ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessment of transfer and relocation of non-teaching personnel of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as a strategic management policy

Transfer and Relocation of workers can only achieve maximum productivity and efficiency, and serve as a useful avenue for skills career development of the right caliber of workers are at the right time put in the right place in the right number. This study seeks to assess the strategic management policy of KNUST when it comes to transfer and relocation of the non-teaching personnel. The objective of the study was to look at the impact of such transfers be they negative or positive and seek ways of formulating policies to guide the transfer process. A qualitative and quantitative method of analysis was made. It was evident from the analysis that transfers in KNUST were made without recourse to any laid down procedure and for that matter workers were left to the mercy of the transferring authority. The number of times a worker was transferred had nothing to do with the length of service. In view of that it was recommended through a model constructed by the researcher for management to identify the need for transfer, the possible influences and considerable factors in transfers. Through that a formidable policy framework can be put in place to guide both the transferring authority and the employee.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Urban Expansion and Its Effect on Surface Temperature in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana – A Remote Sensing and GIS Approach

The Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis of Ghana has been experiencing fast urban growth over the past decade. Forest and agriculture lands are being converted to uses concerned chiefly with population growth and increased economic activities. This research sought to assess urban expansion as well as its effects on surface temperature in the Metropolis using an integrated remote sensing and GIS approach. Several remote sensing techniques were used to carry out land-use-land-cover change detection using two multitemporal Landsat images of the years 1991 and 2008. This assisted in determining the changes that have taken place over the 17 year period. Urban growth pattern was also analysed using GIS techniques. The integrated use of remote sensing and GIS was subsequently employed to analyse the effect of urban expansion on surface temperature. Local climate change was also studied using multi-decade temperature data. The results showed that there has been significant urban growth in the study area with an annual rate of change of land cover of 4.06%. The results further showed that urban expansion was uneven in different parts of the metropolis and that there is also a negative correlation between the density of urban expansion and distance to a major road. The annual rate of increase in urban/built-up land was determined to be 4.65%. This urban development had increased surface radiant temperature in the study area by 4.3 oC in the urbanised areas. The results suggest that urban expansion has a certain effect on the monthly average surface temperature as well as the seasonal average temperature changes of the Metropolis. The integrate use of GIS and remote sensing has also been demonstrated to be an effective and efficient approach of analysing and monitoring urban expansion patterns and assessing its impact on surface temperature.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Voter Education on Electoral Processes in the New Juaben Municipality

The study assessed voter education on electoral processes in New Juaben municipality by determining factors contributing to delays in voter education, analyzed voters perception on effectiveness of voter education and the strategies of promoting voter education. These were carried out against the background that voter education normally delays and do not achieve it intended purpose. The descriptive research design was used by adopting the quantitative method of data collection and analysis. Data was collected from 370 voters using questionnaire. The communities were divided into 52 clusters and then simple random sampling technique was employed to select five communities out of the 52 clusters in the new Juaben Municipality. Another simple random sampling method was used to select two enumeration areas from two communities. Samples were drawn proportionally from the two enumeration areas to form the sample size for the study. Data collected were presented by means of tables and analyzed using percentages. The main factors contributing to delays in voter education are improper planning and late release of funds. A recommendation made was for the management of Electoral Commission to plan properly for the electoral processes and to ensure that each plan process is supported by a budgetary provision.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Voter Turnout in District Level Elections in Ashaiman

The turnout at the District Level Elections at Ashiaman has been consistently low for some time now. This study aimed at finding out the factors that has accounted for the low voter turnout, the strategies that have been adopted to increase turnout and finally the trend in the voter turnout in the District Level Elections at Ashaiman. These were arrived at by determining the perception of eligible voters in the district and also by interviewing Electoral Commission Officers. The Cluster Sampling Method was used to select 370 eligible voters from six (6) communities in Ashaiman. Among the major findings of the study are the observation that the major factors contributing to low voter turnout in the District Level Elections (DLE) are disenchantment of voters, voter fatigue fear of intimidation and inadequate voter education. It was also found out that other minor factors like religious factors, complacency, long queues at polling stations and the perception that one’s candidate will not win also account for the low voter turnout in Ashaiman. The study also found that the Electoral Commission Office in Ashaiman has put in place certain strategies to increase voter turnout. These strategies are an intensification of voter education exercises, the strengthening of security at polling stations and the improvement of access to polling stations. The study recommended that voter education be intensified and also security strengthened at various polling stations. It also recommended that the proposed continuous voter registration policy be considered and implemented as early as practicable to reduce the unnecessary anxiety and tension that come with the automatic registration which prevents people from registering and thereby reducing the number of voters.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of training programmes: a case study at Ashanti Goldfeilds Company Limited

This research was undertaken as an assessment of training programmes at Ashanti Goldfields Company. The underlying hypothesis for the research has been that; training programmes in the company have not been successful in improving the knowledge and skills of the employees which are meant for increasing the company’s productivity and profit. The research methodology involved interviews with facilitators, training superintendents as well as human resource management practitioners. Questionnaires were also administered to past participants of training programmes as well as Heads of Department to assess the training programmes of the company. The analysis of the results of fieldwork showed that there are loopholes in the company’s training programmes. There is evidence for instance that employees training programmes are routine and therefore are not linked to their training needs assessment. Thus, the design and development of training is usually not a logical outcome of the assessed training needs of the participants. The fieldwork also showed that there is hardly post training evaluation. These actually do not reflect any systematic approach to training. However, despite these loopholes which were noticed in the company’s training programmes, data collected from the sampled trainees revealed that training in AGC has been effective taking into consideration the fact that almost all of them were able to transfer what they learned from their training programmes to the job.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of warehousing operations in the cocoa industry – the case of Tema port

This study aims at contributing to the growing literature on warehousing management in Ghana. Following from years of warehouse management in Cocoa Marketing Company, the warehouses were engulfed with overload of poor warehouse practices. It was against this background that the research was carried out, to assess warehousing operations at the Tema Port as a case study. The study employed descriptive analysis in assessing warehousing problems of Cocoa Marketing Company. Questionnaire were sent to various stakeholders, who gave their views on various warehousing problems in accordance with how such problems impacted or influence their work. Further evidence showed that there was poor utilization of existing warehouse floor space manned by CMC. Again it was drawn from the findings that not having standardized pallets, short delivery of cocoa, short weight, leakages, inadequate utility service, theft, and lack of labour control were among the problems encountered by Cocoa Marketing Company at the various warehouses. The study made several recommendations to COCOBOD and for that matter Cocoa Marketing Company. It is recommended that Cocoa Marketing Company should ensure quick evacuation of cocoa to ensure that space was created at these warehouses to accommodate more storage of cocoa. Cocoa Marketing Company should employ bulk storage system in its operation. It was recommended that there should be effective strategy in adopting the FIFO principle, regulating trucks, introduction of weighbridge to speed up offloading process at the warehouses. This study is also the first in helping COCOBOD as well as other Ghanaian business organizations in the cocoa industry to understand the problems warehouses at the Port encountered in their daily operations and how warehousing operations in Ghana as a whole could be improved. iii

Source: KNUST
Assessment of water quality of Barekese dam from point of production to supply areas in Kumasi

Drinking water quality is very essential for good health. Water was sampled from four (4) booster stations namely; Achiase, Buokrom, KNUST and Tafo. Three areas each were selected from the Achiase (Asokwa, Atonsu and Asafo) and KNUST (Boadi, Kentinkrono and Oduom) booster station supply areas from December, 2011 to March, 2012. They were analysed for various physicochemical parameters and bacteriological indicators using the World Health Organisation (WHO) standard methods. Physical parameters such as pH, turbidity, colour, free and total chlorine were found to be within the WHO acceptable limits except free chlorine and temperature. All the water samples showed temperature and free chlorine above the WHO standards. The temperatures were slightly above by about 0.4oC and free chlorine was below the acceptable range from 0.2 mgL-1 – 0.5 mgL-1. The Barekese untreated water showed Temperature 26.9 oC, pH 9.1, Turbidity 31.8 FTU, colour 16.9 Hz, free and total chlorine 0.22 mg/L and 0.27 mg/L respectively, total and faecal coliforms 16 x 106 MPN/100 mL and 39 x 103 MPN/100 mL respectively and E. coli (10 MPN/100 mL), comparatively higher than the acceptable limits. The microbial quality of the untreated water is poor, rendering it unsafe for domestic purposes without prior treatment however that of the treated water samples were fairly good; the total coliforms were within the WHO limit (10 MPN/100 mL) but faecal coliforms and E. coli counts were slightly above the standard (0 MPN/100 mL). KNUST supply areas showed there is no significant difference but the Achiase supply areas showed a reverse because of leakages and breakages of some of the pipelines which supply various homes. This work disclosed that the level of water quality of the Barekese dam from point of production to final consumption is appreciable.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of water quality of two wetlands - Chemu and Laloi Lagoons - in the Tema Export Processing Zone

Physico-chemical and microbiological studies were conducted on two wetlands, Chemu II and Laloi Lagoons, in the Tema Export Processing Zone (Lat. 5° 39’N 5° 45’N, Long. 0o – 0o 05’E) between March 29 and May 3, 2000 in order to assess their water qualities. For Chemu Lagoon, temperatures averaged 32°C and pH 8.4. Very high levels of colour and turbidity, 302°H and 62 FNU respectively, were recorded. Very low salinity of 4.7°/oo and high TSS of 776 mg/l was also recorded. DO level averaged 1.9 mg/l with anaerobic conditions in the main body of the lagoon. BOD5 and COD levels stood at 133mg/l and 585mg/l respectively. Nutrient levels were quite high (P04-P = 1 .2mg/l, N03-N = 1 .3mg/l, N02-N = 0.5mg/I). Fluoride level of 1 .4mg/i and very high faecal coliform count of 1.62 x 107 per 100ml were also recorded. Trace metal levels recorded were very high (Cd = 0.012mg/I, Cr6+ = 0.22mg/l, Pb = 0.45mg/l, Hg = 5.3mg/l). As regards the Laloi Lagoon, temperatures averaged 31oC and pH 8.1. Low colour and turbidity levels, 12°H and 3.3 FNU respectively, were recorded. Very high salinity of 18°/oo and TSS of 2751 mg/l (mainly deposit of salt) were also recorded. DO level averaged 9mg/l. BOD5 and COD levels stood at 30mg/I and 425mg/i respectively. Low nutrient levels were recorded (PO4-P = 0.25mg/l, N03-N = 0.07mg/l, N02-N = 0.01mg/l). A fluoride level of 1 .4mg/l was also recorded. Faecal Coliform count averaged 2020 per l00ml. Unexpectedly high trace metal pollution was observed (Cd = 0.06mg/l, Cr6+ = 0.26mg/l, Pb = 0.42mg/l, Hg = 6mg/l). To restore the valuable resources of the lagoons and protect human health, it is recommended that the Chemu Lagoon be dredged; bio-accumulation of trace metals in fishes and shellfishes in the Laloi Lagoon be investigated; and also, standards for safe disposal of industrial and municipal waste be vigorously enforced.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of water re-use and feed on the growth performance of tilapia and pond water quality

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of the quality of water (re-use and fresh) and feed (formulated and farm-made) on the growth performance of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus). It was conducted between March and October, 2011, at Oseibros farms, Kubease in Ashanti Region and Sefwi Asawinso in the Western Region. Complete randomized block design was used with four treatments (New water and farm-made feed; (NWL), new water and formulated feed: (NWR), re-use water and farm-made feed: (OWL), and re-use water and formulated feed: (OWR) in two blocks, each block containing four plots. Two of these plots (OWR and OWL) contained re- use water and the other two plots (NWR and NWL) contained fresh water. All-male tilapia fingerlings (5g) were stocked at 3 fish m-2 and sampled every two weeks using seine net. pH, DO, temperature and TDS were monitored with a Hanna 9828 multi-parameter probe. Water samples were collected at 30cm above the surface and 30cm from the bottom of the pond and was analysed for phosphorus and total dissolved nitrogen. Data was analysed using analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Graph-pad prism 5 package. Results indicated that, ponds that received farm-made feed and filled with re-used water (OWL: 150.7g) although not significant, had higher growth than fresh water (NWL: 143.7g). With regard to formulated feed, fish cultured in fresh water (197.5g) were larger than those grown in re-use water (164.2g). At Asawinso, the specific growth rate (1.25% day−1) and daily weight gain (1.11g/day) were better than those at Kubease, specific growth rate (0.81% day−1) and daily weight gain ( 0.84g/day). There were no differences in pH and temperature among treatments, however, differences in DO, phosphorus, total dissolved nitrogen and TDS were observed (p<0.05). At the end of the study, it was realized that fish in ponds that contained re-use water appear to exhibit better growth if fed with farm-made feed than with formulated feed while the growth of fish in ponds that contained fresh or renewed water appear to be promoted if fed with formulated feed.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Water Sources in Terms of Availability, Use and Sufficiency in the Northern Region of Ghana

Water is an essential resource for our well-being. The availability and sufficiency of water sources in the Northern Region has been questioned due to water scarcity. Therefore, there was the need to assess water sources in terms of availability, use and sufficiency in the Northern Region of Ghana. Questionnaires were administered and measurement of yield of water supplies and infiltration tests in Savelugu-Nantong, Karaga and Gushiegu Districts were done. In addition, information on meteorological and crop data were collected for the study. Analysis of the water sources showed that boreholes, wells, rivers, streams and dug-outs were seasonally affected in terms of the water availability and supply with few boreholes having the potential of meeting domestic and irrigation water requirements in the dry season. Results from measured domestic water consumption by households in the study area showed that they were insufficient for healthy lifestyles. The low consumption level was due to insufficient water supply options, thus resulting in water consumption levels not equating demand. Results from the current and projected population showed that water sources were insufficient in the study area leading to congestion at water supply points with more communities likely to be vulnerable to water scarcity. The prevalence of waterrelated diseases except guineaworm was still high in the study area. The high prevalence of water-related diseases was, however, attributed to poor sanitation and hygiene practices. Results of the study also revealed poor management and sustainability of the water sources due to inappropriate siting, geological limitations, poor design and construction of water sources. Other factors include inactive Water and Sanitation Committees, lack of community’s sense of ownership and inability to generate sufficient incomes. Generally, stand pipes can be recommended for the people since the water is clean, safe and accessible without much use of human energy as is the case with the other sources.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of weight loss programmes in the Kumasi metropolis

Weight loss markets have grown rapidly and have given rise to opportunities for weight loss consultants due to a high level of public awareness and the growing rates of obesity. There are different interventions now realised with weight loss industries today. They may be fitness centres or weight loss consultants or companies who attend to their clients by the introduction of supplements and other health foods. The study sought to assess the weight loss programmes in the Kumasi metropolis. The assessment was limited to the level of public awareness of the weight loss programmes in the Kumasi metropolis and the various interventions in the industry leading to healthy weight loss. The study also sought to identify challenges with weight loss programmes in Kumasi. The convenience sampling technique was used. The study was designed to collect data from 204 registered members but the findings presented were based on 155 respondents from the selected fitness centres and weight loss firms. The majority had a fair knowledge about the gym, weight loss companies, dieting, and some other weight loss programmes. It was realised that certain factors such as motivation, improvement in weight status, and other benefits from the programme such as optimal health and youthfulness, highly influenced one's participation in a particular programme. It was also realised that pricing and programme packaging also influenced the level of patronage. Though all the programmes result in some weight loss especially within the first three months, the gym seemed to have caught the attention of the masses due to its exceeding benefits.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of weed management strategies on cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) growth and yield in Ghana.

A field experiment was conducted at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi, Ghana, between May, 2014 and May 2015 cropping season to assess weed management strategies on cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) growth and yield. The experiment was set up as a 6 x 2 factorial arranged in a randomized complete block design replicated four times. The treatments consisted of two cassava varieties- Ampong (Early branching) and Dokuduade (late branching). Six weed control methods studied were: application of Butachlor at 4l/ha + 2 hoe-weedings, Terbulor at 4l/ha + 2 hoe-weedings, three-time manual hoe-weedings, three-time manual cutlass-weedings, weed-free and weedy checks treatment. The predominant weed species were Tridax procumbens, Mimosa pudica, Euphorbia heterophylla, Croton hirtus, Spigelia anthelmia, Digitaria ciliaris, Centrosema pubescens, Brachiaria deflexa and Panicum maximum consisting 85% weed density in the field. Ampong variety was superior in growth and yielded greater than Dokuduade variety on an average of 9.65 and 8.49 respectively. Hoe weeding was more effective than cutlass weeding in controlling weeds under cassava. Among the weeding treatments studied, Terbulor at 4l/ha + 2 hoe-weedings had significantly maximum effective weed control which resulted in over 91% tuber root yield. Additionally, the Terbulor at 4l/ha + 2 hoe-weeding had significantly higher net revenue (6,899.18 GH¢/ha) than weed-free (5,735.97 GH¢/ha) and weedy (1,807.85 GH¢/ha). Thus, the application of Terbulor at 4l/ha + 2 hoe-weeding seemed most appropriate for weed control in cassava fields.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of women smallholder farmers’ climate-smart agricultural strategies to address the effects of climate variability in the Tolon district, Ghana.

Agriculture remains very essential to the livelihoods of most people in the developing worldespecially women and rural dwellers. The situation is not different in Ghana where most of the citizens, especially women, are employed in the sector. Notwithstanding, a major threat to agricultural development is climate variability and change. This has necessitated the need to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices in order to mitigate the harmful effects of climate variability. With women as well as the northern part of Ghana being one of the most vulnerable to the negative effects of climate variability and change, this study investigated the climatesmart agricultural practices of small-holder women farmers as a mechanism to address the effects of climate variability in the Tolon District of Ghana. A mixed method approach and a cross sectional design was utilized. The study purposively selected a sample of 371 women farmers. The study, among others, found that, respondents had good perception and knowledge on climate variability, and saw crop failure or low yield as the main reason for choosing climate-smart agricultural strategies. Besides, most respondents chose irrigation and drought-tolerant crop varieties, as climate-smart strategies among others. Also, majority of the respondents felt that their climate-smart strategies were effective while most of the respondents were found to have chosen a particular climate-smart strategy mainly due to crop failure and/or low yield. In addition, majority of the respondents reported financial constraint as the main challenge to the adaptation of climate-smart agriculture. The study therefore among others strongly recommends the provision of financial assistance to women smallholder farmers by rural banks in order to enhance their adoptation to climate-smart strategies in responses to climate variability.

Source: KNUST