Deadliest Roads | Ghana: Business to Go | Free Documentary

[Applause] [Music] hey [Music] [Music] is me [Music] africa here there is no shortage of resourceful people with hidden talents in ghana there is a particularly unique trade although it may look like johnson is crafting a sort of large toy that's not the case this is a coffin for coco farmer as you can see we designed it as cocoa pot this one forest on this one like this three days we have fish here as a fisherman you come here to perfama yeah a coffin in the shape of a palm tree for a palm oil producer and another in the shape of a sewing machine for the village tailor all carpenters like johnson make their products to order nothing is made in advance as families are looking for unique coffins this is your coffin how isn't it yeah so i'll show you how to open it yeah okay has ordered one in the shape of a cocoa pod for her nephew it's nice i'm okay are you okay yeah the young man who was a cocoa farmer lost his life in a car accident [Music] the world is too dusty so when we don't tie it properly we can lose the coffin on the way so that's why we're trying to secure it to get to the village we're going it would be a different story entirely if the precious cargo got damaged the taxi driver would have the whole village to answer to [Music] emotions can run high during these funerals which sometimes results in hysteria because he's a young guy he said you that's why the place is very very busy today off the coast of the atlantic ocean ghana a former british colony has sadly become renowned over the past century for its slave trade but also for its gold which can be found in abundance this is why the english have called it the gulf coast the country is full of raw materials such as oil recently discovered in the area and above all cocoa ghana is the world's second biggest producer of coco but despite the great supply of resources they rarely end up in the hands of the ghanaians being resourceful has become a necessity as for some of them white gold replaces yellow it's not about getting rich but simply surviving ghana means warrior king which is a fitting name as its people are strong and resilient [Music] every day for them is a new battle at dawn the banks of lake volta which is the largest artificial reservoir in the world are swarming with water taxis three times a week they transport isolated villagers to the big market in the town of tappa this particular cow seems to sense that getting on the boat isn't going to be an easy task [Music] foreign [Music] oh [Music] the cow would have undoubtedly appreciated a ramp but a ride in the fresh air is bound to cheer it up [Music] the boats may be rustic but they are vital for the region's economy without them farmers would remain trapped on their islands [Applause] all right [Music] everyone gets onto the boat however they can they have no choice the ferries are too big to dock on these small patches of land although barely any of the passengers know how to swim the lifejackets are mainly used as parasols but all is well as the passage is smooth as oil wary of overloading the boat joseph the captain fills the boat to the limit uh actually the people who are not counting bad the animal will have about four hours four chips [Applause] [Music] very very dangerous and when we are not lucky you need a win on the middle of the lake another dangerous [Music] visit [Music] after a two-hour journey the water taxi arrives at tapa market for the animals getting off the boat is a much more pleasant experience than getting on the passengers are barely off the boat when it heads back out across the lake [Music] at the tapper market the smell of spices mixes with the smell of fresh fritters [Music] however one can't ignore the smell of petrol and not so fresh fish [Music] amidst this potpourri of sense one in particular is missing it's a fruit which is found on every market store as ghana is the world's second biggest producer of it it's exported all over the world and hundreds of trucks scour the country's roads to gather it and yet even abicor has never tasted it its flavors cannot be appreciated until it has been processed all people in this village they're all the cocoa farmers we are all from different places to come and work at cocoa farming in this era nobody could see some of the chocolate before some of the cocoa farmers the chocolates before all they didn't taste even meal or before [Music] abby court travels between dozens of warehouses along the road he works for the state which buys almost all the cocoa produced by the region's farmers [Music] how many kilos there is by badge uh 65 wasn't the ladder 65 kilos [Music] coco sales represent 10 of ghana's gross domestic product as for its inhabitants they rarely see any of the profit in their day-to-day [Music] lives even the roads leading to the warehouses are neglected [Music] very difficult because there is a load in the load in the country is very expensive so you have to get your time and the road no maybe because of the good condition if you don't take your time your spring will block or anything can't spoil it in the car it's a vicious circle if abikaw is late delivering the load he will lose part of his salary [Music] [Applause] [Music] in the heart of the forest the coco laborers must get a move on [Music] the season is coming to an end they must gather the final pods which is the fruit that contains the cocoa beans before they rot on the trees no machine could do the work as well as the men can the harvest is taxing they must get the beans out of their pods with a helping hand from a machete which is nicknamed go to hell coco is the pride and joy of this country um [Music] around 15 families farm the cocoa trees in this small forest but in the past few years production levels have decreased the single crop farming of cocoa has stripped the ground of its riches the trees are growing old and there's no money to replace them nowadays every penny counts the farm is situated close to the border with togo jeff sells his cocoa beans to whichever country is the highest bidder [Music] very easy for example this summer the trip will be very risky on these old motorbikes it's very common to suffer a broken arm or leg on these paths leading to the town but there have never been any deaths in jeff's team sadly precious nephew was not so lucky the young man died in a car accident whilst delivering bags of cocoa beans to the town precious is returning to the village with a coffin in the shape of a cocoapod to pay tribute to him [Music] everything is okay now it's okay those people they always use a taxi to bring coffee at the village most of them use taxi most of them and some of them use ambulance and stuff like that but most of them use taxes and this is kind of the problem that we are facing on the road let's go down uh they went to farm to collect some loads to the market okay with a car when going they came from the farm safely on their way to the market the car had an accident and when they came to the house the family said because the car belonged to my brother he should take the bedding you need to pay for every single thing you can do every single thing including food including food yeah oh so that would be a tough time for your brother yes [Music] change in ghana funerals are far from morbid they're filled with a sense of joy and happiness with everyone in high spirits ghanaians believe in life after death so it's important for the deceased to enter this new life surrounded by happiness and sometimes the scale of the burials reaches a whole new level just like the one today [Applause] the whole village is taking part the women prepare a traditional dish of corn dough topped with a very spicy [Music] sauce you know [Music] though it may seem shocking to some before being placed in the coffin the deceased person is placed on show to the whole village [Music] [Music] [Applause] although you can see sadness in their eyes maxwell's family believed that he has simply moved on to another life in one form or another he will be more powerful than those still living so each of them comes to talk to him to win his favor hello [Applause] [Music] put a body like that because he's a student and we relay him like that we present to everybody that he's a child and still a student if you are grown up they will they will actually lay you to sleep but if you are a young type they will ask they will let you stand anyhow your people want them to lay you on safe you can sit you can stand [Music] maxwell's body has been preserved for four months in the morgue his family paid 300 euros for the coffin [Music] the village scouts and school children carry out a final homage to maxwell [Music] [Laughter] um [Music] the father in the farm to uh [Music] according to tradition if they want they are about to put the person in their person only their family will be around him [Music] [Applause] [Music] after a two-hour long ceremony the coffin is headed for the cemetery the pallbearers dance all the way to maxwell's final resting place where he will once again begin his new life surrounded by joy [Music] but with the combination of the heat the chanting and the incessant beating of the drums precious nephew's burial gets quite frenzied because he's a young guy he said you that's why the place is very very busy today [Music] this way come oh [Music] [Music] oh worlds away from the chaos of the burial jeff and his men head off to town to sell their final few bags of cocoa 10 of them are transporting 650 kilos of cocoa beans none of them have a license in any case bushland driving isn't normally taught in driving schools [Music] [Applause] it's a 50 kilometer long journey during which all the drivers remain on their guard they want to survive this journey [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] after two hours of riding their old motorbikes are starting to tire [Music] the motorbike is back on the road they will have to put some of their profit from selling the coco towards the repairs the group is hoping to earn around 100 euros which would make 10 euros per person they've reached the final hurdle but it's not an easy one quality control carried out by the uncompromising joseph who buys coco for the government he is the one who sets the price mercy i want to check the the dryness of the puku if the color is good it means i can buy it if it's the color no good then oh it's not dry i have to dry it today joseph must be in a good mood as jeff's team leaves with 200 euros that's a hundred more than they were hoping for ghana could be rich very rich as below ground it boasts masses of mineral oars and oil however its economy is sustained primarily thanks to farming and fishing [Music] yet living there is still far from easy that's why every day this crew relies on higher powers to get them through india [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the crew had better hurry as off the ghanaian coast 200 000 boats are all competing as a consequence the number of fish has become increasingly scarce over the years emmanuel is the quartermaster otherwise known as the head of the crew his job is to keep his men motivated [Music] [Music] [Music] there will be no second chances fishing will not make the men millionaires they've caught around 100 kilos at the most and this is made up only of small fish [Music] there is no doubt that the methods of some captains who use dynamite and pesticides to make quick profit have forced bigger fish to retreat to deeper waters [Music] back on the beach dozens of women keep an eye on the horizon they're not waiting for their husbands to return from sea they're fishmongers [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign they're bound to be disappointed out of 15 boats none have returned with an impressive haul the battle of the fishmongers commences and there isn't enough fish to go around smoking and salting the fish means it doesn't have to be refrigerated as the fishmongers can preserve it in this way for a week or maybe more that's why salt is vitally important in africa since the 8th century ghana has built up quite a reputation for its salt [Applause] drivers who transport coco and those who transport salt fight over the roads [Music] this indian company is wasting no time the reputation of ghana's so-called white gold allows it to be sold all over the african continent [Music] [Music] but on these poorly maintained roads it's difficult for george to be able to drive quickly the truck driver delivers his salt to benin for 200 kilometers he and his truck have been dancing to the rhythm of the potholes as he puts it on [Music] say [Music] [Music] most people living by the sea make a living from salt production salt is one of the rare edible minerals which can be found in abundance it's an unlimited resource which helps families living on the coast to survive [Music] but just because there's a lot of it doesn't mean it's easy to gather [Music] yes foreign [Music] oh [Music] at the end of the day the traders begin their show and they have to be ruthless [Music] uh johanna will have to try her best to sell to this buyer i may send me 200. oh you swear oh santa mcdonald's nobody [Laughter] [Music] 21 euros to last her a week with her two children finally both her purse and her stomach are happy also thanks to some animals that she catches when she gets home [Music] [Music] but johanna always has a smile on her face all her life she's been smiling her motto is you can't wear down an axe just by cutting bananas in other words you can do anything with a bit of willpower and that's something that ghanaians are not short of no matter how arduous the task [Music] george and his assistant have now been dancing in their truck for hours [Music] nigeria all these years of driving have taught george patience and lots of it especially when it comes to crossing borders [Music] george and his assistant arrive in aflow the town boarded by togo [Music] my george takes his place amongst the hundreds of other trucks waiting to be inspected some have been stuck here for weeks the customs officers work at their own pace as the drivers wait patiently however long it may take everything will get to where it needs to [Music] [Music] be in the coco tree forest jeff is also preparing to cross the border but his journey will be much quicker he's traveling on foot these badly spoiled cocoa beans can't be sold to ghana but in togo jeff knows a trader who doesn't scrutinize goods too thoroughly [Music] [Applause] it's far from a gentle stroll for the cocoa carriers they're carrying around 30 kilos on their heads [Music] [Music] cocoa oil gold and other mineral resources should mean that this year ghana could be one of the countries with the fastest economic growth in the world ghanaians describe their country as a sick child who has recovered thanks to its unbreakable workforce [Music] you

Channel: Free Documentary

Views: 3,885,367

Keywords: Free Documentary, Documentaries, Full documentary, HD documentary, most dangerous roads, most dangerous journeys, worlds most dangerous roads, worlds most dangerous journeys, deadliest roads, deadliest roads in the world, dicing with death, deadliest journeys, deadliest journeys Ghana, dicing with death Ghana, dangerous Ghana, most dangerous roads Ghana, dangerous roads Ghana, deadliest roads Ghana, Ghana

Id: SAf7qC48Dzc

Length: 49min 51sec (2991 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021