Ghana: Go Back, Retrieve It
The Sankofa Project seeks to investigate the gendered socio-economic effects of the fisheries closure in four coastal regions of Ghana to understand how the policy affects communities.
A research project was launched in Ghana to focus on equitable, inclusive and sustainable fisheries management. Titled Creating Synergies between Indigenous Practices and Scientific Knowledge (ISIPSK), it is led by Okafor-Yarwood at the University of St Andrews in Scotland, and funded by the PEW Fellows Program in Marine Conservation at the Pew Charitable Trust. Local partners from Ghana collaborating with the university for the research initiative include the Fisheries Commission of Ghana, the Fisheries Committee for West Central Gulf of Guinea (FCWC), and the Canoe and Fishing Gear Owners Association of Ghana (CaFGOAG). The project is now named ‘Sankofa’, meaning, to wit, ‘go back and retrieve it’. In this particular case, it refers to going back to retrieve positive historical practices that promote sustainable fisheries.