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Possibilities for the advancement of gender equality within Ghana remain limited by the dominance of patriarchal understandings of gender relations, which include the normalization of men’s use of violence against women. Drawing on interviews with men and women in northwestern Ghana, the findings highlight the ways in which, despite the intersecting inequalities which make the achievement of gender equality apparently difficult, articulations of gender equality remain possible. Men and women as gendered categories understand their positions in the family in terms of performing distinct roles and responsibilities which are not necessarily hierarchal, but complementary. The findings demonstrate that women are often accorded respect because they are considered ‘yir-miere’ (translated as backbone of the family) and ‘yir-maale’ (the peace-maker of the house). It is important to recognize how these culturally celebrated titles and statuses often get lost in mainstream scholarship in the West. The study argues that the cultural reverence associated with these statues needs to be recognized as forms of agency and power for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrant remittances to home countries have seen a significant increase over the years, especially in developing countries where due to a lack of jobs or unfavourable working conditions, citizens move to advanced countries to better their economic conditions and their dependents in home countries. This has been facilitated by globalisation in modern times. Whereas most previous studies have delved more into remittances and their impact on economic growth, less studies have examined the link between remittances and domestic investment. This study examined the impact of remittances on domestic investment in Africa using a system GMM econometric estimator. Our study departs from the few studies that examined this link by further investigating the moderating role of banking sector development and quality governance on the link between remittances and domestic investment. Using data from 41African countries from 2004 to 2018, the study discovered that migrant remittances have a direct negative impact on domestic investment in home countries. The study, however, found that both banking sector development and quality governance significantly positively impact domestic investment in Africa. Thus, when we interacted banking sector development and good governance separately with remittances, each interactive term had a significant positive impact on domestic investment. This means that for remittances to influence domestic investment, banking sector and good governance will need to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study purposely re‐examine the mortgage–finance nexus in Africa. Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a panel data set spanning over the period 1995–2017 by using system generalized method of moments (GMM) dynamic pooled estimator developed by Arellano and Bond (1991) and Arellano and Bover (1995) involving 51 African countries. Findings: The findings discovered that financial development (bank asset) affects mortgage development positively and this effect is highly significant while broad money supply as a measure of financial development impedes mortgage development in Africa. Furthermore, with the introduction of the quadratic term, broad money supply established a U-shaped relationship with mortgage financing indicating that more money in circulation facilitates mortgage development in Africa. However, the shape of the other variables depends largely on the nature of proxy used. Originality/value: This study is unique in many aspects. First, examining the extant literature on the financial development and mortgage financing nexus, to the best of the authors' knowledge, no study is cited at the African level with this relationship. Secondly is the empirical model, as it used the system GMM dynamic pooled estimator developed by Arellano and Bond (1991) and Arellano and Bover (1995) to establish whether there is any effect of finance–mortgage nexus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm and its pollinators are native to Africa. Notwithstanding, it has been extensively cultivated outside its native range, so also has its pollinators been acquired and introduced. A concern, however is that most documentation on oil palm and its pollinators are non-indigenous, with little information of African origin commenting on their activities in Africa. Thus, a study on the insect pollinators of oil palm was carried out on two fruit forms: Dura and Tenera, (ages ten and seven, respectively), in Ghana. The aim was to understand how average monthly population density of the pollinators relates to one another, and to two bunch parameters (fruitset and fruit-to-bunch ratio). Nine species (all in the order Coleoptera) were consistently seen on the spikelets of anthesising male inflorescences, and eleven species on receptive female inflorescences. Six were of the Elaeidobius genus: E. kamerunicus, E. plagiatus, E. singularis, E. subvittatus, E. bilineatus, and Elaeidobius sp. 1 (unidentified species); two each were of the Microporum genus: M. congolenses, M. dispar, and the Prosoestus genus: P. scuptilis, P. minor; while one species was of either Atheta or Forficula. The pollinators were observed to be positively related, and to varying degree of significance. Fruitset level was acceptably high, indicating adequate pollinator population and efficient pollination. There was a positive relationship between population density of the pollinators and fruitset, and a negative relationship between the bunch parameters. A number of other insects were seldom observed around the male and female inflorescences; their role could not be defined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Implementation research is increasingly being recognised as an important discipline seeking to maximise the benefits of evidence-based interventions. Although capacity-building efforts are ongoing, there has been limited attention on the contextual and health system peculiarities in low- and middle-income countries. Moreover, given the challenges encountered during the implementation of health interventions, the field of implementation research requires a creative attempt to build expertise for health researchers and practitioners simultaneously. With support from the Special Programme for Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, we have developed an implementation research short course that targets both researchers and practitioners. This paper seeks to explain the course development processes and report on training evaluations, highlighting its relevance for inter-institutional and inter-regional capacity strengthening.Methods: The development of the implementation research course curriculum was categorised into four phases, namely the formation of a core curriculum development team, course content development, internal reviews and pilot, and external reviews and evaluations. Five modules were developed covering Introduction to implementation research, Methods in implementation research, Ethics and quality management in implementation research, Community and stakeholder engagement, and Dissemination in implementation research. Course evaluations were conducted using developed tools measuring participants' reactions and learning.Results: From 2016 to 2018, the IR curriculum has been used to train a total of 165 researchers and practitioners predominantly from African countries, the majority of whom are males (57%) and researchers/academics (79.4%). Participants generally gave positive ratings (e.g. integration of concepts) for their reactions to the training. Under 'learnings', participants indicated improvement in their knowledge in areas such as identification of implementation research problems and questions.Conclusion: The approach for training both researchers and practitioners offers a dynamic opportunity for the acquisition and sharing of knowledge for both categories of learners. This approach was crucial in demonstrating a key characteristic of implementation research (e.g. multidisciplinary) practically evident during the training sessions. Using such a model to effectively train participants from various low- and middle-income countries shows the opportunities this training curriculum offers as a capacity-building tool. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fall armyworm (FAW) infestation in African countries presents significant threats to maize production. Such infestation has major economic implications in terms of the cost of measures taken at individual and international levels. Today's problems cannot be solve with the same thinking which created them. Past interventions have generally resulted in policy revision from The MDGs to SDGs with little success. The complex nature of agri-business has necessitated the use of a systemic approach in solving operational problems. The study used a systemic approach to develop systems models that determine the components of current systems and its interaction with policies, social, environmental and economic dimensions of the agriculture industry. Results indicates that only by increasing our appreciation for "systemic approach" that addresses the needs of the present while safeguarding earth's life-support system, can our social institutions achieve some modicum of effective control and stability. The systems models will help governments and agricultural proponents to anticipate the long-term consequences of their decisions and actions, as well as help to avoid any unintended consequences of policies and strategies such as 'silo mentality' and 'organizational myopia'. As demonstrated in the aforementioned CLD and archetype, agriculture projects will continue to be the engine that develops and empowers the emerging and existing commercial business, and nation building across Africa. This systems thinking approach will provide more clarity in dealing with the complex management challenges and gradually replace the traditional theoretical approach of dealing with agricultural project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C. F. Gaertn.) is a major parkland species occurring across Africa from East to West. Its fruits, butter, and further products from shea butter play key roles in the Sustainable Development Goals of poverty eradication, hunger elimination, and gender equity in many African regions. The inter-play of abiotic conditions (e.g. rainfall patterns, drought periods) and biotic interactions (grazing by large herbivores) shape parklands because they influence vital processes like photosynthesis, transpiration and biomass production of common plant species including shea. We measured gas exchange of shea seedlings grown under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2), with and without competition of the C4 grass Cenchrus pedicellatus, and under different water availabilities in greenhouse chambers. We hypothesized that eCO2 will generally increase seedling growth in shea via increases in photosynthesis. When growing together with C4 grass at low water availability, we expect an improved competitiveness of shea under eCO2, beacuse eCO2 is reported to augment water use efficiency (WUEi) of C3 plants more than C4 plants. Increased CO2 caused a 10% (p < 0.001) increase in maximum light-saturated photosynthesis (Amax), 22% (p < 0.001) increase in WUEi and 13% (p < 0.001) increase in stem mass fraction (SMF) of shea. Grass competition significantly reduced Amax by 9% (p < 0.001), SMF (p < 0.001) by 19%, with a corresponding reduction in all biomass parameters, but also significantly increased the C/N ratio (by 3%, p < 0.001). Interactive effects of eCO2 and competition were recorded for maximum electron transport rate, dark respiration, stomatal conductance, CO2 compensation point and the leaf area ratio. The control of grasses in the early stages of shea development is therefore recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates whether suspected colonic-wall pathology is ultrasonographically visible in asymptomatic individuals living in the area where oesophagostomum bifurcum (OB) is endemic. Observations of the presence of anechongenic colonic lesions; Significance of the lesions; Background of the endemic OB infection in northern Ghana and Togo.