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Commercial passenger motor tricycles are a recent addition to the vehicle mix in urban areas of Ghana having been introduced in about 2015. While they serve a good purpose and fill a niche in the transport market in Ghanaian cities, this mode of transport is characterized by several road crashes that sometimes result in fatalities. Consequently, the objective of this study was to understand social and economic factors as well as motor tricycles’ operational characteristics and related crashes. A detailed study of this mode of transport in the study area revealed that the socio-economic factors that contribute to crashes involving commercial motor tricycles include the revenue per day, amount spent on fuel per day, and operating days, but with a negative relationship between daily revenue and amount spent on fuel and crash severity. Operational characteristics studied revealed a general improvement in operators’ level of education, a situation where owner-operators are more careful with their vehicles, patrons’ preference for new tricycles, and relatively good returns from operations of these vehicles. Operators also work for long hours and on all days of the week. Further analysis of the data revealed that there are major safety concerns. While the Building and Road Research Institute (BRRI) reports a fatality share of 28% with an annual increase of 3.9% for motorcycle-related crashes in Ghana, the National Road Safety Authority, in the year 2010, indicated a crash rate of more than 50% which is yet to be updated. Recent data for 2019 published by the BRRI estimate a rate of 8.15 fatalities per 10,000 vehicles with a total of 829 total crashes in 2019 for motorcycles, tricycles, and rickshaws and 2.7 motorcycle fatalities per 10,000 vehicles. Similar data are yet to be estimated for motorcycles and commercial tricycles in the Greater Kumasi Metropolitan Area. However, our study revealed a crash rate of 67% for motor tricycle operators in the study area on account of an increase in population, low initial capital cost, and the ability to maneuver in inaccessible areas. It is recommended that, in view of the preponderance of passenger tricycles in the study area, massive educational campaigns involving all stakeholders be pursued.

•This paper explores gendered household impacts of rural road investments in Ghana.•A quasi-experimental and participatory methods were adopted along selected road corridors.•Embedded socio-economic benefits to rural men and women, not in literature, are revealed.•Rural transport infrastructure and services give more benefits to women than largely reported.•For sustained impacts of rural roads, gender must be re-negotiated and properly understood.

This study estimates population exposure risks associated with the transportation of hazardous materials using the Accra – Kumasi Highway (N6) in Ghana as a case corridor. Using the mixed methods approach which resulted in collecting both qualitative and quantitative data from transport operators and relevant agencies, the paper estimates that accident probabilities were observed to be high on relatively longer sections of the road (those over 50 km) as there are few speed control measures to check over speeding. It was also found that the risk of a single shipment of a hazardous material was 0.09144 inhabitants per vehicle/km, implying approximately 1464 inhabitants stand a risk of either being killed or injured over the entire 293.3 km stretch of the N6. The paper recommends the use of multiple risk prevention measures by all drivers as it has been shown in the study results that truck operators who combined at least three measures were those who had not been involved in accidents in the last ten years.

The article focuses on the need of regional development and decentralization programmes in Ghana for fiscal mobilization by local authorities so operations can get started. It is stated that the reluctance of the central government to devolve financial powers to the District Assemblies (DA) continues to weaken the latter's performance in the country. The granting of financial autonomy and accountability to DA is allegedly pushed.

The author comments on the article "Climate Change and Poverty in Ghana: Issues and Implications for Policy," by Daniel K. B. Inkoom, which appeared within the issue. The author cites the attempt of the article to infer a link between climate change and poverty reduction. The author commends Inkoom's ideas on the policy implications of relationship between climate changes and poverty. The author says that the major flaw of the article is the uncertainty over climate-change poverty debate.

The author comments on the article "Challenges With Climate Change Adaptation in Informal Settlements in Nairobi, Kenya," by Cecilia Kinuthia-Njenga, which appeared within the issue. The author mentions that the vulnerability and general profile of informal settlements in Nairobi is discussed in isolation without considering the unique features it shares with other informal settlements in Africa. The author also criticizes the article's introductory section and methodology.