... Indeed, he was more than a friend. I am also grateful to Dr.Benjamin Schraven who supported m... more ... Indeed, he was more than a friend. I am also grateful to Dr.Benjamin Schraven who supported me with some literature and translation of my abstract from English to German. This helped me meet part of graduation requirements at the University. ...
Smallholder farmers have been on the receiving end of the impacts of climate change due to the di... more Smallholder farmers have been on the receiving end of the impacts of climate change due to the direct dependence of their livelihood portfolios on climate-related systems. In northern Ghana, smallholder agriculture is predominantly rainfed, making crop farming very vulnerable to changes and variability in rainfall and other extreme climatic events. Therefore, this paper examined how smallholder farmers in northwestern Ghana have been adapting to climate change over the years to sustain household food security. The study employed a qualitative research design, relying on qualitative methods of selection of participants, data collection and analysis. The findings show that smallholder farmers employ a diversity of adaptation strategies. These include setting up of multiple farms, changes in the techniques of raising mounds (gbaala) to flat ploughed lands (pari-jabing) for planting, adoption of improved maize varieties
Informed by the Broken Window Theory, this study investigated the incidence of crime in the Wa Mu... more Informed by the Broken Window Theory, this study investigated the incidence of crime in the Wa Municipality of Ghana and its implications for policy and crime management planning. The study employed an exploratory sequential mixed method for data collection in four communities within the Wa Municipality, namely, Dondoli, Bamahu, Mangu, and Kumbiehe. The methods of data collection included Focus Group Discussion (FDGs), Key Informant Interviews (KIIs) and a Survey of 180 households. The result showed that stealing (theft), burglary, robbery, banditry and illegal abortion were the common crimes in the Municipality. For crime management planning, the study recommends that community participation should be strengthened through revitalization of Neighbourhood Watch Committees (NWC) in the communities for effective crime prevention and management.
Although much scientific knowledge exists about global environmental change, two kinds of limitat... more Although much scientific knowledge exists about global environmental change, two kinds of limitations arise: limited scientific understanding about first, localized geographic specificities and second, the perspectives of the affected populations, the communities. This paper contributes to an understanding of local knowledge on environmental change through Community Risk Assessment (CRA) in Ghana. Qualitative methods of data collection, particularly Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods were employed for data collection and complemented with a survey of 200 farmers. The paper highlights three key findings. First, it underscores the potential role of local knowledge in CRA and in contributing to an understanding that environmental change has been primarily negative, as in a deteriorating climate and the natural environment. Secondly, that local knowledge on vulnerability to climate change revealed multiple exposures to climatic extremes such as drought, heavy rainfall, floods and rainstorms. However, drought and rainstorms were identified as the highest risk stressors with disruptive or damaging consequences on livelihoods of local populations. Communities also had their knowledge of change in the natural environment. The primary stressors of environmental change were identified as deforestation and land degradation and anthropogenic factors as the primary drivers of such changes. Thirdly, that there is great potential for a role of local knowledge in environmental change research and adaptation in Africa and wherever such knowledge exists. This is because the outcomes are both scientific and relevant for Environmental Change Mitigation and Adaptation Planning (ECMAP).
Purpose This study aims to assess the facilities management (FM) strategies used in multi-tenante... more Purpose This study aims to assess the facilities management (FM) strategies used in multi-tenanted purpose-built office buildings (Mt-POBs) in Ghana and the drivers that influence the decision to use such strategies. Design/methodology/approach This study was conducted via a survey and key informant interviews. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire targeted at 65 multi-tenanted office building owners in the Greater Accra region. The data from the survey revealed the views of building owners on FM strategy and the extent to which 20 facility management decision drivers influenced their decisions to use a particular strategy and the responses were descriptively analysed. The key informant interviews were conducted among six leaders of the property owners’ association who use in-house FM to further understand their perspectives and decisions on using such strategy. The interviews were conducted over telephone using an interview guide and analysed using thematic analysis. Findi...
ABSTRACT Although the Brundtland Commission’s definition of Sustainable Development (SD) is widel... more ABSTRACT Although the Brundtland Commission’s definition of Sustainable Development (SD) is widely accepted and central to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), it presents some limitations for application in the traditional African context. Drawing on a qualitative research design, this study interrogated indigenous knowledge systems of land governance among the Grune people in northern Ghana and the implications for SD. The emergent perspectives on land and land ownership are compelling and underpin the need for re-conceptualisation SD. To adapt SD to Grune worldview, it is imperative to redefine the frontiers of SD, by embracing a three-generational framework for addressing needs and achieving total wellbeing. In the context of decentralisation in Africa, an Endogenous Development (ED) approach to development planning is imperative for engineering social innovations and learnings that ensure socially and culturally acceptable development and the well-being of indigenous people and communities.
Objectives Miscarriage remains a significant public health challenge in most low- and middle-inco... more Objectives Miscarriage remains a significant public health challenge in most low- and middle-income settings, including Ghana. We thus examined the sociodemographic and maternal characteristics associated with miscarriage in Ghana using the 2017 Maternal Health Survey dataset. Study design This was a cross-sectional quantitative study. Methods We quantitatively analysed Ghana Maternal and Health Survey dataset. Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) collected the data using survey techniques. Approximately 25,062 women within the active reproductive ages of 15–49 years were involved in the survey. We analysed the data using binary and multivariate logistic regression models at a 95% confidence level. The findings were reported using the World Health Organisation's Conceptual Social Determinants of Health framework. Results We found that the prevalence of miscarriage was 15.6%. Education, religion and ethnicity were the most significant structural factors associated with miscarriage. We also found that women of all ages (20–49 years), starting antenatal care (ANC) in the fifth month of gestation, residing in rural areas, having a history of abortion (aOR = 0.622, 95% CI = 0.570–0.679, P < 0.001), and not using a mobile phone during complications (adjusted odds ratio = 0.601, 95% confidence interval = 0.556–0.651, P < 0.001) were key intermediary determinants of miscarriage. The analysis found increased odds of miscarriage among women who had no mobile phone and could not access the same during obstetric complications. Conclusions The study concludes that country-policy frameworks on maternal and neonatal health care do not go far enough in providing specific solutions for preventing miscarriage. To reverse this trend, we recommend targeted ANC, including enhanced twenty-four-hour primary emergency obstetric care within 5 km, advocacy, and education as a lever to increasing utilisation of ANC, and removal of indirect financial barriers to maternal health care. We further recommend qualitative research to understand some of the findings and explore the feasibility of promoting mobile phone technology to address maternal health problems, particularly obstetric care for women in hard-to-reach rural communities.
Globally, following the rising impacts of climatic stressors on humanity, climate change scholars... more Globally, following the rising impacts of climatic stressors on humanity, climate change scholars have argued for alternative approaches towards adapting food crop production to climate change in sustaining smallholder farmers’ livelihood. This study used qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. Inspired by generational farming practices of smallholder farmers, drawing on their Agro ecological Intensification (AEI) practices, we contribute to climate change adaptation debates in Sub-Saharan Africa. We explore traditional AEI practices of smallholder farmers and their potential of adapting food crop production to climate change in the age of technology. We explored the link between smallholder farmers self-initiated soil and water management practices and AEI and discussed the implications for adapting food crop production to climate change via AEI practices. The study realized that smallholder farmers engaged in varied agronomic practices including the preparation and ap...
This paper analyses the outcomes and challenges of the Community Education Teaching Assistants (C... more This paper analyses the outcomes and challenges of the Community Education Teaching Assistants (CETAs) module, one of the modules of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) which the Government of Ghana (GoG) started implementing nationwide in 2006 as part of its poverty reduction programme. The paper draws on the livelihood framework for analysing how far the module provides a meaningful and or sustainable means of living, the very core objective of every livelihood. It draws on qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions of key personnel and beneficiaries of the programme. It also draws on secondary data, both qualitative and quantitative data for analysis. The residts show that the programme has achieved some modest livelihood outcomes. First, District Employment Task Forces (DELTA Forces) were constituted and reactivated to improve on their performance in implementation of the module. Secondly, the module provided only temporary employment for mo...
Over the years, cocoa has been the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy and a source of livelihood for... more Over the years, cocoa has been the bedrock of the Ghanaian economy and a source of livelihood for most cocoa farming households. Empirical studies have established that cocoa farmers have begun to adopt various agronomic measures for climate change adaptation. However, factors that influence farmers’ decisions to adopt these agronomic practices to enable successful adaptation to climate change are least investigated. The study aimed at investigating smallholder cocoa farmers’ decisions to adopt agronomic practices for climate change adaptation in Ghana. The study adopted a mixed method approach to research, and involved 259 cocoa farmers. Using the thematic and multivariate probit regression model (MVP) to data analysis, the results revealed that farmers’ decisions to adopt soil conservation, pruning/shade management and planting of new crop varieties are determined by a number of mixed factors including access to agricultural land, access to credit, farmer farm experience and acces...
Following the incidence of environmental change globally and its negative consequences on livelih... more Following the incidence of environmental change globally and its negative consequences on livelihoods of local populations, vulnerability assessment has become central to mitigation and adaptation response in the global south. However, researches on vulnerability to climate change in the African continent have seldom focused on Indigenous Fruit Trees (IFTs) although they are an essential part of the strategic forest resources and livelihood systems of local communities. This paper explores the vulnerability of two IFTs, shea (Vitellaria paradoxa) and dawadawa (Parkia biglobosa) to climatic and other stressors that are not directly linked to climate change in rural Ghana and the implications for planning. The paper analyzed vulnerability from farmer perspectives elicited through a mixed study design involving the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods and a household survey. The results reveal that IFTs are highly vulnerable to drought, rainstorms, bushfires and charcoal production and less vulnerable to heavy precipitation, flash floods and sand mining. Such vulnerability arising from the combined effects of multiple stressors has led to a decreasing trend in production and yields of IFTS over the past few decades, adversely affecting livelihoods of rural women and households. To reduce vulnerability, it is an imperative to promote Environmental Change Adaptation Planning (ECAP) that prioritizes conservation and propagation of IFTs, and diversification of rural livelihoods.
Globally, food crops production has been challenged by the impacts of climate change. Climate cha... more Globally, food crops production has been challenged by the impacts of climate change. Climate change scholars have argued that rural dwellers, particularly smallholder farmers who engage in food crops production, suffer the most due to their low capacity to adapt. A growing body of knowledge also suggests that local practices serve as safeguards, that enable smallholder farmers to lessen their vulnerability in food crops productions. However, limited scholarly insight has been advanced about sustainable food production via the use of local practices. Through the mixed research approach, our study contributes to local practices and climate adaptation debates by examining the various local practices of smallholder farmers, the challenges they encounter with the use of such practices and the possibility for sustainable food crops production in the future. Our ndings suggest that smallholders encounter multiple drawbacks in attempts to utilize local practices to adapt food crops production to climate change including the advent of modern farming inputs/practices. Even when multiple local practices (the planting of crops varieties, switching between crops and livestock rearing, reducing cultivatable land size) are utilized, only the increment in farm size, the use of income/remittances of rural-urban migrants to support food crops production, and early cultivation offered some possibilities of sustaining improvement in food crops production for the future. Therefore, we conclude that local practices are not necessarily panaceas for sustaining food crops production under climate change. We recommend further studies to pay attention to the sustainability of local practices under climate change.
This paper explores local knowledge of the Sisaala on the causes of climate change and variabilit... more This paper explores local knowledge of the Sisaala on the causes of climate change and variability in rural northwestern Ghana and the implications for development planning. While debates arising from western scientific research on the causes of climate change are clearer at the global and regional scales, knowledge of localized perspectives is often lacking to bring completeness to the diversity of understandings imperative for informing development planning at local levels, especially in Africa. This paper contributes to filling this gap and draws on data collected from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions from a cross section of people in the Sissala East District. From local perspectives, climate change is caused by multiple factors, including the felling of trees, bush burning, over grazing, use of modern agriculture machinery and agrochemicals, breakdown in spirituality, traditional religion, and values for biodiversity conservation. The paper argues that local knowledge on the causes of climate variability largely corroborates the anthropogenic view of the causes of climate change; and that perspectives on the spiritual cause of climate change is attributable to a holistic worldview of the indigenous Sissala. The paper underscores the relevance of Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Planning (CCMAP) in the context of decentralization and local governance. It emphasizes the importance of Endogenous Development (ED) and Behavioral Change Communication approaches to district development planning for maximizing local knowledge and resources for achieving sustainability.
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Journal Article by Emmanuel K Derbile