Rural Women and Microfinance in Ghana: Challenges and Prospects

Agricultural Finance, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

TOBIT ESTIMATION OF THE INTENSITY OF EXPORT SUCCESS OF HORTICULTURAL ENTERPRISES IN GHANA

Purpose- The issue of export success and the ability to sustain oneself in international horticultural markets have become more critical in the recent global and economic downturn because of its significance to the economy and to actors in the horticultural export chain. The extent of success is even much critical for enterprises. Therefore this study establishes the factors which influence the intensity of export success which measures the extent of export success. Design- Primary data were collected from 52 managers and representatives of horticultural exporting firms through a semi-structured questionnaire. The tobit model was used to estimate the intensity of export success by horticultural enterprises in Ghana. Findings- The result indicates that, manager’s educational level, managers past experience, manager trained in export management, manager’s entrepreneurial orientation, presence of export department, product diversification and government support directly influences the intensity of export success. Export barriers and constraints in accessing working capital negatively influences intensity of export success. Practical implications- Personnel or personal development in terms of training in export management and build up of experience is important in the quest to improve the intensity of export success. Organizational reforms such as institution of export department and diversifying horticultural export products improves the intensity of export success. To improve the intensity of success, external factors such as working capital inaccessibility and trade barriers should be addressed by various stake holders. In all government and institutional interventions has been proved to be of the essence. Originality/value- Although various determinants of export performance or success have been established by researchers the factors that influence the intensity of export success is not known. This study therefore bridges this gab.Tobit, export success, horticulture, enterprises, Ghana, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

Climate change, rainwater harvesting and private water systems : perceptions, attitudes, and behaviours in Scotland

Water resources in Scotland are under immense pressure despite the perception that it rains a lot and there are abundant water resources. High amount of energy is utilized for the transport and treatment of water for consumption which contradicts the UK government’s carbon neutral agenda. Climate change is also expected to alter precipitation patterns in the UK especially Scotland despite the perception that it rains a lot and there are abundant water resources. There is the need to adapt to water-related changes by ensuring reliable water supply to households whilst protecting the natural environment. This study explored the feasibility of rainwater harvesting (RWH) and climate change impacts on water supply in some selected peri-urban areas in Scotland. Other parameters of a water neutral development in Scotland were explored in the form of water consumption, water saving devices and water-related energy activities. Paper questionnaires were administered randomly to households using private water supply (PWS) in three local areas: Highland, Scottish Borders and Aberdeenshire and one household on the public mains water supply (MWS), Edinburgh over a period of 4 months. Overall, 378 residents’ responses and 8 stakeholders were interviewed on the feasibility of RWH in Scotland. Residents surveyed (98%) were aware of climate change in terms of the media, friends, and community. There were a lot of neutral outliers and negative responses from residents surveyed as to whether climate change was happening. When “wording” like the weather, floods, droughts, and water pollution were used, residents could relate to it happening and having a negative impact on their water resources. Just over half (53%) of residents surveyed had “no water saving device” and the most water saving device was a dual-flush toilet (32.9%). A high percentage (66.3%) believed it was important to conserve water through alternatives like RWH. For RWH to be acceptable, and implemented in Scotland, majority (66.7%) of residents felt having RWH would not be financially beneficial to them and their household but will implement it if given some form of grants. There was a distinct difference between PWS users MWS users; high proportion of PWS users perceived RWH not to be financially beneficial to them. More than half of the residents surveyed (55.6%) were willing to consider RWH if will ensure there was always constant water available and if it was easy to use (54.6%). Stakeholders felt, it will be difficult to implement RWH in Scotland, and sometimes confused RWH with greywater. Stakeholders perceived RWH as a climate change mitigation solution impossible

Precise Point Positioning Augmentation for Various Grades of Global Navigation Satellite System Hardware

The next generation of low-cost, dual-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS receivers, boards, chips and antennas are now quickly entering the market, offering to disrupt portions of the precise GNSS positioning industry with much lower cost hardware and promising to provide precise positioning to a wide range of consumers. The presented work provides a timely, novel and thorough investigation into the positioning performance promise. A systematic and rigorous set of experiments has been carried-out, collecting measurements from a wide array of low-cost, dual-frequency, multi-constellation GNSS boards, chips and antennas introduced in late 2018 and early 2019. These sensors range from dual-frequency, multi-constellation chips in smartphones to stand-alone chips and boards. In order to be comprehensive and realistic, these experiments were conducted in a number of static and kinematic benign, typical, suburban and urban environments. In terms of processing raw measurements from these sensors, the Precise Point Positioning (PPP) GNSS measurement processing mode was used. PPP has become the defacto GNSS positioning and navigation technique for scientific and engineering applications that require dm- to cm-level positioning in remote areas with few obstructions and provides for very efficient worldwide, wide-array augmentation corrections. To enhance solution accuracy, novel contributions were made through atmospheric constraints and the use of dual- and triple-frequency measurements to significantly reduce PPP convergence period. Applying PPP correction augmentations to smartphones and recently released low-cost equipment, novel analyses were made with significantly improved solution accuracy. Significant customization to the York-PPP GNSS measurement processing engine was necessary, especially in the quality control and residual analysis functions, in order to successfully process these datasets. Results for new smartphone sensors show positioning performance is typically at the few dm-level with a convergence period of approximately 40 minutes, which is 1 to 2 orders of magnitude better than standard point positioning. The GNSS chips and boards combined with higher-quality antennas produce positioning performance approaching geodetic quality. Under ideal conditions, carrier-phase ambiguities are resolvable. The results presented show a novel perspective and are very promising for the use of PPP (as well as RTK) in next-generation GNSS sensors for various application in smartphones, autonomous vehicles, Internet of things (IoT), etc

Multi-GNSS Precise Point Positioning Software Architecture and Analysis of GLONASS Pseudorange Biases

With expanding satellite-based navigation systems, multi-Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Precise Point Positioning (PPP) presents an advantage over a single navigation system, which improves position accuracy and enhances availability of satellites and signals. The York GNSS PPP software was developed using C++ in the Microsoft.Net platform to utilize the existing multi-GNSS satellite constellations based on the software processor used by the Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) PPP online service. The software was built as a robust, scalable, modular tool that meets the highest of scientific standards compared to existing online PPP engines.There exists a correlation between receiver stations from heterogeneous networks, such as the IGS, in GNSS PPP processing and the increase in magnitude of the pseudorange and carrier-phase biases in both GPS + GLONASS and GLONASS-only PPP solutions. The correlation is due to mixed receiver and antenna hardware as well as firmware versions. Unlike GPS, GLONASS observations are affected by the Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) satellite signal structure, which introduces inter-frequency channel biases and other system biases. The GLONASS pseudorange inter-channel frequency biases show a strong correlation with different receiver types, firmware versions and antenna types. This research estimated the GLONASS pseudorange inter-frequency channel biases using 350 IGS stations, based on 32 receiver types and 4 antenna types over a period of one week. An improvement of 19% was observed after calibrating for the pseudorange ICBs, in the horizontal components respectively, considering 20 minutes convergence period

The “Made in USA poultry label” and consumer choice in Ghana

Market survey data from Ghana was used to gain understanding of consumers’ attitudes, preferences for foreign food products, and the role product country of origin plays in the demand for poultry. Intention to purchase poultry from the US was anchored on product packaging, quality, expiry date and country of origin.Country of origin, consumer preference, poultry demand, Ghana, US exports., Agribusiness, Industrial Organization, Marketing, Q13, Q17,

Assessing Rural Women Food Producers Capacity to Adopt Modern ICTs – A case Study of the Mfantsiman District of Ghana

The traditional way of information dissemination has been through people; the modern way is through the electronic media – improved information and communication technologies (ICTs). For effectiveness, modern ICTs should help women to improve on their income generating capacity. Issues of level of resource capacity of women, information needed, and current sources of such information become important. This study sought to investigate the issues above with respect to rural women food producers in the Mfantsiman District of Ghana. Simple descriptive statistics and econometric models were employed in the data analysis of 91 randomly selected respondents. The results of the study showed that: In general, the women food producers were aged, subsistence food crop farmers. They depended on the natural rainfall cycle and had inadequate funds, so they use traditional inputs for production and sell surpluses in the community. The most important agricultural information needed was on inputs, specifically, low cost in-kind or cash credit. Currently, the major information sources are relatives and other farmers in the locality, agricultural extension agents, the radio and television. This suggests that the women food producers have low resource capacity and this could limit the adoption of modern ICTs as a source of and media for information dissemination. Yet, the regression results show that the few (6) mobile phone users have a higher income generating capacity. In order to improve on capacity to use modern ICTs for increased access to other resources, women farmers’ should organize themselves into formidable groups so local institutions can assist easily.Adoption, Information and communication Technology, Ghana, Women, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Consumer/Household Economics, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, Labor and Human Capital, Marketing, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Determinants of Job Satisfaction of Professionals and Low Skilled Workers. A Comparative Study of the 5th Korean Working Conditions Survey (2017)

Job satisfaction refers to one's feelings towards one's job. If the employee’s expectations are fulfilled they feel satisfied. If employees are satisfied with job satisfaction increases organization commitment will be increased and the results will in return bring higher productivity. The main objective of the study is to assess the determinants of job satisfaction of Professionals and Low Skilled Labour Workers. To find out the difference in job satisfaction level between Professionals and simple Labour Workers across South Korea and Assess the factors affecting job satisfaction among Professionals and Labour Workers across South Korea. The sample size for this study is 12,581 of the 50,000 population. Out of the sample size which is 12,581, the professionals' sample size is 7346 and low skilled labour worker is 5,235. The variables that were significantly associated with the level of satisfaction were determined using the Pearson chi-square test of independence. Binary logistic regression models were used to determine the factors that predicts the level of satisfaction. The study helped in revealing the level of satisfaction of employees with reference to the various level of satisfaction provided by both the professionals and low skilled labour workers. This study clearly shows that professionals are more likely to have job satisfaction than low skilled labour workers. Organisation in Korea should consider and bridge the gap of motivation between professionals and low skilled labour workers on Years of working in your company or organisation, Working Environment, Wearing of PPE, Regarding the health and safety risk, work in a group or team, Emotional Expressions, Health or Safety at risk, Your Health in General and sick leave. Keywords: Job Satisfaction, Professionals, Low Skilled Labour Workers.open석

"Fufu" flour processing in Ghana: Costs, returns and institutional support expected to encourage young entrepreneurs

The introduction of "fufu" flour is an innovative business venture that young entrepreneurs should explore. However, the level of costs and returns as well as institutional support to sustain the industry is not well understood. This study was conducted to determine the profitability of "fufu" flour and the strength of the institutional framework. The criteria of Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR), and Benefit-Cost Ratio (B-CR) were used for the investment analysis at 20 per cent discount rate. The results showed that the IRR was 57 per cent, and the NPV and BCR were positive. As the project appraisal indices show worthiness, it can be concluded that "fufu" flour processing is economically feasible. A fairly developed institutional framework already exists (policy, regulatory agencies, and input and output markets); this enabling environment needs to be strengthened