The blacksmiths of Tamale: the dynamics of space and time in a Ghanaian industry.(Report)

ABSTRACT

In the last twenty years the number of smiths and the range of their activity have greatly increased in Tamale, the principal city of northern Ghana. The evolution of the national economy and the particular situation of Tamale in the geography of Ghana explain this development and the contribution that the city's smiths make to the economy, national as well as local.

RESUME

Au cours des vingt dernieres annees, le nombre de forgerons et l'eventail de leurs activites ont considerablement augmente a Tamale, principale ville du Nord du Ghana. L'evolution de l'economie nationale et la situation particuliere de Tamale dans la geographie du Ghana expliquent ce developpement et la contribution des forgerons de la ville a l'economie locale, mais aussi nationale.

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Blacksmithing was probably practised in what is now northern Ghana as early as 500 BC, but in the last twenty years the number of smiths and the range of their activity have greatly increased in Tamale, the principal city of the north. (1) New workshops spread ever further down the main roads from the city centre, and the sound of hammer on metal rings out from morning till night. The evolution of the national economy and the particular situation of Tamale in the geography of Ghana explain this development and the contribution that the city's smiths make to the economy, national as well as local. (2)

Tamale is reputed to be growing faster than any other city in West Africa. According to the census, the population was 83,653 in 1970; 135,952 in 1984; 202,317 in 2000. City officials offered the estimate of 350,000 in 2007 but indicated that that was probably too low. Tamale is a market town, collecting agricultural produce and sending it south. It is also a transportation centre; heavy vehicles bring imported and manufactured goods from the southern ports for distribution not only throughout the north but to neighbouring countries, especially Burkina Faso. Above all, it is the most important northern administrative and commercial centre, crowded with government offices, banks, businesses and non-governmental organizations both local and foreign. All this activity requires metal goods and motor vehicles in large numbers, generating business for blacksmiths.