Principios del Derecho Laboral

In this chapter, I will cast light on a side of the research that often remains too dark: the methodology. There will be some chronological order in my account. After two introductory sections, the research questions will be presented. In the following sections I will describe the methods I have used to answers these questions.

Before arrival

Before travelling to Ghana in September 1999, I worked on the research plan for about three months. A big task was to gather and study relevant literature. I assumed that it would be difficult to find international literature in Ghanaian libraries. Ghanaian reports, literature and policy papers, however, would be easier to find in Ghana than in the Netherlands. I had decided to do the writing in Ghana, and since my fieldwork touches on several scientific debates, I was compelled to gather broad international literature before departure. There were several reasons to do the writing in the research area, and there were several reasons why, in the end, I did only part of the writing there. These will be discussed in the final section of this chapter.

In September 1999, I left my home to travel to Ghana over land. The journey took me over the dry Meseta-plain of Spain, through the Sahara desert of Morocco and Mauritania and the semi-arid regions of Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso, to arrive in Northern Ghana exactly one month later. Since it has been predicted that the climate in dryland West Africa will become drier, it was a good experience to travel over land through some areas that presently receive much less rainfall than my research area does. Unfortunately, travel time was limited and I was forced to travel from station to station and consequently from city to city. In the end I wasn’t able to visit many rural areas to talk with farmers and other specialists. I did manage to see rural Senegal, Mali and Burkina Faso through the windows of buses, lorries, a train and from the back of open ‘bush-taxis’. At times, my fellow passengers were able to answer some of my many questions.

After arrival

In October 1999, I arrived in Nandom where I met my friend Arjen Schijf who had just arrived a couple of days earlier. He was there to conduct fieldwork similar to mine among semi-urban households in Nandom Town. We took enough time to get to know the area and its people before starting any structural data gathering. We arranged to get bicycles, the most common means of transport in the relatively flat Nandom area. We were introduced to the people of the Nandom Agricultural Project (NAP) and the people of the Producer Enterprises Promotion Service Centre (PEPSC). Both NGOs have a Catholic background and are man- aged by Catholic brothers1, one of whom is Dutch: Brother Wim Luyten. Another Reverend Brother (Dick), who was living in Wa, is my own uncle. This gave me a good entrance to their activities. Moreover, it was nice to have somebody to fall back on. We met many key informants in the place where we stayed during the first six weeks. This was the former residence of the Catholic Brothers, now a guesthouse and beer bar. Many white collar workers, local elite and other ‘well-to-do’ people frequent this place, and were always very willing to share their knowledge and ideas about the local economy, traditions, history and, of course, the climate with us. I also tried to meet the Paramount Chief of Nandom, but I gave up after four appointments had been cancelled. In the first six weeks, I dedicated most of my time to the following:

1. gathering information and maps in the district capital Lawra and the regional capital Wa;

2. exploring the research area by cycling through the savannah and talking to people; 3. watching the farmers harvest, dry and store their late crops;

4. learning some words and especially greetings in Dagaare language; 5. finding an interpreter; and

6. organising accommodation in one of the villages outside Nandom Town.

I wanted to live with a farm household in order to observe the lives of the people from within as much as possible. I wanted to learn from them. I was very fortunate to meet Mr. Constantio Nurudong, better known as Mr. Kontana or ‘the local architect’. He was a retired civil servant who then lived with his wife, Stella Beauty2, in one section of a beautiful ‘mud castle’ in the village of Kogle. Mr. Kontana worked as a revenue collector until 1986. After his retirement, he turned to farming again, a skill he always maintained while working as a civil servant. Mr. Kontana has helped me throughout my research to understand the things I saw and heard. His deep knowledge of the people, farming practices, traditions, history, etc. have been extremely helpful to me. Since there was no electricity in the compound, the only thing we could do in the long evenings was to sit down with a calabash of pito (local sorghum beer) and talk about my experiences of the day and other issues of mutual interest. The other house people, among whom the family head (Mr. Edmund Dery), his son (Mr. Rogation) and his grandson (Kwaku) also helped me, mainly just by living their daily lives. Even when they didn’t have a single clue why I wanted to know certain things, they were always willing to answer my questions. They encouraged me to participate in their lives, though not always. One day, Mr. Kontana organised a communal labour party to build a new roof on his house. I decided to take a day

1 _{The congregation they belong to is called “Fraters of the Immaculate Conception” (FIC).} 2 _{In April 2001, the sad news reached me that Stella Beauty had died.}

off from my normal activities and participate in the labour party. Every time I carried a stick or took up a spade, someone rushed up to me to take over. They didn’t accept the idea of a white man doing manual labour. Six months later, however, the people were already less surprised to see a white man with a hoe, struggling to raise some yam mounds and weed a stony groundnut field (see below).

Another important activity during the first six weeks was to adjust my research plan and