The Kyabobo National Park (KNP) is located near the town of Nkwanta in the Volta Region of Ghana, West Africa. This is a very remote and poorly accessible part of Ghana. The area and surrounding villages are subject to extreme poverty and deprivation.  It is bordered to the west by Lake Volta, the largest reservoir in the world, and by Togo to the East. The only access to the region being a five hour bus ride on poor roads from the major town of HoHoe.

The KNP is approximately 300 square kilometres in size and the geography is mostly rolling hills covered in low vegetation that rise to over 700 metres high. Between the hills are numerous valleys and ravines that contain thick secondary jungle. There are many streams providing year-round water and during the wet season, many water-falls form.

The KNP was first designated National Park Status in the early 1990's. In the proceeding century, the park had been the victim of excessive farming and hunting by the inhabitants of the surrounding villages. The park was once home to elephant, buffalo, red river hog and many different species of primate. Unfortunately now, only the primates remain, but it does provide a home to a vast array of bird life, and butterflies amongst other flora and fauna. Now, it is hoped by forming the National Park and by outlawing hunting, the park will once again pay host to the wildlife it once had. The park is run by the Wildlife Division of Ghana, their nearest office is in Nkwanta town (see map).

Economy of Surrounding Area

The KNP is bordered on two sides  by a number of rural villages. About three kilometres to the South West, is the town of Nkwanta. The whole area is subject to extreme economical deprivation. The surrounding villages rely almost solely upon subsistence farming for their livelihoods, in most cases the growing of Cassava. Cassava is sold in the local markets, and used to make Fufu, the dough-like food which is the staple food for most of these people.

There is very little economic diversification amongst these rural communities. Due to their location, they have incredibly poor communication with the outside world. The nearest industrial or economic centre is five hours drive by vehicle over very poor "2nd class" roads, which are impassable in the rainy season. The inhabitants of the more remote villages are unable to travel to Nkwanta to use the few telephones, postal service, or catch a bus to another town.

Health and Education

School attendance amongst the children is as low as 40% in some of the villages. This is particularly noticeable when visiting the villages during the day time, there are hundreds of children barely clothed, running around the place. School attendance amongst the girls is particularly low. This is because the girls are often expected to help their mothers in daily house-keeping duties such as water fetching, fire wood collecting and making the daily meals. Literacy rates amongst the population are very low, often the result of no formal education.

Another contributing factor to the lack of education are the schools themselves. Often they lack even basic facilities such as electricity or running water. Basic teaching aids such as pens and paper are in short supply. There is often a shortage of teachers as the schools have great difficulty in recruiting suitably qualified teachers to come and work in this deprived area.

There only hospital in the area is the St Josephs Mission Hospital in Nkwanta. Unfortunately, for most people in the surrounding villages, it can be anything up to a days journey to get to the hospital. This is fine for minor problems, but for more life-threatening illnesses, getting to hospital in time can be impossible. Most people in the surrounding villages do not trust modern medicines. Instead they rely on advice given to them by their village witch-doctor.