Ghana is a Western African country on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea with over 100 tribes and draws hundreds of international volunteers each year who wish to learn more about the Ghanaian culture.Ghana’s economy is built on gold, cocoa, and, more recently, oil, which has fueled an economic boom. The country is named after a powerful medieval commerce empire that existed until the 13th century and was located northwest of modern Ghana.Ghana is one of the richer countries in West Africa because of timber, gold, diamonds, bauxite, manganese, and oil. Ghana, like most West African countries, faces significant environmental issues due to its reliance on natural resources for economic growth.The Gold Coast was the previous name for Ghana. Kwame Nkrumah announced the country’s independence on March 6, 1957. Ghana became a Commonwealth nation on July 1, 1960, with Nkrumah as its first President. According to the 2010 census, Christianity is the most common religion in Ghana, with 71.2% of the population subscribing to various Christian denominations. The principal indigenous languages in Ghana are Akan, Ewe, Ga, Dagaare, and Dagbani, with English as the official language. Only nine languages among these are taught in schools, and only a few are broadcast on radio and television. Fufu is popular Ghanaian cuisine, a starchy side dish that goes well with stews and other sauce-based meals. The film industry’s origins may be traced back to the 1920s when British colonial overlords first introduced cinematography as a form of entertainment for the upper crust. The Ghana Film Corporation was created in 1960 when the nation inherited the sector from its colonial overlords. Highlife is Ghana’s most well-known popular music style. It dates back to the colonial days of the Gold Coast in the early 1900s, and it combines numerous rhythms of West Africa with jazz, swing, ska, rock, and soukous.If you like this Ghanaian culture article, you may find it interesting to read these fun facts articles on Viking culture facts and Ancient Greek culture facts here at Kidadl.Role And Status Of WomenWomen now account for 43.1% of Ghana’s economically active population, the bulk of whom labor in the informal sector and in crop cultivation. Crop farming employs the majority of women for pruning, cultivating, and marketing food crops.In Ghana, women play a significant role in the agricultural industry, which employs 50% or more of the population (FAO 2012) and 45.8% in 2010 (GSS 2010), and provides roughly 49.5% of total food production and occupies 21.6% of total cultivated land area. Gender segregation affects 91% of women in the informal economy, and they often labor for poor pay. Women frequently work in personas in the informal economy. There are also inequalities in the types of artisan apprenticeships available to men and women. Men can pursue apprenticeships as craftsmen, bricklayers, metalworkers, plumbers, painters, electromechanical appliance repairers, metal craftsmen, automotive sprayers, and other trades. Most female artists, on the other hand, specialize in doing ethnic makeup, hairdressing, or dressmaking.According to the Ghana Living Standards Survey, women earn on average 6,280 cedis per day compared to 8,560 cedis per day for males in this African country. Women farmed the land in the pre-modern society of Ghanaian civilization in rural regions where non-commercial agricultural production was the predominant economic activity. Despite the fact that women performed a major share of agricultural labor, just 26.1% of farm owners or managers were women in 1996. Women from the coast also sold fish caught by males. Many of the financial gains accruing to these women went toward home maintenance, while those accrued to the male were re-invested in a business that was frequently viewed as belonging to his entire family. Women were relegated to second-class status as a result of the conventional wealth distribution.Teenage Life In GhanaYoung people aged 10-24 make up one-third of the population of Ghana. Empowering teenagers, particularly females, have been shown to contribute to the creation of an equal community and society.Many young individuals stated that they spend more time seeking jobs than they do working. Meeting daily duties, both for themselves and their families consumes a significant portion of their time and energy. While young people are focused on meeting their immediate needs, they are aware of the need of thinking about long-term objectives such as starting a family and conserving money in case of illness or for a good future.Young people in rural regions look up to their parents’ agricultural livelihoods for inspiration. These are respectable career paths for both men and women, yet access to land is becoming increasingly difficult for rural youth. Pathways were less evident in urban regions. Young individuals, particularly women, aspire to non-physical labor after being discouraged from doing so by family and friends.Sayings, Gestures, And SlangGhana’s national slogan is Freedom and Justice. The Adowa dance is one of the traditional dances performed by the Akan people of Ghana’s southern region, who speak the Twi language as their official language. There are numerous unique and interesting aspects of Ghanaian culture to discover.Everyday Ghanaian slang is a jumble of made-up words, with English thrown in, as well as local terms or phrases flipped upside down. English speakers, however, may find it difficult to understand Ghanaian street slang or pidgin, therefore, here are a few terms and phrases to assist you throughout your visit to Ghana.‘Wo ho te sn? / te sn?’ is a Twi expression that means ‘how are you?’ Ghanaians have a habit of checking up on you numerous times inside an hour. They are compassionate individuals, so don’t be too worried if you have to respond ‘y’ 10 times in 30 minutes, which means ‘I’m OK.‘At Kotoka International Airport in Accra, the word ‘Akwaaba’ is plainly displayed on an overhead panel. It literally translates to ‘welcome.’ If you are addressed in this manner, you should react with ‘medaase’ (pronounced ‘me-daa-si’), which is Twi for ’thank you.’ ‘I beg’ or ‘please’ will suffice when requesting something. When haggling at the market, it’s polite to say, ‘Abeg how moch.’ Chale is Ghana’s most popular greeting word and icebreaker. ‘Chale!’ is how you might address a buddy. ‘Chale wote’ is also commonly used. Wote (pronounced ‘wor-tay’) is a Ga term that means ’let’s go.‘Social Welfare And Change ProgramsThe Department of Social Welfare and Development is charged with leading efforts to integrate poor, vulnerable, disabled, and excluded people into mainstream society. The following statutory and regulatory frameworks guide the Department’s mandate. Ghana’s Constitution was adopted in 1992.In pre-colonial Ghanaian civilizations, it was common for a person’s entire family to help financially, including paternal and maternal uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins. The expectation of help from family members arose from the realization that the foundation of family prosperity was drawn from land and labor, both inherited from common ancestral beliefs. A national system of laws and programs aimed at preventing, reducing, and mitigating vulnerability and chronic poverty is known as social protection. Social transfers, social insurance, and programs that increase access to social services are frequent components of such a system. As impoverished individuals grow more productive, investments in social safety have been demonstrated to have long-term effects on poverty reduction. When properly administered, social protection also helps to avoid and respond to threats to children and young people’s safety.Welfare is defined in the Policy as ensuring the provision of basic requirements of life while reducing levels of violence, exploitation, abuse, and neglect. A person’s welfare is protected when he or she has sufficient human and financial resources, as well as psychological and physical circumstances that mainly focus on people’s health.UNICEF is striving to assist young Ghanains’ education, mental and physical well-being, and freedom of expression so that they may constructively interact with their surroundings. In Ghana, UNICEF is focusing more on adolescents and young Ghanaian people, with a greater emphasis on providing them with educational opportunities and skill training.The Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) is funding the ‘A Better Life for Girls’ project, which seeks to provide information, skills, and an enabling environment for teenage girls in Ghana to make informed decisions.There is also the Accelerating Action to End Child Marriage: A Global Program by UNICEF and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Its major goal is to prevent millions of vulnerable girls from losing their childhood and educational possibilities by ending child marriage.Marriage, Family, And KinshipGhanaians can exhibit their Ghanaian culture in a variety of ways, including marriage, clothing, music, festivals, religion, and work. Ghanaians place a strong emphasis on communal values such as family, respect for the senior person, traditional rulers, dignity, and correct social behavior.There are around 70 major ethnic groups in Ghana, allocating one ethnic group with its own language. Languages from the same ethnic groups are frequently understood by one another. The institution of family lies at the heart of Ghanaian society. Family obligations are seen as the core of all social activity, sustained by a series of kinship networks and marriages. The family is not only the foundation of Ghanaian social structures, but it is also the primary or single carer for the younger generation and the main source of social security in old age. Despite the fact that the family is the cornerstone of Ghanaian social life, there is little agreement on its bounds. The nuclear (conjugal) unit of a traditional society in the Ghanaian family is not the only unit. The term ‘family’ is commonly used to refer to both the nuclear family and the extended family.The latter is frequently based on familial or lineage links in Ghana. In Ghana, two basic family systems may be distinguished based on lineage ties: the matrilineal family and the patrilineal family. A man’s direct family among the matrilineal Akans would consist of his mother, his own brothers and sisters, and their offspring (maternal nephews and nieces), as well as his mother’s brothers and sisters (maternal uncles and aunts). This includes a woman’s own children and grandkids, as well as all of the aforementioned.Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly facts for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Ghana culture facts, then why not take a look at California culture facts or Iceland culture facts.
Ghana is a Western African country on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea with over 100 tribes and draws hundreds of international volunteers each year who wish to learn more about the Ghanaian culture.
