ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Studies on Utilization of Decomposed Solid Waste Combined With Cow Dung and Poultry Manure for Urban Agriculture in the Tamale Metropolis

The main aim of the research was to explore how disposal and treatment of solid domestic waste impacts urban crop production by urban farmers in the Tamale Metropolis. The research focused on decomposed solid waste soils by urban farmers and on-farm trails with combination of soil amendments, cow dung and poultry manures. A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to gather data on the quantity of solid waste generated, methods used to collect and transport solid domestic waste. Decomposed solid waste was combined with the various soil amendments in the ratio of 1:1 used for cabbage cultivation. The soils were spread evenly on beds incorporated using hoe by tilling 30 days prior to transplanting cabbage seedlings to beds. A randomized complete block design with 4 replications of 5 treatments was used. Soil amendment treatments consisted of combinations of the following: decomposed solid waste soil with combination of poultry manure and cow dung. The parameters assessed to determine the impact of the various soil amendments on cabbage were weekly plant height for seven weeks and weights of cabbage heads at maturity. However, differences among the soil amendment treatments were not significant, but all soil amendment treatments resulted in significantly greater yields than the No input treatment. Significant differences in plant growth occurred beginning with week 2, and by week 7 plant growth differences among treatments paralleled trends in yield. Decomposed solid waste soils combined with cow dung and poultry manure resulted in depressed yields and plant growth as compared to the other treatments. Farmers formed the majority constituting sixty seven percent (67%). Respondents who lived in middle income areas formed majority with sixty seven percent (67%). Ninety-two (92) respondents representing twenty-four percent (24%) had availability of municipal cooperation dustbin while two hundred and ninety three (293) respondents representing seventy six percent (76%) had no access to municipal dustbin within 100 metres from their homes. The disposal of waste is done by both adults and children. One hundred thirty nine (139) respondents representing thirty six percent (36%) called for the provision of municipal cooperation waste bin. Thirty (30) respondents representing eight (8%) also called for residents to contribute by clearing bushes around homes. Seventy eight percent (78%) of respondent do not make financial contribution to the current waste collection systems. The study showed that one hundred and twelve (112) respondents representing forty four percent (44%) of the urban farmers use organic manure while seventy five (75) respondents representing twenty nine percent (29%) use inorganic fertilizers.

Source: KNUST
A study into challenges and sustenance of small scale contractors in Ghana. (A case study of Tamale Metropolis)

Construction sector industry plays very enormous function in the economy and its role is so crucial for the attainment of economic, social and infrastructural facilities such as shelter and employment for the teaming youth both educated and uneducated. However, the industry is bedeviled with a lot of challenges especially new entrants and small scale contractors who desires to grow their businesses in the industry. Many small scale contractors encounter a lot of challenges to sustain and grow their businesses, capacity is thus needed in managing the business of construction. The aim of this research is to examine main challenges and constraints facing small-scale contractors with regards to training needs, identify areas it needed, and appropriate methods of operations for small scale contractors in areas of construction business management. Literature reviewed on the subject indicated that the small-scale contractor’s business management is a topical one for both clients and contractors especially in developing economies. The methodology adopted was quantitative, questionnaire was distributed to 35 respondents who were small-scale contractors with D3K3 classification as well as their staff in the Tamale Metropolis and the data collected was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) to obtain the challenges and needs thus rank factors. It was concluded that Lack of knowledge in Cash flow, accounting operations and technical challenge factors was the main challenges. Whiles business environment factors ranked contracts not won on merit first. Again, absence of Cash flow management System in place was ranked first in financial management difficulties for small-scale contractors. The recommendations made were that, tendering activities should be done by trained professionals, periodic training for the small scale contractor was also found to be necessary.

Source: KNUST
A study into public procurement procedures in Colleges of Education in Ghana

Procurement procedures, methods and processes are prescribed in the Public Procurement Law for the use by Public Procurement Entities and the selection of a process is supported on the total amount concerned and the immediate conditions of the Procurement. Procurement is part of the fiscal policy directed towards achieving effective and efficient public financial management and national development. The main aim of this research is to evaluate a study into Public Procurement procedures in Colleges of Education in Ghana. An initial review of relevant literature was carried out and survey using the structured questionnaire approach to conduct the survey about the ideas of staff into procurement activities; two (2) Principal, twelve (12) procurement entity tender committee members, four (4) Tutors, two (2) Finance officers, five (5) other Staff of the two selected Colleges of Education (St. Francis and Jasikan Colleges of Education) in Volta Region. The study has revealed that preparation of annual procurement plans is very important. However, the study found that the percentage difference between those who said that procurement plans are prepared is just 12%, so taking the difference into account; the Colleges of Education have been preparing annual procurement plans. It has also been revealed by the respondents that appropriate procurement methods are applied in their institutions. This will in turn help in eliminating some operational errors in procurement activities. Thus, majority of the respondents intimated that National Competitive Tendering (NCT) method is what is mostly and effectively used in their institutions. The primary challenges this survey discovered was that there was no transparency in the procurement procedures. Another challenge revealed by the study was that the tenure of the tender evaluation panel was more of permanent rather than it been an ad hoc as specified by PPA Law. There should be a review of the procurement policies for public procurement procedures so that the Colleges of Education and public institutions would be able to achieve value for money, accountability, transparency and also help to minimize over spending of stakeholders’ resources. The study is recommending that a strategy on procurement procedures is to be set out as a key issues and principles which would help to modernize procurement agenda and outlines support available for implementation throughout Colleges of Education in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
A study into the impact of the architect’s site instructions on construction project delivery in Ghana - perspective of the contractor

Deficiencies in construction drawings, unexpected site conditions, client requests etc. enable the architect to sometimes make modifications during the construction process through Architect’s Site Instructions (ASI) based on authority he derives from the contract. However, this existing practice of delivering instructions to contractors appears to often fall short of effectively communicating the information necessary to get works executed. This research was a study into how such instructions impacted on the delivery of construction projects based on the following objectives namely; to identify the prevalence of the architect’s site instructions (ASI) on construction projects in Ghana, to identify the factors that determine the effectiveness of ASI when issued to contractors, to find out the various bottlenecks that may hinder the administration of ASI, to find out how ASI affect construction project delivery in Ghana and to suggest recommendations to improve its effectiveness. Purposive sampling method was used to identify participants for the study based on extensive literature review resulting in 128 questionnaires being sent out and a response rate of 54.7% obtained. The instruction to vary works was the most common, complexity of works was the most predominant factor which influenced its administration, verbal instruction was the most predominant medium and the strongest bottleneck was found to be the clarity of instructions. The ASI in its present form adversely impacted on construction project delivery and led to cost and time overruns as was established by the findings. Simplification and greater detailing of designs and contract documents, regular organization of pre-construction training / orientation of contractors, uniformity in instructions, introduction of instruction tracking mechanism and fast tracking of approval processes for change orders were among some of the recommendations suggested.

Source: KNUST
A Study into the Motivation of National Service Personnel in the Atiwa District

The study explain how National Service Personnel in the Atiwa District are motivated to give of their best for National development by examine the types of motivational packages available, and determine the motivational packages service personnel preferred the district director to offer them and the problems associated with motivating the service personnel. A descriptive design using the survey methods was used to collect data from 154 service personnel using the stratified sampling methods. The major findings of the study are that there are various motivational packages available to the service personnel in the Atiwa district and they include visits by the District Director, regular allowance and award of national service certificate in recognition of rendering service to the nation. The most preferred motivational packages of service personnel are the provision of accommodation and posting of personnel to institution related to their study. Major recognitions include provision of accommodation for the service personnel especially those in the rural communities and provision of adequate budgetary allocation to motivate service personnel at the end of the service period.

Source: KNUST
A Study of Access to Maternal Health Services in the Fanteakwa District

The main objective of the study is to determine the reason(s) underlying the low utilization of health care services by pregnant women in the Fanteakwa district. This study accessed maternal health services in the Fanteakwa district. This study was motivated by the perception that access to maternal health in the Fanteakwa district is low and as a result supervised deliveries are also low leading to high maternal death in the study area. The study was carried out with the aim of determining the causes of late access lf maternal health care, and also analyze strategies to improve access to maternal health care and determine the trends in birth attended to by skilled trained health personnel over the past 5 years. The main design for the study is the descriptive method, which employed the quantitative method of data collection and analysis. The two main sources of data was used for the study. The questionnaire was used to collect the primary data, while secondary data was collected foe the trend studies. A total of 540 expectant mothers were used for the study and were drawn proportionally from 2 randomly selected communities in the Fanteakwa district using the cluster sampling method where each selected community was classified as a group from which the sample was drawn. Data collected was represented using tables and chart and analyzed using percentages. A major finding of the study is that the main cause of late access to maternal health care is financial constraints of expectant mothers and the use of TBAs (Traditional Birth Attendants) and herbalists for maternal health services. It is therefore being recommended that there should be Improvement in income levels in general in the study area, and also public education should be intensified on the dangers of using non-skilled health providers for maternal health services.

Source: KNUST
A study into the effect of total quality management practices on customer satisfaction by a consortium - a case study of ABP Consult

The study investigated the relationship between total quality management (TQM) and customer service in the construction industry. The study sought to identify ways of incorporating of TQM in consortium practices, identify ways of incorporating customer service considerations in the Ghanaian construction sector, then find out the relationship between TQM and customer satisfaction in the Ghanaian construction sector and the challenges involved in the incorporation of TQM and customer service in consortium. The study was adopted as a quantitative approach using ABP Consult as the case study. The study selected 52 out of the 107 workers for the purposes of data gathering. Data gathered were analysed using mean, frequency, percentages and regression. The analysis of data in the study revealed that the consortium has incorporated TQM into their operations but have not adopted any specific TQM method. This means these organizations incorporate the aspects of International Standard Organization (ISO) model, the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) Model and the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) Model since some respondents‟ identified these models to reign some aspects of their operations. The incorporation has improved the efficiency of employees as well as assisted in aligning company‟s goals with individual goals. A regression and a correlation analysis confirmed a positive relationship between TQM and customer satisfaction. It was further found that consortium face challenges in incorporating TQM construction work, incorporating customer service in construction work and finally in incorporating TQM in customer service offering of consortia. Some of the specific challenges faced included lack of management co-operation, lack of employee buy-in and shorter timeframe within which to implement the TQM propositions. The study, in the light of the findings made, recommended the sustenance of an eclectic application of TQM among consortia. Also, consulting need firms to have indicators or indices for measuring their TQM performance in order to assess if its incorporation has been successful or not and the specific application of TQM principles need to be monitored on a constant basis

Source: KNUST
A study of advance payment (mobilzation fund) in the construction industry in Ghana: A case study of the Ghana education trust fund (GETFUND) projects

The study aimed at assessing the effects of advance mobilization loan to contractors on construction product delivery in Ghana. With this aim, three (3) objectives were set which were to identify the available source of capital for construction firms, to identify the effects of mobilization advance payment on the contractor and to identify the problems associated with advance mobilization. Establishing the objectives led to the extensive review of literature and subsequently, developing a structured interview guide to aid in the collection of data from the respondents. Ten (10) construction firms were interviewed which comprised of five (5) contractors who have worked or are working on a GETFund project with advance mobilization and five (5) contractors have worked or are working on a GETFund project without advance mobilization. Their responses were analyzed using the content analysis. With the first objective, the respondents were asked to discuss the sources of finance available for a contractor if not given mobilization. The findings of the first objective was that, the source of working capital for contractors is bank borrowing whiles a few indicated trade credits. However, most of the respondents spoke of trade credits as another major source finance to proceed with the work delivery after bank loans. With the second objectives, the respondents were asked to discuss the effects of mobilization advance payment to the contractor and the effect of no mobilization to a contractor on GETFund projects. The findings of the second objective was that, advance mobilization quickens the work delivery process, free interest loan and the flexible repayment schedules and how it affects their cashflow. With the third objective, the respondents were asked to discuss some of the problems associated with advance mobilization on GetFund projects. The findings of the third objective was that, the problems of given mobilization are the tendency of misuse of the funds and the cost to client for giving the mobilization. However, the first category of respondents added to the list by stating that, it is very difficult for them to obtain a guarantee for the advance mobilization loan. With these findings, it was recommended that, clients should strive to make mobilization advance payment available and easily accessible to contractors to enhance their project delivery performance and save them the burden of relying on banks for working capital with high charges which may affect the overall cost of the project and the clients should implement proper contract administration techniques to prevent misuse of mobilization advance payments given to the contractor

Source: KNUST
The Study of Alternative Chemical Stabilization of Clays with Agricultural Waste Materials for Rural Housing

The stabilization of clay for improved structural properties was investigated using the Afari and Mfensi clays. Geotechnical chemical and phase analytical methods were used to characterize both the raw and treated clays. For stabilization, lime, cocoa pod husk ash (CPA) and oil palm empty bunch ash (PBA) were used. The linear and volumetric drying shrinkages, dry and wet compressive strength and water absorption of the samples were investigated. Some of the samples were kept in the open for two years for durability test. Results showed that plasticity, percentage linear and volumetric drying shrinkages were reduced on the addition of the additives. There was an increase in compressive strength of the treated samples with lime, CPA and PBA as additives. Among these three stabilizers tested, the lime plus CPA and lime plus PBA showed good durability behaviour. A maximum compressive strength of 5.85 N/mm2 was obtained from treated test pieces made with Mfensi clay (75%) plus lime (10%) and CPA (15%). Minimum water absorption values of 27.75% and 17.78% were also obtained for the treated test pieces made with Afari clay (70%) plus lime (15%) and CPA (15%) and Mfensi clay (65%) plus lime (15%) and CPA (20%) respectively. Test pieces treated with the lime plus CPA and lime plus PBA as additives did not disintegrate after 28-day of soaking in water. XRD analysis showed that improvement in structural properties of the clays was due to the conversion of part of lime to calcium carbonate (Calcite, which helped in binding the clay particles together. Additionally, other components of the additives, such as potassium hydroxide entered into reaction with some of the components of the clays as muscovite, silica and kaolinite to produce cementitious material.

Source: KNUST
A Study into the Implementation of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy in Ghana- Case Study Obuasi Municipal Assembly, Ashanti Region.

The adoption and implementation of Public Private Partnership (PPP) policy in Ghana is an important shift by the government in addressing the gap for the provision of infrastructure development in the country. In doing this, there is an effort from the government in partnering the private sector in the implementation of this policy. Ministries, Agencies, MMDA’s have all followed same using this policy to elevate the growth in infrastructure development within their domains. The study investigated into the implementation of the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Policy in Ghana using Obuasi Municipal Assembly (OMA) as a case study zone. This addresses the objective of the study such as identifying the current state of implementation of Public Private Partnership (PPP), investigating the reasons for implementing Public Private Partnership (PPP) and to identify the potential Public Private Partnership (PPP) opportunities for the Obuasi Municipality. The study made use of an interview guide as a means of gathering information for the whole study. A total number of thirty (30) questionnaires were distributed and all were received and used for the analysis. An expert interview was also conducted amongst professionals with experience and knowledge in the implementation of the PPP policy. All received information were analysed with the use of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 22. The findings revealed that the most popular form of PPP used in the municipality was the Build Operate Transfer (BOT). Opportunities exist for financiers in the form of investment; the community in the form of employment and the enjoyment of various social amenities like hospitals, commercial stores, KVIP’s, market and among others. In conclusion, the research recommends a routine public education on the PPP policy, proper documentations of all arrangements and a universal reform for its implementation to help in the country’s growth.

Source: KNUST
A study of decision making processes with regard to discipline in senior secondary schools: a case study in the Tano North District

The study looked into the decision making processes with regard to discipline in senior secondary schools using Tano North District as a case study. In all the schools, 100 and 44 respondents were sampled using the stratified and purposive sampling techniques. The research instruments for the study were questionnaire and interviews. An attempt was made to find out the extent of seriousness and how often acts of student indiscipline occur in the schools. Again, the researcher tried to find out how often heads of school follow the steps in the decision making processes on acts of student indiscipline in the schools. The research revealed that there are some indisciplinary acts in the schools that were serious and keep on occurring in the schools. There are students who run away to town, absent themselves from classes and cheat in examinations. Again, heads of school have been following the steps in the decision making processes on acts of student indiscipline in the schools. It also revealed that heads of school do involve teachers and students in decision making processes on acts of student indiscipline. It is recommended that heads of school should enforce the Ghana Education Service code of discipline for senior secondary schools but in some situations, they have to be allowed to use their own discretion to decide the type of punishments they mete out to the students. The heads of school should ensure that teachers and students are fully involved in the decision making processes with regard to discipline in the schools.

Source: KNUST