ESTIMATING THE VALUE OF SOURCE VERIFICATION OF FEEDER CATTLE

Source-verified (SV) feeder cattle auctions were held in Bloomfield, Iowa, each October, November, and December from 1997-2000. This study compares price data from these SV auctions to traditional auctions at the same location to determine whether a premium exists for SV feeder cattle. Hedonic pricing models were estimated to evaluate the price effects of lot characteristics, market forces, and type of market (SV versus regular sale). The SV cattle were sorted and pooled into large lots. The larger lot size, consistent with early research, earned large price premiums. After accounting for lot size, the SV premium for lighter cattle (< 650/600-pound steers/heifers) was estimated at $1.30/cwt, and was significant. The SV premium over and above lot size was not significant for heavier feeder cattle.auction, cattle, hedonic pricing model, markets, source-verified auction, Livestock Production/Industries,

Ghana’S Pension Reforms in Perspective: Can the Pension Benefits Provide a House a Real Need of the Retiree?

The Government of Ghana enacted another pension reform in 2008 to establish a three-tier Pension Scheme with the objective of enhancing pension payments, financial independence to the retired worker and also for capital mobilization for national development. The purpose of any policy reforms that seeks to protect vulnerability of people must be significant to address identified inadequacies in a previous one. This paper is very critical of the new pension reform (Act 716) of 2008 as it provides unrealistic benefit to the pensioner to meet vital needs (i. e A HOUSE), a cultural demand, the lack of it, is killing many retirees in Ghana. The significance of the concept of building a house in Ghanaian cultural setting and retirees is discussed extensively. The mortgage industry which the Act or Scheme relies on is also evaluated. The conclusions are very revealing that the mortgage industry in Ghana is very expensive, unaffordable and therefore unreliable to provide any low cost housing to low income earners and many civil servants in Ghana. The paper proposes that a holistic Pension Scheme that is focused and targeted to identified cultural needs must be established. Financial independence as emphasized in the pension reform act is good but myopic and cannot guarantee longevity. Keywords: Pension Reforms, Retirees, House Mortgage

Explaining energy conservation and environmental citizenship behaviors using the value-belief-norm framework

Despite decades of research, uncertainty remains about what motivates individuals to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The multifaceted and complex nature of energy conservation, like other forms of pro-environmental behavior, still poses a challenge to efforts at accurately explaining or predicting it. This paper examines the extent to which variables in the value-belief-norm framework are able to explain engagement in energy conservation and environmental citizenship behavior in an institutional setting. The results indicate that value-belief-norm constructs, which largely reflect environmental considerations, were more successful at explaining subjects’ pro-environmental citizenship behavior than their energy conservation behavior. Individuals’ personal norms and self-transcendence values were found to be the most influential precursors of their pro-environmental behavior. Subjects’ behavior-specific beliefs also influenced their pro-environmental behavior and were mediated by their personal norms. The implications of our results for the design of pro–energy conservation intervention are discussed

Secure property right as a determinant of SME’s access to formal credit in Ghana: Dynamics between Micro Finance Institutions and Universal Banks

Does registered land title help to improve tenure security and enhance one’s chances of securing a loan from formal financial institutions? This question continues to sharply divide opinions among academics, policy-makers and international development partners. The long running debate on the subject of ‘Property in the Commons’, which serves as the ideological origin of what has become known as ‘Washington Consensus’ in contemporary times claims that there is positive correlation between the possession of registered land title and access to credit. However, this has often received considerable rebuttals. Even if the ‘Washington Consensus’ is accepted, the argument is still laced with some fundamental difficulty because it inherently assumes and treats financial institutions as a homogenous class of business. Yet financial institutions exhibit greater diversity in their operations and decision-making process. This paper attempts to contribute towards developing improved understanding between the ‘secure land title and access to credit relationship’ by disaggregating financial institutions into Micro-finance and Universal Banks (UBs) and examining what role secure land title play in granting credit from the perspectives of these two categories of financial institutions. To achieve this, field level investigations were conducted amongst officials of both Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) and UBs in Ghana using structured questionnaires. A total of 200 questionnaires – 100 each to MFI and Universal Banks were administered of which a response rate of 51 and 57 was, respectively, achieved. The data were analysed using various non-parametric statistics. The study amongst other things established that UBs and MFIs differ in their opinions on how important secure titles are in the lending process and the nature of the influence they can exert on the final lending decision. It was established that both categories of lenders do regard secure titles as important but whether or not it will influence their decision to accept a given landed property as collateral varies across lender types

Influence of Multiple Media Channels on Adolescents’ Knowledge and Intentions to use Contraceptives: A quantitative Study of Amasaman, the Capital of Ga West District Assembly in Ghana

Available literature depicts a strong association between exposure to mass media and intentions to use contraceptives in Ghana. However, little is known about the influence of multiple media on the reminiscence of exact contraceptive messages and intentions to use contraceptives among in- school and out-of-school adolescents. This article, therefore, examines adolescents’ exposure to multiple media messages on contraceptives and its implications on message reminiscence. Their knowledge of the types of contraceptives, their intentions to use contraceptives and their perceptions of usage were also studied. A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in Amasaman, the capital of Ga West District Assembly in Ghana. Quantitative data were collected from systematically sampled adolescents in-school and out-of-school. The findings indicate that all the adolescents had ever been exposed to media messages on contraceptives, but few had intentions to use a contraceptive within the year preceding the survey. The adverse intentions to use contraceptives were influenced considerably by their fear of being caught due to cultural norms against sexual intercourse at their stage, preference for abstinence based on religious doctrines and poor knowledge of contraceptive usage. Old adolescents (15-19 years) were exposed to multiple media messages on contraceptives more than young adolescents (10-14 years), while majority understood contraceptive messages from radio and television. Generally there was positive association between exposure to multiple media and recollection of contraceptive messages. In conclusion, multiple media should be used to disseminate elaborative contraceptive messages to adolescents, in order for them to make informed choices and as a result enhance a healthy reproductive life. We suggest that the content of the messages should address negative religious and cultural perceptions about contraceptives, as well as educating them further on the available contraceptive methods

Re-Design of Mine Tailings Storage Facility for Adamus Resources Limited

AbstractThe suitability of a centerline or upstream design as a sustainable option for construction of future raises for the existing Life of Mine (LoM) downstream Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) at Adamus Resources Limited (ARL) was investigated using Slope/W in GeoStudio Software. Review of technical information, evaluation of the performance of the existing Stage 6 dam, and geotechnical investigations of available construction materials were undertaken in this research. Insights were gained about the TSF’s life cycle and current bearing capacity for intended future raises. Viable geotechnical parameters were established to define construction material specifications as well as input data for modelling the new designs. The British Standards Institute (BSI) standards were adopted for all the material testing protocols carried out at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research-Building and Road Research Institute (CSIR-BRRI) laboratory in Kumasi. The scope of modelling covered the original downstream as well as the centerline and upstream options. The geometric design and stability analysis focused only on the southern and northern embankments of the TSF. The modelling outputs yielded reliable Stability Factors of Safety (FoS) for all designs investigated, above the regulatory criteria. Subsequently, a semi-quantitative multi-criteria evaluation was used to select the preferred option between the centreline and upstream alternatives. The results showed that technically, economically and by regulatory compliance, the centreline design is a better alternative and therefore recommended for adoption by ARL. Keywords: Tailings Storage Facility, Geotechnical Parameters, Stability Analysis, Modelling, Multi-Criteri

Use of a Mixed Formaldehyde and Sodium Hypophosphite Reducing Agent Bath in the Electroless Synthesis of Cu-Ni-Mo-P Electro-catalyst Active for Glycerol Oxidation

A new electroless bath was formulated in which two reducing agents - NaH2PO2 and formaldehyde – acted synchronously for the synthesis of electroless Cu-Ni-Mo-P/graphite electro-catalyst. The bath was operated at a pH of 10.2 and temperature of 80oC. Baths containing only sodium hypophosphite or formaldehyde reducing agents but with the same amounts of other bath constituents were used as controls in the deposition process. The deposits were characterized using SEM, EDX and XRD. Preliminary investigations conducted on oxidations of formaldehyde and glycerol show that the catalyst is an effective electro-catalyst as prepared, and that variations in the metallic composition of the electro-catalyst affect its electro catalytic activity