GSC NOTES AND QUERIES:
HISTORY COOPERATION: TRONDHEIM-LEGON
Since 1991 a programme of cooperation in hsitory has been in existence between the University of Trondheim and the University of Ghana, financed by the Norwegian University Council's general programme for cooperation with universities in developing countries (NUFU). NUFU in its turn is funded by the Norwegian International Aid Agency, and represents an experiment in decentralizing state development aid. The general aim of NUFU programmes is to strengthen academic competence at universities in developing countries, and the programmes must be based on priorities defined by the receiving university and handled on the basis of equality between the partners. Administrative costs and academic coordination both in Norway and the recipient universities are compensated through a general overhead on the budget.
The main items on the Trondheim-Ghana history programme are:
--Restoration of the Akim Abuakwa Palace Archives at Kibbi. The Kibbi archives are proabably unique in Africa both in volume and content, mainly stemming from the reign of Ofori Atta I (1913-1944). Addo-Fening at Legon and Simensen at Trondheim both have a long-standing research interest in Akim, and Addo-Fening has administered the restoration, which i.a. implied a new ordering and cataloguing, transfer to new premises with metal shelves, proper safety and dehydrating installations, and a research room equipped with a photocopier.
--Computer Equipment to the History Department at Legon.
--M.A. Scholarships to two Legon students (W.C. Fynn and K.E. Dumehasie) working in the field of local economic history, with provisions for a one semester stay in Trondheim.
--Ph.D. Scholarships. Christian Ocloo recently finished his thesis on "The Anlo Shallot Revolution, 1930-1992" in Trondheim, and Osei Tutu in January, 1995 started his thesis on the asafo of Accra during the colonial period, the latter with finance from the Norwegian Research Council. Both candidates previously took their MA in history in Trondheim.
--Research Cooperation. An applied-oriented Trondheim research project on the history of modernization of Ghanaian fisheries (Simensen and Hernaes) has been expanded on the Ghanaian side through NUFU support to a Legon study of artisanal fisheries and migrant fishermen to Benin and the Ivory Coast, with particular emphasis on the role of women (Irene Odotei).
--Guest Lecturers. Staff from the Legon History Department and Institute of African Studies have taught for short periods in Trondheim.
The main works produced under the programme:
Ocloo, Christian Yao. "Technology Transfer and Indigenous Capability: A Historical Study of the Operations of the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC), University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana, 1972-1986." M.A. Dissertation, Department of History, Trondheim, 1989.
_____. "The Anlo Shallot Revolution, 1930-1992: A Study of the Local Agricultural History of Anloga in the Volta Region of Ghana." Ph.D. Thesis, Department of History, Trondheim, 1995.
Tutu, J. Kwadwo Osei. "Local Protest Under Colonial Rule, c. 1900-1950: The Asafo Movement of Kwahu." M.A. Dissertation, Department of History, Trondheim, 1994.
Odotei, Irene. Ghanaian Migrant Fishermen in Côte d'Ivoire. Legon: Institute of African Studies, 1989.
_____. Ghanaian Migrant Fishermen in the Republic of Benin. Legon: Institute of African Studies, 1991.
_____. The Introduction of New Technology in the Artisanal Marine Fishing Industry in Ghana: A Historical Overview, Volume 1. Legon, Institute of African Studies, 1991 and The Role of Women, Volume 2. Legon: Institute of African Studies, 1991.
Hernaes, Per. Modernizing Ghanaian Fisheries: The Need for "Social Carriers" of Technology. Oslo: Ad Notam, 1991.
Simensen, Jarle. Education as Development Aid: The Fisheries Education at Ghana Nautical College, 1964-1980. Oslo: Ad Notam, 1991.
The departmental publication series, Trondheim Studies in History, has recently been started up. Per Hernaes' doctoral thesis, Slaves, Danes, and African Coast Society: The Danish Slave Trade from West Africa and Afro-Danish Relations on the Eighteenth Century Gold Coast (Trondheim, 1995), has been published as number 6 in this series and Ocloo's thesis together with other future studies under the NUFU programme will appear in the same series.
The new five year phase of the NUFU programme is now being negotiated, where research cooperation in the field of asafo studies is a main item.