Estimating farmers' willingness to pay for improved irrigation: an economic study of the Bontanga Irrigation Scheme in northern Ghana.

2012 Fall.Includes bibliographical references.This thesis estimates the willingness of farmers under the Bontanga Irrigation Scheme (BIS) in Northern Ghana to pay for improved irrigation services. The Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) was used in this study and farmers were randomly selected for interviewing based on the location of their farms (upstream, middle, and downstream) within the scheme. The payment card elicitation format was used and the data were analyzed using Maximum Likelihood Estimation (MLE) procedure that is capable of accommodating the intervals in payment card data. The mean willingness to pay was found to be GHC 16.32 (US$8.50) per ha per year and the median was GHC 14.00 (US$ 7.29) per ha per year. Tobit regression model was also used to estimate the mean number of labor days farmers under the scheme would be willing to contribute to improve the project. The mean labor days was found to be 5.26 days per year and the median was 5.28 days per year

Evaluating Myopic Loss Aversion of Forestland Owners

Attracting forestland owners to participate in carbon markets can be challenging for several reasons including offset price volatility, legislative uncertainties, high costs of offset project development, long contract lengths, and landowners’ risk preferences. In this article, we elicit risk preferences and investigate Myopic Loss Aversion (MLA) of forestland owners using an economic experiment. The economic experiment is a betting game and we find that forestland owners exhibit MLA because they bet higher when returns from their investments are evaluated less frequently. Our results provide valuable information for developing carbon market protocols, especially in setting optimal evaluation periods of forest carbon offset projects

Evaluating Myopic Loss Aversion of Forestland Owners

Attracting forestland owners to participate in carbon markets can be challenging for several reasons including offset price volatility, legislative uncertainties, high costs of offset project development, long contract lengths, and landowners’ risk preferences. In this article, we elicit risk preferences and investigate Myopic Loss Aversion (MLA) of forestland owners using an economic experiment. The economic experiment is a betting game and we find that forestland owners exhibit MLA because they bet higher when returns from their investments are evaluated less frequently. Our results provide valuable information for developing carbon market protocols, especially in setting optimal evaluation periods of forest carbon offset projects

Anticonvulsant screening of three novel isomeric forms of 4[(dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid in chicks and mice

Epilepsy is a disorder of public concern and has been widely treated using various pharmacotherapeutic approaches. Despite many breakthrough in its current management, there is no one drug that is devoid of shortcomings particularly toxicity and cost. Advances in pharmaceutical research have led to the need for a structure guided pharmacologic activity of novel compounds. The aim of this study is to evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of three (3) novel isomeric forms of 4[(dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobut-2-enoic acid in chicks and mice. The 3 isomeric forms i.e. {4-[(2, 4- dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobutenoic acid (A), 4-[(2, 5- dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobutenoic acid (B) and 4-[(2, 6- dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobutenoic acid (C)} were subjected to acute toxicity studies using Lorke’s method of 1983 and anticonvulsant screening using Maximum Electro-Shock Test (MEST) and Pentylenetetrazole test (PTZ). The Median lethal doses (LD50) of compounds A, B, and C were estimated to be 775, 1131, and 1131 mg/kg respectively. In the MEST, compound A (50, 100 and 200 mg/kg) and B (75, 150 and 300 mg/kg) did not show protection at all the doses tested, while compound C (75, 150 and 300 mg/kg) showed a 20% protection across all the doses tested. In the PTZ, compound A, B and C showed no protection. In conclusion, all the 3 isomeric forms of 4[(dimethylphenyl) amino]-4-oxobut-2- enoic acid though possessed some level of protection but not significant against MEST and PTZ models.Keywords: Anticonvulsant, Epilepsy, Isomers, MEST, PT

Prospects for Switchgrass as an Energy Crop

President Bush startled many of us when in his 2006 State of the Union address he promised, “We will also fund additional research in cutting -edge methods of producing ethanol, not just from corn but from wood chips and stalks or switchgrass.” The “but” refers to the fact that chips, stalks and grass are cellulosic feedstocks, and commercial technology for extracting ethanol from cellulose was then way behind the millenia- old technology for extracting ethanol from grain

Educational progression in Ghana: Gender and spatial variations in longitudinal trajectories of Junior High School Completion rate.

Completion of junior high school is a critical milestone in every Ghanaian child's educational trajectory and a critical step toward the transition to higher education. However, the rate of children completing junior high school still lags behind most educational indicators in Ghana. Far more attention is paid to ensuring that students enroll in school, with very little investment or commitment paid toward ensuring that they graduate or complete junior high school. Part of the problem is that there is little to no research on the challenges that children, especially girls, face in completing school. This study aims to bring school completion trends and related challenges to the forefront of research and policy discourse. Thus, the study uses multilevel growth curve modeling, spatial hot spot analysis, and school completion data (from 2009 through 2013) to offer longitudinal insights into (a) the scale and trajectories of junior high school completion in Ghana, and (b) the gender and spatial nuances in the trends. Findings suggest that the completion rate is steadily improving but still low. Findings also reveal unequivocal gender and spatial disparities in the completion rate and the rate's trajectories, although the spatial inequalities between northern and southern Ghana are more severe compared to the gender inequalities. Suggestions for how Ghana's government and its development partners can bridge the gender and spatial gaps are discussed

Patterns of Street-Begging, Support Services and Vocational Aspirations of People Living With Disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria

This study investigated patterns of street-begging, support services and vocational aspirations of people living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. The research design adopted for this study was descriptive survey design. Purposive random and stratified sampling techniques were used in selecting street-beggars living with disabilities. The target population of this study was all street beggars living with disabilities in Ilorin, Nigeria. A total 131 male and female street-beggars including both young and old who are blind, hearing impaired (deaf), crippled, intellectually disabled, emotionally disabled etc were randomly selected from Ilorin, Nigeria. The results revealed that the street-begging among people living with disabilities occurred mostly at the entrance of stores, super markets and petrol stations, while the support services were derived from the family, and friends. It was recommended among others that in order to eradicate the incidence of street-begging in Nigeria, rehabilitation and vocational training centers should be established across 774 Local Governments Areas in Nigeria. It was also recommended among others, that street-begging should be banned in Nigeria