Abstract: | There are many areas in Ghana where salt has been derived by nonmechanical methods and sold in commercial quantities. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, salt production flourished along the coast west of Accra. Later, the salt lagoons on either side of the Volta came to dominate the trade. In the interior, Daboya has long been known as a centre of salt working, though its importance has possibly been exaggerated. The main change in the salt industries of Ghana in the nineteenth century was the concentration of production east of Accra, especially at Ada, and an emphasis thereby on production by solar evaporation. The main change in the twentieth century was one of techniques of distribution, with river transport and head loading being replaced by transport over land in lorries. Today, coastal salt production has made a successful transition to the postindustrial era. And while traditional production was sufficient to supply much of Ghana, present-day production allows for extensive exports as well. Notes, ref. |