ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessing the livelihood opportunities of rural poor households: a case study of Asutifi District

About 87 percent to 89 percent of rural households in Ghana engage in small scale farming to provide a variety of food crops to support the overall agricultural output in the country. However, rural poverty in Ghana is deepest among food crop farmers due to the vulnerable nature of their livelihood. Food crop farmers depend on single weather oriented agriculture and find it difficult to avoid or withstand livelihood stress and shocks such as drought, crop failure, pests and disease infestation. Hence, the ability of the traditional farm sector “alone” to adequately sustain rural livelihoods and income or reduce poverty among rural households is very much in doubt. The promotion of complementary livelihood engines to enhance the income options and provide new coping strategies is thus re-surfacing in rural development debate. This study therefore focused on the need for rural households to develop additional livelihoods to provide vital income diversification, spread risk and provide means to cope when farming and other sources of income fail. A participatory research approach was adopted for the study. The study employed the simple random sampling method to select a sample of 138 heads of household who have adopted either Grasscutter: Thryonomys swinderianus; edible Mushroom: Pleurotus ostreatus and edible Snail: Achatina achatina production as an additional livelihood activity to augment their livelihood options. Four other institutions were also selected and interviewed. The primary data were collected through the use of questionnaires, interview guide and observation to complement secondary data from literature. The study revealed that the major traditional livelihood option for households appears to be food crop farming (76 percent). Other households also engage in petty trading (16 percent), livestock rearing (4 percent) and salary work (2 percent). However, households earn relatively low income from these traditional livelihoods. When the income gains from these traditional and the adopted livelihoods were compared, it was revealed that the economic benefits or income gains from the adopted livelihoods exceeds that of the traditional livelihoods thereby providing the needed coping strategies and reducing the livelihood risks which previously surrounded their livelihoods. The study therefore recommended that, rural households need to be assisted to re-arrange their livelihood portfolios and traditional livelihoods that are no longer economically and socially viable to be supported with new ones better suiting the context of a more mature market economy.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the Management of Life Insurance Funds: A case of SIC Life Company Limited.

Insurance is one of the key sectors in the economic development of Ghana. The insurance market is made up of sellers of the insurance products that are, the insurance companies who provide covers for various risks and the intermediaries namely insurance agents and brokers. Life assurance contracts are usually for much longer periods. Life funds are therefore accumulated to long-term liabilities. The Ghanaian insurance industry has about twenty-two (22) companies underwriting life assurance. Life premium rose from GH¢ 10,679,000.00 in 2000 to GH¢ 82,044,000.00 in 2005. This constituted more than 100% growth rate. This study therefore is exploratory study designed to determine how life funds are properly managed. The population of the study comprises both staff and customers of SIC Life Unit. A sample size of fifty (50) was selected made up of 20 staff and 30 customers. Purposive and stratified sampling technique was used. Both primary and secondary data were collected. Questionnaire coupled with personal interviews were the main research instrument. The data was analyzed by the use of simple Microsoft Excel and SPSS. Descriptive statistics was used to summarize the information. The study came out that life insurance funds in Ghana are placed both in short and long-term investments. It was recommended that all the stakeholders, including management of insurance companies, policy makers and policy holders should collaborate and come out with conducive business climate to ensure effective investment of life funds for greater returns to investors.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the major factors causing housing deficit in Ghana health service (a case study of Western Region)

Across the world and especially in the developing world, housing remains one of the critical development challenges because of the huge gap between the supply and demand for housing. This study explored the challenges facing housing delivering for health sector in Ghana. The study was carried out along the tenets of a preliminary literature review and followed by a survey using a structured questionnaire. Seventy-Five (75) questionnaire were distributed by simple random sampling, and 44 completed questionnaires were considered valid for the analysis. The data collected were analysed using Mean score ranking. The study reveals that, Lack of comprehensive national policy and regulatory framework for housing provision, Failure of MMDAS to provide housing for health institutions, Lack of institutional and regulatory framework in MMDAS for housing, Lack of stakeholder’s support and community participation and Lack of continuity due to consistent change of government are the major critical factors causing housing deficit. Considering the challenges in order of extremity, respondents indicated that, High competition in rental charges, Difficulties in responding to on call duties/emergency cases, Payment of high utility bills due to landlords/ladies failure to pay their part, Unnecessary threat by the Landlords/ladies and High transportation cost are the challenges faced by the staff of GHS in assessing alternative housing. Further, a number of strategies to improve housing delivery were suggested which includes; Government should partner with NGOs to provide housing for all health facilities, use public- private partnership initiative (PPP), Five percent (5%) of health facilities internally generated fund (IGF) should be set aside for housing development, Government of Ghana should re-establish Bank for housing and construction to provide support for

Source: KNUST
Assessing the management and utilisation level of health information management systems in West Mamprusi District.

The study is designed to investigate and analyse the management and utilization of Health Management Information Management System (HIMS) in West Mamprusi District. The objectives are to establish the type of health data/information generated at the health units and how it is processed and stored; describe the levels of utilization of health data/information; assess the level of flow of data/information to and from the health unit; study the main factors and constraints that influences the effectiveness of HIMS in West Mamprusi District; and make recommendations on how to improve HMIS. This study adopted both qualitative and quantitative research paradigms. The study was conducted in the two Health Sub-Districts (HSD) in West Mamprusi. Data collection methods employed are: documents review, key informant interviews and a Semi – structured questionnaire. Findings indicate that most health units inherited a very fragmented paper-based information system. Despite interest in HIMS, Clinics and Drug Shops did not have HIMS in place. Data is collected at the health facility level. All the private practitioners and drug shops expressed interest in HIMS. A computerised HIMS database is being used in the DDHS‟s office. Flow of data from the health units to the district level was improving. All the health units that were visited did not have a resource centre and therefore poor storage of data. HIMS records were used for one or all of the following: reference, management and planning, research surveys, monitoring and evaluation. Major constraints facing HIMS in the District were: unavailability of computerized health information systems, general lack of stationery, inadequate and unskilled manpower, lack of transport, poor motivation and no proper storage facilities and that lead to misplacement of records. From the findings, it is concluded that the management and utilization of the HMIS is still inadequate. Majority of the reporting health units were government owned implying that private practitioners were not represented and yet they have a significant role in health care delivery. Health workers did not appreciate the importance of HIMS. Based on the above issues the study recommends that: there is need to establish record offices/resource centres at all health centres; HIMS focal persons should be stationed at each sub district and provided with computer and transport to facilitate the collection of data and use of simple excel to collect and analyse data for the health facilities under the sub district; the government should take the initiative to recognise and include private practitioners in the HIMS; and Health workers including those in private practice should be trained in data management.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the managerial competencies of male and female construction managers in Ghana

Around the world, the construction industry is normally seen to be dominated by men. This is not in regards to workers alone but managers as well. In Ghana, only a few projects are managed by female construction managers. The managerial competencies of construction managers should be investigated to get a comprehensive understanding of this situation, and determine if this unbalanced scale in construction managerial positions has a link with differences in managerial competencies. This study assessed the managerial competencies of construction managers in the Ghanaian construction industry by gender. The study identified several core managerial competencies including, job knowledge, leading and motivating employees, building teamwork, communicating and listening to the team, managing finances, demonstrating strategic leadership and several others. To complete this study, the Yamane’s formula was used to determine the sample size, the purposive sampling technique was used together with the snowball sampling technique to identify female construction managers. Data was sought from 157 respondents comprising 122 male managers and supervisors and 35 female managers and supervisors. A three-part questionnaire was developed with the focus part being the competency assessment instrument where respondents were asked to rate their construction managers. Data gathered was analyzed by statistical test of significance where the mean scores approach was used. The results of the analysed data revealed that male construction managers exhibit equally similar competencies as exhibited by female construction managers. The study revealed that female construction managers score relatively higher in expecting ethics and accountability, working with diverse people and perspectives and communicating and listening to the team whiles male construction manages score relatively higher with regards to understanding performance indicators and metrics. The study concluded that the roles and responsibilities of a construction manager may be a more determinant factor in selecting competent managers than the gender of the construction managers and hence recommended employers to discard negative perceptions of female construction managers and balance the gender of construction managers.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the livelihood opportunities of rural poor households: A case study of Asutifi District

About 87 percent to 89 percent of rural households in Ghana engage in small scale farming to provide a variety of food crops to support the overall agricultural output in the country. However, rural poverty in Ghana is deepest among food crop farmers due to the vulnerable nature of their livelihood. Food crop farmers depend on single weather oriented agriculture and find it difficult to avoid or withstand livelihood stress and shocks such as drought, crop failure, pests and disease infestation. Hence, the ability of the traditional farm sector “alone” to adequately sustain rural livelihoods and income or reduce poverty among rural households is very much in doubt. The promotion of complementary livelihood engines to enhance the income options and provide new coping strategies is thus re-surfacing in rural development debate. This study therefore focused on the need for rural households to develop additional livelihoods to provide vital income diversification, spread risk and provide means to cope when farming and other sources of income fail. A participatory research approach was adopted for the study. The study employed the simple random sampling method to select a sample of 138 heads of household who have adopted either Grasscutter: Thryonomys swinderianus; edible Mushroom: Pleurotus ostreatus and edible Snail: Achatina achatina production as an additional livelihood activity to augment their livelihood options. Four other institutions were also selected and interviewed. The primary data were collected through the use of questionnaires, interview guide and observation to complement secondary data from literature. The study revealed that the major traditional livelihood option for households appears to be food crop farming (76 percent). Other households also engage in petty trading (16 percent), livestock rearing (4 percent) and salary work (2 percent). However, households earn relatively low income from these traditional livelihoods. When the income gains from these traditional and the adopted livelihoods were compared, it was revealed that the economic benefits or income gains from the adopted livelihoods exceeds that of the traditional livelihoods thereby providing the needed coping strategies and reducing the livelihood risks which previously surrounded their livelihoods. The study therefore recommended that, rural households need to be assisted to re-arrange their livelihood portfolios and traditional livelihoods that are no longer economically and socially viable to be supported with new ones better suiting the context of a more mature market economy

Source: KNUST
Assessing the maternal death audit management system at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital using the National (MOH) audit guidelines as reference

Maternal death is defined as the death of a woman pregnant or within 42 days following termination of pregnancy, irrespective of duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes. (Suleiman,1999). Medical Death Audit is an integral part of modem medicine (Irish Medical Journal, 2001). Audit is of Latin derivation, which means hearing (Arnold et al, 1992). Clinical audit is systematic and critical analysis of quality of clinical care, including the procedures used for diagnosis and treatment, the associated use of resources and the effect of care on the outcome and quality of life for the patient. Even though, maternal death is very high especially in the developing countries including Ghana, information on maternal death audits and its impact in the overall quality of health care. This study examined the Management System of Maternal Death Audit at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi. The objective of the study included examining the structure, process and outcome of maternal death audit at KATH so as to give recommendation to improving maternal death thereby reducing maternal mortality. A descriptive study with a cross-sectional design, a total of fifty management/staff was interviewed with a questionnaire. Also a checklist was designed to review one hundred and eighty nine (189) cases of maternal deaths that occurred from 2001-2003. The findings showed the average maternal mortality ratio at KATH is 9.5 1/1000 live births. There is no Maternal Audit Committee at KATH that reviews maternal deaths. In fact, it was found that meeting termed “maternal conference” are rarely organized. Such meeting was held only once. Proceedings of such meeting are not recorded neither are standard forms used to review maternal deaths. From the study, it was evident that there were no dissemination of findings of such meetings and therefore no feedback. This is at the peril of improving maternal health. ‘The practice at KATH was found to be at variance with what has been prescribed by the Ministry of Health as enshrined in the Maternal Death Audit Guidelines document, 2002. Appropriate recommendations have been made to Management, Staff and other stakeholders at KATH to improve the practice of auditing maternal death so as to reduce the high maternal mortality at the hospital.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the Mobilization of Internally Generated Funds in Financing Developmental Projects in the Sunyani Municipal Assembly

This study examines IGF mobilization effectiveness in financing developmental projects in the Sunyani municipal assembly from 2017-2021. The study employs a descriptive research design by using both quantitative and qualitative research design. By applying purposive sampling technique, the study samples nine (9) respondents from the assembly comprised finance unit, audit unit, some key employees and as well as one director.The study The empirical results indicate that DACF and grants and donors from partners are significant source of revenue mobilisation. In addition, a number of uncompleted projects are as aresult of insufficient revenue mobilisation. Based on the findings. The study recommends that SMA should conceive new approaches in revenue mobilization. This may be done by investing in successful joint ventures including shuttle transportation, mortuary services, and funeral services. Secondly, a strategic plan has to be in place to enhance revenue collection.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the mediating role of competitive advantage on the relationship between sustainable supply chain practices and operational performance in the service sector

The available research evidence suggests that there are several studies measuring the relationship between sustainable supply chain management practices and firm performance. However, only few studies have considered the moderating role of competitive advantage in their prior studies. The main objective of the study is to assess the effect of sustainable supply chain practices, on operational performance and mediating role of competitive advantage in the service sector of Ghana. This study adopted quantitative research approach and survey-based design. The analyses were performed with the aid of the statistical software namely, statistical package for the social sciences (spss) version 26. The following analyses were performed, frequency and percentages, descriptive statistics, reliability and validity test, correlation matrix as well as regression analysis. The study found that, sustainable supply chain management practices had significant effect on operational performance. Moving on the study found that, competitive advantage had significant effect on operational performance. Again, the study found that, competitive advantage significantly mediates the relationship between sustainable supply chain management practices on operational performance. The study concludes that sustainable supply chain management practices and competitive advantage are predictors of operational performance in the service sector of Ghana. Inferring from the above, the study recommends that managers and leaders on the various departments should frequently interact with their customers in order to set reliability, responsiveness and other standards for their companies over their competitors. Again, the leaders and the management should know the importance of setting quality standards over their competitors. Moreover, the managers should see to it that the company frequently facilitates their customers’ ability to seek assistance from them.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the Motivational Packages for Controller and Accountant General’s Staff in the New Juaben Municipality

The importance of motivation in work place cannot be over looked since it helps workers to be focused on their work. This study assessed the motivational packages of Controller and Accountant General Staff in the New Juaben Municipality. This was carried out by analyzing the various types of motivational packages, determining the staff perception of the motivational packages and the problems associated with the implementation of the motivational packages. This study was carried out against the background that most of the motivational packages given to the staff are considered not to be valuable and relevant enough to motivate them. The study adopted the survey methods of research especially in the data collection and data analysis. A sample size of ninety (90) workers was randomly selected and questionnaires were used as the main instrument to collect data on types of motivation packages, perception and problems associated with the motivational packages. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The main findings of the study on the motivational packages available to workers are allowances and recognition of workers while minor motivational packages include opportunity to learn, promotion of staff and increase in remuneration. It was recommended that other types of motivational packages considered to be minor should be enhanced in order to give a holistic package to workers.

Source: KNUST
Assessing the moderating role of knowledge on the relationship between consumption determinants and intake of fruit and vegetables: a comparative study of health and non health work

Ghana is already battling with infectious diseases such as malaria, hiv/aids, and tuberculosis, but also currently experiencing a surge in non-communicable diseases (ncds) such as stroke, heart diseases, diabetes and cancers. Adequate fruit and vegetable (fv) consumption has been associated with reduced incidence of cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, some cancers, and obesity, as well as increased immunity and lifespan. The world health organisation (who) therefore recommends daily consumption of at least 400g of fv representing five (5) daily servings of 80g each. However, consumption levels of fv is generally low worldwide, and even lower in low-and middle-income countries, such as ghana. The main objective of this study was to study the moderating role of knowledge of the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables consumption on the relationship between consumption determinants and consumption frequency, with a particular focus on raw fv; comparing health and non-health workers in the kumasi metropolis. The study employed a cross-sectional study design, with a sample size of 200 formal sector workers, comprising of doctors, nurses, teachers and bank workers. Participants were purposively and conveniently selected to complete a self-administered questionnaire with both close-ended and open-ended questions with 200 questionnaires analysed with both descriptive and inferential statistics. Results of the study indicated that only 8.5% of the respondents had consumption recommendation knowledge; mean raw fv consumption frequency of respondents was 2.18 (approximately once a week); in terms of fv consumption determinants, availability of fv was not much of an issue compared to food safety concerns; and consumption recommendation knowledge significantly increased the effect of consumption determinants on consumption frequency (regression coefficient = 1.02, p-value = 0.02). There was no significant difference between health and non-health workers in terms of all three (3) variables under study: fv consumption recommendation knowledge (p-value 0.31), consumption frequency (p-value = 0.90) and consumption determinants (p-value = 0.17). Therefore it was recommended that much effort be put into creating awareness on recommended fv consumption targets, and how to achieve these targets, especially among health workers, in order to improve consumption among the populace.

Source: KNUST