Food Crisis In Africa

ABSTRACT in most cases the chronic food crisis in Africa has been ascribed to natural calamities such as drought. it is the primary objective of this paper to examine the political, economic and social factors which have and continue to militate against food production in Africa The paper while accepting that natural disasters have contributed to the food crisis makes it vividly clear that the policies of development by various, African governments have contributed most greatly to Africa\u27s food predicament Kata Kunci : food crisi

Implications of rainfall for agricultural and urban development of Eldoret, Kenya

This paper examines the role of rainfall in the urban development of Kenya. The rainfall characteristics have been analysed and their influence on agricultural and urban development assessed. It is noted that since Eldoret is one of the rapidly expanding towns in Kenya located in highly potential agricultural region, variability of rainfall and drought can seriously affect urban development as farmers in the hinterland will abandon their farms and migrate to the town thus creating food shortage. Secondly, in times of drought, the water supply problems in the town will be exacerbated as it depends on surface water source. The tempo of rural-urban migration will be speeded up and this will create more socio-economic problems

Boundary Applicability of the Ghana’s Oil Block Fiscal Regimes

AbstractAttractiveness of fiscal regime has become more important in oil and gas investment decision than the rather geological prospectivity of the province. The terms and conditions contained in the fiscal system influence the investor’s evaluation of project. As Ghana determines to benefit greatly from the exploitation of the oil and gas resources, a robust fiscal system attractive in all economical and technical conditions needs to be designed. Ghana has recently become one of the frontiers in the oil and gas industry following its commercial discoveries of hydrocarbons in Deepwater Tano-Cape Three Point, the Jubilee field. Ghana’s oil industry is very young and some of the basins are under exploration surveillances waiting for commercial discoveries. Ghana’s Jubilee field uses various terms and conditions in her fiscal arrangement to govern the upstream operations. For continuous realisation of economic benefits to the State as well as the contractor, it is important the applicability of Ghana’s fiscal regime at varying boundary conditions of oil price and field reserves are evaluated. Discounted cash flow economic model which considers the major uncertainties was developed to evaluate the economic implications of the Jubilee field fiscal regime. Different price scenarios and varying field sizes were taken through rigorous sensitivity analysis. It was determined that for all field sizes considered at oil prices above $40/bbl, contractor’s NPVs are positive. The project take statistics are averagely around 64$40/bbl where the State’s take statistic is above 80% and contractor’s take below 20%. The State receives Additional Oil Entitlement(AOE) only when the oil price is above $40/bbl and the AOE increases steadily with the oil price for all the various field sizes. In general, the Jubilee field fiscal regime is fairly attractive and flexible and ensures stable shares of economic rents between the State and the contractor as the profitability of the field increases. Keywords: Reserves, Fiscal Regime, Cash Flow, Take Statistics, Net Present Valu

Evaluation of the Performance of Local Cements with Imported Class ‘G’ Cement for Oil Well Cementing Operations in Ghana

Portland cement is the most commonly used cement in the oil and gas industry and it accounts for about 99% of all primary cementing operations throughout the world. For Portland cement to qualify as oil well cement, the chemical and physical properties must meet the required standards of the American Petroleum Institute (API). This research evaluates the performance of three locally manufactured cement samples and imported class G cement sample for oil and gas well cementing operations in Ghana. The paper details results of API specification tests and the physical properties of the local cements with the imported class G cement. The results indicated that locally manufactured cements have the potential to be used for cementing oil and gas wells. However, further tests should be conducted to ascertain their stability under High Pressure, High Temperature (HPHT) conditions.Keywords: Compressive strength, Free fluid, Portland cement, Rheology, Thickening tim

Climate and livelihood change in North East Ghana

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Climate change preparedness in West Africa

ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Implications of rainfall for agricultural and urban development of Eldoret, Kenya

This paper examines the role of rainfall in the urban development of Kenya. The rainfall characteristics have been analysed and their influence on agricultural and urban development assessed. It is noted that since Eldoret is one of the rapidly expanding towns in Kenya located in highly potential agricultural region, variability of rainfall and drought can seriously affect urban development as farmers in the hinterland will abandon their farms and migrate to the town thus creating food shortage. Secondly, in times of drought, the water supply problems in the town will be exacerbated as it depends on surface water source. The tempo of rural-urban migration will be speeded up and this will create more socio-economic problems

Assessing the Toxicity of Colocassia Esculenta (Cocoyam Plant) Grown on Mercury Contaminated Soil

The unsafe disposal of heavy metals is a serious environmental problem all over the world as it has devastating effects on plant biodiversity as well as animal and human health. Contamination can be caused by effluents from industries and exposure of rocks containing metalloid or heavy metals such as arsenic (As), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg). Several techniques have been used to clean up soil and water bodies contaminated with these heavy metals or metalloid. Phytoremediation is one of the emerging methods which has proven to be ecofriendly and efficient. Plants such as Colocasia esculenta have been reported to be a hyperaccumulator. However, there are concerns regarding the excessive metal uptake by the plant when grown on mercury-contaminated sites, since high Hg levels can cause toxicity in human beings. This study was thus carried out to ascertain the toxicity of C. esculenta plants cultivated in 10 ppm Hg-induced soil sample for four weeks. The concentration of mercury in soil, water and cocoyam samples decreased after 28 days of planting. Accumulation of Hg in plant tissues was measured, and Translocation Factor (TF) was calculated. TF was in the order of Root-Stem (0.60) > Root-Leaves (0.56) > Soil-Root (0.23).  The results indicated that Cocoyam plants have an excellent ability to remove Hg from contaminated soils and further accumulate it in their tissues. With the threshold level of Hg at 0.0016 mg/kg body weight (FAO/WHO), the results obtained suggest that cocoyam plants grown in such contaminated areas may pose health threats to humans