Ownership Rights and Investment in Agricultural Land in Ghana: A Gender Analysis

This paper examines the relationship between ownership rights and investment in agricultural land from a gender perspective in Ghana, using the Two-Stage Conditional Maximum Likelihood estimation technique and data from the Ghana Household Asset Survey. The results indicate that investment in agricultural lands is generally low in Ghana and tends to occur mostly in agricultural lands owned by men suggesting its inability to enhance tenure security. Furthermore, investment in agricultural lands owned by men is associated with a wider range of ownership rights. However, the same cannot be said about agricultural land owned by women as investments in their land do not significantly improve their rights to the land. Except for economic rights that appear to have a significant negative association with investments in agricultural lands owned by women, all other rights have no significant relationship with investments in agricultural lands owned by both men and women. There is a positive relationship between age and ownership rights for men suggesting that the youth may have challenges securing their tenure. We recommend the strengthening of the current land administration projects to enhance tenure security. Policies that will support the growing of perennial trees, construction of farmhouses and irrigation should be put in place by the government to encourage men to undertake such investments as they tend to improve ownership rights of agricultural lands. More should also be done to secure the ownership rights of the youth if the government wants them to engage in agriculture

Optimal Allocation of Flows (Water) Within the Volta Basin System of Ghana

In this paper, a hypothetical network is proposed for the Volta Basin System (V.B.S) using the optimization technique for obtaining corresponding optimal allocation of flows from runoffs in the sub-basins (source) to the sink (Akosombo reservoir). Maximum flow paths and their capacities with consumptive and non-consumptive flows were identified. We are able to determine the optimal withdrawals on these flows for either consumptive or non-consumptive use.Keywords: Network, sub-basins, sources and sinks, consumptive and non-consumptive flows, optimal allocatio

Factors associated with the utilisation of skilled delivery services in Papua New Guinea: evidence from the 2016–2018 Demographic and Health Survey

BackgroundWe sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with the use of skilled assistance during delivery in Papua New Guinea.MethodsWe analysed nationally representative data from 5210 women in Papua New Guinea using the 2016-2018 Demographic and Health survey. Both bivariate and multivariable analyses were performed. Statistical significance was set at pResultsThe prevalence of skilled assistance during delivery was 57.6%. The richest women (adjusted OR [AOR]=3.503, 95% CI 2.477 to 4.954), working women (AOR=1.221, 95% CI 1.037 to 1.439), women with primary (AOR=1.342, 95% CI 1.099 to 1.639), secondary or higher education (AOR=2.030, 95% CI 1.529 to 2.695), women whose partners had a secondary or higher level of education (AOR=1.712, 95% CI 1.343 to 2.181], women who indicated distance was not a big problem in terms of healthcare (AOR=1.424, 95% CI 1.181 to 1.718), women who had ≥4 antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR=10.63, 95% CI 8.608 to 13.140), women from the Islands region (AOR=1.305, 95% CI 1.045 to 1.628), those who read newspapers or magazines (AOR=1.310, 95% CI 1.027 to 1.669) and women who watched television (AOR=1.477, 95% CI 1.054 to 2.069) less than once a week had higher odds of utilising skilled attendants during delivery. On the contrary, women in the Momase region (AOR=0.543, 95% CI 0.438 to 0.672), women in rural areas (AOR=0.409, 95% CI 0.306 to 0.546), as well as women with a parity of 3 (AOR=0.666, 95% CI 0.505 to 0.878) or ≥4 (AOR=0.645, 95% CI 0.490 to 0.850) had lower odds of utilising skilled attendance during delivery.ConclusionThere is relatively low use of skilled delivery services in Papua New Guinea. Wealth, employment status, educational level, parity and number of ANC visits, as well as access to healthcare and place of residence, influence the utilisation of skilled delivery services

Maternal and child factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding in sub-Saharan Africa

Background The probability of not breastfeeding within the first hour after delivery (timely initiation of breastfeeding) is particularly pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa. In this study, we examined the maternal and child factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding in sub-Saharan Africa. Methods We pooled data from 29 sub-Saharan African countries’ Demographic and Health Surveys conducted from 2010 to 2018. A total of 60,038 childbearing women were included. Frequencies, percentages, and binary logistic regression analyses were carried out. Binary logistic regression was used to examine the maternal and child factors associated with timely initiation of breastfeeding and the results were presented as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) at 95% confidence interval (CI). Results We found a prevalence of 55.81% of timely initiation of breastfeeding in the sub-region. The country with the highest prevalence of timely initiation of breastfeeding was Burundi (86.19%), whereas Guinea had the lowest prevalence (15.17%). The likelihood of timely initiation of breastfeeding was lower among married women, compared to never married women (aOR 0.91; 95% CI 0.85, 0.98); working women compared to non-working women (aOR 0.90; 95% CI 0.87, 0.93); women who watched television at least once a week, compared to those who never watched television (aOR 0.74; 95% CI 0.70, 0.78); women who delivered through caesarean section, compared to vaginal birth (aOR 0.30; 95% CI 0.27, 0.32); and those with multiple births, compared to those with single births (aOR 0.67; 95% CI 0.59, 0.76). Women who lived in Central Africa were less likely to initiate breastfeeding timely compared to those who lived in West Africa (aOR 0.80; 95% CI 0.75, 0.84). Conclusions The findings call for the need for a behavioural change communication programmes, targeted at timely initiation of breastfeeding, to reverse and close the timely initiation of breastfeeding gaps stratified by the maternal and child factors. Prioritising policies to enhance timely initiation of breastfeeding is needed, particularly among Cental African countries where timely initiation of breastfeeding remains a challenge. Sufficient supportive care, especially for mothers with multiple births and those who undergo caesarean section, is needed to resolve timely initiation of breastfeeding inequalities

Rural-urban variation in hypertension among women in Ghana: insights from a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular morbidities in Ghana and represents a major public health concern. There is dearth of information on the rural-urban disparity in hypertension among women in Ghana. Therefore, this study aimed at examining the rural-urban variation in hypertension among women in Ghana. METHODS: We extracted data from the women's file of the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. The sample included 9333 women aged 15-49 with complete data on hypertension. The analysis was done using Pearson Chi-square and binary logistic regression at 95% confidence interval. The results of the binary logistic regression were presented as Odds Ratios (ORs) and Adjusted Odds Ratios (AORs). Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Hypertension prevalence among urban and rural residents were 9.5% and 5.1% respectively. Rural women had lower odds of hypertension [OR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.52, 0.67] compared to urban women, however, this was insignificant in the adjusted model [aOR = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.70, 1.00]. The propensity to be hypertensive was lower for women aged 15-19 [aOR = 0.07; 95% CI = 0.05, 0.11]. The poorest were less likely to be hypertensive [aOR = 0.63; 95% CI = 0.45, 0.89]. Single women were also less probable to have hypertension [aOR = 0.66; 95% CI = 0.46, 0.97]. CONCLUSIONS: Women from urban and rural areas shed similar chance to be hypertensive in Ghana. Therefore, the health sector needs to target women from both areas of residence (rural/urban) when designing their programmes that are intended to modify women's lifestyle in order to reduce their risks of hypertension. Other categories of women that need to be prioritised to avert hypertension are those who are heading towards the end of their reproductive age, richest women and the divorced

Educational attainment and HIV testing and counselling service utilisation during antenatal care in Ghana: Analysis of Demographic and Health Surveys.

INTRODUCTION:Receiving results for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) testing and counselling during antenatal care (ANC) is critical for eliminating mother-to-child transmission. We investigated the educational attainment of women and receiving results for HIV testing and counselling (HTC) during ANC in Ghana. MATERIALS AND METHODS:We extracted data from the women's files of the 2008 and 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Surveys. The study sampled 2,660 women aged 15-49 with complete data on receiving HIV testing results during ANC. We computed the highest educational attainment and receipt of HTC results for each of the surveys and presented it with a dot plot. Two Binary Logistic Regression Models were fitted to determine the likelihood of receiving HTC results by the educational attainment of the women. RESULTS:We found that receiving HTC results was highest among women with secondary or higher education (87.4% in 2008 and 89.5% in 2014) and least among those with no education (69.9% in 2008 and 76.8 in 2014). From the regression analysis, women with secondary or higher level of education [AOR = 1.535; CI = 1.044, 2.258], richest women [AOR = 5.565; CI = 2.560, 12.10], and women aged 30-34 years [AOR = 1.693; CI = 1.171, 2.952], were more likely to receive HTC results. However, those who did not know that a healthy-looking person can have HIV or not [AOR = 0.322; CI = 0.161, 0.646] were less likely to receive HTC results. CONCLUSION:Despite the relatively high receipt of HTC results at ANC observed between 2008 and 2014, our findings revealed disparities driven by educational attainment, wealth status, age, ANC visits and residence. This indicates that women with no education, those from rural areas, younger and poor women are missing out on the full continuum of HTC service at ANC. The Health Promotion Unit of Ghana Health Service through Community Health Nurses and the Community-Based Health Planning and Services, should intensify their education programs on HIV and make full utilisation of HIV testing and counselling service appealing to women during ANC. This is particularly to be prioritised among the least educated, younger women and rural dwellers