The Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary, Ghana: A Case for Blending Traditional and Introduced Wildlife Conservation Systems

The introduction of nationally-managed “western”-style protected area systems in Africa often led to antagonism between government authorities and local communities, because rural communities, which were largely excluded and displaced, often resorted to unsustainable activities like encroachment for settlement, illegal hunting and farming. It is the view of most biodiversity conservationists, however, that the management of natural resources must take into consideration both the introduced “western” model and traditional or local knowledge. The study aimed at assessing the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary in Ghana, as an example of blending traditional and introduced wildlife conservation systems, using interviews and questionnaire to obtain information from a cross-section of inhabitants of the area. The results indicated that the dual management system in operation at present has been largely successful, as the inhabitants appear to support the mechanisms put in place to manage the Sanctuary. Policy recommendations proposed to further enhance this success are in the areas of research and monitoring, education and awareness, tourism improvement, and introduction of community incentive schemes.

Civil Society in a Changing Ghana: An Assessment of the Current State of Civil Society in Ghana. Civicus

This is a study of the state of civil society in Ghan

Effect of Audio-visual Aids on Students Understanding: A Comparative Analysis of JHS students in the Ho Municipality

The purpose of the study was to compare the level of understanding of students taught using audio-visual and those taught without using audio visual. The study employed quasi-experimental design. The study also revealed that the treatment group\u27s students comprehended the material being taught to them. Students in the treatment group were able to give the right answers, give examples to back their responses, and only share their experiences if they were relevant to the answer, they gave during the evaluation of what they had been taught. The control group could not have been compared to this. The study also revealed that, in contrast to those in the control group, students in the treatment group were engaged and eager to take part in group projects and demonstrations throughout class. Students in the treatment group showed greater interest in class, but those in the control group were uninterested and passive. Finally, the test scores of the treatment group children were much better than those of the control group

Motivational strategies and academic performance of learners in Ghanaian languages: The role of Akuapem twi basic school’s teachers in Abetifi Kwahu, Ghana

Background: Teacher motivational strategies has become an important issue in language research globally. Objective: The study sought to investigate whether statistically significant relationship exist between motivational strategies use by teachers and academic performance of learners in Akuapem Twi. Methodology: A descriptive correlational design used. A total 200 pupils was selected from the population of 402 pupils. Motivational strategies questionnaire and 2019 BECE performance data in Akuapem Twi subject were used. Analysis: The data was analysed using means, standard deviations and Pearson product-moment correlation test. Findings: It was found that learners need motivational strategies such as creating a supportive classroom environment, using a short and interesting opening activity to start class and familiarizing students with the cultural background of the Akuapem Twi language. It was further found that teaching motivational strategies correlated positively with pupils’ academic performance in Akuapem Twi. Conclusion: It was concluded that successful language learning is linked to the learners’ passion, therefore, teachers should find ways to connect to this passion using variety of motivational strategies. Recommendations: It was recommended that basic school teachers use short and interesting opening activity to start class lessons in order to attract and sustain learners’ interest in learning the Akuapem Twi language in Kwahu-Abetifi

Empirical Research on the Downturn in Church Attendance in Australia: The youth without Religion

The church has played a significant role in the lives of Australia’s people since the European settlement. It used to provide several welfare services such as educational, health, and orphanages, even more than the government. Australian churches played a significant role in shaping the culture of Australians. Australia was the only country with no newspaper on Sunday as they kept Sunday as a regular holiday and kept everything closed. Indeed, for Australia’s farmers, religion was so important that they decided to remain clear of their religion and, in 1901, to lead up the Federation. As the years passed, church attendance reduced, and others chose no religion. Few considered religion as least important, resulting in an overall decline in Australia’s churches. The paper reiterated the downturn in church attendance in Australia, found reasons for the downturn, and how the youth can be driven to attend the church. Innovation, discipleship, evangelism, oneness, care, hospitality, service to the community, and social media presence were discovered to be strategies for motivating the younger generation, first-time worshippers and new converts to the church

Tutor perception on personal and institutional preparedness for online teaching-learning during the COVID-19 crisis: The case of Ghanaian Colleges of Education

This paper looks at Ghanaian Colleges of Education tutors’ perception on the personal and institutional preparedness for online teaching-learning during the COVID-19 crisis. The study selected 24 tutors from 9 Colleges of Education (CoEs) in the Eastern and Greater Accra Regions. 7 CoEs are in Eastern while 2 are in Greater Accra. Using the convenience sampling technique, 24 tutors were selected as the accessible population. The research design used was the qualitative with a semi-structured interview conducted over the telephone because of social distancing. The data collected was analysed manually. The results indicate that only 33.3% of the respondents could teach confidently online, while 66.7% needed more training to confidently deliver lessons online. Furthermore, none of the 9 colleges had policies on online teaching even though each college had at least 16 policies regarding the good governance of the colleges. It is therefore recommended that tutors of CoEs should be given support in ICT and online skills and competencies through continuous training

Climate change and small-scale agriculture in Africa: does indigenous knowledge matter? Insights from Kenya and South Africa

Africa is highly vulnerable to changes in global climatic conditions due to its low adaptive capacity and sensitivity to changes in climatic variables, particularly in the agricultural sector. A key attribute of studies on climate change coping strategies and adaptation mechanisms in Africa is that they lack local specificity. Within a discourse dominated by large-scale attempts to measure the extent of climate change and its impacts with methods drawn from physical and biological sciences, there is little focus on how locally-specific knowledge and practices help communities to cope with effects of adverse environmental conditions on their agriculture at the farm level. From a sample of 115 respondents drawn from South Africa and Kenya and through interviews, discussions and interactions, this paper demonstrates that local residents deploy their indigenous knowledge in predicting seasonal weather and rainfall patterns, determining wind speed and direction, preserving grains for planting purposes and various traditional farming support systems to lessen the impacts of climate change on their agricultural activities. The paper concludes that merging local knowledge with modern science in Africa could help develop a syncretic agronomical knowledge among farmers in handling climate change

Livelihood trends in Response to Climate Change in Forest Fringe Communities of the Offin Basin in Ghana

The livelihoods of forest fringe communities in Ghana depend, largely, on the renewable natural resources that they can find in the forests and any activities that impacts on the integrity of the forest disrupt the livelihood of the dependent communities. Forest fragmentation continues to take place in Ghana, mainly in response to a growing demand to feed an ever increasing population and for timber exploitation for export. One of the forest fringe communities in Ghana where the rural livelihoods of the people have been compromised due to deforestation and climate change is the Offin basin. The removal of forests impacts on local climate, water availability, and livelihoods due to influence of forests on precipitation and water balance. Fluxes in the quantity and frequency of rainfall contribute to decreasing food production and water availability. This study examines forest loss, precipitation and ambient temperature patterns in the forest fringe communities in the Offin river basin over the past four and a half decades and assesses current impacts and trends on rural livelihoods and coping strategies by the communities. The forests provide the communities with fuel-wood, fish and game, medicinal plants, food sources, and recreation. Between 2000 and 2005 deforestation rate in the basin was 2%. Mean annual precipitation decreased by 22.2% between 1960 and 2000 in response to a 1.3\ub0C rise in ambient temperature over the same period. Considerable changes in the frequency of rainfall and its unpredictability impacted negatively on the livelihood of the fringe communities who are predominantly cocoa and subsistence crop farmers. The livelihood resources of the community are severely constrained leading to reduction in food security and economic losses. In response to deforestation and associated climatic changes, several coping strategies for sustenance of livelihoods have been adopted by the forest fringe communities. @ JASE

Intraseasonal Precipitation Variability over West Africa under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C Global Warming Scenarios: Results from CORDEX RCMs.

This study assessed the performance of 24 simulations, from five regional climate models (RCMs) participating in the Coordinated Regional Climate Downscaling Experiment (CORDEX), in representing spatiotemporal characteristics of precipitation over West Africa, compared to observations. The top five performing RCM simulations were used to assess future precipitation changes over West Africa, under 1.5 °C and 2.0 °C global warming levels (GWLs), following the representative concentration pathway (RCP) 8.5. The performance evaluation and future change assessment were done using a set of seven ‘descriptors’ of West African precipitation namely the simple precipitation intensity index (SDII), the consecutive wet days (CWD), the number of wet days index (R1MM), the number of wet days with moderate and heavy intensity precipitation (R10MM and R30MM, respectively), and annual and June to September daily mean precipitation (ANN and JJAS, respectively). The performance assessment and future change outlook were done for the CORDEX–Africa subdomains of north West Africa (WA-N), south West Africa (WA-S), and a combination of the two subdomains. While the performance of RCM runs was descriptor- and subregion- specific, five model runs emerged as top performers in representing precipitation characteristics over both WA-N and WA-S. The five model runs are CCLM4 forced by ICHEC-EC-EARTH (r12i1p1), RCA4 forced by CCCma-CanESM2 (r1i1p1), RACMO22T forced by MOHC-HadGEM2-ES (r1i1p1), and the ensemble means of simulations made by CCLM4 and RACMO22T. All precipitation descriptors recorded a reduction under the two warming levels, except the SDII which recorded an increase. Unlike the WA-N that showed less frequency and more intense precipitation, the WA-S showed increased frequency and intensity. Given the potential impact that these projected changes may have on West Africa’s socioeconomic activities, adjustments in investment may be required to take advantage of (and enhance system resilience against damage that may result from) the potential changes in precipitation

A ribosomally synthesised and post-translationally modified peptide containing a β-enamino acid and a macrocyclic motif

Ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs) are structurally complex natural products with diverse bioactivities. Here we report discovery of a RiPP, kintamdin, for which the structure is determined through spectroscopy, spectrometry and genomic analysis to feature a bis-thioether macrocyclic ring and a β-enamino acid residue. Biosynthetic investigation demonstrated that its pathway relies on four dedicated proteins: phosphotransferase KinD, Lyase KinC, kinase homolog KinH and flavoprotein KinI, which share low homologues to enzymes known in other RiPP biosynthesis. During the posttranslational modifications, KinCD is responsible for the formation of the characteristic dehydroamino acid residues including the β-enamino acid residue, followed by oxidative decarboxylation on the C-terminal Cys and subsequent cyclization to provide the bis-thioether ring moiety mediated by coordinated action of KinH and KinI. Finally, conserved genomic investigation allows further identification of two kintamdin-like peptides among the kin-like BGCs, suggesting the occurrence of RiPPs from actinobacteria