoransa grew population wise with the movement of various clans (Ebusua) from different settlements for various reasons to ‘Yamoa ne sen ase.’ There are about five Nsona groups who moved from areas including Mmeadze, Atwea, Nankesedo (Saltpond), Anomabo, and Duaadze to Yamoransa. There were also some members of the Aboradze clan who migrated from Otabanadze to Yamoransa. Some Ebiradze (Kona) members also moved from Abonko and Biriwa to Yamoransa while some members of the Anona (Dehyena) from Peshie (Elmina), Atwea (Ekumfi), and Ekon also settled there. The Adwenadze from Biriwa also migrated to Yamoransa. Interestingly, the two people (Kwaa Kum Ko and Egya Yamoa) mentioned in the traditions as the founders of Yamoransa were of the Twidan clan and this explains why the Twidan was and still is the royal clan of Yamoransa.

The people of Yamoransa were and are still organised and identified in accordance with their respective clan groupings. There were about thirteen clan groupings which include two Twidan clan groups (the royal Twidan (Number one), Twidan (Number two)); five different Nsona groups; two Anona groups; two Kona (Ebiradze) groups; the Aboradze; and Adwenadze clan groups.

Map of Yamoransa.

The transformations in the production and sale of Fante kenkey

Yamoransa is a farming community but the inhabitants also engage in other economic activities including Fante Kenkey production, bread baking, trading in general merchandise, and artisanal works such as carpentry, masonry, and tailoring. The production and sale of Fante Kenkey was a major economic activity and a reserve for women and their children. These women were locally known as Akutiabↄfo. The association of Fante Kenkey production with women resonates with the socialization on gender-based division of labour whereby men and women were responsible for distinctly separate duties or responsibilities. Moser (1989) classified the roles played by men and women into reproductive, productive and community and referred to them as the triple roles of women. As far as productive roles were concerned, men were socialised to take up roles in the formal sector whereas women were associated with the informal sector and engaged in activities such as food crop production; petty trading and hawking at different levels; and in cottage industries including soap making, pottery, and catering services. Even in situations where both men and women were involved in same economic activities, there were gender stereotypes by which certain jobs were stereotyped as male or female.¹⁵ Commercial Fante Kenkey production in Yamoransa was and is still an example of the productive roles in the informal sector considered by that society as feminine whereas the cultivation of the maize used in making the Fante Kenkey was mainly considered as masculine. This kind of gender based division of labour can be considered as having promoted a reciprocity of effort. The authors wish to reiterate that this situation was not peculiar to Yamoransa since in most African societies, as noted by Sudarkasa (1986), there were instances where ‘if men were farmers, women were food processors and traders. Where women and men were engaged in the same productive activity (such as farming or weaving), they produced different items.’¹⁶

In describing Yamoransa Fante Kenkey, Maame Efua, an indigene of Yamoransa stated: ‘knead it between the tips of your fingers; if it turns smooth and sticky then it is likely to be from Yamoransa.’¹⁷ Fante Kenkey, a staple food for the Fante in general and the people of Yamoransa in particular, has local names including ‘Dziwu’¹⁸; ‘Ankoi’; Mfante Dokono’; and ‘Wo na de okyia wo’.¹⁹ With regards to its varied uses, one Isaac Yeboah (2015) summarized them as follows:

You can consume it in any form – liquid, solid and gas…. As liquid, with sugar and ice (milk and groundnut are optional). As solid, with grinded pepper, soup, or stew and animal protein. As gas, the vulcanizers will be the best people to explain: Yes, smooth and sticky Yamoransa Fante Dokono can be used to mend flat [car] tyres. ²⁰

There are few anthropological works on kenkey such as Bartels and Aidoo’s 1964 and 1967 respective studies conducted on Ga Kenkey. Bartels and Aidoo established that the processes of milling, fermentation and boiling at a high temperature involved in making kenkey lead to a reduction of the nutritive value of the product. Again, they concluded that the varieties of kenkey produced in Ghana are Ewe, Ga, and Fante kenkeys and that the only difference between them borders on the wrappers used as well as the addition of salt in the case of the Ga Kenkey. In regard to the wrappers used, the Ga and Ewe kenkeys are wrapped in corn husks whereas the Fante Kenkey is wrapped in dry plantain leaves.²¹ Oduro examined the traditional process of White Kenkey production in terms of assessing and ensuring a quality that will be appreciated by both indigenous and non-indigenous consumers. Oduro (2015) established that the ‘processing variables had significant effects on physicochemical and sensory characteristics of white kenkey.’²²

In this section, particular attention is given to Fante Kenkey in terms of the dynamic trends evident in the principal items used in the production; the production process; provision of labour; and in the sale of the finished product from the pre-colonial era up to 2016.

The principal items used in the production of Fante kenkey

Producing Fante Kenkey requires items including dry corn, dry plantain leaves as wrappers, special utensils, and a source of fire. For the purpose of this work, dry corn and wrappers, considered by these authors as the principal items, are discussed in terms of where they were obtained from in the precolonial, colonial and postcolonial eras.

Dry corn

Dry corn is the most essential ingredient for the production of Fante Kenkey. As a farming community, corn was produced in relatively greater quantities than other food crops right from the precolonial period as evident in one of the three different traditions given above about the founding of Yamoransa. Thus, during the precolonial period, Fante Kenkey producers obtained dry corn from farms at Yamoransa. From the colonial period, an increase in the demand for Fante Kenkey, a situation associated with the establishment of secondary schools, hospitals and colonial administrative offices particularly in Cape Coast and Saltpond, compelled the Akutiabofo to obtain additional corn from other places. Fante kenkey was on the menu for boarding house students in the secondary schools in the Central Region particular and Ghana as a whole while labourers at various construction sites relied on this staple food of the Fante for either their breakfast or lunch. The increase in the demand could only be commensurated with an increase in supply. The corn obtained from the farms in Yamoransa was no longer sufficient to ensure adequate supply of the product. The Fante kenkey producers had to go to places like Nyamedo, Nyankomase, Kwayanko, Jakain, and Abakrampa to buy dry corn.²³

With the construction of more schools, hospitals, and banks during the postcolonial era, people’s patronage of Fante Kenkey intensified. Mary Baamoah, a renowned Fante kenkey producer in Yamoransa, reiterated that ‘from Nkrumah’s time onwards business was good because there were lots of construction works whose workers patronised our products’²⁴ Producers consequently cast their nets wider in the bid to obtain more dry corn. They bought additional dry corn from places like Daaman, Ayowase, Abura Dunkwaw, Techiman, Sunyani, Kintampo, and Nkoranza. Due to the relevance of Fante Kenkey in the sustenance of livelihoods in Ghana, various postcolonial government leaders of the country including Kwame Nkrumah, Kofi Abrefa Busia, Major General Affrifah, Hilla Limann, and Acheampong all supported the the Fante Kenkey business. During Acheampong’s regime in the 1980s for instance, government supplied dry corn to Fante Kenkey producers of Yamoransa at relatively cheaper prices. Mary Baamoah indicated that one Master Opoku, a government official ensured the supply of dry corn from government to the kenkey makers. The corn was kept in government depots at Yamoransa and Cape Coast from where the women obtained their supplies of dry corn.²⁵

Wrapper

Sizeable balls of raw corn dough had to be wrapped before being cooked over a period of time. During the precolonial and colonial days, the balls of raw corn dough were wrapped in cleaned pieces of dry plantain leaves which gave the kenkey a unique flavour.²⁶ In the precolonial time, the dry plantain leaves were obtained at no cost from farms at Yamoransa. From the colonial period, however, producers of Fante Kenkey purchased dry plantain leaves from the markets at Jakain and Nyankomase among other places. During the postcolonial epoch, particularly from the 1990s, Fante kenkey producers in Yamoransa started using either a leaf locally called asɔfɔ or clear rubber polythene to wrap the balls of corn dough first before using the dry plantain leaves.²⁷ This was to ensure that the kenkey lasts for a relative longer period before going bad. The practice of using clear rubber polythene to wrap the raw balls of corn dough was introduced at Yamoransa by a woman called Madam Sophia Ghabrah. According to Madam Ama Kraba, Madam Sophia Ghabrah asked her to resort to the practice of using clear polythene rubber to ensure the durability of the kenkey she made. Apparently, Madam Ghabrah had been selling some of Ama Kraba’s kenkey in Accra.²⁸ During the postcolonial period, new areas from where additional wrappers were purchased included Accra, Cape Coast and Mankessim.

Fante kenkey producer, Helena Baamoah, wrapping the raw ball of kenkey in a clear polythene rubber before adding the dry plantain leaves.

The production process during the precolonial and colonial eras

During these epochs, makers of Yamoransa Fante kenkey soaked relatively small quantities of dry corn (about 10 kg) in water for a period of not less than three days after which it was grinded on a special stone, mixed with a small amount of water and reground until a smooth texture was obtained. The ground corn was then kneaded and kept for a day after which one third (1/3) portion of it was cooked through stirring into a smooth texture. The uncooked two thirds (2/3) portion was then meticulously mixed with the cooked portion into a smooth texture. Sizeable balls were then formed from the dough, wrapped and cooked over a period of time.²⁹This obviously was a herculean task and thus accounted for the relative small quantity of kenkey produced at a time during the period. However, the soaking of the dry corn for a minimum of three days and its subsequent grinding on the stone enabled that high quality of Fante kenkey produced at the time. Its smooth and sticky nature ensured its use in the mending of car tyres. This resulted in the common statement ‘Yamoransa Dokono wↄde sↄ tyre’.³⁰

An image of the grinding stone

Source: Authors’ photo gallery.

The production process in the postcolonial period

The production process underwent a drastic change from the 1950s. Although the specific year the milling machine was first introduced in Yamoransa had fallen into oblivion, participants of this study maintained that some Fante kenkey makers started milling their corn in the 1950s. As already indicated above, before the introduction of corn milling machines, women in Yamoransa used grinding stone to grind their soaked corn. This pre – colonial method of grinding corn was tedious, unhygienic and time consuming. The switch to the use of corn mills enabled women to spend less time in grinding the soaked corn. Unlike the traditional method, corn milling was hygienic and efficient. Besides, it became an attractive proposition for women to cook large quantities of Fante kenkey for sale. The money earned by the women supplemented household budgets provided by their husbands. It is important to note, however, that there were other women who continued to grind their soaked corn on a stone.

The change in the Fante kenkey production was not limited to the quantity produced but also manifested in the quality of the kenkey as well. As the country faced economic hardships and people were confronted with the difficulty of maintaining livelihoods from 1979 through to 1983, many more people in the environs of Yamoransa in the Central region and other regions like Greater Accra and Ashanti patronised Fante kenkey produced in Yamoransa. The high demand affected the quality of the kenkey produced during this period. In the bid to meet the high demand, the kenkey producers resorted to unapproved methods of production. This was the practice referred to as ‘Ahead’³¹ Adwoa Sakyiwa intimated that ‘at that time business was good so most women had to use other methods to produce greater quantities of Fante kenkey’³²

Linked to the high demand for Fante kenkey was the development of hired labour from the 1970s for the production. Hired labourers provided their services at different stages of the production process for either a fee or a determined number of balls of kenkey. This is confirmed by Isaac Yeboah’s statement that

I used to sometimes help Maame Adasuwa the CEO, with wrapping of the …. Each support or assistance earned me not less than three balls of the sumptuous maize meal.³³

Isaac Yeboah again lamented on the reduced size of a ball of Fante kenkey as another change worthy of note. Yeboah expressed his disappointment at the size of the balls of Fante kenkey he asked a friend to buy from Yamoransa for him. The balls of Fante kenkey he received were not what he knew a couple of years back. In a 2016 report Theresa Mensah, a kenkey seller, attributed the reduction in the size of a ball of Fante kenkey to the high cost of maize and wrappers.³⁴ It must be noted, however, that the reduction in the size of kenkey in general was also noted in the country in the 1970s. On July 7, 1976 the then Head of State, General Kutu Acheampong, having identified the secret sale of maize to private dealers at exorbitant prices as the cause of the decreasing size of the balls of kenkey, ‘called on the public to report anybody who sold a bag of maize above the control price of c16 [16 Cedis].’³⁵

Yet another significant development in the production process was the use of clear rubber polythene in wrapping the ball of corn dough before adding the plantain leaves. This, as alluded to earlier in this paper, started in the 1990s due to its long-lasting effect on the kenkey as the producers claimed. In a 2013 report, however, Professor Frimpong Boateng stressed on the health implications for consumers of kenkey wrapped in the clear rubber polythene.³⁶ Unlike the dried plantain leaves which in that same report was said to have some medicinal properties capable of curing skin ailments and high fever, the chemicals in the rubber polythene were hazardous to the health of consumers.³⁷

Provision of labour during production

During the precolonial and colonial period, the production and sale of Fante kenkey in Yamoransa was a business for women and their children. The harvesting, drying, and soaking of corn obtained from family farms were solely done by women and children. Again, grinding of the soaked corn on the stone, kneading, balling and wrapping of the dough for boiling were a preserve for women and their kids. The women engaged in this economic activity to sustain their families. Thus, in every household, mother and children were engaged in Fante kenkey making during the precolonial and colonial times. Madam Abokoma who had been in the business for about forty (40) years as of 2013 had trained her two daughters who took up the trade in their mother’s old age.³⁸

From the 1970s, however, formal education particularly basic/primary education gained grounds in Yamoransa and denied mothers of the labour services of their children for the production of the kenkey in particular. Children became disinterested in that business as confirmed by Abaduwa in a 2013 report as follows: ‘The young ones do not care about learning the skills. They are all in school and they do not want to be kenkey makers’³⁹As far as the sale of the kenkey was concerned, most pupils were involved after closing from school. This situation paved way for the development of hired labour. Interestingly, the hired labourers were also mostly women. Different categories of women for various reasons offered their labour services for a fee. Different women performed different tasks at the various stages of the production. Mary Acquah had been in the business of preparing the corn dough and wrapping the balls of the dough used in preparing the Fante kenkey for about 30 years. According to her ‘initially business was good so I could go to about three different places to work but now, one is lucky to work at two different places once in a week.’⁴⁰ She had, however, succeeded in taking care of and providing the educational needs of her eight children with the proceeds from her hired labour. Elderly women between ages 50 and 70 with no source of livelihoods also engaged in the business as hired labourers to put food on their tables. Ama Kraba recalled how as a nine – months pregnant woman in the 1970’s she had gone to Mary Baamoah’s house to offer her services as a hired labourer only to return home and experience labour pains.⁴¹

Hired labourers in the picture above preparing dry plantain leaves for the wrapping of the balls of Fante Kenkey.

Sale of the finished product during the precolonial and colonial eras

Selling the balls of Fante kenkey in the precolonial period was as tedious as the production process. Mothers and their children with no means of transport had to trek from Yamoransa to places Moree, Biriwa, Anomabo, Saltpond, Cape Coast and Elmina. The sellers met at vantage points and proceeded to various sales joints carrying the kenkey on a wooden tray locally called kroba. It was always a return journey and so after sales, the sellers again converged at a point from where they walked back home. When the women and their children were late in arriving home, their husbands would also organise themselves to meet their families and escort them home.

Selling Yamoransa Fante kenkey during the colonial period was facilitated with the introduction of the vehicles (Bedford) popularly referred to as ‘Bone shaker’. Some sellers now packed the balls of kenkey in baskets and conveyed them to the various sales points at the towns indicated above. It is important to note that there were still some sellers who continued to walk to the sales points carrying the kenkey either in a basket or on a wooden tray. Maser Kofi Atta shared memories of how as a young lad, he used to accompany his mother to sell kenkey at Saltpond, Moree, Elmina and Cape Coast. On one such occasion, Kofi Atta narrated that he went with his mum to Cape Coast on foot, finished selling out the kenkey he was carrying and while waiting for his mum so that they could return to Yamoransa, he played football with his friends in a gutter nearby. Suddenly, they heard gun shots which made them take to their heels in the bid to return home. Apparently a civil war between two asafo companies in Cape Coast had started. These asafo companies were the Benstifo and the Ntsin.⁴²

Sale of the product in the post-colonial period up to 2016

Selling Yamoransa Fante kenkey took a different turn from the 1970s. Unlike the precolonial and colonial periods when sales were made by mothers and their children (producing family), in the postcolonial times, it became a roadside business for both producing and non-producing families. Instead of conveying the kenkey out of Yamoransa for sale, sellers then lined up their balls of kenkey in trays along the roadside of Yamoransa. Between 1958 and 1959, the Cape Coast – Mankessim road was constructed.⁴³ By the 1970s and 80s, therefore, there existed a tarred road that linked Yamoransa to Cape Coast on the west and Accra in the east. It is significant to note that from the 1980s, there were young women either educated or uneducated who for lack of other job opportunities clung on to selling the kenkey by the roadside. Agnes Mensah recalled that in 1987 she was redeployed as a pupil teacher at Amosima in the Central region and had no other option than getting into the Fante kenkey business. She mentioned selling Fante kenkey in Yamoransa along the Cape Coast – Accra road in 1987.⁴⁴

From the year 1990, selling of Fante kenkey in Yamoransa along the Accra – Cape Coast highway turned into a major lucrative business for majority of young women at Yamoransa. The business was infiltrated by both other Fante and non-Fante immigrants of Yamoransa and thereby rendering the business very competitive to the extent that sellers had to find a way of keeping their customers. In view of that sellers started the practice of bagging specific quantities of balls of Fante kenkey for specific amounts in blue polythene bags in which they kept small pieces of paper that had their names and location on for easy transaction and identification.⁴⁵ Again, sellers began writing some signs and inscriptions on the small wooden sheds (tables) that they used to sell the kenkey. The inscriptions indicated either the names of the sellers, Bible quotations or some religious phrases as evident in one of the images below.

In the year 2015, some Yamoransa Fante kenkey sellers went a step further in keeping and attracting more customers by printing and giving out complementary cards to customers and other potential ones. It had become very necessary to keep and look for more customers because the quality of kenkey made by some producers had gone so low that one had to draw attention to a relatively better quality Fante kenkey.⁴⁶ Some sellers also started to accept payment for Fante kenkey bought via Mobile Money transactions especially in cases where customers did not have physical cash on them in the spare of a particular moment.

Samples of the complementary cards

Source: Authors’ photo gallery.

Source: Authors’ photo gallery.

Challenges

The Yamoransa Fante kenkey business had been plagued with a number of challenges over the years. From the precolonial up to the mid colonial periods, the obvious principal challenges were the tedious tasks of grinding the soaked corn and walking long distances to sell the kenkey. From the 1950s up to 2016, the challenges included difficulties in accessing credit to increase stock and sales; relative low demand due to low quality of the kenkey and excessive supply; as well as the risks involved in selling kenkey at the roadside in Yamoransa. As far as the latter is concerned, there were reports of cases of accidents as had happened in May 2011 when two kenkey sellers were instantly killed by a truck whose driver had lost control over it. The sellers were also always at the mercy of the weather since they had to be standing in either the rain or sun to do business.

Efforts to improve the business

That the Yamoransa Fante kenkey business was beset with the above mentioned challenges was known to local government officials. On different occasions and at different platforms, some national government officials were also made aware of them. In 2011, Honourable Henry Kwaku Hayfron, the then Municipal Chief Executive for the Mfantseman District encouraged the women involved in that business to form cooperatives to facilitate easy access to loans under the Microfinance and Small Loans Centre (MASLOC). In that same year, the Yamoransa Fante kenkey sellers made an appeal for the construction of a permanent kenkey market to reduce the incidence of accidents around the sale points. Irrespective of the Fante kenkey sellers’ passionate appeal for a Fante kenkey market and Honourable Hayfron’s consent to help them, that dream has still not materialised. Again, in September 2016, former president John Dramani Mahama in his address to market women at Yamoransa urged Fante kenkey sellers to take advantage of the MASLOC to aid their business. Within that same time frame, former Vice-President, Paa Kwesi Bekoe Amissah- Arthur in an interaction with Fante kenkey businessmen at Yamoransa promised to communicate with them through their leaders to see the way forward for their industry.⁴⁷

The socio-economic contributions of the women (Akutiabↄfo) to development in Yamoransa

The meaning of development in this study falls in the context of Society for International Development Isreal’s explanation that it is ‘a process that creates growth, progress, positive change or the addition of physical, economic, environmental, social and demographic components’ in a society.⁴⁸ In this section, how the Akutiabↄfo impacted lives particularly at the micro and macro levels are highlighted. This is done through the use of the life histories of some selected Akutiabↄfo. Indeed, the lucrativeness of the Fante kenkey business was undoubtable as confirmed by the participants of this study. Women in this business had over the years succeeded in generating income for the education of their children and acquiring properties including houses, clothes and other personal belongings. There were women in Yamoransa who singlehandedly catered for their families using proceeds from their Fante kenkey business. There were examples including the families of Mary Baamoah, Adwoa Sakyiwaa, Ama Kraba, and Mary Acquah.

Mary Baamoah also known as Maame Adwoa Maobinye, Ewuo, Adwoa Obonu, and Dokonhen. By 2018, she was about 95 years of age. She had been in the business for about 80 years. She started learning the business of producing quality Fante kenkey for her mother Obaapayin Aba Aban of Kokwaado. In 1970/1972,the chief (Nana Essandoh Okese VII) and elder of Yamoransa crowned her as Dokonhen(Kenky chief) to honour her and her mother for the mass production of quality fante kenkey in and around Yamoransa. Her elevation to the position of Dokonhen marked a revival of the Fante Kenkey Producers’ Association of Yamoransa. The Association, which was started by her predecessors in the 1960s, had become defunct due to its members’ poor attendance at meetings. Some of the earlier members of the Association included ….

Mary Baamoah supplied Fante kenkey to St. Augustine’s College, St. Theresa Minor and St. Peter’s Seminaries, Black star Line at Tema, Wusurkrom and other places. During the reign of former president General Kutu Achempong, Maame Moabinye was invited to join other Fante kenkey producers from Amosima, Nkanfoa, Edukrom, all in the Centeral region, in the production of Fante kenkey at the Cape Coast Regional Office. During the 1979 coup in Ghana led by Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings in the price control era, Mary Baamoah fought against a reduction in the price of kenkey. She advocated the sale of Fante kenkey at its normal and existing price. Mary Baamah supported her husband to sustain their family and when he passed on, Mary took sole responsibility of her children’s upkeep and education. She also supported her adult children to take care of her grandchildren.

Helena Baamoah, the daughter of Mary Baamoah. She was 45 years at the time of this research and lived in the house of her mother at Kojokrom. She is a Middle School leaver and had been 30 years in the kenkey business. She took over her mother’s kenkey business together with her Faustina Baamoah.

Faustina Baamoah, daughter of Mary Baamoah. She is also a Middle School leaver and had been involved in the kenkey business with her mother for 59 years.

Helena Baamoah and Faustina Baamoah making Fante kenkey in the picture above. They took over their mother’s business when she became old and weak. Fante kenkey making is the major source of livelihood for their families. Through this business, they have been able to support their children’s formal education.

Adwoa Sakyiwa’s mother, Esi Abokoma at the left in the above picture with Mary Baamoah. Adwoa Sakyiwa of Twaesukeda, Kojokrom was 63 years as of 2018 and 30 years in the business as an independent Fante kenkey producer. Hitherto, She was helping her mother, Esi Abokoma, in her kenkey production business. Madam Esi Abokoma became one of the excutive leaders of the Fante Kenkey Producers’ Association from the 1972 together with Mary Baamoah. Madam Sakyiwa’s daughters; Gladys Dadzie (29 yrs) 15 years in the business and Foana Dadzie (34 yrs) 20 years in the business with their mother after completing senior high school and junior high school respectively Fante Kenkey business was their family’s principal source of livelihood.

Mary Acquah of Matwemeho, Yamoransa. As of 2018, she was 61 years and had been 30 years in the business as a hired labourer. She prepares and wraps the balls of raw kenkey in plantain leaves. She was involved in the business as a hired labourer because she did not initially have enough capital to start her own business. With the wages she obtained by providing her hired services, she was able to cater for her family. She stated:

Initially when the business was good, I could go to about 3 or 4 different places of kenkey producers in a day to offer my hired services. Now (2018) I only go to about 2 places and some services and sometimes once in a week. Through the business, I have been able to care for my children. Some have even obtained University education.⁴⁹

Madam Ama Kraba (Kojokrom) 67 years in Fante kenkey business, started in 1951 at age 7. Her mother and grandmother were all involved in the business. In the 1970s she used to go to Mary Baamoah’s house to offer her services as a hired labourer. Proceeds from the business aided her to take care of her children. She states’ I have used proceeds from my Fante kenkey business to care for my kids who were 12 in number but death has taken 5. Some of my kids attended St. Augustine’s College and Mfantsiman Girls’ Secondary Secondary School. I have been able to put up a house’.

There was, therefore, a link between activities of the Fante kenkey businesswomen of Yamoransa and the socio- economic development of their households, the Yamoransa community, the Central Region and the nation at large. Mary Baamoah, instance, had used proceeds from her to build her house and taken care of her six children of which one was a soldier and another, a nurse. As the leader of the Fante kenkey producers in the 1970s, Mary Baamoah and her contemporaries ensured the production of good quality kenkey which fed the populace in Yamoransa, region and its environs. The role of these Yamoransa Fante kenkey producers cannot be downplayed particularly in the late 1970s and early 1980s in Ghana when there was significant shortage of food and its related ‘Rawlings chain or necklace.’⁵⁰ No wonder various Ghanaian government like that of Acheampong supported the kenkey industry by supplying producers with relative cheaper and greater quantities of maize for increased production of the Fante kenkey.

Conclusion

The production and sale of Fante kenkey is said to have commenced at Yamoransa and spread to other areas like Moree and Cape Coast in the Central region of Ghana. It was a productive informal sector activity that exemplified the division of labour along gender lines. Cultivation of the maize was men’s job while processing of the maize into Fante kenkey and selling the finished product were reserved for women and their children as it pertained to other African societies. The women producers and sellers of this food product contributed greatly to social and economic development: they played complementary roles of sustaining their community’s economy, provided for their children’s formal education, generally fed the Central region. The role of these women in sustaining livelihoods became more pronounced in the 1970s and early 1980s when there was shortage of food in Ghana.

The Fante kenkey business underwent significant and interesting transformations from the precolonial to the postcolonial periods. The underlying factors for these transformations in the items used in the production process; the production process; provision of labour; and the sale of the finished product were the changing trends related to colonialism and the introduction of Western education in the country. The transformation had basically been one from the use of very strenuous methods to less strenuous ones. It is significant to again note that changes also manifested in the size and quality of the balls of Fante kenkey. Irrespective of the changing fortunes and some efforts to offset the challenges associated with the industry, there is still a major problem of lack of a market place. On different occasions and at different platforms, some national government officials were also made aware of the financial problems the Fante Kenkey producers were confronted with.

Appendix

Interviews

Name	Age	Occupation	Location
Adwoa Sakyiwa, Twaesukeda	63	Kenkey producer	Yamoransa
Helena	53	Businesswoman	Yamoransa
Faustina Baamoah	72	Businesswoman	Yamoransa
Afua Ntserfuah	43	Businesswoman	Yamoransa
Jane Bosomafi	74	Businesswoman	Yamoransa
Mary Acquah	61	Kenkey business	Matwemeho
Ama Kraba	74	Kenkey business	Kojokrom
Master Alhassan (Kofi Atta)	98	Carpenter	Oguakuma(Yamoransa)
Agnes Mensah (Afua Nkwefua)	99	Unemployed	Anaafo
Cecilia Ama Adoma Boakye	66	Trader	Kojokrom
Joana Dadzie	34	Kenkey producer	Twaesukeda
Gladys Dadzie	29	Fante kenkey business
Madam Kraba	67	Kenkey producer	Kojokrom (Yamoransa)
Madam Efua Nkwefua	101	Kenkey producer	Anaafo (Yamoransa)
Mary Baamoah	95	Kenkey producer	Matwemeho
Mary Baamoah	63	Kenkey producer	Twaesukeda
Adwoa Sakyiwa	71	Kenkey producer
Helena Baamoah	45	Kenkey producer	Matwemeho
Ama Kraba	74	Kenkey producer	Kojokrom (Yamoransa)
Opayin Kofi Atta	64	Kenkey producer	Kokoado, Yamoransa
Nana Essandoh IX	66	Traditional Ruler	Amponsa Kokoado
Nana Akwa II	55	Traditional Ruler	Yamoransa
Moses Quainoo	49		Anaafo, Yamoransa
John Blackson Aidoo	63		Twaesukedda, Yamoransa
Cecilia Ama Adoma	66	Trader	Twaesukedda, Yamoransa

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Martha Alibah

Dr. Martha Alibah, a Senior Lecturer and the Head of Department of History at the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, is a renowned scholar in the history of the Nzema people. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Philosophy degrees in History from the University of Cape Coast and a Doctor of Philosophy (History) degree from the University of Ghana. Her research focuses on the migration of the Nzema to Cote d’Ivoire between 1893 and 1990. Dr Alibah has published several books and articles on the history of the Nzema of southwestern Ghana, and has contributed a chapter titled "Colonial Ghana and the United States: A Comparative Study of British Repression" in Adebayo Oyebade and Gashawbeza Bekele’s book, The Long Struggle: Discourses On Human and Civil Rights in Africa and the African Diaspora.

Emmanuel Ababio Ofosu-Mensah

Professor Ofosu-Mensah Emmanuel Ababio, a renowned Economic and Social Historian at the University of Ghana, is an expert in the field of mining history in West Africa. His research has been published in prestigious academic journals such as Africa Today, Journal of Africa History, Journal of Asian and African Studies, International Journal of African Historical Studies, and the Cogent Arts and Humanities. Professor Ababio is also a Nova Science publisher, with his current book, Economic, Social and Political Impact of Mining in Akyem Abuakwa from the precolonial era up to 1943, focusing on the economic, social, and political impact of mining in Akyem Abuakwa from the pre-colonial era up to 1943. His expertise in mining history has led to his participation in international conferences such as the BMPC, AASAUK, and the 9th International Mining History Congress (9th IMHC) in Africa.

Notes

1 Emmanuel Akyeampong and Hippolyte Fofack, “The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development in Post-Colonial Africa: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6537, 2013, .

2 Bertha Esteve-Volart, “Gender Discrimination and Growth: theory and evidence from India”, Discussion Paper, LSE STICERD Research Paper No. DEDPS42, (2004); William Baa-Boateng, “Gender Perspectives of Labour Market Discrimination in Ghana”, PhD. Economics, Univ. of Ghana, 2009; World Development Report, Gender Equality and Development, WDR 2012.

3 Acheampong and Fofack, “The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development in Post-Colonial Africa: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implications”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6537, 2013, 19. Other works that corroborate this fact include Frederick Cooper,(Ed.), Struggle for the City, Berkeley: Sage Publications, 1983; Jacklyn Cock, Maids and Madams: A Study in the Politics of Exploitation, Johannesburg: Raven Press, 1980; Luise White, The Comfort of Home: Prostitution in Colonial Nairobi, Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990: Jonathan Crush and Charles Ambler (Ed.), Liquor and Labour in Southern Africa, Athens: Ohio Univ. Press, 1992; Emmanuel Akyeampong, Drink, Power, and Cultural Change: A Social History of Alcohol in Ghana c.1800 to Recent Times, Portsmouth: Heinemann, 1996; Dorothy Hodgson and Sheryl McCurdy (Ed.), ‘Wicked’ Women and the Reconfiguration of Gender, Portsmouth: Heinemann, 2001.

4 Ester Boserup, Woman’s Role in Economic Development, London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd., 1970; Emmanuel Akyeampong and Hyppolyte Fofack, “The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implication – Part I: The Pre-colonial and Colonial Period”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6051, 2012.

5 Emmanuel Akyeampong and Hippolyte Fofack, “The Contribution of African Women to Economic Growth and Development: Historical Perspectives and Policy Implication – Part I: The Pre-colonial and Colonial Period”, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 6051, 2012, 14.

6 Leith (1976); Hay (1976); Henn (1984); Guyer (1984); Niara Sudarkasa, “The Status of Women” in Indigenous African Societies” in Feminist Studies, vol.12, No.1(1986); Acheampong and Fofack (2013, 2014); and Handaragama, Rathnayake, Uluwaduge (2013); Sudarkasa (1973); Amaduime (1987); Turrittin (1986); Robertson (1997); Chamlee-Wright (1997); Chuku (1999); Darkwah (2007); Awuah (2014); and Clark (2010).

7 Sotirios Sarantakos, Social Research, (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), 339.

8 Interview with Opayin Kofi Atta at Kokoado, Yamoransa on 28/03/18.

9 Interview with Opayin Kofi Atta at Kokoado, Yamoransa on 28/03/18.

10 Interview with Opayin Kofi Atta at Kokoado, Yamoransa on 28/03/18.

11 Personal interview with Nana Essandoh IX at Amponsa Kokoado, Yamoransa on 28/03/18.

12 Personal interview with Nana Akwa II, Twaesukedda at Yamoransa, on 23/01/18.

13 Interview with Moses Quainoo at Anaafo, Yamoransa on 01/02/18.

14 Interview with John Blackson Aidoo at Twaesukedda, Yamoransa on 02/02/18.

15 Caroline Moser, “Gender Planning in the Third World: Meeting Practical and Strategic Gender Needs” World Development, 17 (1989): 1799-1825.

16 Niara Sudarkasa, “The Status of Women” in Indigenous African Societies” in Feminist Studies, vol.12, No.1(1986):100. See also Herman Baumann, “The Division of Work According to Sex in African Hoe Culture,” in Journal for the International African Institute, vol. 1, 3(1928): 289-389.

17 Shirley Asiedu-Addo, “Yamoransa Fante Kenkey. A Staple and Tradition,” ModernGhana (ModernGhana, June 6, 2011), https://www.modernghana.com/news/332688/yamoransa-fante-kenkey-a-staple-and-tradition.html.

18 Interview with Cecilia Ama Adoma at Twaesukeda on 28/03/18.

19 Asiedu-Addo, “Yamoransa Fante Kenkey”.

20 Isaac Yeboah, “From Yamoransa with Love,” Graphic Online (Graphic Communications Group, October 29, 2015), https://www.graphic.com.gh/features/opinion/from-yamoransa-with-love.html.

21 J.E.M. Bartels, “Kenkey Marketing”, Mimeographed Report, Food and Research Institute of Ghana, Accra, 1964. Emmanuel Seth Aidoo, “Studies on Kenkey- A Food Product made from Corn in Ghana”, BSC Agric Long Essay, University of Ghana, 1967.

22 Charlotte Oduro, “Process Optimisation and Product Characteristics of White Kenkey”, PhD Thesis, University of Ghana, 2015.

23 Interview with Madam Kraba, Kojokrom, Fante kenkey businesswoman for 67years at Yamoransa on 19/09/2018. This was confirmed by Madam Efua Nkwefua of Anaafo in a personal interview at Yamoransa on 21/09/2018. She recollected how they used to go to Abakrampa on foot in the colonial days to buy corn and conveyed it to Akatakyiwa.

24 Interview with Mary Baamoah, 80 years in the Fante kenkey business at Matwemeho on 21/09/2018.

25 Interview with Mary Baamoah, 80 years in the Fante kenkey business at Matwemeho on 21/09/2018.

26 Interview with Adwoa Sakyiwa,30 years in the kenkey business at Twaesukeda on 21/09/2018.

27 Interview with Helena Baamoah, 30years in the kenkey business, at Matwemeho on 21/09/2018.

28 Interview with Ama Kraba, 67years in the Fante kenkey business at Kojokrom (Yamoransa) on 21/09/2018. All other informants corroborated that information.

29 All informants.

30 Interview with Cecilia Ama Adoma Boakye at Kojokrom, Twaesukeda on 21/09/2018.

31 ‘Ahead’ was the practice whereby Fante kenkey producers’ in their bid to readily meet demand soak dry corn to be used in preparing the kenkey in hot water so that it softens faster. In this case, the dry corn is only soaked for a day instead of the usual three days.

32 Interview with Adwoa Sakyiwa at Twaesukeda on 23/09/2018. This view was corroborated by Helena and Faustina Baamoah, Afua Ntserfuah, and Jane Bosomafi in a focus group interview at Yamoransa on 24/09/2018.

33 Yeboah, “From Yamoransa with Love”.

34 Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, “Ghana: Yamoransa Fante Kenkey,” YouTube, Apr 7, 2016, video, 3:15, https://youtu.be/5yUI97wEy2s?si=g3qMiryWOiLCQ59w.

35 Jubilee Ghana: A 50-Year News’ Journey through Graphic (1956 – 2006), Graphic Communications Group Ltd., Accra, 2006, 197.

36 Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, “Use of Polythene For Fante Kenkey,” YouTube, Jul 3, 2013, video, 3:18, https://youtu.be/zGdWII9UF4w?si=hOYDBIpD60DF-hOH.

37 Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, “Use of Polythene For Fante Kenkey,”.

38 Asiedu-Addo, “Yamoransa Fante Kenkey”.

39 Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, “Use of Polythene For Fante Kenkey,”.

40 Interview with Mary Acquah at Matwemeho on 21/09/2018.

41 Interview with Ama Kraba at Kojokrom on 22/09/2018.

42 Interview with Master Alhassan (Kofi Atta) at Oguakuma(Yamoransa) on 22/09/2018.

43 ADM 23/1/122 – Nkusumkum Native Affairs, PRAAD, Cape Coast.

44 Interview with Agnes Mensah (Afua Nkwefua) at Anaafo on 21/09/2018.

45 Cecilia Ama Adoma Boakye, Kojokrom, Twaesukeda, trader, Middle School Leaver, 66years.

46 Joana Dadzie, Twaesukeda, Secondary School leaver, 34years, 20years in the Fante kenkey business and Gladys Dadzie, Junior High School leaver, 29years, 15years in the Fante kenkey business.

47 GhanaWeb, “Veep Interacts with Yamoransa Junction Traders,” GhanaWeb, September 16, 2016, https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/Veep-interacts-with-Yamoransa-Junction-traders-470293.

48 Society for International Development, “What Is Development?,” Association for International Development- SID Israel, February 16, 2021, https://sid-israel.org/en/what-is-development/#:∼:text=Development%20is%20a%20process%20that.

49 Interview with Mary Acquah at her residence at Yamoransa on 22nd September 2018.

50 Term used to describe people who had grown lean due to hunger during the late 1970s and early 1980s when Former President Jerry John Rawlings was in power.