ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Skills development for preparing teaching and learning materials at Offinso College of Education

This was an action research essentially aimed at empowering student-teachers at Offinso College of Education where the researcher works as an art tutor to acquire basic skills in preparing teaching and learning materials relevant to teaching subjects in Basic School. The researcher identified the lack of skills among student-teachers to produce their own TLMs during their off-campus and on-campus teaching practice and this resulted in teaching of abstract lessons, misunderstanding of concepts and ineffective learning. It was a qualitative research with some elements of quantitative that was supported with focus group interview, participatory observation as research instruments. The Convenient and Purposive Sampling techniques were used to select the sampled population. The researcher adopted student-centered approach and activity method to expose Student-teachers to the various techniques used in Drawing, Painting, Lettering, Improvisation and construction and assemblage. The activities were guided with a detailed and well prepared lesson plan and lasted for eight (8) weeks after which the TLMs were tested in two of the schools where some student-teachers did their off-campus teaching practice. Finally, it was recommended that, all stakeholders have a part to play. The total contributions of key players in education is a sure way of improving our educational system. Teacher Education Division (TED) of Ghana Education Service (GES) should consider reintroduction of “Preparation of Teaching Learning materials” a course that was previously designed and studied by all teacher trainees in Colleges of Education in Ghana. The Teacher Education Division of Ghana Education Service must include practical lessons on teaching and learning materials in the Principles and Methods of teaching the various elective subjects. Ghana Education Service must organize a frequent in-Service training, and workshops for tutors in the colleges of education to help them improve on their expertise.

Source: KNUST
Siting of water borehole at Tamale Islamic senior high school using the absolute 1-centre problem

This thesis seeks to model the location of water borehole at Tamale Islamic Senior High School in the Tamale Metropolis. The Absolute 1-centre algorithm is used to identify the optimal water borehole location at Tamale Islamic Senior High School. The Absolute 1-centre problem seeks to minimize the maximum weighted distance necessary for both students and masters to access the water borehole facility. We focus on the residence of masters and students and other places of importance in the school. We collected data on the road distances between the structures in the school and developed it into a network. We compute the matrix of shortest paths for all pairs of nodes using the Floyd Warshall Algorithm from which the vertex centre was found. The local centre for each edge of the network developed was computed and the least of all the local centres was compared to the vertex centre. The solution to the Absolute 1-centre problem was obtained by locating the vertex centre to be node A (school administration) with cost 353metres.The local centre was also found to be 25m from node A and 228m from node B (Boys dormitory) with a cost of 340m.Since the local centre had a least cost compared to the vertex centre, it is taken as the absolute centre of the network.

Source: KNUST
Slope stability analysis at pit 2 of Ghanaian Australian Goldfields Ltd (GAG)

The Iduapriem mine of the Ghanaian Australian Goldfields Limited (GAG), 10 km southwest of Tarkwa and some 60 km north of the port city of Takoradi in the Western Region of Ghana, is engaged in the mining of low grade gold ores hosted in conglomerates, in open pit operations. Ore grade gold mineralization occurs within five specific areas namely Block 1, Block 2, Block 3, Block 4, and Block 5 (Northern Hills). These have ore zones named A, B, C, and D constituting the Banket Reef Zone. The depth of weathering extends to 15m below surface for Block 1 but shallower in the remaining blocks. At Pit 2 (Block 2) mining operations started at approximately 500m RL and would continue to about 330m RL according to the final pit design considerations. However at the present stage of 474m RL, some micro slope failures have been encountered in the northern (hanging) wall, an indication that the average minimum resistance of the rocks must have been overtaxed. Detailed geologic structural mapping using scanlines and subsequent analysis of the data indicate the presence of four discontinuity sets for Blocks 2 and 3, which both actually constitute one block. Furthermore, the predominant failure mode likely to occur is that of wedge with an isolated case of plane failure. Two rock types, quartzite and dyke to a lesser extent make up the waste rock with the former having strength parameters lower than the latter. Factors of safety computed for the northern wall, though greater than unity were generally lower than most sections of the pit. However it is concluded that the benches will be stable for mining to proceed to the proposed depth.

Source: KNUST
Slum Improvement in Ghana: The Study of Aboabo and Asawase in Kumasi

Urbanization in the world has left much to be desired as slum dwellers are trapped in poverty, insecurity, deplorable housing conditions, inadequate provision of water, electrification and sanitation, poor health and education and low productivity (Jennervik, 2006). These conditions are as a result of the failure in existing urban, social and economic development policies. Governments are therefore challenged in addressing the issue of slum development and their further expansion. The growing incidence of slums has thus, resulted in new policies, programs and strategies by city authorities to improve the living conditions of slum dwellers. The main objective of the study which focused on Aboabo and Asawase (the first estate to be built in Kumasi around 1947) in Kumasi was to analyze the nature, magnitude and the growth dynamics of selected slums in the metropolis and to come out with recommendations on how to improve slum conditions. The study employed the cross sectional research design in which the case study method was used. The research made use of the participatory approach in order to have diverse views on the research topic. The study observed that, the conditions in the study communities had deteriorated considerably leading to poor sanitation, encroachment on the land, poor housing and low income generating activities. It was further established that, although some attempts had been made to upgrade the communities, programmes and project were biased towards improvement in infrastructure services and gave less attention to housing development and income generating activities. This was attributed to the fact that the projects and programmes were not holistic and also lacked proper coordination. iii As a remedy to reduce further slum expansions and formation in the study areas and the metropolis, it is recommended that, at the local level, the Kumasi Metropolitan Planning Unit as lead organization supported by other departments should develop holistic slum improvement packages and generate enough revenue for their smooth implementation. Local level efforts should be supported with national level decentralization of development programmes and projects to the less endowed regions especially the Northern and Upper regions to help reduce rural-urban drift. The proposed recommendations will help improve slum conditions in Ghana and the world at large.

Source: KNUST
Slum development: nature, uses and users

This research sought to assess the nature (socio-economic and accommodation characteristics) of slums in the Accra Metropolitan Area. The target population for the research comprised all slum dwellers located in Ashaiman and Old Fadama and officials of the Ashaiman Municipal Assembly (ASHMA). The study was conducted with a quantitative method, executed through questionnaires, which are handed out to one hundred and fifty (150) respondents. Findings showed that most slums housing units are semi-permanent structures that are built from mostly wooden materials with aluminum roofings and other salvaged materials. Furthermore, the study shows that northerners form the majority of regional blocks of people dwelling the sampled slums. Also, the study shows that slums and slum dwellers in Ghana are marginalized and ostracized from the urban society. Lastly, the study shows that slum dwellers face such challenges as unavailability of a road network in the slums, unavailability of pipe-borne water, inaccessibility to stable electricity and poor sanitation amongst others. The study therefore recommends that government relocates slum dwellers into some form of affordable housing units to enable developers use their lands for other developmental agendas or intervenes in the provision of water, roads and electricity to augment the standard of living of slum dwellers and improve their daily lives. The study also recommends that government provides for slum dwellings schools and other educational facilities close to the slums so that children of slum dwellers can also have access to education so as to break the cycle of illiteracy and poverty. Lastly, the study recommends that government in league with financial institutions develop financial packages for slum dwellers in order to provide them with access to capital for small scale businesses.

Source: KNUST
Small scale agro-based industries for community development: a case study of Asunafo South District

Sandcrete blocks are prismatic units manufactured from lean (sand-cement) mortar mixes and are the predominant walling materials used in buildings in Ghana and other developing countries. Although the blocks are preferred to other similar walling materials such as bricks and concrete blocks due to the availability of the dominant material (sand) in the country and the ease of manufacture, the material is known to have several drawbacks: it has a low compressive strength which could be a factor for structural failure in buildings. Apart from the compressive strength, little is known about the other strength and permeation properties of the material. Thirdly, little research has been conducted into the influence of water-cement ratio which is known to wield a strong influence on the strength and permeation properties of cementitious materials. On the basis of a thorough review of the literature, a detailed experimental programme was designed and carried out in Ghana and the United Kingdom on the factors that influence the strength and permeation properties of the material using over 10 destructive, partially destructive and non-destructive test methods. Over 1500 sandcrete blocks were moulded and tested. The literature review also indicated that lack of quality control in the Ghanaian sandcrete blocks manufacturing industry account for the poor quality of the material in the country. The results of the experimental programme indicate that with the right constituent materials, manufacturing and curing processes, it is possible to improve the compressive strength of sandcrete blocks to over 7.0 N/mm2 with a lean mix of 1:12 cement/sand ratio. The compressive strength of the material was found to have a strong relationship with other strength properties of the material and could therefore be used as the main criterion for determining its quality. The inclusion of quarry dust and coarse aggregate significantly improved the strength and permeation properties of the blocks. Compared with normal concrete, sandcrete was found to have a relatively high permeability. Through this study, a data base on several strength and permeation properties has been developed which can assist engineers to estimate these properties. Finally recommendations were made on ways of improving the quality of sandcrete blocks in the country.

Source: KNUST
Small Scale Irrigation Schemes for Sustainable Dry Season Farming in the Kassena-Nankana District

Small scale irrigation farming is one definite way of arresting the redundancy of the labour force in the long dry season in the Kassena-Nankana District. Most especially, it is an important strategy of addressing the growing poverty situation in the District in the face of the increasingly erratic and unreliable nature of rains in this ecological zone. For this reason, dry season farming is now a major livelihood strategy for the people, very much unlike the recent past when it was seen as an engagement for leisure. However, these small scale irrigation schemes are beset with numerous difficulties, notable among them being inadequate water supply for farming. This is also the cumulative effect of such other problems with ownership, management, operations and maintenance of the schemes among others; which raises questions about the sustainability of dry season farming as a livelihood strategy. The study sought to ascertain the nature of ownership and management of the small scale irrigation schemes, and their operational and maintenance practices. It is the view of the study that these issues are fundamental for the continued existence and operations of small scale irrigation schemes. The study employed both quantitative and qualitative tools of data collection. Such tools include focus group discussions, interviews and observations. In all cases, the data shows that the reservoir water is being used for domestic purposes, livestock consumption, fishing, and above all for dry season farming. The ownership and management of these schemes rests with the beneficiaries who are also in charge of maintenance of the schemes. Together, the beneficiaries have formed Water Users Associations (WUAs) with executives who are entrusted with the day-to-day running of the schemes. All the individual WUAs have come together to form a District Water Users Association (DWUA) to coordinate their activities and also build capacity. Maintenance in all the schemes is not satisfactory, even though they acknowledge that it is the responsibility of the WUAs. Payment of water user levies by farmers is another challenge facing the schemes and the most echoed difficulty is the silting of the reservoirs in almost all schemes. For this reason some schemes had to cease operations because of inadequate water. To address these challenges, it is imperative that efforts are made to rehabilitate and especially de-silt the dams. Fanner associations also need to be given additional training in the management of their associations to ensure trust. A lot more education by the Irrigation Development Authority (IDA) and the District Agriculture Development Unit (DADU) on practices that have negative effects on the reservoirs, good irrigation practices and maintenance activities to protect the dams is advised. Even though, beneficiary management may face challenges at the onset, it is hoped that it would bring about the success of small scale irrigation schemes as has happened elsewhere, thereby ensuring sustainable dry season farming.

Source: KNUST
Smallholder farmers’ mitigation of and adaptation to climate change and climate variability in the Bosomtwe District of Ashanti Region, Ghana.

Agriculture has provided humanity with food and other resources necessary for human development since time immemorial and is the backbone of many developing economies. Recent patterns of anthropogenic induced greenhouse effect is however posing a threat to this role. In the Bosomtwe District, known micro-climatic trends for agricultural activities have become inconsistent and unpredictable, with consequential effects on productive agricultural engagement. This study therefore examined smallholder farmers’ adaptation to climate change and the potential for agricultural based climate change mitigation through Reduced Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation with forest conservation and sustainable management (REDD+) and Land Use Change (LUC) in the Bosomtwe District of Ashanti Region. Primary data was acquired through interviews and questionnaire administration to key informants and 152 smallholder farmers respectively who were selected from twelve communities in the study area. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and Excel software were used to analyze the quantitative data while content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The study rejected the null hypotheses that there is no significant relationship between annual average temperature and quantity of maize produced. Results revealed that 93% of smallholder farmers in the Bosomtwe District have adapted to climate change. Also 93% of respondents are still considering other sources of livelihood activities other than agriculture which is the primary occupation. Majority (64%) of them are willing to undertake REDD+ mechanisms as avenues for benefits and conservation of carbon stocks in trees. Although the pattern of land use change is constraining farmers’ ability to adapt to climate variability and climate change, land use change is not climate induced. It is recommended that the Ministry of Agriculture policies be directed towards streamlining autonomous adaptation, securing farmers livelihood and harnessing local potential through a participatory approach for the effective mitigation and adaptation to climate change at the community level.

Source: KNUST
Smallholder Irrigation Technology in Ghana: adoption and profitability analysis

Irrigation development is very critical to the development of the agricultural sector this is because it will ensure food security as farmers will be able to crop more than twice a year, which will improve yields and reduce rural poverty by creating rural employment which will help by ensuring yearlong agricultural production. This study examines the factors which influence the adoption of smallholder irrigation technologies in Ghana and their profitability. Data for the study was collected from January to March, 2011 in three well known irrigation districts namely the Keta municipality, Kasena Nankana East district and the Akuapem South municipality. The Probit model was employed to examine the probability of adopting either the ground water motor pump, ground water manual or the surface water motor pump irrigation systems. Gross margin analysis was also performed to determine the most profitable of the systems practiced. From the results, ground water motor pump irrigation was found to be the most profitable of the systems. The implicit wages of family labour for the smallholders under the different irrigation systems were derived so production functions were estimated. The empirical results show that surface water motor pump irrigators earn the highest implicit wages for family labour. Empirical results for the Probit model indicate that household size and association with farmer-based organization have significant impacts on the probability of adopting groundwater manual pump irrigation whilst farm size and extension contact had negative impacts. The probability to adopt groundwater motor pump irrigation is positively influenced by education farm size, land tenure, household size and gender whilst extension contact, experience and association have a negative effect. For surface water motor pump irrigators, farm size and extension had a positive and significant influence on adoption while land tenure and association negatively influenced adoption. In order to promote smallholder irrigation in Ghana the knowledge of farmers in the existing irrigation technologies must be facilitated through frequent participation in workshops, training programs. Farmers must also be helped to get the best out of their pumps by being trained on pump selection and maintenance, crop selection and agronomic practices, the handling of crops after harvest and marketing of produce. Financial institutions should also provide access to affordable loans on reasonable terms to farmers to enable them improve their operations

Source: KNUST
Small scale mining of precious minerals in Ghana - a strategy to improve environmental performance

In Ghana small scale mining of precious minerals, such as gold and diamond, has increasingly received emphasis in the mining literature from the perspective of both its growing contribution to the annual output of the minerals and employment. A significant number of people are engaged in the sector and will continue to grow in the foreseeable future. This thesis gives an overview of the present state of the small scale mining industry in Ghana pointing out the main aspects of mining. The environmental problems identified to have been created by small scale mining of precious minerals in Ghana, considering the numerous small mines, both legal and illegal, are discussed. These include gaseous emissions, dust, noise, water pollution, forest degradation and social problems. The thesis analyzes some environmental aspects of the small scale mining affecting Ghana considering the numerous mines scattered throughout the country. It attempts to assess their impacts on the communities around them. Strategies, which could be adopted to minimize the environmental impacts, are outlined.

Source: KNUST
Smart metering data intergrity infrastructure for utility grid management systems

The demand management side of the utility power system has evolved with some levels of communication processes and procedures between the consumers and providers. Sharing of data in terms of energy consumption data used in billing consumers have been done manually through meter reading agents with their share of discrepancies being recorded in the process. The providers had to introduce another type of metering system which requires that data and its related information are processed and submitted by the meters automatically and remotely. Based on the experienced with the conventional metering system of reading meters, we realised and proposed the involvement of the public utility regulator in this process of energy consumption data being shared between the stakeholders to assist in the validation of consumption data used prior to billing consumers in order to forestall these conflicting issues arising after submission of bills by utility providers. Field data taken from the BTSs confirmed the level of disparities in both data used for billing by the utility provider as against the data from the consumer’s premises.MATLAB Simulink model was used to investigate and eliminate toally the disparities which were realised during the field data collection.The Virtual Machine Toolbox was also used to practically established the level of feasibility and viability of the model by ensuring a machine-to-machine communication system between the provider and the regulator so that manual interventions will be absolutely negligible in this process since its purpose is the establishment of trust and integrity among stakeholders. The results obtained during the tests showed that it is possible to achieve very high level of data error elimination in the billing system within the demand side management system.

Source: KNUST