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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]

Chinese imports replace locally manufactured products in developing countries. The import of consumer goods from China to West Africa is closely linked to commercial travel, and China's border restrictions during the Covid outbreak put a near-halt to such travelling. Furthermore, the pandemic caused a global logistics crisis that disrupted supply chains with production in China. This paper asks whether Ghanaian manufacturers and artisanal producers could take advantage of these disruptions to enhance their competitive position. Did China's border closure provide space for local Ghanaian producers to thrive? We address this question by drawing on data collected among Ghanaian plastic manufacturers and furniture makers, who have faced tough competition from Chinese imports. Our analysis shows that supply chain disruptions from China led to the substitution of certain products previously imported from China, and these effects were partially sustained after the Covid-induced barriers to imports from China were removed. However, the disruptions were also costly for many Ghanaian producers, as they depended on Chinese intermediary products, tools, and other inputs. This illustrates how economic lives in Ghana and China have become so profoundly intertwined that indiscriminate decoupling is neither possible nor desirable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on vaccines confirms the crucial role media play in framing discourses and mobilizing public support for successful immunization campaigns. What journalists cover on vaccination issues and their diligence in producing stories can influence attitudes to and uptake of vaccines. This paper contributes to emerging discussions on the role of the media in pandemics and in vaccination programs by interrogating the information seeking and verification practices of journalists reporting on COVID-19 vaccines in Ghana. A cross-sectional online survey was conducted among journalists from June to July 2021 through self-administered questionnaires by means of Google forms. The opinions of 300 respondents, randomly drawn from members of the Ghana Journalists' Association, were solicited and a response rate of 73% obtained. Majority of journalists surveyed relied on official health sources for their information on COVID-19 vaccines (61.5%) and were confident the benefits of vaccines outweigh the risks (70%). While journalists relied on a variety of expert sources, social media platforms served as important sources of information also, with respondents stating a preference for Facebook (48.3%), and WhatsApp (44%). Journalists stated they were guided by sound practices such as source credibility and relevance, but betrayed weaknesses in their verification practices with a third of them admitting to sharing unsolicited information from social media. Journalists in Ghana generally display a positive attitude towards COVID-19 vaccines and regularly search for information from official sources to inform their work, thus making them vital allies in overcoming vaccine hesitancy. Laxity in verification practices, however, makes them inadvertent agents of misinformation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioethics provides various models of fair allocation of scarce health resources like COVID-19 vaccines. Even though these models are grounded in some ethical principles like justice and beneficence, there were severe inequalities in global access to COVID-19 vaccines. In Ghana, about 21.5 million COVID-19-doses have been administered but comprise mainly members of the adult population. As a result, ethical issues related to vaccinating children have been largely ignored in the country. This paper explores some of the ethical implications related to children's exclusion in the initial COVID-19 vaccination programs in Ghana. It provides a general overview of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana and how it related to children and discusses the risks to which Ghanaian children were exposed by delaying their COVID-19 vaccination. A guide to facilitating the full rollout of COVID-19 vaccination in Ghana for children has been proposed that indicates that a fair vaccine distribution for children should prioritize children on admission at health facilities, those diagnosed with severe underlying health conditions, and children who could play an instrumental role in promoting vaccine uptake. It concludes that children must not be placed at the peripheries of the COVID-19 vaccination program in Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study employs the therapeutic landscape theory to explore how online religious services during lockdown restrictions shape experiences of well-being and intergenerational learning. We used qualitative data from in depth interviews and focus groups with older adults and pastors in five churches in Ghana to explore how online religious places are conceptualized as therapeutic landscapes for sustaining wellbeing goals amidst a global pandemic. We identified multiple pathways of meaning through which online religious services shape the lives of people in a faith community to sustain the experience of well-being in a difficult time. In addition, this paper reflects on the broader implications of COVID-19 in shaping a paradigm shift in digital religion and intergenerational learning experiences through a changing religious landscape precipitated by lockdown restrictions that have drastically altered traditional religious places. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the causal influence of financial anxiety on future work commitment with social support and socio-psychological wellbeing as mediators amongst crisis-induced redundant tourism employees remains limited. Using data collected from 547 COVID-19-induced redundant tourism employees, this paper examines the influence of financial anxiety on future work commitment with social support and socio-psychological wellbeing as mediators. The findings reveal that financial anxiety has a negative influence on social support and social and psychological wellbeing. Social support has a negative influence on social wellbeing, while social support has a positive influence on future work commitment. Both social and psychological wellbeing has a negative influence on future work commitment. Meanwhile, the influence of financial anxiety on future work is fully mediated by social support and socio-psychological wellbeing. Insurance uptake and establishment of welfare funds amongst tourism employees can be used to buffer the effects of financial anxiety on future work commitment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the wake of the recently emerged COVID-19 pandemic, legislatures were regarded as one of the important government institutions that can help cushion nations against the economic and social disruptions inflicted by the health crises, given the important roles they play in policymaking within political systems. This paper examines the roles played by Ghana's legislative institution in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper further explores some of the challenges to legislative activities during the height of the pandemic. From a content analysis of a variety of literature drawn from Parliamentary Proceedings, online journal articles, official documents, and news from credible media outlets, we found that Ghana's legislative institution was crucial to the country's management of the pandemic as they played important roles such as passing COVID-19 related laws, financial oversight, and providing a check on Executive actions. The main challenge to Parliamentary activities was the demand for rapid legislation, which weakened Parliamentary oversight and scrutiny functions. The study makes some recommendations to strengthen legislative responses to future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impacts of COVID-19 on MFI operations and the response measures taken by MFIs in Ghana. Data from interviews shows that MFIs are faced with operational difficulties as a result of the crisis: inability to disburse new loans and collect loan repayments which is leading to increase in portfolios at risk, increased operational costs, and bottlenecks with non-financial service delivery. Reduction in lending and rescheduling of outstanding loan repayments, adoption of flexible working arrangements, and use of digital technologies are key response measures taken by the MFIs although the scale of implementation differed considerably by contextual factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing global Internet penetration and technological advancement have stimulated the adoption of online mode of data collection by scholars across different disciplines. Web-based surveys are popular in the Western world, however, their usage among Ghanaian hospitality and tourism scholars is rare despite the several advantages of web-based surveys. This research note compares the demographics of a web-based sample with previous hotel employee studies conducted in Ghana, and in so doing, highlights the advantages and limitations of using a web-based survey in a developing country context. Relative to paper-and-pencil questionnaires, it was less costly using the web-survey to investigate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on hotel employees in Ghana. Furthermore, the web-survey relatively produced quick results as well as reaching respondents in different locations in the country. The demographics of the web-survey appeared comparable to those reported in previous studies conducted in the country. However, employees with college degrees working in star-rated facilities were overly represented in the web-survey sample. Duplicate responses were also observed in the web-survey sample. Web-based surveys provide a viable option for hospitality and tourism research work in Ghana, particularly in the period of COVID-19 and its associated social distancing, lockdowns, and high risk of infection. However, there are potential challenges regarding representativeness, sampling bias and multiple submissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the world awaits a cure or a vaccine for the deadly Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), prevention etiquette of social distancing is being championed as a mechanism of reducing the rate of infections. This prevention etiquette (social distancing), however, has become an unattainable goal for the majority of slum dwellers and the homeless in Ghana, owing to the absence of standardized housing conditions and basic services that support such a practice. This article sheds light on some strategic actions that must be adopted by government and other groups (Non-Governmental Organisations and Civil Society Organizations inclusive) towards making COVID-19 prevention etiquette of social distancing a reality for the homeless and slum dwellers in Ghana. Among other things, the paper recommends that instant moratorium should be placed on evictions of slum dwellers during the span of the pandemic since their displacement would predispose the evicted to the vulnerability of COVID-19 infection. Additionally, basic human needs such as water and sanitation should be provided for the slum dwellers while dilapidated classrooms and community centres are used to house the homeless and decongest the slums and provide for social distancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]