Localizing REDD+: the case of cocoa forest communities in Ghana

Addressing climate change involves tackling deforestation, which account for between 12-17% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Forest conservation, management and protection are increasingly addressed through mechanisms such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). This research provides insight at the global level, on the local level uptake of REDD+ in two cocoa forest communities in Ghana (Kamaso and Attobrakrom). This thesis introduces the REDD+ localisation analysis framework that engages with concepts of Ostrom's (1990) common property rights principles, McDermott's (2013) equity framework and Agrawal's (2005) environmentality to show how REDD+ is mediated through institutions from the national to the local, in ways that form subjectivities and encompasses meaning to local people. A qualitative participatory methodology was used to elicit perspectives from 124 participants (33 key policy stakeholders across government, private sector, NGOs and traditional authorities and 91 cocoa-forest community dwellers) to explore questions of who is involved, what institutions are engaged and in what ways cocoa farmers in forest communities understand and have come to care for the environment through REDD+ or not. Extensive fieldwork was conducted in two communities in Ghana between 2014 and 2016 and combined with elite interviews with key policy stakeholders. Findings indicate that the state plays a central role by mediating REDD+ stakeholder knowledge among private sector, NGOs and other decision makers. Both formal and informal relationships exist between the state and NGOs in the development of knowledge and dissemination. The way that Ghana's REDD+ process plays out in terms of equity is affected by contextual factors such as the existing forest laws and policies that advantage the state above local forest communities. This creates an uneven playing field for the implementation of REDD+. Empirical fieldwork among the cocoa-forest communities in Ghana, found that the technical narrative of REDD+ waters down to a simplified "tree-planting" (which locals call 'ndua dual The research discovered at the local level that REDD+ is influencing new understandings and identities around forests, in combination with a range of factors: personal experiences of climate impacts, observations of flourishing cocoa farms as forest cover increases, values, culture and connection to property and livelihoods, survival of future generations, and expected financial benefits to be gained from carbon credits. Having used the REDD+ localisation analysis framework to navigate the findings, the thesis concludes that the complexities and nuances in the understandings of REDD+ at the implementation level, has implications for sustainability of forest resources and poverty reduction. Local people's understanding of REDD+ in the case study communities does not reflect broader win-win objectives for emission reduction and livelihoods. REDD+ governance requires radical overhauling in its strategy and approach to the knowledge creation and dissemination through state and non-state institutions, formal and informal channels from the national to the local level. Part of achieving a successful REDD+ mechanism in Ghana requires the repeal of laws such as the one side-lines farmers from ownership over naturally regenerating trees on their farmlands; clarifying and securing land tenure; institutionalising participation including setting minimum requirements acceptable by all stakeholders and among others, having an integrated policy for sustainable land use practices under a jurisdictional REDD+ approach

vector error correction model approach

Thesis(Master) -- KDI School: Master of Public Policy, 2022Economies all over the world aim to achieve high growth rate of output and stability in the general price level. But the tradeoff between output growth and inflation makes it imperative for Central Banks to conduct monetary policy. The study, therefore, aims to analyze the effect of price and money supply on GDP growth in Ghana using a forty-year time series data from 1980 to 2020. The empirical work used Vector Error Correction Model (VECM), cumulative impulse response function in VAR model and causality checks techniques to assess short-run and long- run relationship among price level, broad money supply, interest rate and GDP. Analysis of VECM short-run estimates revealed broad supply of money significantly affects GDP. The results further indicate that past year income and price level have negative and statistically significant effects on current year output. However, long-run estimates of the co-integrating vector shows that supply of money does not have statistically significant effect on GDP. This result is corroborated by the outcome of the cumulative orthogonal impulse response function. Furthermore, with -0.215 as the coefficient of the error correction model, a disequilibrium to GDP caused by shocks to the exogenous variables in the short-run are corrected at an adjustment speed of 21.5% in the long-run. Moreover, the study robustly concludes on bidirectional relationship between inflation and money supply. As a policy recommendation, this study proposes that the Bank of Ghana pays critical attention to the monetary policy rate since it is the channel through which the central bank targets inflation in order to achieve price stability and sustained output growth.1 INTRODUCTION 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 3 METHODOLOGY 4 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF EMPIRICAL RESULTS 5 CONCLUSION AND POLICY RECOMMENDATIONSmasterpublishedAbdul-Razak Abass SAEE

Transforming the EFL pedagogical approach towards digital age through online communities of practice (CoPs)

Since most conventional classroom learning in which English is a Foreign Language (EFL) is still characterized by learners‟ traditional roles and lacks such dynamic collaboration and interaction, EFL learners are increasingly using Social Network Sites (SNSs) as online Communities of Practice (CoPs) in adopting collaborative learning and transforming the EFL pedagogical approach as a new strategy towards achieving success in the modern digital age. Based on the theoretical background of CoPs, the current study aims to investigate the application of SNSs as a CoP in providing EFL students with the opportunity to use English, and to improve their learning through collaborative interaction in the language. The subjects of this study were 24 active and regular members of the Only for English Learning Facebook (FB) Community– a group developed and maintained by the researchers – for EFL learners coming from different countries. As to gain further information and understanding from the participants of how such EFL learning practice could be improved, online questionnaire, semi-structure interview and commentary exchanges of interaction posts were used for data collection and analysis. The findings proved that such online CoPwas perceived as an effective learning environment conducive to promoting the EFL learners‟ writing, grammar, reading andpersonal and socio- cultural skills and domains. Their perception of this CoP significantly increased during the period of collaborative learning

A development of smart village implementation plan for agriculture: A pioneer project in Malaysia

The current study mainly aimed to investigate the Malaysian Smart Village project in a rural community which is labeled as Kg Besting in Malaysia.Specifically, the study intended to address the major issues faced by the community of farmers, identify the Smart Village indicators and put forward a strategic plan for the Smart Village implementation.It was carried out among Malaysian farmers in Kg Besting community in Malaysia.Data was collected through a survey, focus group interviews and documents.The quantitative and qualitative analyses of the data revealed that the major issues faced by the farmers in this community in agriculture are limited involvement of human capital in agricultural activities, the small size of land and limited knowledge of using technologies and innovative techniques to enhance the agricultural processing and production.Other issues are relevant to Micro Small Medium Entrepreneurs (SMMEs) in Kg Besting include lack of raw materials and crops, lack of machinery, limited knowledge and lack of advice and networking on how to ensure mass production and healthy marketing competition at the regional and global levels. Thus, the study emphasizes the importance of meeting the community‘s needs in Kg Besting and offers several useful recommendations.In conclusion, by incorporating the concept of ―Smart Village‖, the current study considers the potential Smart Village as an innovative means of improving rural people‘s life and it introduces a strategic implementation of the Smart Village project in Kg Besting in three phases; social empowerment, developing the Smart Village ecosystem and economic empowermen

Are REDD+ community forest projects following the principles for collective action, as proposed by Ostrom?

Forested countries in the global south that have agreed to engage in REDD+, a policy mechanism for addressing climate change, are receiving support to improve laws, policies, systems and structures. As a mechanism initiated at the global level and seeking to use forests to address a global commons crisis (atmospheric carbon concentration), understanding how REDD+ translates into implementation at the local level is essential. Therefore, using a systematic review approach, we examined 15 studies of REDD+ in the context of public and/or community managed forests, drawn from a comprehensive application of inclusion criteria to identify relevant published peer-reviewed empirical research. The common property resources literature was used to highlight the role of local institutions in REDD+ and to distil how REDD+ community forest projects conform to Ostrom’s collective action principles. The review revealed limited sharing of information and decision-making authority with communities; a general absence of FPIC; and a lack of defined benefit sharing and conflict resolution arrangements in many of the REDD+ projects

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’

Digital literacy and communicative competence among academic leaders: post-COVID-19 study

Communicative competence represents an academic leader's ability to use language effectively. However, to date, communicative competence among academic leaders is not as effective as expected. This research aims to explore the affective factors hindering the academic leaders' communicative competence, identify the cultural factors affecting their communicative competence, and investigate the impact of using technology in developing communicative competence during the Covid-19 pandemic. This qualitative study employed semi-structured interviews with nine academic leaders from different universities in Iraq. It adopts four theories: communicative competence, leadership competence, communication and planned behaviour for the basis and guidance for data collection, data analysis, and interpretation. The qualitative data were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. It was found that the following Key factors, such as digital literacy became crucial during lockdown because of COVID-19. All meetings and conferences adopt online mode instead of physical appearance. In such a situation, majority respondents mentioned that communicative competence has proven helpful in problem-solving and developing critical skills. The respondents have proposed a framework for developing academic leaders' communicative competence for digital literacy post-Covid -19. Such as training to use digital tools for language usage, monitoring the electronic examination process more efficient and initiatives for communication competence

Investigation of Solar Photovoltaic-Thermal (PVT) and Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Performance: A Case Study in Ghana

publishedVersio

Effect of corn supplementation on purine derivatives and rumen fermentation in sheep fed PKC and urea-treated rice straw

This study investigated the effect of different levels of corn supplementation as energy source into palm kernel cake–urea-treated rice straw basal diet on urinary excretion of purine derivatives, nitrogen utilization, rumen fermentation, and rumen microorganism populations. Twenty-seven Dorper lambs were randomly assigned to three treatment groups and kept in individual pens for a 120-day period. The animals were subjected to the dietary treatments as follows: T1: 75.3% PKC + 0% corn, T2: 70.3% PKC + 5% corn, and T3: 65.3% PKC + 10% corn. Hypoxanthine and uric acid excretion level were recorded similarly in lambs supplemented with corn. The microbial N yield and butyrate level was higher in corn-supplemented group, but fecal N excretion, T3 has the lowest level than other groups. Lambs fed T3 had a greater rumen protozoa population while the number of R. flavefaciens was recorded highest in T2. No significant differences were observed for total bacteria, F. succinogenes, R. albus, and methanogen population among all treatment. Based on these results, T3 could be fed to lambs without deleterious effect on the VFA and N balance

Policy document detailing the use of the stepwise investment approach for Climate-Smart Cocoa adoption by farmers and companies

"The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and Rainforest Alliance (RA), in conjunction with its partners The International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), The Sustainable Food Lab (SFL) and Root Capital (RC) through the Climate Change Agriculture and Food Security’s (CCAFS) Phase 1 (2015-2018) on Mainstreaming Climate Smart Cocoa (CSC) project laid the foundation for this second phase of CCAFS. Under phase one, a lot of progress was made which led to the development of the climate exposure maps for Ghana’s cocoa sector and the recommendation of site-specific Climate smart Agriculture practices for the cocoa sector which recently being used by the Ghana COCOBOD as basis for the development of a climate smart cocoa standard. This novel approach to climate resilience, mitigation and adaptation in the cocoa sector promises to be the anchor towards sustainable production of the crop and the results of which can serve as a model for other crops in the region and beyond. What is lacking is the industries inability to push for the institutionalisation of these CSA packages (WCF Climate Smart cocoa Manual) in the training programs of companies and other certification bodies. There is also very limited data on the stepwise approach for climate smart cocoa and the need to establish a business case for CSA investment in both the cope and adjust zones. This document serves as a policy guide to help companies and cocoa sector stakeholders to adopt the use of the proposed stepwise Investment pathway using climate smart cocoa practices