Agriculture and gender roles in the semi-arid region of Ghana

In the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, women play an important role in economic growth and poverty reduction through their active engagement in agricultural activities. However, little is known about the extent of their productive roles in agriculture in the region. This study sought to investigate the gender-specific agricultural roles of men and women in the region where the major livelihood is subsistence rain-fed agriculture. A household survey was conducted from August to December 2014 using a pre-tested questionnaire where 150 males and 150 female headed households (HH) were randomly sampled from 14 communities within the Bolgatanga Municipality and Bongo district of UER. The simple Fisher’s exact test using STATA 13 statistical software was used to determine the correlation between gender and agreement or disagreement in productive roles. Results show that women are involved at all levels of farming activities particularly in physically demanding activities such as planting crops, weeding, fertilizer application, tree and crop harvesting among others. Women are not engaged in financial administration except for selling of crops. Men on the other hand, are responsible for land preparation, feeding of livestock, seedling production among others. Planting of crops and harvesting of fruit trees are performed jointly by men and women. About 86 % of men and 94 % of women perceived planting of crops to be a productive task that should be performed jointly, whereas 65 % men and 65 % women expressed the same view on harvesting of fruits. There is a need to empower women through policy formulation and enforcement to allow them equal access to productive resources such as land

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Utilization in a Ghanaian Teaching Hospital: Trend and Policy Implications

Background: The use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is new in Ghana compared with some Western countries.A number of studies have observed increased MRI utilization due to increased sensitivity to diagnosis, and the paradigm shift to modalities that do not use radiation. Challenges with MRI use include high cost of the examination and inappropriate requests by referring clinicians. Objective: To determine the MRI utilisation trend in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), Ghana and its policy implications. Materials and Methods: A retrospective study undertaken in the Radiology Department, KBTH, from February to March, 2017. Eight hundred and forty request forms for MRI studies between January, 2013 and December 2016 were reviewed. Information on patient’s age and sex, number of MRI studies done, body parts and clinical conditions evaluated, appropriateness of clinical requests and existing policies on MRI in Ghana was gathered. Measures of central tendency and spread were obtained. Chi square, Pearson’s correlation and linear regression analysis were also used in the analysis. Results: The top three body parts requested were Spine (55 %), Brain (19%) and Joints (6 %); degenerative disease was the most common clinical condition evaluated.Significant association and correlation were obtained between of the number of body parts evaluated and examination year as well as the variety of clinical conditions requested and examination year. Conclusion: A progressive increase was noted in MRI utilisation both in number and diversity but no policy guiding MRI use in Ghana exists

Structural change in developing countries:patterns, causes and consequences

The main objective of the thesis is to investigate the patterns, causes, and (labor market) consequences of structural change in developing countries especially those in Africa. The thesis begins with the premise that our understanding of structural change in Africa is limited by a great statistical problem. Building on the existing work, the thesis produces a new sectoral database for Africa. Using this database, which reflects current sectoral development in Africa, the thesis establishes many empirical regularities about the patterns, causes and consequences of structural change in Africa

Creating and Maintaining High-Quality Educational Spaces for Black Children: Challenges and Strategies

Public education in the United States offers disparate outcomes that negatively impact Black children. Leaders who go against the norms and create spaces where Black children thrive face professional and personal challenges. Yet educators still do this work, employing strategies to protect their work and themselves. This study explores how educational leaders describe their experiences in creating and sustaining high-quality educational environments for Black students through the lens of Critical Race Theory. Nine participants, including the author, describe their backgrounds, their entry into the field of education, their professional and personal challenges, and the strategies they have used to persist in their work. Thematic analysis was performed on the resulting data to identify common challenges and strategies

Legitimacy and interpretation in Ghanaian law: The literal interpretation theory versus the value-based interpretation theory

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Assessing Public Perception of Beach Quality for Ecotourism Development: A Case Study in Kokrobite Beach in the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

Tourism has become a major economic force in the world in recent times and seen as one of the fastest growing sectors of the 21st century. Over the years, tourism sector in Ghana has seen a drastic growth and ranked as the fourth foreign exchange earner for the country with a contribution of 6.2% to GDP in 2008 and 6.9% in 2011. However, tourism in Ghana still remains largely undeveloped and leaves much to be desired; with minimal support for tourism infrastructure. The objective of this paper is to assess the public preferences in selecting a beach and their perceptions of the quality of Kokrobite beach to recommend some management strategies and policies toward tourism development. A reconnaissance survey was conducted, followed by a survey of 150 beach users to collect relevant data. The study revealed that the preference for Kokrobite beach is influenced by specific characteristics such as less noise, security and landscape. Most of the tourists were satisfied with the availability of restaurants and bars, accommodation, noise level and access to the beach. They were, however, not satisfied with the level of sanitation and toilet facilities. It is recommended that the conservation of the natural environment, sanitation and an improvement in toilet facilities should be treated with utmost priority by managers of the beach to promote its patronage. Fencing of the beach was also recommended to prevent intrusion by humans as well as animals. Sea defense is also recommended to be built to check erosion, and lighting systems provided to promote the use of the beach at night. Key words: Environment, Greater Accra, landscape, Kokrobite beach, tourism and sanitation

The Role of Formal and Informal Institutions in Smallholder Agricultural Adaptation: The Case of Lawra and Nandom Districts, Ghana

As the current frequency of climate impacts is expected to increase in semi-arid regions of Ghana, smallholder farmers will require access to new and relevant information to adapt successfully. Institutional support is increasingly gaining attention for effective and successful adaptation; however, there is limited knowledge on the specific roles of both formal and informal organizations in implementing adaptation strategies in semi-arid regions. Using the Lawra and Nandom Districts as case studies, the various roles of existing institutions in adaptation strategies were examined. A total of 135 household questionnaires, six focus group discussions (FGDs), 20 in-depth interviews with farmers, and seven key informant interviews from institutions evaluated climate risks and impacts, adaptation responses of farmers and the functions of the different institutions in supporting these adaptation strategies. Majority of respondents observed that irregular and unpredictable rainfall (77%), high temperature and extreme heat (56%) and rainfall irregularities during growing season (55%) as the main changes in the past 10 years. Major agricultural adaptation strategies identified were changing of planting dates (100%), planting of different varieties of the same crop (51%), planting of trees (35%) and seasonal migration by the local farmers (21%). There is high dependence by the smallholder farmers on formal institutions’ resources to adapt, especially for developing/ building the local capacity, rather than on local innovations within the communities. This is mainly due to the lack of knowledge about climate change risks and adaptation strategies and limited or no access to financial resources. Government-led adaptation is considered to be more sustainable than NGO-led programmes although it comparatively lacks specific mandates and financial resources. Continued support by formal institutions will therefore enable the development of more effective agricultural adaptation initiatives

Impact of board gender diversity on social and environmental performance of firms: Evidence from Sub-Sahara Africa

In the 21st century board gender diversity is expected. However few women are appointed to board positions in Africa. There has been a scanty study on board gender diversity and firm performances as well as the study of women on boards impact on Corporate Social Responsibility. This dissertation analyses the impact of board gender diversity on the social and environmental performance of companies on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Secondary data was obtained from the annual reports of 25 companies over the years 2012 to 2016. Data were analyzed quantitatively with Return on Equity (ROE) as a measure of financial performance and Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure (CSRD) as the dependent variables, with Board gender diversity (WOB), Board Independence (IND. BOD) and Board Size (BS) as the independent variables. The two hypotheses tested revealed that board gender diversity (Women on Board) is positively related to CSR disclosure. The findings imply that, with an increase in WOB by one person, while other variables remained constant there will be an increase in the firms’ CSR performance disclosure. This implies that, as more women serve on the board, it will increase CSR performance disclosure of listed Ghanaian Companies. Whereas no significant relationship was found between board gender diversity (women on Board) and firm financial performance. However, there were some limitations such as the use of data from only listed firms from the Ghana Stock Exchange. This study can be inproved with data from listed and non-listed firms.No século 21, espera-se que haja diversidade de género conselhos de gestão, mas não é esse o caso. Verifica-se que poucas mulheres são nomeadas para cargos de diretoria em África, sendo ainda escassos os estudos sobre a diversidade de género em cargos de gestão, bem como sobre o impacto das mulheres na Responsabilidade Social Corporativa. Esta dissertaçãoo impacto da diversidade de género em conselhos de direção no desempenho social e ambiental das empresas cotadas na Bolsa de Valores do Gana. Os dados foram obtidos dos relatórios anuais de 25 empresas entre 2012 e 2016 e foram analisados quantitativamente, sendo o retorno sobre o património líquido (ROE) como medida de desempenho financeiro e a divulgação de responsabilidade social corporativa (CSRD) as variáveis dependentes e a diversidade de género do conselho de gestão (WOB), independência do conselho (IND. BOD) e tamanho do conselho (BS) as variáveis independentes. As duas hipóteses testadas revelaram que a diversidade de género está positivamente relacionada à Responsabilidade Social Corporativa. Os resultados indicam que, com um aumento no WOB por uma pessoa, enquanto outras variáveis permaneceram constantes, haverá um melhor desempenho de responsabilidade social nas empresas. Nenhuma relação significativa foi encontrada entre a diversidade de género nos conselhos de gestão e o desempenho financeiro da empresa. No entanto, houve algumas limitações, como o uso de dados secundários de empresas apenas cotadas na Bolsa de Valores de Gana. Este estudo pode ser ampliado usando dados de empresas cotadas e não cotadas

Effects of sodium azide on yield parameters of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.)

The mutagenic effects of different concentrations of sodium azide (0.01 – 0.05%) on groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv SS1145B and RMP 91) were investigated. The characters studied include; plant height, number of branches per plant, pods/plant, seeds/pod, seeds/plant and 100 seed weight in the M1 and M2 generations. Both negative and positive shifts in mean values were recorded as a result of the chemical treatment. The most effective dosage for inducing mutation/morphological aberration was established at 0.03%. Increases in genetic parameters of variation, heritability and genetic gain under the chemical treatment indicate the possibility of evolving higher yield variants through proper crop selection. Thus, economic traits like pods/plant, seeds/plant with high heritability and genetic gain values in the M3 generation offer good scope for selection and improvement

A review of chest radiographic patterns in mild to moderate novel corona virus disease 2019 at an urban hospital in Ghana

Introduction: The novel corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was diagnosed in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and, in Ghana, in March 2020. As of 30th July 2020, Ghana had recorded 35,142 cases. COVID-19 which can be transmitted by both symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals usually manifest as pneumonia with symptoms like fever, cough, dyspnoea and fatigue. The current non-availability of a vaccine or drug for COVID-19 management calls for early detection and isolation of affected individuals. Chest imaging has become an integral part of patient management with chest radiography serving as a primary imaging modality in many centres.Methods: The study was a retrospective study conducted at Ga East Municipal Hospital (GEMH). Chest radiographs of patients with mild to moderate disease managed at GEMH were evaluated. The age, gender, symptom status, comorbidities and chest x-ray findings of the patients were documented. Results: 11.4 % of the patients had some form of respiratory abnormality on chest radiography with 88.9% showing COVID-19 pneumonia features. 93.8% showed ground glass opacities (GGO), with 3.1% each showing consolidation (CN) only and CN with GGO. There was a significant association between COVID-19 radiographic features and patient’s age, symptom status and comorbidities but not with gender.Conclusion: Most radiographs were normal with only 11% showing COVID-19-like abnormality. There was a significant association between age, symptom status and comorbidities with the presence of COVID-19 like features but not for gender. There was no association between the extent of the lung changes and patient characteristics