Foreign direct investment strategies and performance of foreign subsidiaries in Ghana

fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

Factors inhibiting students’ ICT knowledge acquisition and utilization at Oguaa School for the Deaf in Ghana

This paper reports part of a graduate thesis which investigated students’ ICT knowledge, skills, and utilization at Oguaa School for the Deaf in the Central Region of Ghana. A randomly selected sample of 40 students completed researcher-developed questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential statistical methods were used to analyze the data. The results revealed that majority of the students were novice in ICT knowledge and utilization; they only had access to computers during ICT lessons. They lacked access to functional computers for private studies, training, and interest in ICT usage for learning. The researchers concluded that the students could not confidently and creatively use ICT for learning. It was recommended that the school extended ICT application to other subjects.Keywords: ICT knowledge, utilization, Oguaa, Dea

Effects of Ergonomic Intervention on the Improvement of Low-back Disorders, Perceived Health Status and Overall Working Ability among Kitchen Staff : One year follow-up study

Only abstract. Paper copies of master’s theses are listed in the Helka database (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Electronic copies of master’s theses are either available as open access or only on thesis terminals in the Helsinki University Library.Vain tiivistelmä. Sidottujen gradujen saatavuuden voit tarkistaa Helka-tietokannasta (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Digitaaliset gradut voivat olla luettavissa avoimesti verkossa tai rajoitetusti kirjaston opinnäytekioskeilla.Endast sammandrag. Inbundna avhandlingar kan sökas i Helka-databasen (http://www.helsinki.fi/helka). Elektroniska kopior av avhandlingar finns antingen öppet på nätet eller endast tillgängliga i bibliotekets avhandlingsterminaler.The thesis is about a one year follow-up ergonomic intervention study on the improvement of low back disorders, perceived health status and overall working ability, among various kitchen institutions in Finland, with the ultimate aim of meeting the requirements of workers’ capabilities by addressing their issues and the working environment; the match between personnel and equipments usage, work processes and environment. LBP is a typical MSD which may be characterised by periodic and protracted pains, stresses and strains around the low back often as a result of fitting workers in working environments whose design falls short of targeted ergonomic standards. Effective ergonomic changes can be attained by means of technical, administrative and socioeconomic procedures. Workers involvement in the planning and implementation of possible changes effects ergonomic efficiency. Individual physical attributes and habits ought to be taken into consideration to better understand and assess the effect of ergonomic intervention programs. Effective ergonomic approach is realised through a reduction in MSD (eg. LBP) cases and associated pain reduction, minimal absenteeism, perceived health improvement and hence, improved work ability. Linear mixed models was the main statistical analyses employed in modelling the mean changes in low back pain, as well as accounting for the covariances in the repeated measures. The statistical results revealed that, generally, there was an improvement in low back pain, reduced LBP sick leaves, among the intervention group compared to that of the control group. These differences, however, were often not, statistically, significant. Further, the intervention group excelled in their respective perception of health (in terms of aspects of quality of life). It is recommended that work organization be improved in the direction of elevated levels of WPFs, which are keys to job satisfaction and LBP recovery. Larger sample size is required in guaranteeing further and detailed analyses to deepen our understanding and appreciation of the interrelationships among many underlying constructs associated with MSDs, and their progression, for the effective evaluation of intervention progra

The use of maize tassel as an agricultural by-product to ameliorate heavy metals in contaminated groundwater

The presence of heavy metals in drinking water usually tends to pose some adverse effects to the consumers. It is in the light of this that maize tassel which is usually an agricultural by product was used to remove mercury arsenic, manganese and lead from contaminated water. Maize tassel was milled into fine powder. A laboratory simulated contamination of the above mentioned metals was prepared to a concentration of 2.000  mg/L. Groundwater contaminated samples were also obtained and run through 20.0g of the powdered maize tassel at specific time steps of 0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes respectively. The water that drained out of the tassel was then analyzed for the amount of metals remaining in it using Shimadzu Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer model AA6300. The concentrations of arsenic, manganese lead and mercury in the laboratory  simulated solution after it had passed through the maize tassel for a period of 60 minutes was 0.001 mg/L, 0.005 mg/L, 0.203 mg/L and 0.020 mg/L respectively. The concentrations of arsenic, manganese, lead and mercury in the contaminated groundwater after passing through the tassel  was 0.0005 mg/L, 0.0021 mg/L, 0.050 mg/L and 0.025 mg/L respectively

Adoption of Modern Agricultural Production Technologies by Farm Households in Ghana: What Factors Influence their Decisions?

Low adoption of modern agricultural production technologies amongst farmers in Ghana has been identified as one of the main reasons for the low agricultural productivity in the country. This paper examines the factors that influence farm households’ modern agricultural production technology adoption decisions in Ghana. Household questionnaires were administered to 300 farmers the Bawku West District of Ghana; and the logit model was estimated to ascertain the factors. The results showed that farm size, expected benefits from technology adoption, access to credit and extension services are the factors that significantly influence technology adoption decisions of farm households in the study area. It is concluded that farm households’ agricultural technology adoption decisions depends on their socio-economic circumstances and institutional effectiveness. We recommend that policies should be formulated to take advantage of the factors that positively influence farmers’ adoption of modern agricultural production technologies and to mitigate the negative ones. Key words: Agriculture, Farmers, Household, Logit Model, Ghana, Technology Adoptio

Characterizing Risk Behaviour of Maize Farmers using the Experimental Gambling Approach: An Empirical Study in Ghana

Along the maize value chain in Ghana are a wide range of risks that confront actors; the risk chain actors' face include production and marketing risks. Accordingly, risk management, which has become an integral part of maize value chain activities, is challenged with several factors, some of which are economic, institutional, social and behavioral factors. This study posits that risk preferences/behavior of farm decision-makers in the maize value chain have empirical importance for economic and policy analysis. Thus, an experimental gambling approach was used to elicit the risk aversion behavior of respondents (farmers). Here, the respondents' risk aversion behavior over varying game levels was investigated. The multinomial logit model was used to investigate endogenous and exogenous factors explaining the risk behavior. The data were obtained by interviewing 220 maize farmers who were sampled with a two-stage sampling procedure. This study revealed that most of the farmers in the study area exhibited risk aversion behavior. About 33% of farmers showed extreme risk aversion behavior at the games’ lowest level and increased to 45% as the game level rose. It was also found that sex, age, level of formal education, access to credit, access to the storage facility, household size, farm size and the number of extension visits to the farm significantly explained the risk aversion behavior the maize farmers exhibited. Because farmers are risk-averse and become more risk-averse as stakes become high, any farm innovations to be introduced to them must be implemented gradually, especially with the low-income farmers. It is also critical to make risk mitigation 'handles' available to farmers so that they can rely on them during times of risk

Impact of Mass Drug Administration (MDA) on the Transmission of Lymphatic Filariasis in Tono Irrigation Area in Navrongo, Ghana

Lymphatic filariasis is ranked as one of the leading causes of permanent and long-term disability and also oldest and most debilitating neglected tropical disease worldwide. Filariasis is caused by nematode endoparasitic worms transmitted to humans by various mosquito vectors.  World Health Organization established Global Programme to Eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis as a public health problem by the year 2020. The strategies employed are to interrupt transmission through mass drug administration (MDA) and to alleviate suffering and disability via morbidity management; and vector control. It is expected that after implementation of the strategies above, transmission assessment surveys are required to ascertain their progress, impact and efficacies. As MDA was the main strategy, this work therefore determined impact of mass drug administration on the transmission of lymphatic filariasis in Tono Irrigation area in Navrongo following more than nine years of its implementation. Human landing and pyrethrum spray monthly collections of mosquitoes in Wuru and Saboro were dissected to determine the transmission level in the study area. The mosquitoes collected in the study comprised 90.22% (3,650) Anopheles species and 9.78% (386) Culex species with no Aedes or Mansonis species. The man biting rate computed from (Human Landing Catch) HLC was 162.25 bites/man/night in Wuru and 143.75bites/man/night in Saboro. Only 3An. species were infected with filarial parasites; 2 in Saboro with 2mf, and 1L2 in a mosquito in Wuru. However, there was no L3 stage recorded in any of the 3,560 mosquitoes macerated implying that there was no ongoing transmission of LF in the study sites since no infective bites were encountered. However, a follow up survey is required to assess the level of transmission since one survey is inadequate to declare the place free of LF. Keywords: Anopheles species, Wuchereria bancrofti, Mass Drug Administration, Lymphatic filariasis, Ghan

Economic valuation of consumers’ preferences for bush yam attributes: Implications for breeding commercial crop in Ghana

Bush yam has been underutilized and underrated for long due to its undesirable attributes or traits, hence the commercial and food security potentials of the crop have been downgraded and unexploited. This paper, therefore, explored the Ghanaian bush yam consumers’ decisionmaking behaviour towards the crop’s cultivar selection and the values they place on its diverse attributes. With the aim of examining consumers’ preference and willingness to pay for bush yam, we designed a choice experiment which was implemented through a cross-sectional survey, involving 390 bush yam consumers in the Western-North, Eastern and Central Cocoa Regions of Ghana. We employed Conditional logit to model consumers’ preference behaviour for bush yam attributes from the choice experiment and, subsequently, computed their willingness-to-pay for each attribute, following the Lancaster consumer theory, using the ratios of specific product attributes and cost parameter. Our estimates of consumers’ preferences for bush yam attribute revealed a highly significant preference for bigger tuber size, no colour change and sweet taste attributes. Age, education, marital status, and years of consumption were found to have influenced consumers’ preferences for bush yam attributes. Furthermore, we found that bush yam consumers are willing to pay extra price value for improvement in tuber size, colour change and taste to meet their indicated preferences. We, therefore, recommend that, for breeding programmes to be more effective and sustainable towards developing a commercial cultivar, breeding institutions and policy makers should focus on the preferred attributes as indicated by consumers for a successful future commercialization of bush yam in the countr