ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
An assessment of farmers perception and adaptation strategies to climate change in Beposo, Ghana

This study analyses farmers’ perception on climate change, their adaptation strategies in response to climate change and barriers to the adaptation process. A survey of 100 randomly sampled farmers was conducted using a standard questionnaire. An interview schedule was the main tool of data collection while descriptive statistics were the main analytical technique. Majority of the farmers studied perceived increase in temperature and a decrease in rainfall. In adapting to climate change, 91% of the farmers change planting dates, 86% use different crop varieties and 72 % implemented soil conservation measures as the major choice of adaptation techniques to climate change. Major barriers to climate adaptation are insufficient access to inputs and lack of credit.

Source: UCC
An Assessment of Female Prisoners’ Perception of the Accessibility of Quality Healthcare: A Survey in the Kumasi Central Prisons, Ghana

Background: Accessibility of quality healthcare across the globe has generated a lot of attention among public health practitioners. Aim: This study explored the background characteristics of female prisoners and how it influences their assessment of the quality of accessible healthcare in the Kumasi Female Prison. Subjects and Methods: This descriptive cross‑sectional survey was conducted at the Female section of the Kumasi Central Prisons from June to December 2011. We used pretested questionnaires to obtain quantitative data from all 39 inmates of the female Prisons. An in‑depth interview was used to obtain qualitative data from the prison healthcare giver. Data were analyzed with Epi Info Version 3.5.1, (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), Excel, and Graph Pad Prism version 5.00 for Windows (Graph Pad software, San Diego California USA, www.graphpad.com). Results: Using a 12‑point scale inventory questionnaire, inmates with no formal education gave the highest mean health provision assessment score (6.0) whereas those with tertiary education gave the lowest (4.5). Females serving prison sentences gave the highest mean health assessment score whereas remand prisoners gave the lowest. Single females’ mean health assessment score was 5.7 whereas that of married inmates was 4.9. Unemployed inmates scored 5.8, informal 5.4 while civil servants scored 5.0. Conclusion: Access to quality healthcare was poor and demographic characteristics, marital status, educational background, and occupation influenced inmates’ perceptions of accessibility to quality healthcare. Inmates should be encouraged to be proactive in seeking healthcare irrespective of their background characteristics.

Source: UCC
Assessment of financial control practices in Senior High Schools in Ho-West District in Volta Region of Ghana

Public Sector Organizations are not countries but they have a sort of constitutions in the form of internal regulations and controls to adhere to in order to ensure judicious use of their resources towards sustainable growth and development. Unfortunately, the big investments countries are making to achieve their policy objectives are totally derailed or only partially achieved due to disobedience to the financial rules and laws. Financial controls use by the heads of these institutions such as the use of financial statements, budget, policies and procedures and other financial tools are not eliciting the desired results in the face of massive financial irregularities. The work of the Public Management Committee on regulatory reform - built over the years has provided huge input and other extensive support to the development of organization, and provide policy direction of the regulatory reform programmes in OECD Member countries. Though with some impact, the disobedience of these array of regulations is very pervasive with it financial repercussions. It is specifically, this disobedience and why this research seeks to find out. Two sets of questionnaires were designed to the Bursars and the Accountants and the Headmasters and the Assistants. Interviews are also employed. The study found out that the disobedience of financial rules and laws in the public sector institutions in Ghana is pervasive and the financial lost to the nation is massive. The paper however recommends that, paper qualification alone should not be a guide in selecting managers of the public sector institutions, but further and better fundamental analysis ought to be done to select those that have academical and professional inclination coupled with high moral integrity.

Source: UCC
Assessment of flexcube wide area network training programme at the Ghana Commrecial bank limited (GCB Ltd.)

The Ghana Commercial Bank Limited (GCB, LTD) embarked on a computerisation drive in 1990 to enhance its business processes and its service delivery. The exercise resulted in the introduction of a centralised banking software (Flexcube) by I-flex Solutions Limited, India. A training programme was organized prior to and after the deployment of the software to equip staff in its use. The study assessed the Flexcube training programme organized for the networked branches of the bank in order to draw lessons for improvement in subsequent programmes. For the achievement of the study objective, questions were posed and answers analysed in respect of training needs assessment conducted and methods of delivery. Stratified random sampling was used to arrive at the sample size of 70 comprising 10 branch managers, 20 supervisors and 40 clerical staff from a population of 560 members of staff. They were interviewed and questioned to solicit the relevant information for analysis. The findings of the study indicate that though a systematic training plan wa followed, there were serious omissions in the training needs assessment conducted, content design, principles of adult learning incorporated and training evaluation which need to be addressed to help improve subsequent programmes. Among the recommendations were the need to conduct a comprehensive training needs analysis with active involvement of trainees and the selection of a comprehensive evaluation process that will bring out the necessary feedbacks for effective assessment of knowledge transfer and improvement in subsequent programmes.

Source: UCC
Assessment of food hygiene practices among street food vendors in Ayensuano District Ghana

The study seeks to examine the knowledge level of food vendors on hygiene practices in Ayensuano District. Simple random sampling techniques were used in selecting one hundred and fifteen (115) respondents. Data were collected through interviews, using structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed by using SPSS and EXCEL to derive frequency and percentage tables since it involved qualitative data. Majority of the respondents 76.6% have been medically screened and issued with medical certificate of fitness to handle food for public consumption. The results also revealed that, 60% of the street food vendors were not aware of the existence of bye laws governing the sale of cooked foods. Few of the street food vendors 22.6% underwent some kind of training on food hygiene whilst 77.4% neither underwent any form of formal training in food preparation nor did they attempt to seek it. Less than half of the vendors 44% did not wear protective clothing whilst 57.4% did not wear headgears or caps, and 51.3% handled food with bare hands and this could lead to contamination of the foods. Majority of the street food vendors 86.1% used potable water as their source in preparation of food. Without enough water, hygiene and sanitary practices cannot be met. Although, the respondents indicated that the Environmental Health Personnel were doing well in health education, more was expected of them with regards to the enforcement of bye laws on food hygiene, and by prosecuting the recalcitrant. The Ayensuano District Assembly should resource the Environmental Health and Sanitation Unit and other institutions to enhance health and hygiene education for ready food vendors to prevent food contamination.

Source: UCC
Assessment of functional properties and nutritional composition of some cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) genotypes in Ghana

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is a widely consumed food crop and largely cultivated in the dry savanna region of Northern Ghana. However one of the major constraints to cowpea production in Ghana is parasitism by Striga gesnerioides given rise to poor yield, hence to solve this problem Striga-resistance cowpea recombinant inbred lines have been developed from IT97K-499-35 (Striga-resistant parent) x Apagbaala (susceptible parent). The current study determined the functional properties and nutritional compositions of seeds of four advanced genotypes (F8 progenies) derived from the cross and compared to the parental lines and a local check (GH3684) to assess their potential use in food and nutrition based on standard chemical analytical methods. There were significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) in the nutritional and functional properties among the new cowpea genotypes and their parents compared to the local check, GH3684. Water absorption capacities, oil absorption capacities, foaming capacities and swelling power of the new breeds varied between 1.57-1.67 g/g, 0.86-0.97 g/g, 17.89-21.68 ml and 2.77-3.23 g/g, respectively. There were high values for ash, fiber and carbohydrate with ranges 4.47-4.72%, 1.56-2.55% and 54.78-59.03%, respectively. Fat content varied between 1.17- 1.36%. Moisture and protein content ranged between 11.81-13.24% and 21.63-25.28%, respectively. The results indicate that the four new breeds of cowpea have appreciable nutritional composition and functional properties and therefore have great potential use in the food industry

Source: UCC
Assessment of fungal Propagules in some selected banking halls of the University of Cape Coast community, Ghana

The objective of this project work was to determine the level of fungal propagule contamination and identify specific species of the fungal propagule in some Banking Halls on the University of Cape Coast campus and its environs. Samples were collected in petri dishes containing Sabouraud dextrose agar (SDA), exposed to the top, middle and bottom parts of the banking halls. The results showed that in all the banks, the bottom part was the most contaminated, followed by the middle and the top being the least contaminated. Banks A, B, C and D recorded fungal loads of 11 cfu/ml, 67 cfu/ml, 58 cfu/ml and 75 cfu/ml respectively, which were in accordance to the sizes of the Banks. In all, six different fungal species were identified with varied percentage frequency of occurrence, which included: Aspergillus niger (30.81%), Aspergillus fumigatus (27.96%), Aspergillus flavus (23.70%), Fusarium chlamydosporum (8.06%), Rhizopus stolonifer (5.21%) and Penicillium spp. (4.27%). Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aspergillus niger were present in all the four Banks; Rhizopus stolonifer was present in Banks A, B and D; Fusarium chlamydosporum was also present in Banks B, C and D and Penicillium spp. was present in only Banks C and D. Preliminary study showed that out-door fungal concentration was high than all indoor values recorded and this was due to the exo-genal fungal out-door. P-value data was analyzed descriptively using graphic pad prism (version 5), one-way analysis of variance was used to determine significance where (p≤0.05) is significant whilst (p≥0.05) is not significant. Only in bank D was there a significant p value recorded for Fusarium chlamydosporum (p≤0.001). The research concluded that, there was fungal propagule in the Banking Halls, which poses health problems to their workers and patrons over a period of time

Source: UCC
Assessment of gender perspective on village savings and loans associations in the Akuapem North Municipality, Ghana

This study assessed the gender perspectives in Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) in the Akuapem-North Municipality of the Eastern Region of Ghana. This was based on the premise that since the formation of these community-based financial services in in 2009, though females form the majority of the membership, i.e. 70.7%, males who are rather in the minority have been dominating in the administration of the groups thereby enjoying most of the benefits at the detriment of the females. The methodology employed purposive, convenience and simple random sampling techniques to sample 7 VSLAs and 110 members (with 67.3% females and 32.7% males) out of a population 516 members from 15 VSLAs. The demographic characteristics of the respondents showed that majority of them i.e. 86.4% were in the productive working age of 18 to 59 years with most of them being Christians and married. The main findings were that although females accounted for 70.5% of the sample, their representation on the executives were only 57.1%. Also, whereas the men mostly occupied the most influential positions of president and secretary, the women were normally holding the lower treasurer and tellers’ posts. The major cause of these problems was found to be high female illiteracy and their lack of will to take up leadership positions in the presence of men. The main recommendations here are to encourage the illiterate women to be educated through non-formal education, sensitize the women to take up the presidency position of which education is not a critical requirement, form single-sex VSLAs, and getting all girls educated to forestall the problem in the future. Also financial literacy and business enterprise development training are recommended to ensure that women are able to utilize their capital very well for greater wealth to boost their confidence.

Source: UCC
Assessment of Gender Perspectives of the Ghana Forest investment Programme in the Western Region

Gender inequality is perceived to exist in forest management and initiatives such as GFIP. This study assessed men and women's participation in GFIP activities, effects on environment and livelihood, and challenges thereof and means of their livelihood alleviation in the Asankragwa Forest District. The study employed cross-sectional, descriptive and explanatory designs and a structured and semi-structured questionnaire for data collection. Data was collected from 130 respondents selected from eight communities within Wassa Amenfi Central District, Wassa Amenfi West District, and Upper Denkyira West District in the Asankragwa Forest District. Frequencies, percentages and the chi-square statistical tools were used to analyse the data obtained for the study. The results obtained indicate that both men and women play an active role in implementing GFIP modules except in sacred groove management and enrichment planting modules in which only males are involved. Also, five factors influenced respondents participation in GFIP but only “complementing farming” was significant (p = 0.04). GFIP aids environmental benefits such as, restoring degraded forest reserves, regulating water regimes, regulating climate, and sequestration of carbon emissions. On the livelihood benefits, GFIP provides job opportunities and financial assistance. Nevertheless, it was ascertained that some challenges such as limited working equipment and delay in payment of workers allowances affect both men and women participating in GFIP in the district. The study concludes that the Forestry Commission consciously engages more women in GFIP and addresses the challenges of delayed workers' allowances, delays in payment of seedlings supplied and low motivation.

Source: UCC
Assessment of genetic diversity of Dioscorea praehensilis (Berth.) collected from Central Region, Ghana using simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers

Dioscorea praehensilis Berth is one of the wild yam species resistance to many yam disease (yam anthracnose disease and yam mosaic virus) grow in Ghana especially in the cocoa grown regions of the country. It is a crucial crop that has been known to contribute to poverty reduction and food gap. Genetic diversity in this yam species has been discovered to be eroding and neglected. In this study we evaluated the genetic diversity among 43 D. praehensilis collected from Ghana using simple sequence repeat (SSR). Using 11 SSR marker, a total of 99 number of alleles were generated with an average of 8.48 alleles per locus. The mean gene diversity was 0.81, mean polymorphism information content was 0.82 while mean Shannon information index was 1.94. Principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed a contribution of 40.16% of the first three coordinate axes and grouped the 43 morphotypes into 2 groups while hierarchical cluster through UPGMA revealed the presence of 3 main clusters. Molecular variance (AMOVA) alongside the Fst revealed low genetic diversity and differentiation among accessions and population. Result of this study assess the genetic diversity and will facilitate the use D. praehensilis as sources of resistance gene into yam breeding program

Source: UCC
Assessment of genetic variations of Nile Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus L.) in the Volta Lake of Ghana using microsatellite markers

A study was conducted to investigate genetic diversity and population structure among populations of Nile tilapia Oreochromis niloticus (Cichlidae) in the Volta Lake of Ghana using microsatellite markers. Four hundred (400) fish specimens were obtained from nine naturally occurring subpopulations and one selectively bred strain, ‘Akosombo strain’. These were characterized using 15 microsatellite loci. Twelve of the loci were multi-allelic, producing 2 to 11 alleles per locus while the effective number of expected alleles (Ne) ranged from 2.030 to 2.855. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) were high ranging between 0.488 - 0.594 and 0.424 – 0.502, respectively. The Kpando-Toko populations had the highest variability (He = 0.502) whilst the Buipe population had the least variability (He = 0.424). Gene diversity based on locus ranged between 0.1638 and 0.8673 whilst the genetic differentiation between populations (FST) was 0.074 indicating moderate differentiation between the populations. However, there was very high genetic variation (93%) within individuals. Nei’s distance between the populations ranged between 0.011.and 0.133, whilst estimated overall gene flow (Nm) and Shannon Information Index were 8.265 and 0.822 respectively. The 10 populations studied formed two main clusters with the longest pairwise Nei’s genetic distance of 0.133 between the Dzemeni and Kete-Krachi populations.

Source: UCC
Assessment of Ghanaian senior high school students’ science process skills in optics.

This study was undertaken using performance-based instruments to assess science process skills of planning, performing and reasoning of senior high school physics students. The study had a sample of 225 male and female students from seven schools (i.e., single sex male; single sex female and mixed categories) offering general science in the Cape Coast Metropolis of the Central Region of Ghana. The study examined the levels of proficiencies of skills exhibited by students in the process skills of planning, performing and reasoning in Reflection and Refraction in Optics. The researcher adapted the instruments used in this study (Ossei Anto, 1996). The tasks were in two groups: Tasks A and Tasks B, each of three tasks of planning, performing and reasoning. The researcher scored the students tasks booklets. Quantitative data was collected using performance assessment technique of psychometric testing. Considering the three science process skills of planning, performing and reasoning, the most proficient skill exhibited by the students was reasoning, followed by planning and the least was performing tasks. With gender, the female elective physics students demonstrated the highest level of proficiency in the science process skills across all the tasks compared to males. With type of school, single sex female elective physics students exhibited the highest level of proficiency across all the tasks, followed by single sex boys, with mixed schools being least proficient. In the light of the findings of this study, a number of recommends were made. One of them is that, students in elective physics should be motivated to develop high proficiencies in laboratory activities using hands-on and minds-on skills of planning, performing and reasoning.

Source: UCC
Assessment of global environment facility biodiversity projects at Gomoa Okyereko and Gomoa Adam in the Central Region of Ghana

The biodiversity conservation projects that were implemented at Gomoa Okyereko and Gomoa Adam in Gomoa East and Gomoa West Districts in the Central Region were to conserve degraded forests in the two communities. The main problems had to do with using chemicals in hunting of wildlife, regular bush fires, pollution of water bodies, indiscriminate cutting of trees and frequent wind damages. This study therefore assessed the impact of the project intervention in the light of the problems and the objectives set before the implementation of projects and how they were able to solve or reduce the problems identified. Purposive sampling method was used to select the communities involved in the study. Proportionate allocation was done to each category of the target population to get the views of the people who were engaged in the various activities. Simple random sampling method was used to select the respondents. The allocated number to each stratum was subjected to the lottery technique until the required sample size was obtained. Data was analysed using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) version 17 for frequencies and percentages. The results revealed that there was an extensive awareness creation in all the participating and nearby communities on environmental conservation and the ecological training centre which was built has been abandoned. It was recommended that, the Okyereko Co-operative Afforestation Society and the Global Habitat for Homeless with the help of the sampled communities should develop their own demonstration and teaching farms to teach farmers since the agro-forestry demonstration farm was never done.

Source: UCC
Assessment of ground water quality status for the Tarkwa mining Municipality in Ghana

The present study assessed the water quality index (WQI) based on physicochemical analysis of twenty­six ground water sampling stations in the Tarkwa mining municipality in Ghana. In calculating the WQI, seven parameters were considered; pH, nitrate, sulphate, total dissolved solids, chemical oxygen demand, sulphates and turbidity. WQI values range from 100.36 (sampling station B10) to 4294 (sampling station B6). The mean WQI is 825.89 (i.e., 8 times more than the upper limit for potability). All of the groundwater samples exceeded 100, the upper limit for drinking water potability. The high value of WQI at these stations could be attributed to the higher values of total dissolved solids, and turbidity in the groundwater. Approximately 35% of the samples had WQI values which were up to 5 times or more than the threshold value of 100. Fifteen percent of groundwater samples had WQI values more than ten times the threshold for potability. Pearson correlation coefficients among selected water properties showed a number of strong associations. Turbidity correlated strongly with sulphates. Similarly, pH showed strong associations with EC, TDS and sulphates. Multivariate statistical (principal component and cluster) analysis suggest that the data is a three¬ component system that explains 72% of the total variance. The analysis reveals that the groundwater of this mining area needs some treatment before consumption, and it also needs to be mitigated against the risk of contamination

Source: UCC