Determinants of livelihood strategies of fishing households in the volta Basin, Ghana

The main objective of this study is to identify livelihood strategies of fishing households in response to prevalent vulnerabilities they face within the Volta Basin. Questionnaires were administered to fishery households in the Basin using the multistage sampling technique. A non-hierarchical k-means cluster analysis partitioned the households into four livelihood strategies on which the multinomial logit regression was performed. These four identified strategies are fishery only, fishery and farming, fishery and non-farm, and fishery, non-farming and farming. The results from the multinomial logit regression revealed that marital status of head of household, number of months of food shortage experienced by a household per year, access to credit, access to extension services, distance to regular markets and district capital as well as experience in fishery were the major determinants of livelihood strategies. Implications for policy include the need for public extension services and training to invigorate fishery households’ income. As majority of the fishery households combined fishing and non-fishing strategies, livelihood intervention programmes should prioritize improvement of the non-fishing activities and lead to opening other opportunities for rural development. This will take pressure off the fish stock by facilitating the regeneration of fish stock

Smallholder Maize Farmers’ Food Consumption Expenditures in Ghana: The Mediating Role of Commercialization

This paper examines the effect of smallholder maize farmers’ commercialization on their household food consumption expenditures in Ghana using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey Round Five (GLSS5). The results indicate that the intensity of smallholder maize commercialization is generally low and that better output price, quantity of maize produced, farm size, type of market or point of sale, access to mobile phone network coverage, proportion of crops given to landlord, instant payment for maize sold, are inter alia key incentive variables that influence the intensity of maize commercialization. The study also revealed that intensity of maize commercialization positively influenced food consumption expenditures. Increases in the sale of maize results in increases in purchases of food items needed to address household food security needs. These findings demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen smallholder market integration initiatives, encourage market information delivery systems, and establish more retail outlets with improved market facilities in order to promote production and trade in high value cereals such as maize in Ghan

Smallholder Maize Farmers’ Food Consumption Expenditures in Ghana: The Mediating Role of Commercialization

This paper examines the effect of smallholder maize farmers’ commercialization on their household food consumption expenditures in Ghana using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey Round Five (GLSS5). The results indicate that the intensity of smallholder maize commercialization is generally low and that better output price, quantity of maize produced, farm size, type of market or point of sale, access to mobile phone network coverage, proportion of crops given to landlord, instant payment for maize sold, are inter alia key incentive variables that influence the intensity of maize commercialization. The study also revealed that intensity of maize commercialization positively influenced food consumption expenditures. Increases in the sale of maize results in increases in purchases of food items needed to address household food security needs. These findings demonstrate the urgent need to strengthen smallholder market integration initiatives, encourage market information delivery systems, and establish more retail outlets with improved market facilities in order to promote production and trade in high value cereals such as maize in Ghan

Estimation de l'exhaustivité des données de facturation des médecins pour la détermination des cas de diabète au moyen des données sur les médicaments d'ordonnance

Introduction : Les changements dans les politiques de remboursement des médecins peuvent faire obstacle à la collecte des données administratives de facturation des médecins, ce qui pourrait mener à des estimations biaisées de la prévalence et de l'incidence des maladies. L'ampleur de cette perte potentielle de données demeure cependant largement inconnue. Notre étude vise à estimer l'exhaustivité de la couverture des cas de maladie pour le Manitoba par les médecins rémunérés à l'acte (RA) et par les médecins non rémunérés à l'acte (NRA). Méthodes : Les données administratives du Manitoba ont servi à créer une cohorte dont les membres (20 ans et plus) devaient avoir pris un nouveau médicament pour le diabète entre le 1er avril 2007 et le 31 mars 2009. Ces membres ont été classés par mode de paiement du médecin prescripteur (c'est-à-dire rémunérés à l'acte ou non rémunérés à l'acte), puis selon s'ils avaient ou non reçu de diagnostic de diabète d'après les données de facturation des médecins et des dossiers d'hôpitaux. On a utilisé des analyses statistiques χ2 pour tester les différences de caractéristiques entre les deux groupes. Résultats : La cohorte se composait de 12 394 individus, dont 86,4 % avaient reçu une ordonnance de médicament pour le diabète d'un médecin RA. Au total, 1 172 médecins (81,8 % RA) ont prescrit ce type de médicaments pour la cohorte. Les membres de la cohorte ayant reçu une ordonnance d'un médecin RA étaient plus âgés et plus susceptibles de résider dans la région sanitaire de Winnipeg que ceux qui avaient reçu une ordonnance d'un médecin NRA. Un plus grand pourcentage de cas traités par des médecins NRA n'avait pas reçu de diagnostic de diabète (18,7 %, contre 14,9 % pour les médecins RA). Conclusion : Les résultats suggèrent une perte minimale de données de facturation des médecins associée aux politiques de rémunération au Manitoba. Cette méthode d'évaluation de l'exhaustivité des données pourrait être appliquée à d'autres maladies chroniques et à d'autres secteurs de compétence

Estimating the completeness of physician billing claims for diabetes case ascertainment using population-based prescription drug data

Introduction: Changes in physician reimbursement policies may hinder the collection of billing claims in administrative data; this can result in biased estimates of disease prevalence and incidence. However, the magnitude of data loss is largely unknown. The purpose of this study was to estimate completeness of capture of disease cases for Manitoba physicians paid by fee-for-service (FFS) and non-fee-for-service (NFFS) methods. Methods: Manitoba’s administrative data were used to identify a cohort (Z 20 years) with a new diabetes medication between 1 April, 2007, and 31 March, 2009. Cohort members were classified by payment method of the prescribing physician (i.e. FFS vs. NFFS). The cohort was then classified as missing or not missing a diabetes diagnosis using physician claims and hospital records. Then, w2 statistics were used to test for differences in the characteristics of the two groups. Results: The cohort consisted of 12 394 individuals; 86.4% had a prescription for a diabetes medication from an FFS physician. A total of 1172 physicians (81.8% FFS) prescribed these medications for the cohort. Cohort members with a prescription from an FFS physician were older and more likely to reside in the urban Winnipeg health region than those with a prescription from a NFFS physician. A greater percentage of NFFS physicians’ cases were missing a diabetes diagnosis (18.7%vs. 14.9%for FFS physicians). Conclusion: The results suggest minimal loss of physician claims associated with remuneration policies in Manitoba. This method of assessing data completeness could be applied to other chronic diseases and jurisdictions to estimate completeness