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This paper examines the motivations for participating in community development in rural and urban districts in Ghana. Participation resulted from three motivations: shared responsibility, good of the community and requirement of a good citizen. The paper found no statistically significant difference between motivations and gender, age and education. However, there was a statistically significant difference between motivations and location. The paper argues that participation in rural and urban areas may not result from similar motives. This suggests a rethink of the influence of locational factors on motives for participating in community development.. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving urban food security before and after COVID-19 lockdown among urban households' in Ghana is key. This paper compares the pre-and post-COVID-19 lockdown food security status of urban dwellers in lockdown cities of the Greater part of Accra in Ghana using the Rasch and ordered logit model. From a sample of 340 respondents, the study found a significant difference in household food security status and predictors of food security. Prior to COVID-19 households were 'High food secure' (36.4%), but post-COVID-19 lockdown made more households 'Very low food secure' (12.35%). To combat post-COVID-19 lockdown food insecurity in urban agriculture is encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper draws on qualitative data to examine gendered dynamics of remitting and remittance use in households in northern Ghana. The findings indicate that remitting and remittance use are shaped by the interaction of social norms on household provisioning and agency of household members. While social norms on gender roles and conjugality tend to shape patterns of remitting, the household context and the agency of the individual household members sometimes interact to produce remitting behaviours that are not consistent with the general patterns in the community. Gender roles prescribed by the conjugal contract may change when one partner migrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to address some of the most critical contemporary global challenges in a 17-goal agenda, including poverty, inequality, global environmental and climate crises. Central to these goals is Goal 17, 'Partnership for the SDGs' which forms the core framework for implementation of SDGs across scale. After the first five years of implementation, remarkable progress has been recorded globally; however, significant gaps remain across world regions. For Goal 17, while lateral partnerships and sectoral collaborations have improved, there is little synergy at the local level especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Using the 'communities of practice' concept and reflecting on Ghana's local development framework, this paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on how best to localize global goals, and discusses the relevance of collaboration at the local level in the implementation of SDGs. Our analyses show weak integration of the SDGs into Ghana's local development structures and poor collaboration among actors at the local level. Given these findings, it is crucial to reprioritize SDG-17 in this last decade of the SDGs by mainstreaming the Goals into statutory local development structures while promoting collaboration and partnerships in 'communities of practice' at the local level – where implementation of development occurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cereal crop yields per acre have declined across sub-Saharan Africa over the years mainly due to declining soil fertility. In the context of other stressors such as climate change, declining yields continue to have negative effects on food security and environmental sustainability. In many poor-resource smallholder farming settings across the developing world including Ghana, the emphasis has shifted toward sustainable land management as a way to ensure food security and environmental sustainability. While the approach has gained popularity in policy circles, adoption has been slow especially among smallholder farmers. In this paper, we used quantitative methods to explore smallholder farmers' (256) perceptions and adoption of three sustainable land management practices – animal manure, compost, and minimum tillage in two Districts in semiarid Northern Ghana. Our findings show positive perception index scores for animal manure, compost, and minimum tillage, respectively. It was found that the number of years of farming, household size, and the number of animals owned was positively associated with the adoption of animal manure while access to extension service and the ready market was negatively associated with the adoption of animal manure. The adoption of compost was positively associated with the number of years of farming, household size, and number of animals owned and negatively associated with farm size as well as the unit cost of production. The number of years of farming and access to ready markets positively and negatively influenced minimum tillage adoption, respectively. The joint adoption of any two or all three practices were equally influenced by some socio-economic, demographic, and plot characteristics. We argue that smallholder farmers perceive animal manure, compost, and minimum tillage positively in the midst of an ever-increasing decline in soil fertility and climate variability but their adoption is impeded by some socio-economic and demographic factors. We, therefore, recommend that Sustainable Land Management policies targeting smallholder farmers should take into consideration these socio-economic factors and plot characteristics of the farmer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a qualitative approach, this study assessed the contribution of state and community initiatives to the sustainable management of the Buabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary (BFMS) in Ghana. The study found an evolving trend in the management of the sanctuary from its earlier ineffective sole community and state-led management models to the current co-management model involving communities' representatives and state actors. The co-management model was widely seen as being more effective as it facilitates effective planning, policy formulation, revenue mobilization and utilization, monitoring, and evaluation as well as protecting the environment and wildlife resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to housing data in Ghana has been a challenge for researchers due to the lack of comprehensive data sources. However, the recent availability of big data sources has presented opportunities to bridge this data access gap. Using Greater Accra as a case, this study uses web scraping techniques to acquire publicly available housing data from two major E-commerce websites in Ghana and explores the Greater Accra Metropolitan Area's (GAMA) prevailing housing market. Spatial autocorrelation statistics show clustering of high median prices in known high-class neighborhoods. Median prices in high-class neighborhoods were three to five times higher than median prices in the entire metropolis, highlighting high housing costs in high-class neighborhoods. This research highlights the high housing cost in GAMA, making it impossible for the average resident to afford to buy a house. Hence, a more inclusive housing strategy is needed to provide affordable housing options for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is increasing evidence of the high deforestation rate of Ghana's forest reserves as a result of non-proper management. This study focused on deepening the understanding of the prospects and challenges in the management of the Mpameso Forest Reserve in Ghana. Based on a qualitative study, major stakeholders such as traditional heads, community members, and members of the forestry department were interviewed. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Results show that respondents were aware of the relevance of the forest reserve. Though there is a collaborative effort between the forestry commission, the chiefs, and the communities, challenges such as a lack of collaboration between chiefs and the forestry department in the district, and encroachment by community members, among other factors, affected the sustainability of the forest reserve.. The study recommends an alternative livelihood should be provided, consideration for the creation of an ecotourism park, and intensification of the enforcement of laws protecting the forest reserve and its sanctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the factors that influence households' willingness to comply with municipal solid waste (MSW) management regulations in the Kumasi Metropolis of Ghana. Data from a survey conducted in 400 households in Kumasi were analyzed using descriptive statistics and a binomial logistic regression model. The study found that households' willingness to comply with MSW management regulations is influenced by education, employment, income, monthly expenditure on MSW management, familiarity with MSW management regulations and regulation benefit expectations (P<0.05). The city authorities should educate households on the benefits they stand to gain from their strict compliance with MSW management regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana's customary land sector holds great prospects in lending impetus to the country's socio-economic development. Using the Bolgatanga Customary Land Secretariat in the Bolgatanga Traditional Area as the study area, this study examined the current challenges encountered by Customary Land Secretariats in Ghana in delivering on their mandates of streamlining customary land administration. Findings indicate that the Bolgatanga Customary Land Secretariat is well committed to streamlining customary lands management in the Traditional Area. Nonetheless, staff inadequacy, absence of technological integration, low level of patronage, and inadequate cooperation between stakeholders are impeding the Secretariat in achieving the intended objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Sub-Saharan Africa, paratransit is the primary means of mobility where accessibility to its bus terminals offers access to diverse societal opportunities. This study accounts for the capacity of bus terminals, population demand, the geographic separations between demand and supply locations, and pedestrian response to congestion in the Greater Kumasi area of Ghana. We found that access to bus terminals is low averaging 0.5 bus terminals per 10,000 people, underpinned by random distribution, low capacity, and high demand. Incorporation of urban morphology showed that high-dense settlements have better accessibility, while moderatedense and low-dense settlements have comparable accessibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using supervised classified Landsat 7 images ETM – 2000 and 2010 and Landsat 8 images – 2020, this study examines the various Land Use Land Cover Changes (LULCC) in the Bosomkese forest reserve in Ghana. The study recorded significant changes in all the various forest covers driven predominately by illegal logging, bushfires, illegal farming, and agricultural expansion projects within the reserve. These results suggest that there is a need for stringent punishment for culprits involved in forest illegalities, capacity-building interventions and participatory forest management by the Forestry Commission, environmental management institutions, and forest fringe communities to protect the forest reserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Household agricultural decision-making is crucial in navigating household food insecurity amid increasing climate change and variability. In smallholder farming contexts in Ghana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), decision-making is often the culturally ascribed role of the male family head. Yet joint household decision-making has the potential to leverage the diverse knowledge and capacities of household members to meet the nutritional and dietary needs of households. Using a cross-sectional survey involving 1100 smallholder farmer households, we examined the association between intra-household decision-making arrangements and food security in northern Ghana. Results from the logistic regression analysis indicated that households that practiced joint decision-making (OR = 1.71; p ≤ 0.001) had significantly higher odds of being food secure compared to households that practiced sole decision-making. Other noteworthy socio-economic and agricultural practices that were significantly associated with household food security included household size, marriage type, wealth, and post-harvest loss. The findings have demonstrated that household decision-making arrangements influence how household members negotiate and reconcile preferences in the allocation of resources and consequentially household food security outcomes. Therefore, policies that seek to address food insecurity and other socio-economic challenges in such contexts must critically consider household decision-making arrangements. Gender transformative policy approaches that are inclusive of both women and men in a comprehensive dialog on collective cooperation in household decision-making and control of productive resources should be employed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is evidence to suggest that effective planning and tailoring resettlement schemes to the circumstances of displaced population are more likely to satisfy the target population. In spite of this, the topic is not well explored in the developing countries. To address this research gap, we employed mixed methods to analyse surveys and interviews. We found that although the resettled population were satisfied with new typology of housing, they were unhappy about their limited access to productive assets and the low compensatory packages given them. We encourage policymakers to make provisions for adequate productive assets in future resettlements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars of natural resource governance argue that national and local governments must engage ordinary community members. When ordinary community members access information about the utilization of natural resource revenue and get an opportunity to provide feedback, the revenue management improves. In this article, the authors engaged Ghanaians through a spatial crowdsourcing platform for their opinion about petroleum management revenue in Ghana. The participants accessed the platform via their mobile phones and completed a survey on their opinions about petroleum revenue management, the Free Senior High School program, and their priority areas for petroleum revenue funding in Ghana. The results suggest that ordinary community members, and particularly women, seemed less informed about the management of petroleum revenue in Ghana. Furthermore, Ghanaians' opinions regarding their prioritized projects for petroleum revenue funding vary geographically. The authors conclude that decision-makers can use spatial crowdsourcing to engage ordinary community members in natural resource revenue management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a bourgeoning literature exists on how African Americans are using tourism to connect with Africa, only a handful of studies have examined the nature of African American tourists' spending on the continent. This study identifies popular Ghanaian handicrafts that are produced for African American tourists; examines the spending patterns of these tourists; and analyses how handicraft traders use the incomes derived from their craft sales. We found that while African Americans constitute the bulk of craft purchasers in Ghana, their numbers have dwindled lately, so are their expenditures on crafts and other souvenirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) intertwined with a food security resilience framework was used to understand Ghana's agricultural food system resilience to COVID-19 from a production perspective using a qualitative approach. Agricultural production remained fairly resilient but plagued with labor mobility challenges that delayed production. Specific results showed self-sufficiency in the production of roots and tubers, deficiency in the production of cereals and poultry. Opportunities do exist in rice production. Fall Army Worm invasion threatened cereal production. The government is encouraged to increase funding investment through public-private partnerships to build warehouses and increase production in meeting domestic supply needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterizing accessibility to healthcare is complex, requiring the consideration of geography, socioeconomic and cultural factors. The Three-Step Floating Catchment Area (3SFCA) was used to account for population demand, the capacity of health facilities, and the geographic separations between locations of demand and supply in the Greater Kumasi, Ghana. The results show that accessibility to healthcare is low, about 2.34 physicians per 10,000 persons. The facilities have favorable geography: high number, detailed coverage, and proximity, but plagued with low numbers of physicians and high demand. The study synthesized analytical results with questionnaire survey to better characterize accessibility to healthcare by geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a lack of studies in sub-Saharan African countries, specifically Ghana, demonstrating the relationship between greenness and hypertension. We use Greenness (Enhanced Vegetation Index, EVI) data to examine its association on hypertension among Ghanaian adults in urban areas. Participants with higher exposure to greenness was significantly associated with lower odds of hypertension OR: 0.63 (95% CI:0.41–0.95) than participants with low levels of greenness exposure. Our findings recommend a positive attitudinal change toward the preservation of green spaces as well as the allocation and prioritization of green spaces by policymakers in areas rapidly undergoing urbanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article articulates the usefulness of a participatory farm budget in addressing challenges associated with the recall of agricultural prices, inputs, outputs, and estimate biases in the global south. The study is foregrounded in a qualitative paradigm. Participatory farm budgeting is a method that permits stakeholders to analyze, quantify input, output resources, and farm profit. The method highlighted higher economic returns associated with sucker production, an aspect neglected and trivialized by the conventional farm methods. We recommend dedicated attention to harness the economic benefits derived from sucker production through the radical use of the participatory farm budget. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the substantial contribution of Artisanal and Small-scale Mining (ASM) to economic growth and livelihood diversification, the activities of this highly informal sector pose diverse challenges. Environmental pollution and social problems can hinder development. The study examined the problem of illegal mining and the factors that influence children to participate in ASM; through a survey of 186 participants and stakeholder interviews. The results showed that at least one child from each household was involved in ASM because of poverty. The findings highlight the need to formalize the ASM sector to reduce the negative impact, support operators, and promote best practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on the patch-mosaic model and uses geospatial and statistical methods to assess vegetation fragmentation specifically from built-up area expansion between 1990 and 2018 in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. The study finds that 0.19% and 0.33% annual expansion in the built-up area from 1990-2006 and 2006-2018 contributed to annual vegetation patch size variability (coefficient of variation in the patch size) of 1.82% and 120.97% from 1990-2006 and 2006-2018, respectively. Our results suggest that a higher rate of increase in built-up area would likely create larger quantities of intermixed vegetation and built-up patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the Global South, community emergency transport systems (CETS) are typically in response to inadequate National Ambulance Services and a poor transport network, particularly in rural areas. In Ghana, CETS have emerged some communities under the auspices of the Community-based Health Planning Services program. We explored the enablers and barriers to the success of CETS in the Upper West Region. The results show that among others, effective leadership, acceptance of risk-pooling and community cohesion enabled success. Key barriers included community level conflicts and lack of resources. In poor resource context, CETS could be up-scaled to supplement an existing ambulance system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ghana lacks an environmental policy on contaminated land. This commentary aims at suggesting a proactive risk-based contaminated land management policy by presenting precedents of land contamination and environmental disasters from developed jurisdictions and how lessons learned improved environmental regulation. In Ghana, however, when contamination and environmental disasters happen, they are hardly investigated, and even if investigated, recommendations are not implemented. Then, a summary of the United Kingdom's Contaminated Land Policy framework is presented and it is demonstrated that Ghana has the professionals to implement the policy. Recommendations are presented for future implementation of a contaminated land policy in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the flow of non-cash remittances in the Kassena-Nankana District in Ghana. Twenty in-depth interviews were held with recipients (respondents) of non-cash remittances and thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that non-cash remittances were in the form of foodstuff and electronic appliances and they were used for various purposes. The perspectives and experiences of respondents indicate that these transfers contribute significantly to improving household welfare. Thus, establishing institutional policies to facilitate the flow of non-cash remittances will not only benefit recipients but can also contribute to the socio-economic development of receiving countries through taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies from the Global South on resettlement have focused on compensatory issues, with a little emphasis on socio-cultural, economic, and environmental impacts. The present study therefore focused on exploring the socio-cultural, economic, and environmental impacts of the Bui-Dam project in five resettled communities in Ghana. We used mixed methods to analyse household and qualitative in-depth interviews with institutions. We found that while resettlement projects offer positive benefits, they also yield negative impacts on the socio-cultural, economic, and environmental aspects of the resettled population. It is therefore important that policymakers carefully review and systematically integrate these concerns into resettlement plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past decade's petroleum industry-related urban expansion has fueled a growing demand for land with increasing conflicts in Sekondi-Takoradi. With an emphasis on land conflict resolution processes, it is argued that whether conflicts are resolved by traditional authorities or the court, actors with advantageous combinations of economic resources, power, or state support, are likely to win. Characterized by legal pluralism, rapid urbanization and intensifying land pressure, land conflicts remain unresolved. Formal institutional mechanisms must be reformed and improved to safeguard the land interests of vulnerable social groups who often lose out in informal land access negotiations processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]