INVESTIGATIONS INTO TRADITIONALLY MANAGED DJALLONKE-SHEEP PRODUCTION IN THE HUMID AND SUBHUMID ZONES OF ASANTE, GHANA .1. THE NATURAL CONDITIONS AND THE AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES OF THE AREA

This studies presented in this paper were undertaken on 42 households units in two ecological zones of four farming villages located in the heart of the Kumawu Traditional Area (KTA) in Asante. The traditional area is the largest (9256 km(2)) of the 21 traditional areas or paramo uncies comprising the Asante Region (24 390 km(2)), one of the ten reg ions of Ghana. The headquarters are in the township of Kumamu, which i s located 56 km north-east of Kumase, the capital of the Asante Region . A brief description of physical conditions, the land tenure system a nd the current agricultural resources of the area are given. Detailed descriptions of the physical characteristics of sheep type, ownership pattern and management practices, as well as flock structure, are disc ussed. The availability of fodder plants and their seasonal cover are outlined. In all, the studies covered 700 dams with almost 1500 lambin gs over a period of 30 months.