> [!NOTE]+ Meta > Author:: Ann B. Stahl > Reference:: Stahl, A. B. (2023). The earthen and organic materials technologies of Banda, Ghana. _Endangered Material Knowledge Programme_. https://www.emkp.org/earthen-organic-technology-banda-ghana/ > Date:: 2023 > Tags:: #warp/article #Ghana #basketry > WeftLinks:: [[Environmental value of craft]] > Claim:: [[Claim - Craft production is environmentally responsible]] > [!SUMMARY] Summary > This research project documents endangered earthen and organic materials technologies in the Banda area of Ghana — basketry fish traps, raffia mat weaving, earth-wall building and traditional door weaving — that sustained community life for generations using local fibre, wood and clay resources, before dam construction and cheap industrial plastics eroded them. ### Highlights Until recent decades, daily life in the multi-ethnic Banda area of Ghana was based in the production of useable things made from local fibre, wood and clay resources that sustained family and community well-being. These earthen and organic technologies included basketry fish traps fashioned from bamboo and vine rope and used by Ewe fishermen to harvest fish from the Black Volta River; woven raffia mats on which Nafana people slept and in which they and neighbouring peoples were wrapped for burial; and the earthen-walled and thatch houses that sheltered people living across the region, along with the doors they crafted for them. The practices and knowledge systems associated with these technologies are now endangered, due in part to changes ushered in by recent construction of a hydroelectric dam in the area and a growing perception that things and technologies from elsewhere are necessary improvements and pathways to modern life. Inexpensive plastics and other industrially manufactured commodities are rapidly eroding the earthen and organic materials technologies that long sustained local life in this rural area. The project team documented these endangered technologies and associated knowledge systems with knowledge holders across several villages, using video and audio recording and photography to record making sessions and conversations. Sub-projects covered basketry fish trap making, raffia mat weaving, thatch roofing and earth-wall building construction, following two buildings — one built with a coursed earth *atakpame* technique and the other through wattle and daub — together with the weaving of a traditional raffia door.