Perceptions of climate change and adaptation: a case of peasants in the Builsa district of the Upper East Region of Ghana

Cropping patterns in the Builsa district of Ghana are gradually changing and faced with a perceived climate change and its negative consequences on the livelihoods of peasant farmers in the district, it is often assumed that climate change is the sole driver of changes in land- use decisions of peasants. The aim of this study is to examine the perceptions of farmers towards climate change and to measure the extent to which climate variability affect cropping patterns in the Bulisa District of the upper east region of Ghana over the last two decades (1990-2009), how vulnerable peasants are and some response or adaptive measures by peasants in the District to climate change.Using household surveys, oral histories, group interviews and 24-hour dietary recalls, substantial changes in cropping patterns were observed by peasant farmers in the Builsa district. Peasants have not only adopted new varieties of crops like soya beans and garden eggs but in addition cultivate improved varieties of old crops. These changes in crops grown were explained not only by climate factors such as increased temperatures, reduction in rainfall amount and distribution over the years, shifts in the onset of rains, but also, non-climate factors. From my informants, the most important thing is not about the total amount of rainfall received in a year rather its availability during the critical months of the cropping season. My informants also observed that insufficient labour, inadequate extension services, inability to purchase improved seeds and other agricultural inputs, the decline in market for some varieties of old crops, global influence through the activities of markets, NGOs and state departments and agencies etc, are partly responsible for the types of crops they grow today. It was also observed that off-farm and non-farm livelihood activities were not given the needed attention they deserved by peasants which might increase their level of vulnerability to changes in climate. It is the non-farm activities and the structural factors influencing the farming system that deserve much attention if the risk of climate change is to be reduced. The analysis was done using the sustainable livelihood approach which brings onboard all the dimensions of the peasantry livelihoods.GEO350MASV-GEO

Twenty years of Women, Peace and Security National Action Plans: analysis and lessons learned

National Action Plans (NAPs) are a strategic tool for policymakers to operationalise and translate the international mandates of the WPS agenda into the domestic context. However, despite the adoption of UNSCR 1325 in the year 2000, NAPs did not become a UN priority until the release of two Security Council presidential statements, in 2004 and 2005, encouraging the adoption of NAPs as a means of implementation. Researchers and practitioners alike had, in the years prior, pointed out a lacuna in WPS implementation strategies. NAPs, then, became a means to ‘effectively translate this international framework into actionable changes at the national and local level’, and UNSCRs 2122 and 1889 encouraged UN member states to develop NAPs for the implementation of WPS. NAPs represent the institutionalisation of UNSCR 1325 by states. As of August 2019, 42% of states – or a total of 82 countries – had released NAPs. For policymakers and scholars of the WPS agenda, NAPs represent a concrete step by states to fulfil their objectives regarding UNSCR 1325 and the other resolutions that make up the WPS agenda. In this paper, we use both qualitative and quantitative analysis to answer the following research questions: 1. Which pillar(s) of the NAPs are dominant? Is this changing over time? 2. What are the dominant categories of lead, including over time and by region? 3. To what extent are new and/or emerging security issues – such as terrorism, climate change and reproductive rights – represented in the NAPs? 4. To what extent is a budget specified in the NAPs? 5. To what extent do the NAPs contain provisions for monitoring and evaluation activities? 6. To what extent do the NAPs document the participation of civil society in production and implementation? We conclude briefly with a discussion of the insights drawn from the analysis and some considerations and recommendations for future NAP development. In the following section, we briefly outline our dataset and the analytical approach that we took

Sistem pakar untuk mendeteksi penyebab kerusakan pada Mesin Motor Matic dengan menggunakan perangkat Mobile berbasis WML dan PHP

Kerusakan pada mesin motor matic terjadi akibat kelalaian dalam melakukan perawatan. Hal inilah yang mendorong pembangunan sistem pakar untuk mengidentifikasi kerusakan mobil. kata kunci: WML , PH

Implementasi Metode Forward Chaining dalam Mengidentifikasi Kepribadian Siswa

Personality is the overall psychological and physical aspects of an individual reacting and interacting with other individuals. Personality is a prominent and often shown thing that exists in an individual. Students have different personalities, and that will affect the quality of learning. To be able to improve the quality of learning, schools need to identify and understand the personality of their students. So that appropriate learning methods can be applied and the selection of appropriate majors in tertiary institutions. To identify student personality can be done with a system called the expert system. The expert system identifies student personalities using the forward chaining method obtained from State High School 1 Candung students (SMAN 1 Candung), Agam Regency. In the forward chaining method, the reasoning process starts from the facts first to test the truth of the hypothesis. The process of finding the data starts from the premises to the final conclusion.  Creating an expert system for identifying student personalities using the PHP Programming Language and MySQL Database. The result of testing this method is knowing the personality of students so that appropriate learning methods can be applied, majors recommendations and advice on the type of work according to the personality of the student. Personality expert system has been able to identify the personality of students in determining learning methods and choosing majors as well as suggestions for the type of work. Personality expert systems have been able to identify student personalities in determining learning methods and selection of majors as well as suggestions for types of work. This expert system is already running well and can be recommended to help students, teachers and schools in improving the quality of learning in school

Does export dependence imply more political support in Sino-Africa relation since 2000?

published_or_final_versionInternational and Public AffairsMasterMaster of International and Public Affair

Evaluation of the metaphorical image in architecture

The metaphorical image represented in the architectural works was subjected to evaluation by different social sectors perceiving them in the society. Despite the diversity in the studies related to metaphorical image. In addition, the special standards forwarded for metaphorical image were dependent on selective formula as they were conjugated with the cultural context to which the critic belongs giving such interpretations. These studies.could not formulate a theoretical framework comprised cultural contexts. Its methodology concentrated ontheconstructionof atheoretical framework, the isolation of the variables related its main aspects, the clarification of its measurements and the performance of a selected field study which includes the main aspects of the evaluation process. This papers aims to determine and describe factors influencing evaluation of the metaphorical image in architecture according to certain architectural patterns to specimen from Iraqi environment. The framework included aspects represented by the metaphorical process, perception and evaluation. Using a special methodology the research hypotheses were checked and the data were processed using the computer software SPSS for statistical analysis

Pausing the Fight Against Malaria to Combat the COVID-19 Pandemic in Africa: Is the Future of Malaria Bleak?

Malaria remains a major global health burden, killing hundreds of thousands annually, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2019, a Phase IV Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI)-linked malaria vaccine implementation was underway. However, in December 2019, a novel pneumonia condition termed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), with many clinical, epidemiological, and biological parallels to malaria, was reported in Wuhan, China. COVID-19 is spreading rapidly, and, as of the 3rd of June, 2020, more than 382,507 persons had died from COVID-19. Children under 5 years who suffer high malaria-attributable mortalities are largely asymptomatic for COVID-19. Considering that the malaria burden is highest in low-income tropical countries with little capacity to fund malaria control and eradication programs, the fight against malaria in these regions is likely to be hampered. Access to healthcare has generally been limited, while malaria interventions, such as seasonal malaria chemotherapy and distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, have been suspended due to lockdowns. Likewise, the repurposing of antimalarials for treatment of COVID-19 shared symptoms and the shift in focus from the production of malaria rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) to COVID-19 RDTs is a cause for concern in malaria-endemic regions. Children are less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the elderly. However, due to the fears of contracting SARS-CoV-2, the elderly who are worst affected by COVID-19 may not take children for malaria medication, resulting in high malaria-related mortalities among children. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected developed countries, threatening their donation capacity. These are likely to thwart malaria control efforts in low-income regions. Here, we present perspectives on the collateral impact of COVID-19 on malaria, especially in Africa

The Social and Ethical Acceptability of NBICs for Purposes of Human Enhancement: Why Does the Debate Remain Mired in Impasse?

The emergence and development of convergent technologies for the purpose of improving human performance, including nanotechnology, biotechnology, information sciences, and cognitive science (NBICs), open up new horizons in the debates and moral arguments that must be engaged by philosophers who hope to take seriously the question of the ethical and social acceptability of these technologies. This article advances an analysis of the factors that contribute to confusion and discord on the topic, in order to help in understanding why arguments that form a part of the debate between transhumanism and humanism result in a philosophical and ethical impasse: 1. The lack of clarity that emerges from the fact that any given argument deployed (arguments based on nature and human nature, dignity, the good life) can serve as the basis for both the positive and the negative evaluation of NBICs. 2. The impossibility of providing these arguments with foundations that will enable others to deem them acceptable. 3. The difficulty of applying these same arguments to a specific situation. 4. The ineffectiveness of moral argument in a democratic society. The present effort at communication about the difficulties of the argumentation process is intended as a necessary first step towards developing an interdisciplinary response to those difficulties

Untangling the Debate: The Ethics of Human Enhancement

Human enhancement, in which nanotechnology is expected to play a major role, continues to be a highly contentious ethical debate, with experts on both sides calling it the single most important issue facing science and society in this brave, new century. This paper is a broad introduction to the symposium herein that explores a range of perspectives related to that debate. We will discuss what human enhancement is and its apparent contrast to therapy; and we will begin to tease apart the myriad intertwined issues that arise in the debate: (1) freedom & autonomy, (2) health & safety, (3) fairness & equity, (4) societal disruption, and (5) human dignity