Using SEA principles to improve application of landfill guidelines in Ghana

The Ghana Landfill Guidelines was published in 2002. Since then a number of local government staff have received training on its application. Since the recommendation of by the National Development Planning Commission(NDPC) and the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) for the application of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) principles in formulation of policies, plans, programmes, tools have been developed for the water and environmental sanitation sector. An assessment of the Ghana Landfill Guidelines shows how SEA can be applied to critical stages of the landfill selection process. The central process-principle of SEA seeks to enhance broad stakeholder engagement, especially of non-specialists, improve transparent decision making and consensus building and thus add value to decision-making that enhances the likelihood of landfill development progressing to implementation. SEA further promotes community appreciation of issues concerning environmental quality and therefore demystifies the preparation of Environmental Impact Assessment as an exercise carried out only by experts

Mean water balance dynamics and smallholder management options for improved agro-ecosystem productivity

United States Agency for International Developmen

Sanitary and Hygiene Conditions of Slaughterhouses and Its Effect on the Health of Residents (A Case Study of Amasaman Slaughterhouse in the Ga West Municipality, Ghana).

This study specifically looked at the sanitary and hygiene conditions of the slaughterhouse and its effect on the health of residents in the community. The sanitary and hygiene conditions of Slaughterhouses are  of important due to the fact most of it are located within the community, which can have effect on the health of the residents. A descriptive survey design was used for this study.  The target population were staff of the slaughterhouse and residents of the community (Amasaman), irrespective of position, age or gender. The sample size consisted of 150 respondents, comprising; twenty (20) workers of the slaughterhouse, and hundred thirty (130) residents from the community. Questionnaires, consisting of opened and closed ended questions, and interview guide, were the main data collection instruments used to carry out the study. The collected data was analyzed using frequencies, percentages, charts and tables. The study revealed that the operations of the slaughterhouse do have effect on the health of the residents of the community because wastewater was disposed off into the streams and rivers which serve a source of drinking water. The workers of the slaughterhouse also attested to it. 74.2% of the residents representing majority answered no when they were asked if the operations of the slaughterhouse were inspected. This was expected because most (70%) the residents indicated in a follow up question that they have never seen an inspector before. The study recommends that government must compel the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA), to stop the operators of slaughterhouses and abattoir from construction at unauthorized places. Keywords: Slaughterhouse, Wastewater, Hygien

Mainstreaming SEA in water and environmental sanitation in Ghana

Building the capacity of sector practitioners in applying Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to water and environmental sanitation policies, plans, programmes (PPPs) is a pre-requisite to meeting MDG 7, Target 9. In Ghana, SEA has been applied to the process of developing a new National Water Policy and revising an existing Environmental Sanitation Policy and in the process stakeholders appreciation of SEA and capacity to use derived tools has been enhanced. This paper presents a number of key elements of applying SEA to water and environmental sanitation PPPs, the drivers for mainstreaming SEA in all sectors and challenges of institutionalisation the use of the SEA tools that have been developed

Environmental sanitation assessment aids town environmental sanitation planning

This paper presents, mainly the processes followed and a number of key outputs achieved after carrying out environmental assessment and audits in a number of towns in the Greater Accra and Central regions of Ghana. While there are efforts to address environmental sanitation problems in a number of towns, the absence of town environmental sanitation plans to address all the core components of environmental sanitation in a strategic manner undermines these efforts. The processes if followed show how town environmental sanitation planning is enhanced and how resulting plans cover the main deficits in environmental sanitation services in small, medium and large towns of Ghana

The impact of education in shaping lives: reflections of young people with disabilities in Ghana

There is increasing recognition on the importance of focusing on people with disabilities in international efforts aimed at poverty alleviation. While universal education has been central to these efforts, the specific and additional needs of children with disabilities are often overlooked in policies and programmes. In order to gain a nuanced appreciation of the lives of young people with disabilities in a Ghanaian context, this paper draws on research conducted with young people with disabilities and their significant others in order to understand their educational journeys, employment prospects and perceptions of those around them. In addition to collecting primary data, the latest policy documents related to disability, education and employment are reviewed and statistical analysis undertaken based on the Housing and Population Census 2010. Our research highlights the barriers facing those with disability in accessing quality education. While education was recognised as paramount to leading a better life and participants noted benefits beyond employment such as gaining self-sufficiency and social benefits, unequal educational opportunities underpin some of the reasons for the widening of gaps between those with disabilities and their non-disabled counterparts. Furthermore, while education was seen as important for gaining employment, this was not the case in reality, as young people faced difficulties due to both physical and attitudinal barriers limiting their opportunities for economic and social participation in their communities. The paper concludes by noting that systematic changes in the policy arena are needed to enable youth with disabilities to take their rightful place in mainstream society.This is the accepted author manuscript. The final version is available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13603116.2015.1018343

Decentralised strategy setting and action planning for environmental sanitation in Ghana

This paper shares the experience in the preparatory activities carried out for the preparation of a National Environmental Sanitation Strategy and Action Plan for Ghana. The procedures and framework for preparing the comprehensive strategy and action plan are described including national, regional and district-level management and quality assurance of the process. This initiative is different from the usual sanitation limited to “hygienic disposal of human excreta” as the strategies and related action planning elements cover all aspects of environmental sanitation including solid waste, human excreta, sullage conveyance and drainage, environmental sanitation education and enforcement management. An important proposition of exercise is that where effective collaboration, sharing and peering can be forged amongst sector institutions and coordinated well it is possible to bring diverse expertise at national level to tackle each and every issue of environmental sanitation adequately

An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could restimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts

Identification of stingless bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae) in Kenya using Morphometrics and DNA barcoding

Stingless bees are important pollinators of wild plants and crops. The identity of stingless bee species in Africa has not been fully documented. The present study explored the utility of morphometrics and DNA barcoding for identification of African stingless bee populations, and to further employ these tools to identify potential cryptic variation within species. Stingless bee samples were collected from three ecological zones, namely Kakamega Forest, Mwingi and Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, which are geographically distant and cover high, medium and low altitudes, respectively. Forewing and hind leg morphometric characters were measured to determine the extent of morphological variation between the populations. DNA barcodes were generated from the mitochondrial cytochrome c-oxidase I (COI) gene. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) on the morphometric measurements separated the bee samples into three clusters: (1) Meliponula bocandei; (2) Meliponula lendliana + Plebeina hildebrandti; (3) Dactylurina schmidti + Meliponula ferruginea black + Meliponula ferruginea reddish brown, but Canonical Variate Analysis (CVA) separated all the species except the two morphospecies (M. ferruginea reddish brown and black). The analysis of the COI sequences showed that DNA barcoding can be used to identify all the species studied and revealed remarkable genetic distance (7.3%) between the two M. ferruginea morphs. This is the first genetic evidence that M. ferruginea black and M. ferruginea reddish brown are separate species