Policy document and brief for engagement with government and private sector in Cocoa: A case of Ghana

There is a gap today in funding for investment in developing countries. A recent assessment of financing in the agriculture sector in Ghana based on existing financial sector laws showed that, there is currently no distinct policy to enable lending to the agricultural sector. However, with an ever increasing need to address the challenges of climate change, the need for such policies and resulting finance opportunities for smallholder farmers and other supply chain actor will only increase and become more urgent. Unchanged, most needed investments to address the growing challenges will be made by the private sector or by the farmers themselves. Therefore, public actors, including COCOBOD, need to play a key role in building an enabling environment, including the development of supportive policies, institutions and making matching-funds available. Reducing supply chain risk and improving resilience through such efforts that signal a more secure and favourable framework is key to enabling private actors, especially the more financially vulnerable, to invest. Existing policy initiatives and programs geared towards creating an enabling environment for finance to the sector are currently led by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) and other sector agencies and financial NGO’

Effectiveness of Internal Control on the Finances of Churches in Greater Accra, Ghana.

The embezzlement and mismanagement of funds from religious organisations particularly in churches is becoming common. Such disgraceful acts have raised a lot of concerns about the effectiveness of internal control systems in churches. The study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of internal control, determine the internal procedures and to find out the independence of internal control functions in churches. Keywords: Internal Controls, Effectiveness, Churches, Finances.

Student teachers' knowledge and understanding of algebraic concepts: The case of colleges of education in the Eastern Cape and southern Kwazulu Natal, South Africa

PhD - EducationThis study is aimed at investigating the knowledge and understanding of algebra amongst final year College of Education students in and around Transkei region of Eastern cape, South Africa. Triangulation methods were used to gather data for the study, which included an algebra test instrument, adapted from the CDMTA and Kaur and Sharon (1994) test instruments, interviews and classroom observations. Six Colleges of Education with a total number of 212 students constituted the sample from the Eastern Cape province and South KwaZulu Natal. Data were collected from August 1997 to July 1998. The motivation for the study was that such an exploratory investigation could contribute significantly to the understanding of some of the principal reasons underlying the poor results in the final schooling examination (the “matric”) of the teaching and learning of mathematics in rural areas of South Africa. Algebra forms a big proportion of the final matric examination in mathematics. The overall results of the study indicate that the conceptual algebraic knowledge and understanding of these College students is weak and fragile. In analysing the algebraic knowledge and understanding of students as evidenced by the data, factors such as language, the nature of mathematics, the philosophy underpinning teaching and learning and textbooks were seen to have played important roles in the conceptions and misconceptions which many of the subjects of the study portrayed. My research clearly shows that College of Education students have misconceptions, poor learning and teaching of algebraic concepts. This suggests that these prospective teachers do not have well developed concepts in algebra. The participants’ knowledge and understanding of algebraic concepts are therefore not good enough to assist learners as far as learning for conceptual understanding is concerned at schools. The results show that much of the knowledge and understanding of algebra came from previous knowledge and understanding gained during high school. Little change had happened during the years spent at the Colleges. The conceptions and misconceptions arose out of the traditional framework of knowledge acquisition rather than through approaches advocated by the newly implemented South African curriculum (Curriculum 2005), which has been revised to a National Curriculum Statement similar to what NCTM (1991) Standards might have envisaged. The lack of pedagogical content knowledge in algebra, shown by these student teachers during their teaching practice lessons reflects a deeper problem pertaining to 2 their future teaching after completion of the courses at Colleges. This is bound to have a cascading effect on teaching and learning in schools, perpetuating the cycle of misconceptions in algebra shown by this study, unless something radical is done about the teaching and learning of algebra at Colleges. The study concludes with recommendations arising out of the results and a number of suggestions for education departments, curriculum implementers, lecturers and future researchers. Strategies are suggested for improving the existing poor state of affairs in the learning and teaching of algebra at Colleges of Education and at secondary schools. These include improvement in algebraic competencies like multiple representations; understanding of basic principles such as: one cannot add unlike terms, checking solutions of equations and inequations. Real life examples should be used to give meaning to the algebraic concept they want to teach where possible. College of Education lecturers should place emphasis on conceptual understanding and correct usage of algebraic notations and symbols. Curriculum developers should include history and relevance of certain algebraic topics in order to create interest and meaning for some of the concepts. Instructional materials in school algebra should be designed specifically for local contexts. Researchers should investigate the cause of misconceptions and misunderstandings of algebraic concepts at high schools and try to address them before they are carried through to the College of Education level

The Relevance of Accounting Information in the Management of Small Scale Businesses in the Yilo Krobo District in Ghana

The aim of the study is to examine the relevance of accounting information in the management of small-scale enterprises in the Yilo Krobo District. The motivation for this study emerged as a result of the need to highlight the importance or significance of accounting information in the planning and controlling of small scale business activities. A sample of 40 Small-scale businesses registered with the National Board for Small-Scale Industries (NBSSI) was selected. Self-administered questionnaire was used to solicit information from the respondents and the data was analyzed using tables, pie chart and graphs. The main findings of the study were that these small scale enterprises in Yilo Krobo District were found to have no accounting system. Instead, they rather had a self-designed record-keeping system which generally shows inadequate documentation of transactions or financial records. The records kept by these small scale business operators were often not separated from the personal affairs and accounts of owners. There was also no full time trained accounting employee or the use of external management/accounting advisor who could design and review accounting systems. It was recommended that the owners of these small-scale enterprises should engage the service of qualified accountants to improve the accounting practices such as budgets preparation, cash book recordings etc. The NBSSI should liaise with the executives of these small-scale enterprises to organize refresher courses to improve their level of competency in cash flow management. Keywords: Accounting Information, Small Scale Business, Ghan

Consumption, Savings and Perception of Poverty among Informal Entrepreneurs in Accra

This study argues that the urban poverty indicators that suggest that poverty in Accra is the lowest may be biased against certain communities in Accra because the surveys for these indicators are not community-based. Thus, this study was motivated by the need to undertake surveys at the local level. This study set out to explore the pattern of expenditure of informal entrepreneurs, establish the poverty status of informal entrepreneurs, identify the savings practices of informal entrepreneurs and assess the perception of poverty among informal entrepreneurs. A survey of informal entrepreneurs was conducted at three communities in Accra. A set of questionnaires was administered to a sample of informal entrepreneurs in James Town, Chorkor and Nima. The reason for choosing these communities is that they are characterised by Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) as high ‘poverty pockets’. The questionnaire consisted of separate inventories on accommodation, education, food, health, utilities, business performance, savings and perception on poverty. In addition, three Focus Group Discussions were held in the communities. The study found that the poverty level in the three communities is nearly three times higher than the poverty level in Accra. Whilst urban areas recorded a poverty level of 10.8% under Ghana Living Standards Survey 5 (GLSS5), the current study recorded 31.5% in the communities surveyed. In addition, it was found that over half of the sample suffers poverty in one way or the other as about 23.5% live between the lower and upper poverty lines. It was also found that the enterprises set up by most informal entrepreneurs are micro enterprises. Keywords: Poverty, Small Enterprises, savings. Consumption, Accra.

Food and its preparation conditions in hotels in Accra, Ghana: A concern for food safety

Although a lot of work has been done on the safety of street foods in most  developing countries, not much has been done with regards to the hotel industry. A pilot study to investigate food and its preparation conditions in ten selected hotels in Accra, the capital of Ghana with respect to food safety was therefore initiated in 2005/2006. A total of 184 samples; 105 swabs of kitchen working surfaces, cutlery and plates; 29, 30, and 20 samples of food, water and fruit juice  respectively were taken for microbial analysis from ten highly patronized hotels between December 2005 and June 2006. Standard microbiological methods were used for isolation, enumeration, and identification of bacteria. Thirty Seven (37) of the swab samples showed the presence of coliforms while Escherichia coli was absent in all the 105 samples. The total count of aerobic bacteria was high in the swabs from the working surfaces and cutting boards (> 103 cfu/ml). All the food samples tested negative for Salmonella, Staphylococcus and E. coli. Coliforms and E. coli were not detected in any of the 30 water samples tested, Ten of the fruit juice samples tested positive for coliforms although E. coli was absent in all the 20  samples. Most of the swabs that registered the presence of coliforms were from  chopping boards, pastry and working tables suggesting that the method of cleaning these surfaces should be improved. The microbial quality of all the food samples tested was satisfactory with aerobic colony counts of less than 104 cfu/g and no pathogens detected in 25g of food sample, which is the standard for ready to eat foods. The water samples also met the  satisfactory criteria of no coliforms detected in 100mls of water. No pathogens were detected in the fruit juice samples, but with the exception of ginger juice, all were contaminated with coliforms which suggests that, stringent measures be applied in the preparation and handling of these juices. As a result of this study staff and management of these hotels are now  implementing Good Hygienic Practices (GHP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP).Key words: Food, Coliforms, Salmonella, Staphylococcu

Synedrella nodiflora (L.) Gaertn : a review on its phytochemical screening and uses in animal husbandry and medicine

peer reviewe

Antimicrobial and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Pterygota macrocarpa and Cola gigantea (Sterculiaceae)

Pterygota macrocarpa and Cola gigantea are African medicinal plants used in traditional medicine for the treatment of sores, skin infections, and other inflammatory conditions including pains. This study therefore aims at investigating the antimicrobial properties of ethanol leaf and stem bark extracts of P. macrocarpa and C. gigantea using the agar diffusion and the micro-dilution techniques and also determining the anti-inflammatory properties of the extracts of these plants in carrageenan-induced foot edema in seven-day old chicks. The minimum inhibitory concentration of both ethanol leaf and bark extracts of P. macrocarpa against the test organisms was from 0.125 to 2.55 mg/mL and that of C. gigantea extracts was 0.125 to 2.75 mg/mL. Extracts with concentration of 50 mg/mL were most active against the test organisms according to the agar diffusion method. All the extracts of P. macrocarpa and C. gigantea at 30, 100, and 300 mg/kg body weight except ethanol leaf extract of C. gigantea exhibited significant anti-inflammatory effects (P ≤ 0.001)

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the first cohort of COVID-19 recoveries at two national treatment centres in Accra, Ghana

Introduction COVID-19 is a new disease, knowledge on the mode of transmission and clinical features are still evolving, new tests are being developed with inherent challenges regarding interpretation of tests results. There is generally, a gap in knowledge on the virus globally as the pandemic evolves and in Ghana, there is dearth of information and documentation on the clinical characteristics of the virus. With these in mind, we set out to profile the initial cohort of COVID-19 patients who recovered in Ghana. Methods: We reviewed clinical records of all confirmed cases of COVID-19 who had recovered from the two main treatment centres in Accra, Ghana. Descriptive data analysis was employed and presented in simple and relational tables. Independent t-test and ANOVA were used to determine differences in the mean age of the sexes and the number of days taken for the first and second retesting to be done per selected patient characteristics. Results: Of the 146 records reviewed, 54% were male; mean age of patients was 41.9 ± 17.5 years, nearly half were asymptomatic, with 9% being severely ill. The commonest presenting symptoms were cough (22.6%), headache (13%) and sore throat (11%) while the commonest co-morbidities were hypertension (25.3%), diabetes mellitus (14%) and heart disease (3.4%). Conclusion: COVID-19 affected more males than females; nearly half of those infected were asymptomatic. Cough, headache and sore throat were the commonest symptoms and mean duration from case confirmation to full recovery was 19 days. Further research is required as pandemic evolve

Clinical features of COVID-19 in Ghana: symptomatology, illness severity and comorbid non-communicable diseases

Objective: This analysis described the clinical features of COVID-19 in the early phase of the pandemic in Ghana.Methods: Data were extracted from two national COVID-19 treatment centers in Ghana for over 11 weeks(from March to May 2020). Descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Modified Ordered Logistic and Negative Binomial Regression analysis were applied to establish factors associated with illness severity and Non-communicable Disease (NCDs) counts respectively. All analysis was conducted at the 95% confidence level (p-value ≤ 0.05) using Stata 16.Results: Among the 275 patients, the average age was 40.7±16.4, with a preponderance of males (54.5%). The three commonest symptoms presented were cough (21.3%), headache (15.7%), and sore throat (11.7%). Only 7.6% of the patients had a history of fever. Most patients were asymptomatic (51.65). Approximately 38.9% have an underlying co-morbid NCDs, with Hypertension (32.1%), Diabetes (9.9%), and Asthma (5.2%) being the three commonest. The odds of Moderate/severe (MoS) was significantly higher for those with unknown exposures to similar illness [aOR(95%CI) = 4.27(1.12-10.2)] compared with non-exposure to similar illness. An increased unit of NCD’s count significantly increased the odds of COVID-19 MoS illness by 26%[cOR(95%CI) =1.26(1.09-1.84)] and 67% (adjusting for age) [aOR(95%CI)=1.67(1.13-2.49)].Conclusion: The presence of cardiovascular co-morbidities dictated the frequency of reported symptoms and severity of COVID-19 infection in this sample of Ghanaians. Physicians should be aware of the presence of co-morbid NCDs and prepare to manage effectively among COVID-19 patients