ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Sustainable building practice assessment tool for Ghana

The built environment uses large amounts of scarce resources and contributes significantly to the production of global emissions and waste. It is of importance to adopt sustainable means to curb the dire consequences of the built environment. The purpose of this research is to analyze the existing sustainable building assessment tools and develop one for the Ghanaian construction industry. The study employed the mixed research method approach including literature review, and questionnaire survey. Data collected were analyzed using mean score, frequencies and relative importance index (RII) ranking and analytic hierarchy process method (AHP). The results of the study revealed that policies backing sustainable building construction in Ghana is inadequate and scattered around many departments and agencies and that the practice is likely to flourish to make the needed impact if it is backed by government in a centralized manner to guide the practice. It was also revealed that sustainable building practice can be fully embraced if the legislation backing it makes it mandatory for at least some forms of buildings especially in the city centers. It was also found that the absence of direction and uniformity in government strategy frameworks hinders the development of sustainable building constructions in the country. From the study it was also observed that most of the practitioners in Ghana did not know the exact name and functions of the existing rating tools. Most of them cited its complexity and the fact that it wasn‘t designed for the use in the conditions of Ghana as the reason of its inefficiency and ineffectiveness. Finally, based on careful study and review of existing rating tools used globally, this work developed a rating tool ―Green Rating & Measurement System for Ghana‖ (GRMSG). The study recommended for existing policy guiding sustainable practice in Ghana to be amended and centralized in a single body for effective monitoring and supervision and further recommends that Ghana adopts the new rating tool developed in the study.

Source: UEW
Sustainable construction industry in Ghana focusing on recycle and re-use potentials of waste materials

The judicious control and management of construction waste has been a clarion call for stakeholders in the construction industry of Ghana. Construction materials reuse and recycling has not gained popularity in the Ghanaian construction industry. The study sought to examine sustainable construction practices in Ghana, focusing on recycle and reuse potentials of waste materials using Ashanti and Greater Accra Regions as the study areas. A sample size of 184 contractors were selected from the two regions using stratified sampling technique out of which 129 responded. Questionnaire and interview were used as the main data collection tools for the study. The results of the study were analysed using descriptive statistics like mean scores, relative importance index and rankings. Lack of frequent visits by EPA, AMA and KMA to construction sites have not improved compliance of environmental safety practices. Lack of expertise, resource and poor awareness creation on construction materials reuse and recycling had led to its poor practices. Materials such as wood, metals, tiles, plastics and papers were not adequately utilized on site due to some contractors poor knowledge on reuse and recycling coupled with lack of financial capacity engage in recycling. Failure of both private and public companies to venture into construction waste recycling has led to its poor practices by most contractors in the two regions. It is imperative for effective awareness creation on construction materials reuse and recycling and government must put in place policies that encourage construction firms to manage their waste effectively. The right habit should be cultivated by both workers and the public towards environmental sustainability and safety.

Source: UEW
Sustainable investment and cost efficiency of banks in sub-Saharan African countries, the role of bank stability

Sustainable investment (ESG) factors are increasingly analyzed to identify the potential benefit o of banksbanks’ cost efficiency. The banking sector influences the whole economy through the credit channel and balances its stability. The interplay of these elements motivated the main objective of the study to examine the effect of a bank’s sustainable investment on the cost efficiency of banks and the role of banking sector stability in this relationship. Using panel data from 25 countries in sub sub-Saharan Africa over the period 2010 to 2017, the study used stochastic frontier analysis to estimate the cost efficiency scores, then the study used GMM to establish the effect sustainable investment has on cost efficiency and the influence of bank stability in this effect. The findings indicate indicated that the cost efficiency of banks in sub sub-Sahar an African countries is at least 70%. Environmental projects negatively impact cost efficiency in banks, while socially responsible banks have no impact. Governance factors improve efficiency in sub sub-Saharan African banks. Environmentally friendly banks are less risky and stable, enhancing efficiency. Socially responsible banks' cost efficiency is not influenced by bank stability, and governance factors positively impact cost efficiency but independent of bank stability. It was recommended that banks should improve their cost efficiency by identifying areas where they can reduce costs by up to 30%. Banks should invest more into social and governance projects and also in environment project projects as it enhances the stability of banks while improving their cost eff iciencyiciency.

Source: UEW
Sustainable procurement adoption and sustainable performance the role of isomorphic pressures

The study examined the relationship between isomorphic pressures, sustainable procurement adoption and performance of public entities in Ghana. The study used an explanatory research design and a quantitative research approach. Relying on institutional and stakeholder theories, data from 307 public entities were gathered using structured questionnaires and analysed with frequencies, means, standard deviation, partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Simple random sampling technique was used to determine the sample size. The study proved that isomorphic (coercive, normative and mimetic) pressures influenced sustainable public procurement adoption. Similarly, sustainable procurement adoption mediated the relationship between isomorphic pressures and sustainable performance. The study recommended that institutional regulatory bodies like the Public Procurement Authority of Ghana should spearhead the sustainable operations of public procurement. The findings of the study proved that isomorphic pressures (normative, coercive and mimetic pressures) have a positive and significant effect on sustainable procurement adoption in Ghana. All the three hypotheses were supported. The second objective sought to examine the effect of sustainable procurement adoption on sustainable performance in Ghana. One hypothesis was formulated and tested at the end of the analysis, proving that sustainable public procurement adoption significantly influences sustainable performance.The third objective assessed the mediating role of sustainable procurement adoption in the relationship between isomorphic pressures (coercive, normative, mimetic) and sustainable performance.

Source: UEW
Sustainable procurement practices and sustainable performance the role of regulations

In the face of escalating environmental concerns and the imperative for responsible corporate behaviour, organizations are increasingly turning their attention to sustainable procurement practices as a pivotal component of their business strategies. This study investigates the intricate relationship between sustainable procurement practices and their impact on sustainable performance. Furthermore, the research explores the moderating role of regulations in shaping the effectiveness of these sustainable procurement practices. Drawing on a comprehensive review of the existing theories (institutional theory) and literature, this research identifies the multifaceted dimensions of sustainable procurement practices and their potential influence on sustainable performance. The study also delves into the moderating role of regulations in the relationship between sustainable procurement practices and sustainable performance. The research scrutinizes how the stringency and clarity of regulations impact the effectiveness of sustainable procurement practices in driving sustainable performance. The study adopted a quantitative research approach. It employed both descriptive and inferential statistics. A simple random sampling was used to select of 191 manufacturing firms in the greater Accra region of Ghana. All of the collected data was processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 software. The analysis demonstrated a significant and positive relationship between sustainable procurement practices (supplier involvement, ethical procurement and green procurement) and sustainable performance of manufacturing firms sampled from the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Also, the analysis uncovered a positive and significant moderating role of regulations in strengthening the relationship between sustainable procurement and sustainable performance of manufacturing firms. It is recommended that manufacturing firms should prioritize sustainable procurement practices, incorporating clear criteria for suppliers and fostering collaboration. Regulators should enforce stringent sustainability standards, incentivizing compliance and supporting industry-wide adoption to drive environmental responsibility and competitiveness. This collective approach ensures a resilient and environmentally conscious manufacturing sector.

Source: UEW
Sustainable teacher training via distance education: The effect of study centers, gender and economic demographics on academic performance

We examine the effectiveness and sustainability of the distance teacher education program established by the University of Education, Winneba, Ghana, by investigating the differences in the academic performance of students who are trained in the teacher education program via traditional and distance education modes, respectively, from 2011 to 2015. Close attention is paid to the factors that affect the academic performance of students in the distance mode. Our findings confirm that traditional mode students perform better than their distance mode counterparts in terms of cumulative GPAs. Gender and economic demographics of distance study centers are found to affect the academic performance of distance education students significantly. The policy implications of these findings are discussed and directions of further action are outlined. � 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Source: UEW
Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) yield parameters, soil chemical properties and cost benefit ratios following incorporation of poultry manure and inorganic NPK fertilizers in low nutrient Ghanaian soils

The impact of sole poultry manure (6t PM ha-1), sole NPK (200kg NPK ha-1) and their combinations (3t PM + 100kg NPK ha-1 and 1.5t PM + 150kg NPK ha-1) on sweet potato yield parameters and soil nutrients was assessed at Adiembra and Fiaso in Ghana between June, 2011 to November, 2011 using RCBD. Nutritional levels of the sweet potato tubers and the amended soils were analysed with standard laboratory procedures. The 3t PM + 100kg NPK ha-1 produced significantly (P=0.05) the highest tuber yield (tonnes ha-1), tuber length and diameter, and also had the highest percentage of marketable tubers. The total percentage soil nitrogen, organic matter, Total Base Saturation (TEB) and Effective Cation Exchange Capacity (ECEC) were significantly (P=0.05) highest in the 6t PM ha-1 treatment. The 6t PM ha-1 treatment had the highest tuber nutrient values for Ca, Mg, P, S and N. The 3t PM + 100kg NPK ha-1 had the highest cost benefit ratios of 1:4.38 and 1:8.15 at Adiembra and Fiaso respectively. The results demonstrated that combined application of PM and NPK increased sweet potato tuber

Source: UEW
Symbolic significance of textile products in rites of passage among Dangme’s in Ghana

Rites of passage are patterns of behaviours and customs performed by various ethnic groups during major life transitions. During such rites various art forms including textile products are used. Designs, patterns and colours within these textile products have diverse cultural and symbolic elements embedded in them which promote the culture of the society. The study explored the symbolic significance of textile products used by the Dangmes during rites of passage. The research design employed was the qualitative descriptive case study. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used in gathering data. A traditional leader, youth chief, elderly indigenes, youth and a textile educator form the sample for the study. The study adopted semi-structured interviews, non-participant observation and illustrations as data collection instruments. The study revealed that textile products used during rites of passage distinctly communicate great values and ideas to people in society. The study concludes that no matter the designs, patterns and colours of textile products, they have symbolic connotations which turn to communicate largely to the people. It therefore recommends that local textile products used among ethnic groups should be upheld in high esteem in order to maintain the cultural heritage for generations to come.

Source: UEW
Symbolic values of Ghanaian fabric names and their impact on consumer purchase intentions

Ghanaian fabrics are all unique and authentic, each bearing a traditional richness that is befitting of proud Ghanaians. Ghanaian fabrics has symbolic names and meaning. Based on this, the study aimed at investigating the symbolic values of Ghanaian fabric names and its impact on consumer purchase intentions. Mixed method research design was adopted for the study. The target population for the study comprised all the shop owners and customers that visit the various clothing and textile shops in the Kumasi Central Business District (KCBD). The sample size for the study includes 385 participants. Purposive and convenience sampling techniques were used in selecting the respondents. Questionnaire and interview were used to gather information from the respondents. The returned questionnaires were coded and keyed into SPSS-23.0. The data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics in the form of frequencies, percentages, mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that the customers have little knowledge about the symbolic names and meanings of Ghanaian fabric. It was discovered that the shop owners/fabric dealers had higher knowledge on the symbolic names and meanings of Ghanaian fabric as compared to the customers. The result indicates that customers have positive purchase intention towards Ghanaian fabrics associated with symbolic names and meaning. The study found a positive and statistically significant influence of symbolic names and meanings of Ghanaian fabric on consumer purchase intention of the fabric (F=2.015, p=0.020<0.05). The results from the interview showed that fabrics that have symbolic names are those that are fast moving on the Ghanaian market. It was concluded that symbolic value of Ghanaian fabric names had relevance on consumers purchase intention. The study recommended that manufacturers could embark on social events or promotional programmes to educate and remind consumers of their rich culture, and the symbolic value the Ghanaian fabrics.

Source: UEW
The syntax and semantics of cooking verbs in Dagbani

This study examined the syntax and semantics of Dagbani cooking verbs, a Mabia language spoken in Northern Ghana. The study further examined the distributions of these cooking verbs, taking into account the issue of collocation and the case of transitivity. The study further explored the basic and extended semantics of Dagbani cooking verbs. Adopting the idea of Lehrer (1969), the study identified various dimensions of eliciting the culinary terms through [± features] in Dagbani. Data for this thesis were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data were collected through semi-structured interviews, and self-generated data through native speaker intuition. The secondary data were collected from some Dagbani books including Dagbani dictionaries. Cognitive Linguistics is adopted for the analysis of Dagbani cooking verbs in this study. The activity-based cooking verbs are the prototypical verbs that make the food ready for consumption while the process-based assist the activity based to facilitate the cooking. In addition, it is established that the cooking verbs do not collocate with all the food items in Dagbani. However, the choice of a verb depends on the type of food selected to cook. It is also revealed that all the Dagbani cooking verbs are naturally transitive. However, the intransitive forms demand some affixes to function syntactically. It is also revealed that some of the verbs go beyond the basic meanings they represent. The verb duɣi 'cook' as the general term has extensions into more other domains than the other verbs. The data revealed that the cooking verbs can be extended to refered emotions, health status of the speaker, body temperature, children playing such as reciting folktales, swimming among others.

Source: UEW
The syntax and semantics of phrasal verbs in Dangme

This study investigated the syntax and semantics of Dangme phrasal verbs. It emphasized on the diverse manifestations of the phrasal verb in respect of its transitivity. This study also, from the Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) view-point, perceived and discussed the meanings of the phrasal verbs, their idiomaticity and polysemy as well. Data for the study were collected from both primary and secondary sources. The Conceptual Metaphor Theory was used to analyse the data. This purely descriptive and qualitative research objectively revealed two main outcomes: first, the Dangme phrasal verb as a single semantic unit that expresses idiomatic meaning comprises two parts: the verbal element and the post-verbal element. Secondly, Dangme phrasal verbs express both fundamental/literal and metaphorical/figurative meanings, and are usually not polysemous owing to their high idiomaticity. These findings hold significant implications for the Conceptual Metaphor Theory, teaching methods, language documentation and further syntactic and semantics research on Dangme phrasal verbs.

Source: UEW
The syntax and semantics of phrasal verbs in Nzema

The focus of this thesis is to offer an analysis of the syntax and semantics of phrasal verbs in Nzema, a Kwa language spoken mainly in southwestern Ghana and Ivory Coast, by about 330,000 people. This study demonstrated that the Nzema phrasal verb has two compositional elements: a verb and a postposition. It further showed through the principle of transitivity that Nzema phrasal verb can occur in intransitive, transitive and in both transitive and intransitive constructions. In addition, it demonstrated that the possibility of separating the particle from the verb or otherwise is dependent on whether the phrasal verb is used transitively or intransitively. Whereas the particle can be separated from the verb when used transitively, there cannot be any separation when the phrasal verb is used intransitively. Based on semantics, it showed that Nzema phrasal verbs express literal, metaphorical, idiomatic and polysemic meaning. Data for this thesis are drawn from both primary and secondary sources. I use two theoretical frameworks, the X-bar theory by Chomsky (1969) and the Conceptual Metaphor Theory by Lakoff and Johnson (1980) as analytical tools for the syntactic and semantic aspects of the thesis respectively. Key words: Nzema, phrasal verb, transitivity, idiomatic, polysemy, metaphor, syntax.

Source: UEW
The syntax of the Gonja noun phrase

This study presents an analysis of the noun phrase in Gonja. It discussed the noun phrase structure and all the elements that occur before and after it. Three kinds of noun phrases were identified and discussed which include simple noun phrase, complex noun phrase, and other noun phrases which do not have overt nouns in them. The findings in this study show that the noun phrase structure of Gonja is made up of the compulsory noun head and other optional elements that occur before and after it. Gonja exhibits a clear case whereby the noun head of an NP is post modified by a series of adjectives appearing in their full forms and these adjectives give additional information about the noun they modify. Also, the genitive marker be is used to express possession however other elements like determiner, and demonstrative may occur before it. In addition, it is noted that the adjective and the verb can be nominalized leading to derivation from the classes of adjectives and verbs to noun class. The nominalized elements in Gonja have singular and plural markers as their initial segments. In relation to pronominal possession, there seem to be friction between the separation of the possessive from the pronoun as putting the pronoun and the possessive together is deceptive. This study concludes that modifiers of the NP in Gonja occur in a certain syntactic sequence which is relatively fixed. The data of this thesis was analyzed using the descriptive analysis approach.

Source: UEW
Synthesis and Characterization of Chrysophyllum albidum (African Star Apple) Plant-Mediated Zinc Oxide Nanostructures and Evaluation of Their Antioxidant, Anti-Inflammatory, and Antimicrobial Activity

This study sought to evaluate the added advantage of mediating ZnO nanostructures with a medicinal plant. The synthesized ZnO nanocrystalline structures were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometer and characterized through scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometer. The antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities of the ZnO nanostructure mediated with methanol extracts of the leaf, fruit, and seed of Chrysophyllum albidum were then evaluated using DPPH assay, egg albumin denaturation assay, and agar well diffusion methods, respectively. All the characterization analyses revealed high-purity hexagonal-shaped ZnO nanoparticles which were agglomerated. The mean diameter of the particles determined were 11.3�1.7 nm, 20.4�3.2 nm, and 27.3�6.6 nm for C. albidum seed, fruit, and leaf extract-mediated ZnO NPs, respectively. The EC50 values recorded for the antioxidant activity of the extract-mediated ZnO NPs were 0.507�0.015, 0.255�0.006, 0.193�0.003, and 0.004�0.000 mg/mL for leaf, fruit, seed, and ascorbic acid, respectively. From the antimicrobial analysis, C. albidum seed extract-mediated ZnO NPs recorded the highest zone of inhibition (24.33�0.47) against S. aureus whereas C. albidum leaf extract-mediated ZnO NPs gave the lowest zone of inhibition (13.00�1.41) against E. coli at a concentration of 50 mg/mL. Moreover, C. albidum fruit extract-mediated ZnO NPs presented the highest zone of inhibition (18.00�0.82) against the fungus (C. albicans) also at a concentration of 50 mg/mL. The IC50 values recorded for the anti-inflammatory activity of the extract-mediated ZnO NPs showed inhibition in the order fruit>seed>leaf. Meanwhile, extracts of the samples showed the presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, and glycosides as phytochemical constituents in the leaf, fruit, and seed samples. In conclusion, the synthesized ZnO NPs from the extracts of C. albidum displayed significant antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial activities against some selected microbes and fungi. � 2022 Eric Kwabena Droepenu et al.

Source: UEW