Dietary pattern, socioeconomic status and child health outcomes in Ghana: application of multilevel analysis

Introduction – Child welfare, especially issues bordering on child health, continues to be one of the core issues of development. Over the years, appreciable progress has been made, but the levels are still not good enough. Objective - This paper investigates the effects of mothers’ socioeconomic characteristics and regional effect on the health of the child. Also, the paper employs a multilevel estimation technique, a methodology that distinguishes this study from previous studies to investigate in detail, the sources of variation in child health for appropriate policy recommendations Design/methodology/approach - This study revisits the issue on the determinants of child health using the 2012 Ghana version of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, with a sample size of 7364, to investigate how infant diet practices impact child health in Ghana. We estimate the impact of dietary pattern and other socioeconomic characteristics and regional effect on child anthropometric indicators using the multilevel estimation technique to control for clustering effect. Results - We found a dietary pattern to have a positive impact on child health. In addition, we realised that both mother characteristics and regional effect play a role in the growth of the child, but mother characteristics seem the most driving force when mother effects and regional effect are set at play. Conclusion - It is recommended that parents should adhere to the appropriate diet requirement for their children to better health outcome. Also, it is imperative for policies to be geared towards parents as a first step in ensuring a better child health. In addition, policies and programmes directed to the three Northern regions of Ghana are very crucial in supporting a positive child health development for children in Ghana

Dietary pattern, socioeconomic status and child health outcomes in Ghana: application of multilevel analysis

Introduction – Child welfare, especially issues bordering on child health, continues to be one of the core issues of development. Over the years, appreciable progress has been made, but the levels are still not good enough. Objective - This paper investigates the effects of mothers’ socioeconomic characteristics and regional effect on the health of the child. Also, the paper employs a multilevel estimation technique, a methodology that distinguishes this study from previous studies to investigate in detail, the sources of variation in child health for appropriate policy recommendations Design/methodology/approach - This study revisits the issue on the determinants of child health using the 2012 Ghana version of the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, with a sample size of 7364, to investigate how infant diet practices impact child health in Ghana. We estimate the impact of dietary pattern and other socioeconomic characteristics and regional effect on child anthropometric indicators using the multilevel estimation technique to control for clustering effect. Results - We found a dietary pattern to have a positive impact on child health. In addition, we realised that both mother characteristics and regional effect play a role in the growth of the child, but mother characteristics seem the most driving force when mother effects and regional effect are set at play. Conclusion - It is recommended that parents should adhere to the appropriate diet requirement for their children to better health outcome. Also, it is imperative for policies to be geared towards parents as a first step in ensuring a better child health. In addition, policies and programmes directed to the three Northern regions of Ghana are very crucial in supporting a positive child health development for children in Ghana

Gender, Forms of Land Ownership and Agriculture Value Chain Participation: Empirical Insights from Smallholder Farmers in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria

In Africa, disparities in land ownership often manifest along gender lines, disadvantaging women in access to agricultural resources, including land, which in turn leads to lower productivity and limited participation in the agricultural value chain. While previous research has focused on gender gaps in agricultural productivity, there has been a neglect of gender differences in agricultural value chain participation. This study investigates the effect of gender on agricultural value chain participation and the mediating role of land ownership. The study used micro-level cross-sectional data on smallholder farmers for the two countries –i.e., Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, and employed the logistic regression for the data analysis. The study measures farmers’ participation in the Agricultural Value Chain (AVC) using variables such as contract farming, obtaining current market prices for crops/livestock, and challenges in reaching customers. The findings highlight that females are less likely to participate in the Agricultural Value Chain and the effect is fully mediated by differences in nature of land ownership

Household Deficiency in Demand for Water: Do Water Source and Travel Time Matter?

Despite the massive commitment by policy makers and stakeholders to increase the supply of water to households in Ghana, many households have a deficiency in their self-reported daily quantity of water required for drinking and for general use. This paper focuses on the effect of water source and travelling time on households’ deficiency in demand for water using the Sixth Round of the Ghana Living Standards survey. A Tobit regression analysis of data on 2,843 households reveals that a one minute increase in travelling time increases household deficiency in water demand by about 49 percent. Also, compared to pipe in dwelling/yard/plot, all other sources of water to the households come with greater levels of water deficiency, with unprotected well/spring/river-stream/dam-lake-pond generating the greatest (10.5 litres) levels of deficiency. Other significant predictors of household deficiency in water demand are per capita disposable income, number of rooms in the household, sex of the household head and regular payment of water bills. Government policies aimed at addressing household deficiency in water demand should focus on making more resources available to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency so as to achieve more coverage of water accessible to both urban and rural households

Household Deficiency in Demand for Water: Do Water Source and Travel Time Matter?

Despite the massive commitment by policy makers and stakeholders to increase the supply of water to households in Ghana, many households have a deficiency in their self-reported daily quantity of water required for drinking and for general use. This paper focuses on the effect of water source and travelling time on households’ deficiency in demand for water using the Sixth Round of the Ghana Living Standards survey. A Tobit regression analysis of data on 2,843 households reveals that a one minute increase in travelling time increases household deficiency in water demand by about 49 percent. Also, compared to pipe in dwelling/yard/plot, all other sources of water to the households come with greater levels of water deficiency, with unprotected well/spring/river-stream/dam-lake-pond generating the greatest (10.5 litres) levels of deficiency. Other significant predictors of household deficiency in water demand are per capita disposable income, number of rooms in the household, sex of the household head and regular payment of water bills. Government policies aimed at addressing household deficiency in water demand should focus on making more resources available to the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) and the Community Water and Sanitation Agency so as to achieve more coverage of water accessible to both urban and rural households

Economic literacy among tertiary students in Ghana: Evidence from University of Cape Coast: Economic literacy among tertiary students in Ghana: Evidence from University of Cape Coast

Economic literacy measures the extent to which people can appreciate the forces that significantly influence the quality of their lives. Economically literate citizens may be able to make rational choices, understand and even form opinions on policies, and are likely to feel completely part of any public debate about the economy of a country. There have not been many studies on economic literacy, especially at the tertiary level in Ghana. It is in light of this that this paper seeks to investigate the factors influencing economic literacy among undergraduate students in the University of Cape Coast, Ghana. The study addresses two research questions: 1) What is the level of economic literacy among tertiary students in Ghana? and 2) What factors influence undergraduate students’ understanding of economic issues?The study employed a regression model on data collected from a sample survey of 1,366 undergraduate students in the University of Cape Coast. The results indicate that economic literacy is positively influenced by the level of the tertiary student, their SHS elective courses taken, their Cumulative Grade Point Average, interest in politics, and attendance of business/economics conferences. The study recommends that the fundamentals of economics could be introduced into the Social Studies discipline at the SHS so that all students benefit from this knowledge. The youth must be encouraged to be involved in business and politics, while Colleges and Universities should make business/economic seminars part of their curriculum

Sustaining Small and Medium Enterprises through Financial Service Utilization: Does Financial Literacy Matter?

Promoting a dynamic operating environment for Small Medium scale enterprises (SMEs) is seen as a priority amongst economic development goals, in both developed and emerging economies. SMEs are a primary driver for job creation and GDP growth. They greatly contribute to economic diversification and social stability and they play an important role for private sector development. It must be emphasized, that the utilization of these financial products does not only promote the growth of the SMEs themselves but also their active participation in the financial services market leads to financial development which is widely recognized as an important determinant of economic growth and also recognized as important for enhancing the social and economic impact of the financial sector. In the past, SMEs, particularly, in developing countries, lacked access to financial products and services. The SME market was perceived by banks as risky, costly, and difficult to serve. However, with the advances in information and communications technology, the cost differential of serving poor customers has fallen and banks now perceive significant opportunities in the SME sector. Survey data from multiple studies show that banks have begun to target SMEs as a profitable segment. For example, a recent survey of 91 banks in 45developed and developing countries – Bank Financing for SMEs around the World – found that these banks overwhelmingly perceived the SME sector as a large market with good prospects. There exists an array of financial products - microcredit, savings, and loans, insurance, mutual funds, etc. – in both the formal and informal sectors in Ghana. Opportunities to utilize these financial services are now plentiful than about a decade ago. However, available studies have shown that about 44% of Ghanaians are financially excluded and have/use no financial products. This paper uses a direct measure of financial knowledge to empirically investigate the linkage between financial literacy and utilization of financial services by SMEs. However, since people’s level of knowledge can improve through utilization of financial service, we establish a bi-causality problem. In the analysis, two equations were estimated: (1) financial literacy level, and (2) utilization of financial service which includes financial literacy as an endogenous variable. The equation determining the level of financial literacy was estimated using the OLS while the equation for the utilisation of financial service was estimated using logistic regression. The IV method was used to correct for the problem of endogeneity. Overall, the results show that there was modest level of financial literacy among small and medium entrepreneurs in Ghana. Moreover, it was discovered that the better and more financially literate entrepreneurs were more likely to utilize financial service. The most commonly utilized financial service was operating a bank account. This has important policy implication. Finally, the instrument for financial literacy, recipient of financial education, also had positive relationship with utilization of financial service

Effect of insecticide-treated bed net usage on under-five mortality in northern Ghana

Background: Although under-five mortality rate seems to be declining in Ghana, the northern part of the country has higher levels of under-five mortality vis-à-vis the national rates. This research examines the correlates of the high under-five mortality among children in the northern part of Ghana, with emphasis on the usage of insecticide-treated bed net (ITN), as recommended by the World Health Organization. Methods: A total of 3,839 under-five children sourced from the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey - was used for this study. Univariate descriptive statistics was employed to describe the variables used for the empirical estimation. The maximum likelihood estimation technique was used to estimate a logit model in other to determine the effect of insecticide treated bed net usage on under-five mortality. Results: Insecticide-treated bed net usage among children enhances their survival rates. Thus, under-five mortality among children who sleep under treated bed nets is about 18.8% lower than among children who do not sleep under treated bed nets. While health facility delivery was found to reduce to reduce under-five mortality, child bearing among older women is detrimental to the survival of the child. Conclusions: The study, therefore, recommends that policies targeting reduction in under-five mortality in northern Ghana should consider not mere availability of ITNs in the household, but advocate the usage of these treated nets. The study recommends to the Ministry of Health to extend their services to unreached rural communities to encourage health facility delivery to reduce under-five mortality.</p

Employment security and workers' moonlighting behavior in Ghana

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the effect of employment security on moonlighting in Ghana as a means to inform policy on enforcing issues of employment security. Design/methodology/approach – The paper followed the work of Shishko and Rostker (1976) by applying their approach to the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey data. The paper created an employment index from four variables and used the ordered logit as the main estimation technique. Findings – The findings indicated that, as a person with a single job becomes more secured in employment, the likelihood of moonlighting is decreased by 0.03, while for those with two and three or more jobs, the likelihood of moonlighting increased by 0.0297 and 0.0008, respectively, with increasing employment security. This implies that, workers can be made to stick to single jobs by providing them with higher levels of employment security, but once they take on two or more jobs, providing them with employment security will engender the tendency to increase their moonlighting behavior the more. Originality/value – With the current harsh economic conditions in the country and the urgent need for multiple jobs (moonlighting) as a risk coping mechanism, little has been done on the role employment security plays as a catalyst or otherwise. This paper fills the gap by employing a comprehensive index on employment security in the case of Ghana