Report on some economic problems of the Northern Territories of the Gold Coast.

Abstract

An appreciable amount of work has already been done during the last thirty years and more concerning the improvement of yields of individual Shea trees, the estimation of density of the tree population throughout the Northern Territories, the estimation of average yields per tree, as well as studies of various local methods of butter extraction and their efficiency, and of the uses to which the butter is being put. Such investigations, though extremely valuable, have suffered from a certain lack of continuity. Recently, the French Institute for Research into Oils and Oil-bearing plants (I.R.H.O.) have set up a special Research Station at Nyangoloko in the Upper Volta, one of whose main purposes is to study Shea trees, including the possibility of speeding up growth and improving yields by such means as grafting. It might be to the interest of the Northern Territories if liaison were established with the station at Nyangoloko for possible co-operation in the study of the problem.