The ‘silent pistol’ in Ghana’s local government system: presiding members vs. chief executives

Decentralisation and local governance aim at local economic development, but collaboration among key actors at the local level is essential in realising this objective. However, at district assembly level Ghana exhibits problematic conflicts between district chief executives (DCEs), who head the executive committee, and presiding members (PMs) who convene and preside over assembly deliberations, acting as speaker. This study aims to unpack the main causes of such unsavoury conflicts by using 13 case studies from the Ashanti Region. Both primary and secondary data were collected for the study. Primary data was gathered from a selection of 40 key informants drawn from three main groups including DCEs, PMs, and other stakeholders such as regional coordinating council members, assembly members and chiefs. The main research instrument was one-on-one in-depth interviews with participants. The study found deep-seated conflicts between DCEs and PMs, in some cases even transcending these two actors to involve a greater section of actors within the local government administration. The study noted that professional bureaucrats within the local government service are affected when allegations of affiliation are levelled against them. The study also found that the legal status of DCEs and PMs appears to be the main driver of potential conflict, although other context-specific issues were also prevalent

Private Public Partnerships (PPP) in Tourism: The Case Study of Rent-A-Car Business in Ghana

The study set out to investigate Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Tourism using Rent-a-Car business in Ghana as a case study. The study adopted the mixed method research paradigm. Four Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) were sampled using purposive sampling procedure whiles nine Rent-a-Car companies and members of Ghana Tourism Federation (GHATOF) were randomly selected. The study acknowledged that PPP is highly embraced within the Ghanaian economy and gradually gaining stronger acceptance among actors within the tourism sector. Specifically, the study found that both the private sector and the public sector are in favour of PPP within the tourism sector of Ghana. However, the results show that there are some challenges resulting from poor regulatory regimes, weak business structure of Rent-a-Car firms, poor access to funds, information asymmetry within the sector and lopsided access to government contracts.  The study therefore recommends that government should expedite action towards developing a comprehensive sector wide PPP policy that will provide both regulatory and strategic direction. Also Rent-a-Car businesses must consider merger as an alternative to meeting capacity requirement of both government and international assignments. It is anticipated that merger would provide the necessary capacity requirement needed for most projects. Keywords: Tourism, Tourism development, Rent-a-Car business, Public Private Partnershi

An Ideal or a Reality? Does Islamic Work Ethics Reflect the Trading Behaviours of Muslim Market Women in Ghana?

Knowledge of work ethics does not in most cases reflect the realities of people’s lives. The study aimed at assessing Muslim Women Traders’ understanding of Islamic Work Ethics (IWE) and how it influences their trading activities. A case study design within the qualitative research paradigm was employed for the research. Both the purposive and simple random sampling techniques were adopted to select 208 respondents for the study. Nineteen (19) of the respondents were interviewed using the one-on-one in-depth interview instrument whilst a structured questionnaire was distributed among 189 traders in the Kumasi Central Market. The study found out that whilst traders have fair understanding of Islamic ideals and trade principles, it does not necessarily influence their trade habits. The main constraints that affect women traders in their attempt to follow the Ideal Muslim practices include: Economic difficulties, family pressure and problems, greed, ignorance on the part of some Muslims, individual differences, disregard for the teachings and emulation of other people’s bad behaviour. The study, therefore, concludes that the Islam ethical teachings do not necessarily reflect the practices or lives of Islam women traders in the Kumasi Central Market. Keywords: Islamic work ethic, Ethical trading, Trading behaviour, Religion, Egoism, Ghan

Migrants’ remittances: A complementary source of financing adaptation to climate change at the local level in Ghana

Purpose – The much-trumpeted Green Climate Fund and several other official financial mechanisms for financing adaptation to climate change under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have fallen short in meeting adaptation needs. Many poorer people are still grappling with the scourge of climate change impacts. Consequently, there has been a dominant research focus on climate change financing emanating from official development assistance (ODA), Adaptation Fund, public expenditure and private sector support. However, there has been little attempt to examine how migrants’ remittances can close adaptation financing gaps at the local level, ostensibly creating a large research gap. This paper aims to argue that migrants’ remittances provide a unique complementary opportunity for financing adaptation and have a wider impact on those who are extremely vulnerable to climate change. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is aligned to the qualitative research approach. Both secondary and primary data acquired through interviews and focus group discussions were used for the study. Multiple sampling methods were also used to select the respondents. Findings – The findings show that remittances are used to finance both incremental costs of households’ infrastructure and consumption needs, as well as additional investment needs to be occasioned by ongoing or expected changes in climate. Originality/value – In the wake of dwindling government/public revenue, ODA and poor commitment of Annex II countries to fulfil their financial obligations, the study makes the following recommendations: First, the financial infrastructure underpinning money transfers in both sending and recipient countries should be improved to make transfers attractive. Second, significant steps should be taken to reduce the fees on remittance services, especially for the small transfers typically made by poor migrants. Finally, adequate climatic information should be made available to local people to ensure that remittances are applied to the right adaptation option to avoid maladaptation

Determinants of Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) Adoption among Smallholder Food Crop Farmers in the Techiman Municipality, Ghana

Climate change is already influencing crop production and distribution, and exacerbating the risks associated with farming. Smallholder farmers, especially from developing countries, have been identified as the most vulnerable to climate hazards due to prevalence of low adaptive measures. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) has therefore been presented as an alternative form of agriculture that can help to improve food security and reduce poverty, especially in developing countries. In Ghana, efforts are being made to build farmers adaptive capacity in various agro-ecological zones to enable them to effectively adapt to climate change through various CSA practices. However, inadequate attention has been paid at the institutional and academic levels to facilitate comprehensive understanding of the push and pull factors of CSA adoption in rural communities, and to scale-up CSA blueprints. The paper examines CSA among smallholder food crop farmers in the Techiman municipality in Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. The results of the data analysis indicate that the CSA practices implemented by most of the farmers include using personal experience to predict weather events, reliance on radio/television to access weather information, minimum tillage, use of organic manure and afforestation. Economic, environmental, socio-cultural and institutional factors influenced CSA adoption. The paper concludes that, to ensure a smooth transition to climate-sensitive agricultural practices in Ghana, development actors need to vigorously support the inculcation of indigenous knowledge in modern agricultural technologies. It is also important for the government of Ghana and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to develop and execute more elaborate capacity building programmes at the local level to influence farmers’ personal attitudes towards pro-environmental behaviour

Adaptation to compound climate risks: A systematic global stocktake

This article provides a stocktake of the adaptation literature between 2013 and 2019 to better understand how adaptation responses affect risk under the particularly challenging conditions of compound climate events. Across 39 countries, 45 response types to compound hazards display anticipatory (9%), reactive (33%), and maladaptive (41%) characteristics, as well as hard (18%) and soft (68%) limits to adaptation. Low income, food insecurity, and access to institutional resources and finance are the most prominent of 23 vulnerabilities observed to negatively affect responses. Risk for food security, health, livelihoods, and economic outputs are commonly associated risks driving responses. Narrow geographical and sectoral foci of the literature highlight important conceptual, sectoral, and geographic areas for future research to better understand the way responses shape risk. When responses are integrated within climate risk assessment and management, there is greater potential to advance the urgency of response and safeguards for the most vulnerable

A global assessment of policy tools to support climate adaptation

Governments, businesses, and civil society organizations have diverse policy tools to incentivize adaptation. Policy tools can shape the type and extent of adaptation, and therefore, function either as barriers or enablers for reducing risk and vulnerability. Using data from a systematic review of academic literature on global adaptation responses to climate change (n = 1549 peer-reviewed articles), we categorize the types of policy tools used to shape climate adaptation. We apply qualitative and quantitative analyses to assess the contexts where particular tools are used, along with equity implications for groups targeted by the tools, and the tools’ relationships with transformational adaptation indicators such as the depth, scope, and speed of adaptation. We find diverse types of tools documented across sectors and geographic regions. We also identify a mismatch between the tools that consider equity and those that yield more transformational adaptations. Direct regulations, plans, and capacity building are associated with higher depth and scope of adaptation (thus transformational adaptation), while economic instruments, information provisioning, and networks are not; the latter tools, however, are more likely to target marginalized groups in their design and implementation. We identify multiple research gaps, including a need to assess instrument mixes rather than single tools and to assess adaptations that result from policy implementation