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

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°C 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

Information Management in UK-Based Architecture and Engineering Organizations: Drivers, Constraining Factors, and Barriers

This article was published in the serial Journal of Management in Engineering [© ASCE]. The definitive version is available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)ME.1943-5479.0000085The need to improve collaborative working, knowledge sharing, and operational effectiveness has made effective Information Management a growing priority for Architecture and Engineering (A & E) organizations in the UK construction industry. While significant research has been carried out in the construction industry on project Information Management, limited work has been carried out to understand Information Management from an organisational paradigm. This paper presents the findings of an investigation into the nature of Information Management within A & E organizations in the UK construction industry. Interviews were conducted with experts across nine large architectural and multidisciplinary consultancies, the outputs of which were analysed using thematic analysis. From this, 26 themes across three core categories classed as drivers, constraining factors, and barriers which shape Information Management practices in construction organizations emerged. The findings show that Information Management is indeed of strategic significance to organizations and an organizational dimension is necessary to better align information needs with an organisation’s operational processes. They also show that context-dependent factors exist which shape the nature of Information Management in line with the specific needs of each organizations. Therefore, the effectiveness of an organisation’s Information Management practices is not absolute, but rather relative to its level of alignment to the organisation’s chosen mode of operation. The findings provide a much needed practical view of the complexities of Information Management, highlighting that particularly within multidisciplinary organizations; a unifying approach is much more practical and appropriate than a single approach to managing information