Making of a Basketry Fish Trap (Exa), Akanyakrom, Banda District, Bono Region, Ghana

This document describes the process of making and using a cylindrical basketry fish trap as practised by Ewe fishermen in Akanyakrom, Banda District, Ghana. Drawing on interviews and making sessions conducted in July 2022, it describes how fisherman harvest and process the bamboo (pamplo ti), flexible branches (afɔtasi) and vine (adzɔ) used in trap making; how they weave and assemble basketry traps; the seasonality of trap use and their placement in river waters; and how young people learned this knowledge. Construction of the Bui Hydroelectric Dam caused resettlement of fishing communities and forced livelihood changes, which have endangered these knowledge systems. The document includes a glossary of Ewe terms for materials, the processes of making and trap parts.