http://www.betumi.com/home/gastro-fulltext.html

Betumi has information on traditional & contemporary cuisine. focus is on "We Eat First With Our Eyes": On Ghanaian Cuisine.

http://www.elca.org/countrypackets/ghana/desc.html

Country Packets has information on the history, people, economy, and other statistics.

http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/search.php

Homepage on Ghana links to links on cuisine.

Bonilla, C., R.K. Panguluri, L. Taliaferro-Smith, G. Argyropoulos, G. Chen, A.A. Adeyemo, A. Amoah, S. Owusu, J. Archeampong, K. Agyeim-Boateng. 2006 April. Agouti-related protein promoter variant associated with leanness and decreased risk for diabetes in West Africans. International journal of obesity and related metabolic disorders : journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity. 30, (no. 4): 715-721.

Objective: The role of the central melanocortin system in the development of obesity has been extensively studied. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within several candidate genes have been associated with food intake and obesity-related phenotypes; however, few of these associations have been replicated. SNPs in the agouti-related protein (AGRP) gene coding (Ala67Thr, 199G/A) and promoter (-38C/T) have been reported to be associated with body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM) and percent body fat, in populations of European and African descent. In this study, we evaluated the association between the functional AGRP -38C/T promoter SNP and weight-related traits, namely BMI, FM and fat-free mass (FFM), as well as diabetes status. Design: An association study of the AGRP -38C/T SNP and indices of obesity and diabetes status. Subjects: A well-characterized population of 538 West Africans from Ghana and Nigeria recruited in the AADM (Africa America Diabetes Mellitus) study (mean age 52 years, 41.3% males, 71% diabetic). Measurements: Genotyping of the AGRP -38C/T SNP, BMI, FM, FFM and fasting plasma glucose. Results: Women carrying two copies of the variant T allele had significantly lower BMI (OR=0.47; 95% CI, 0.25-0.87). Also, men with at least one copy of the variant T allele were over two times less likely to be diabetic than other men (OR=0.44; 95% CI, 0.22-0.89). Conclusion: Our results replicate previous findings and implicate the AGRP -38C/T SNP in the regulation of body weight in West Africans.

Manu-Aduening, J.A., R.I. Lamboll, G.A. Mensah, J.N. Lamptey, E. Moses, A.A. Dankyi, R.W. Gibson. 2006July..Development of superior cassava cultivars in Ghana by farmers and scientists: The process adopted, outcomes and contributions and changed roles of different stakeholders. Euphytica 150 (no. 1-2): 47-61.

Yiridoe, E.K., A.S. Langyintuo, W. Dogbe. 2006Nov. .Economics of the impact of alternative rice cropping systems on subsistence farming: Whole-farm analysis northern Ghana. Agricultural systems. 91 (issue 1-2)102-121.

Reducing fallow periods with sown leguminous plants (i.e., Callopogonium mucunoides) was found to be a technically feasible, low-input method of improving soil nutrient levels for rice cropping in the Guinea and Sudan savannah regions of northern Ghana. However, farmers and policy makers are particularly interested in understanding whether the new rice production technology can be substituted for the traditional rice cropping systems within a whole-farm plan context and, if so, what are the likely resource allocation and financial implications to farmers. An optimal whole-farm plan that incorporates traditional (bush fallow) cropping of rice, jointly with livestock production was generated using a linear programming model, and then used to assess the economic implications of introducing the improved fallow (i.e., incorporating Callopogonium mucunoides) rice cropping system. The alternative combinations of enterprises investigated needed to be economically viable household farm units, as well as meet household food security requirements of such resource poor farmers. Introducing the new rice production technology into a base whole-farm model (i.e., under traditional rice cropping) increased rice area by 45%, and farm income above variable costs by 34%. In addition, the representative farm raises six beef cows and 72 poultry birds. In sensitivity analyses of alternative model scenarios, farm incomes were higher and more stable for farming systems using the new rice cropping technology than with the traditional whole-farm model. More widespread adoption of the new rice-based production technology will help transform existing traditional subsistence farming systems to more profitable commercial production systems. This transformation will have implications for farm structure (in terms of consolidation of highly fragmented holdings), agricultural resource management, and property rights (such as recognition of individualized rights to cropland, livestock grazing land and agricultural water resources).