Internal migration, remittances and welfare impacts : a case study in Dormaa Municipality, Ghana

Magister Artium (Development Studies) - MA(DVS)This study examines internal migration, remittances and welfare impacts among migrant households in the Dormaa Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Data were gathered though a questionnaire survey among 202 migrant households and in-depth interviews with 8 of them and some key informants. The findings were analysed largely based on the Push-Pull theory and New Economics of Labour Migration Theory. The findings of the study indicate that an overwhelming majority of migrant households reported an improved welfare as a result of having a migrant in their household who have moved away to other communities during the last 10 years and have been away for the last six months or are expected be away for six months or more. Majority of these migrants sent remittances back to their families left behind, either in the form of cash or goods. More males migrate than females,which is consistent with the general tendency for males to migrate more than females. The age category with the highest proportion of migrants was 30-39 years. Many of the migrants moved to another town or village in Ghana for work-related reasons, notably job transfer, work, or seek work/better work. The migrants themselves were the main people who made the decisions to migrate followed by spouses, parents and siblings, lending support to the collective decision making within households. Also, most of the migrants had some connections or contacts at their most recent migration destinations. A lot of the migrants relied on their personal savings to finance their migration whilst others received funds from family members and banks to finance their migration. The study recommend that government should make efforts to monitor remittance flow in Ghana and also increase awareness about the importance of remittance for the national and household economy. Further, there is the need to scale up education on social attitudes and discourses about internal migration and policy initiatives on remittance management in Ghana

Socio-Economic Inequity and Decision-Making under Uncertainty: West African Migrants' Journey across the Mediterranean to Europe

Understanding the nexus between poverty, inequality and decision-making under uncertainty in migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe remains a significant challenge, raising intense scholarly debate. Several suggestions have been offered on how to reduce migrants’ journeys across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe in several guises, including the formulation and implementation of proper social, political and economic policies in Africa. Despite all odds and challenges, migrants from Africa cross state boundaries and stay in transit state(s) for limited periods, en route the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. Underpinned by different migration theories and conceptual frameworks, our study applied a qualitative methodology to examine why migrants decide, under uncertainty, to cross the Mediterranean Sea from their countries of origin to the ultimate destinations in Europe. While focusing on the life experiences of purposively selected migrants from West Africa, the research seeks to address the underlying factors of irregular migration. The result of this empirical study clearly illustrates that limited access to opportunities, poverty and unemployment amidst precarious development challenges and the youth population bulge, exacerbate Africa’s migration crisis. The study finally brings into focus empirical observations and provides suggestions for stakeholders’ engagement in addressing African migration challenges

Exploring the Trend of ICT Adoption in Tertiary Institutions in Ghana: A Case Study at Kwame Nkrumah University Of Science And Technology (KNUST)

The integration of ICT in tertiary institutions is critically important, if Ghana is to produce graduates equipped to for knowledge and technological based economy and also to bridge the gaps between itself and the rest of the world. This research examines the trend and use of ICT adoption in Ghana, and its effect on teaching, research and learning in tertiary institutions in Ghana. Mixed data collection method was used. Data was collected on the trend of ICT infrastructure within the past 10 years. There are many technology infrastructures available but it is not fully integrated in teaching, research and learning. While the practice of equipping institutions with ICT infrastructure and using them to teach computer literacy to augment teaching, research and learning is useful, the goal of fully integrating ICT in educational, research, and administrative processes seems very slow. Another issue is lack of affordable and dependable connectivity with sufficient bandwidth. The unwillingness to use ICT coupled with unreliable electric supply complicates the matter. To make these methods ready for practical, industrial use, they need further work, especially the creation of supports and investment in infrastructure. The full potential of technology will only be unlocked by effective approaches to other essential IT challenges to Ghanaian education. Keywords: ICT, Infrastructure, Tertiary Institutions, and Ghana

Gains and losses from internal migration: evidence from migrant-sending households in Ghana

Migration is a common strategy adopted to escape poverty and improve living standards, but it is not without risks and there are no guarantees of success. We analyse the impact of migration on the welfare of migrant-sending households in Ghana by exploring what their living standards might have been had their migrant members remained at home. We do this by estimating a counterfactual consumption distribution for households with migrants. We examine the importance of selection bias and compare results obtained with and without selection controls. We illustrate how sensitive conclusions about the welfare gains of migration are to the decision to address selection issues. We present preliminary results which suggest that estimated gains are sensitive to whether and how we address selection bias. While the uncorrected results suggest an average gain from migration for households with migrants, once we control for potential selection bias we find that on average households with migrants are worse off than they might have been had their members stayed at home. Our selection corrected results also suggest that initially better off households are more likely to experience gains from migration and that poorer households lose out. Our results are consistent with qualitative research conducted with a small sample of migrants from our migrant-sending households

Molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium africanum in Ghana

BACKGROUND: Mycobacterium africanum comprises two phylogenetic lineages within the M. tuberculosis complex (MTBC) and is an important cause of human tuberculosis (TB) in West Africa. The reasons for this geographic restriction of M. africanum remain unclear. Here, we performed a prospective study to explore associations between the characteristics of TB patients and the MTBC lineages circulating in Ghana. METHOD: We genotyped 1,211 MTBC isolates recovered from pulmonary TB patients recruited between 2012 and 2014 using single nucleotide polymorphism typing and spoligotyping. Associations between patient and pathogen variables were assessed using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 1,211 MTBC isolates analysed, 71.9 % (871) belonged to Lineage 4; 12.6 % (152) to Lineage 5 (also known as M. africanum West-Africa 1), 9.2 % (112) to Lineage 6 (also known as M. africanum West-Africa 2) and 0.6 % (7) to Mycobacterium bovis. Univariate analysis revealed that Lineage 6 strains were less likely to be isoniazid resistant compared to other strains (odds ratio = 0.25, 95 % confidence interval (CI): 0.05-0.77, P < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that Lineage 5 was significantly more common in patients from the Ewe ethnic group (adjusted odds ratio (adjOR): 2.79; 95 % CI: 1.47-5.29, P < 0.001) and Lineage 6 more likely to be found among HIV-co-infected TB patients (adjOR = 2.2; 95 % confidence interval (CI: 1.32-3.7, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings confirm the importance of M. africanum in Ghana and highlight the need to differentiate between Lineage 5 and Lineage 6, as these lineages differ in associated patient variables

Cigarette smoking during breastfeeding in Papua New Guinea: Prevalence and demographic and socio-economic predictors

Background Cigarette smoking during breastfeeding is reported to contribute to significant changes in the composition of breast milk not only by reducing its protective features but also affecting infants' response to breastfeeding and breast milk. However, studies on the prevalence of cigarette smoking and associated factors during breastfeeding are limited in Papua New Guinea (PNG). This study estimates the prevalence of cigarette smoking and its association with demographic and economic factors among breastfeeding women in PNG. Methods We used weighted survey data from the 2016-2018 PNG Demographic and Health Survey (PNGDHS). A weighted sample of 3, 822 women who were breastfeeding during the survey were included in the study. The outcome variable in the present study is current cigarette smoking. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the association between current cigarette smoking status and socio-demographic and economic variables of breastfeeding women. The regression analysis results were reported using adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results From the weighted sample, the prevalence of cigarette smoking among breastfeeding women was 21.9%; of which 60.8% smoked daily. The mean number of cigarettes smoked in the last 24 hours preceding the survey was 6.05(SD = 5.99). Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that breastfeeding women who were from the Momase (aOR: 2.337, CI: 1.786-3.058, p<0.001) and Highlands (AOR: 1.589, CI: 1.213-2.082, p = 0.001), had no religious affiliation (aOR: 3.665, CI: 1.235-10.877, p = 0.019), and households with daughters as household heads (aOR: 1.901, CI: 1.231-2.935, p = 0.004) and being in more than one union (aOR: 2.374, CI: 1.805-3.123, p<0.001) were significantly more likely to smoke cigarette compared to women from southern region, those affiliated to Anglican church, those with husband as household heads, and being in one union respectively. Conclusion Cigarette smoking among breastfeeding women in PNG is relatively high, and region of residence, religion, relationship to household head, and the number of unions remain independent predictors. Interventions should target the individual socio-economic and cultural contexts within which breastfeeding occurs

Exposure to interparental violence and justification of intimate partner violence among women in Papua New Guinea

Background: Previous studies have demonstrated that exposure to interparental violence is associated with intimate partner violence justification in a variety of contexts. In this study, we examined the association between exposure to interparental violence and justification of intimate partner violence among women in Papua New Guinea. Methods: We used data from the 2016-18 Papua New Guinea Demographic and Health Survey. We included 2839 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) in a sexual union (married and cohabiting) in the study. We used a multivariable binary multilevel regression analysis to examine the association between interparental violence and justification of intimate partner violence. We presented the results of the regression analysis using crude odds ratio (cOR) and adjusted odds ratios (aORs), with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: Women exposed to interparental violence were 1.26 (95%CI = 1.05, 1.53) times more likely to justify intimate partner violence than those who were not exposed. Women who resided in the Highlands (aOR = 2.50, 95%CI = 1.78, 3.51), Momase (aOR = 1.96, 95%CI = 1.40, 2.75), and Islands (aOR = 1.42, 95%CI = 1.01, 1.99) were more likely to justify intimate partner violence compared to those in the Southern region. Women who were exposed to one (aOR = 1.38, 95%CI = 1.06, 1.82) mass media were more likely to justify intimate partner violence compared to those who had no exposure to mass media. On the other hand, women aged 25-34 years (aOR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.48, 0.91) and 35-49 years (aOR = 0.66, 95%CI = 0.44, 0.97) were less likely to justify intimate partner violence compared to those aged 15-24 years. Conclusions: Our study has shown that exposure to interparental violence is a predictor of intimate partner violence justification. This study suggests the need for conscious and continuous efforts to identify and assist women who have been exposed to interparental violence to help prevent its transition to later life. Policies and interventions should be developed and implemented to curtail children's exposure to domestic violence in their households. Also, laws and policies need to condemn any violence and demystify community justification and acceptance of intimate partner violence, taking into consideration the significant sociodemographic characteristics of the women highlighted in the study

<i>WhatsApp</i> use among African international distance education (IDE) students: transferring, translating and transforming educational experiences

Much of the research on how social media is embedded into the educational practices of higher education students has a Western orientation. In concentrating on a case study of the varied ways in which African International Distance Education (IDE) students actively use social media to shape their learning experiences, we discuss an under-researched group. The paper draws on analysis of 1295 online questionnaires and 165 in-depth interviews with IDE students at UNISA, South Africa, one of the largest providers of IDE globally. WhatsApp emerges as ‘the’ key social media tool that opens up opportunities for IDE students to transfer, translate and transform their educational journey when studying ‘at a distance’. Although WhatsApp does provide a ‘space of opportunity’ for some students, this is framed through socio-technical marginalisation, itself a reflection of demographic legacies of inequality. Exploring social media practices though the case of African IDE students places these students centre stage and adds to the awareness of the multiple centres from which international education is practiced