The Scarcity Slot

Front matter

The Scarcity Slot

Excavating Histories of Food Security in Ghana

Amanda L. Logan

Contents

List of Illustrations Prologue and Acknowledgments

Introduction 1. Excavating Longue Durée Histories of Food Security in Africa 2. Choosing Local over Global during the Columbian Exchange

3. Tasting Privilege and Privation during Asante Rule and the Atlantic Slave Trade

Index

169 177 183 187 197 217

ILLUSTRATIONS

MAPS

Location of the Banda region within West Africa 14 Archaeological sites in the Banda region discussed in text 15 Nineteenth-century polities and Asante roads 71

Geopolitical divisions in Asante in the early nineteenth century 72

British Gold Coast, showing cocoa-producing regions, circa 1930 101

FIGURES

Oxygen 18 isotope data as a proxy for precipitation 48 Plant remains identified in Early Makala kitchen deposits at Makala Kataa 85

Distribution of grain crops and byproducts in Early Makala kitchen deposits at Makala Kataa 85

Numbers of slaves embarked from the Gold Coast, 1619-1840 91 Agricultural cycle in the Banda area, 2009 136

Schematic cross-section of mixed farming on mounds 138

How to make tuo zafi 141

Wehan 147

Kotro papa 152

Fuura 152 x

N DAY e Y

ILLUSTRATIONS

YOOrDdDkono (chapila) 160 Faaro 160 Making food for the Olden Times Food Fair 161

TABLES

Tallensi productive and food cycles in 1934 120

“Olden times” dishes of the Banda region 150

Summary botanical dataset 177

Ubiquity analysis, by mound and context 178

Summary count and percent frequency data for grain crops Presence/absence of plant taxa, by phase 181

Wild leaves used, by village 183

PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book is the product of nearly two decades of learning about and investigating African foodways. Most Westerners assume African food and agriculture are impoverished in some way, a view created by popular media and a lack of knowledge about Africans and their rich histories. But the beauty of empirical research is that with each new source of data we peel away another set of assumptions and begin to reveal new narratives and possibilities.

This volume presents a critical engagement with some of those layers, ones that I term, cumulatively, “the scarcity slot” My primary goal is accessibility, so I try to avoid jargon, scientific names, and academic beating around the bush. The critiques I make are direct, because I feel it is our job as scholars and educators to debunk some of the more problematic stereotypes that have emerged, especially those with real-life implications for the people we work with. Such stereotypes often have long afterlives, and changing deeply entrenched assumptions is an uphill battle, as attested by the large array of works devoted to toppling the most tenacious stereotypes about the African continent. I add to these efforts and try to make these engagements clear for students of African food security, food history, and archaeology, as well as policymakers who might be curious about how the past informs the present.

I have been exceptionally fortunate to work with the Banda community in west-central Ghana, and to be able to build upon the foundational research and relationships established there by Ann Stahl. A key frame throughout the volume, and an assumption that is fundamental to anthropology and social history, is the value of deep engagement with local contexts. In North America, archaeologists are usually trained as anthropologists, though that is not always reflected in the xii PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS questions we ask about the past or in our engagement with local descendent populations. Over the course of many field seasons across East Africa, West Africa, and South America, I became increasingly frustrated with how the questions posed by standard archaeological research often lacked relevance to the rural and often impoverished communities surrounding archaeological sites.

These concerns came to a head when I started to interview elderly women in Banda in 2009. I hoped to understand changes in food practices over time, but I soon learned that food change was intricately bound up in larger political, economic, and cultural shifts. Indeed, food was often the canary in the coal mine, one of the first indicators that major structural changes were afoot. This recognition spurred me to adopt a more open interview format, in the hopes of understanding the context of food change. I made sure my interlocutors could ask me questions too. The first and most common question for me was: “Of what use is this project to us?” Although this query had long been brewing in the back of my head, I did not know how to answer it—but I tried, and it was in these efforts that the seeds of this monograph were born. This book is an attempt to answer that question, even if more work remains to be done.

I am lucky to be able to build off (and access, thanks to Northwestern University’s exceptional African Studies Library) the work of scholars across a wide array of disciplines including archaeology, anthropology, history, agrarian studies, and more. The topic of my research, rather than the discipline in which I am trained, has defined my focus. As Scholliers and Claflin (2012) argue, food history is a nondisciplinary affair. Throughout the volume, I build on the excellent work of scholars in other disciplines—especially African history—and suggest that we use these rich insights to advance a dedicated history of food security in the African continent. The diverse array of scholarship that I am able to pull into the service of creating this history attests to its legibility and quality, but as is to be expected when using studies on one topic to address another, gaps emerge, and it is important that we acknowledge those holes. My goal in this volume is not to attempt a comprehensive exposition but rather to bring historical works related to food security in West Africa together in order to provoke more work in this area.

The seeds for this study were planted in my early days as an undergraduate student, when I was fortunate to come under the mentorship of Cathy D’Andrea. Cathy taught me how to analyze plant remains and introduced me to Africa in the classroom and through fieldwork in Ethiopia and Sudan. She also trained me in ethnoarchaeology, a method I expanded into the food ethnography I detail in the final chapters of this book. During master’s studies with Debby Pearsall, I not only gained technical aptitude in phytolith analysis, but also, and perhaps just as importantly, learned how empirical data can challenge deeply entrenched beliefs about the past. Christine Hastorf’s work and mentorship have encouraged me

PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xiii to explore how paleoethnobotany can be used to speak to social theory. I was fortunate to work on Ann Stahl’s Banda Research Project in Ghana for my dissertation research. Not only was the archaeology just plain “cool,” but many local community members were invested in talking about the past. The now almost thirty-five-year span of the BRP also meant that we knew a tremendous amount about Bandas past. Under Ann's tutelage, the BRP team collected over sixteen hundred flotation samples from nearly all contexts excavated, as well as a large number of soil and artifact samples, providing a ready archive for me to explore changing foodways. A major turning point and inspiration came during a postdoc in interdisciplinary food studies at Indiana University, as part of a Mellon Sawyer seminar on food choice. Thanks to Rick Wilk, Peter Todd, Sara Minard, and Shingo Hamada, I got a crash course in food studies that gave me the language and concepts to link foodways past and present.

Working with Banda community members has had major impacts on the kinds of questions I ask of the past by challenging me to connect past and present. They are gracious hosts, patient interlocutors, and excellent teachers. The Banda Traditional Council, led by Tolee Okokyeredom Kwadwo Sito, permitted this research and also provided critical commentary on many of its aspects. I am particularly indebted to Enoch Mensah, who served as my research assistant, translator, facilitator of all things, and friend. Many of his insights are reflected throughout these pages. Queen Mother Akosua Kepefu and the chol€€l€Es (old ladies) of Banda shared their wisdom and persistence with me and challenged me to make history of use to them, so it seems fitting to dedicate the book to them. Sampson Attah and Afriye provided me a home away from home and the best beans I have ever enjoyed. Kwesi Millah and Afua Nimena’s vibrant recollections of the past significantly colored my visions of it.

I also owe a tremendous debt to Ann Stahl, for her commitment to understanding Banda’s past as well as the access she offered to Banda’s rich archive. It is the understatement of the century to acknowledge that her approach has both provoked and made possible the arguments presented in this book. Her high standards have helped me think bigger and bolder and better, and her mentorship and wisdom are reflected on every page of this book.

The Ghana Museums and Monuments Board granted permissions for all research reported here. I also owe thanks to faculty and students of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage Studies at the University of Ghana who have always gone out of their way to make me feel welcome at Legon, particularly Wazi Apoh, William Gblerkplor, Ben Kankpeyeng, and Derek Watson. Zonke Guddah, a graduate of Legon, joined me in fieldwork in 2014. The Department of Botany and Herbarium, also at the University of Ghana, identified many of my comparative specimens and was helpful with advice, especially Patrick Ekpe. Nana Akwesi Prempeh, his nephew Michael Asante, and their family members have been welcoming, helpful, and excellent company. They are also responsible xiv PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS for the Asantehene passing right in front of me—a (literally) golden experience I will always remember. I must also thank my field compatriots in Ghana in 2008 and 2009—Amy Groleau, Andrew Gurstelle, Abass Iddrissu, Harry Monney, Benjamin Nutor, Devin Tepleski, and David Tei-Mensah, and those who in years previous were part of the Banda Research Project and painstakingly collected the data that became part of this book.

Many of these ideas continued to grow during my graduate degree at University of Michigan, where I learned the art of being a contrarian and also benefited from strong peer support networks. Jeannette Bond’s support and friendship were critical. My Africanist peers, including Anne Compton, Cameron Gokee, Daphne Gallagher, Andy Gurstelle, Stephen Dueppen, and Robyn D'Avignon, prompted important questions and new ways of seeing the past. Margaret Wilson’s unwavering support and creative mind and spirit helped me solve many of the most difficult puzzles. Kate Franklin’s arrival on the scene gave (and continues to give) me the breath of fresh air that I needed to move in the direction of social theory and critical colonialisms. Sarah Oas helped sort the flotation samples. Faculty members John Speth, Lisa Young, Henry Wright, Ray Silverman, and Elisha Renne provided much-needed support at various stages of the dissertation project. A graduate class with historian Gabrielle Hecht exploded my ideas about writing monographs and encouraged me to reach for wider audiences. But I owe the most thanks to Carla Sinopoli for getting me through the doctoral program. Her confidence in my work and incisive but supportive advice have been instrumental. She was also the first to see a book in my hastily written dissertation. My identifications were substantially improved thanks to a Wenner-Gren-funded visit to the African Archaeology and Archaeobotany Work Group at the Institute for Archaeological Sciences, Goethe University, Frankfurt, hosted by Katharina Neumann and Alexa Hohn.

This work has benefited tremendously from the advice of my colleagues at Northwestern. Melissa Rosenzweig, Cynthia Robin, Mark Hauser, Matthew Johnson, and Mary Weismantel have given me unwavering support and flexibility as I worked through this book, and have served as sounding boards throughout the process. Noelle Sullivan has helped tremendously in the broader framing of this book towards Africanist medical anthropology and critical development. David Schoenbrun has given me incisive, critical, and encouraging commentaries that helped smooth out the contours of my argument, and Helen Tilley’s support and scholarship continue to set an upper limit for what is possible. Graduate students at Northwestern have also prompted me to think beyond the limits of my subject area, especially in classes on archaeologies, communities, and publics and on the anthropology of food. The food students (Atmaezar Hariara, Bridgette Hulse, Emily Kamm, Paula Maia, Nicolette Mantica, Sophie Reilly, Emily Schwalbe) read and commented on a draft of this book, pointing out areas of improvement and offering support for the overall project. My own advisees, Dil Singh Basanti, Kacey Grauer, Dela Kuma, and Sophie Reilly, have shaped the arguments here through

PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS XV many conversations and meetings about unrelated things, and tolerated all of the times when I needed to hide in my office and write. Conversations with Tara Mittelberg about critical agricultural development challenged me to expand my focus. Both the Department of Anthropology and the Program of African Studies have provided lively intellectual communities that fostered the ideas in these pages, as well as funding for related projects. And many thanks to Northwestern's generous family leave policies, without which I could never have had a baby and written a book at the same time.

Many of the best observations about my work arose during visits to other campuses to deliver talks or take part in seminars, offered by a host of supportive colleagues whose advice has been critical over the years. In particular, I'd like to thank Stacey Camp, Gayle Fritz, Liza Gijanto, Walter Hawthorne, Michelle Hegmon, Ian Hodder, Matthew Knisley, Fiona Marshall, Joe Masco, Jamie Monson, Kathy Morrison, Shanti Morell-Hart, Peggy Nelson, Lisa Overholtzer, Andy Roddick, François Richard, Kate Spielmann, Barb Voss, Sarah Walshaw, Ethan Watrall, and Alice Yao. Joeva Rock’s stunning work on GMOs in Ghana inspired me to push my connections between past and present into the future. Amy Trubek’s incisive advice has also helped considerably in urging this project along. I also thank my Chicagoland crew (especially Elizabeth and Bryan Fagan, Kate Franklin, Rebecca Graff, and Mary Leighton) for good advice and good suppers over the last many years.

Peer review has also strongly shaped the product you see here. The scarcity slot frame was originally proposed in an article, but anonymous reviewers helped me see that I needed a book-length treatment to substantiate the idea. I owe the most thanks to the two reviewers of the present manuscript, including Scott MacEachern, who provided constructive criticism of an earlier version of the manuscript and also provided an excellent model of engaged scholarship in his book on Boko Haram. I am particularly indebted to Kathryn de Luna, who carefully dissected the internal logic and evidentiary basis of my arguments and provided an incredibly detailed roadmap of how to make the book stronger. At University of California Press, I thank Kate Marshall and Enrique Ochoa-Kaup for shepherding me through this process and encouraging Open Access publication. I also thank an anonymous reader from the press who helped in the final tweaking of the tone of the manuscript. Caroline Knapp provided high-quality copyediting that certainly improved the manuscript, and many thanks to Andrew Christenson for his indexing expertise.

Funding was provided by National Science Foundation grants to Ann B. Stahl (BCS 0751350, BCS 9410726, BCS 9911690) and myself (BCS 1041948), as well as a Wenner-Gren Foundation Dissertation Fieldwork grant (No13044) and an Engaged Anthropology grant. At University of Michigan, I received funding from various sources including the LSA Regents Fellowship, the Rackham Humanities Research Fellowship, the Graham Doctoral Fellowship from the Graham xvi PROLOGUE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Environmental Sustainability Institute, the Griffin Fund and Richard Ford Research Fund from the Museum of Anthropology, and two Rackham Graduate Student Research Grants. Funds from Northwestern University, including the Program of African Studies, were also instrumental. I also gratefully acknowledge the Northwestern Open Access Fund as well as the Kaplan Humanities Publication Subvention Award for supporting the Open Access publication of this book.

Last but most of all, my gratitude goes to my immediate and extended family, who have provided endless support and fun along the way and have borne my absences during this book’s gestation and birth. Thank you for your sacrifice.