ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessment of institutional arrangements for solid waste management in Kumasi

In Ghana, the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development (MLGRD) reported in 1999 that only 40% of the nation’s urban residents were served by a solid waste collection service and less than 30% by an acceptable household toilet facility. In response to this deplorable state of environmental sanitation, the Environmental Sanitation Policy (ESP) was prepared in the same year to define a systematic approach and institutional framework within which to tackle the nation’s sanitation problem. Five years after the adoption of the ESP, there is the need to verify whether the recommended institutional change has been implemented and whether it has made any impact on service efficiency. Thus the main question sought to be answered by this research relates to what changes have taken place in the institutional arrangements for SWM in Kumasi as a result of the adoption of the ESF and how institutional change has affected service efficiency. After interaction with the various institutions involved in SWM in Kumasi through the use of questionnaires and interviews, it was found out that the implementation of the Policy has led to improvement in service coverage and cost recovery. Service coverage has increased from about 50% to an annual average of 87.4 % since the inception of the Policy. Also, between 2001 and 2003, the amount recovered by private operators through house-to-house collection services increased from 26.5% to 46.3% of the WMD’s total expenditure. In 2004, cost recovery stood at 68.7% of the projected expenditure of the department. While acknowledging the impact of the Policy on service efficiency, it is recommended that further institutional reforms are made to limit the influence of politicians on the activities of the Waste Management Department (WMD) and private operators, in order to sustain and improve upon the gains made so far. Besides, there is the need to intensify public health education and sanitation service promotion to whip up community support for private sector participation, which is the key to cost recovery and improved service coverage.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of institutional capacity for environmental management in Ghana

One major challenge for development is how to apply those means of development that will maintain or improve the quality of the environment. There is therefore the need for the integration of environmental goals and those of development for the achievements of development to benefit succeeding generations. This demands the planning and the maintenance of an environment of high quality that will ensure that the stock of natural resources is covered to support a continuing process of development. This is the prime object of environmental management. Environmental management requires effective policy and legislative backing and well- established environmental institutions working in a co-ordinated manner. Furthermore, there is the need for a well-informed populace who are prepared to assist environmental institutions in the maintenance of sound environmental quality. The study therefore looked at the capacity or environmental institutions in Ghana. This covered such issues as the relationship among the institutions, the effectiveness and adequacy of standards and legislative backing, human resource development, funding, logistics, technology requirement and the adequacy of information. The study covered 17 environmental institutions being governmental institutions, international institutions and Non-Governmental Organisations. It was revealed that although the GERMP assisted in strengthening some environmental institutions; in the main, these institutions are plagued with such problems as ineffective legislative backing, inadequate finding, logistics, manpower and technology requirement, weak institutional linkages and constraints involved in the generation of information. To help offset the problems enumerated above, the study made some recommendations that focused on effective manpower development, proper standards and legislative backing, NGOs support and strengthening, partnership building in environmental management, information generation and dissemination and sub-regional approach to environmental management. The study also made recommendations on adequate financial support, logistics and technological development. Policy recommendations also dwelt on decentralisation of some environmental institutions, commercialisaion of some activities of environmental institutions and restructuring of some institutions to incorporate environmental management in their organisational structure. The search for concrete solutions to the aforementioned problems will greatly enhance environmental management and sustainable development in the country.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Institutional Arrangements for Safeguarding the Environment Against the Impact of Mining Operations in Ghana: Case Study: Obuasi

Complaints about the activities of mining operators (both small scale and large scale) in the mining town of Obuasi, the largest mining town in Ghana, have intensified in recent times. In some cases, such discontent has found expression in physical violence. The study examined the institutional measures in place to safeguard the environment against the effects of mining operations in the Ghana, using Obuasi as the study case. The study revealed that literature on potential pollution in Obuasi and laboratory analysis of samples taken from some drinking water sources in some affected areas suggested that there has been some pollution of drinking water sources in the Obuasi area. The study revealed pollution of drinking water sources in the Obuasi area based on available literature and laboratory analysis of samples taken from some drinking water sources in Obuasi. The study also revealed that the environmental policies, legislations and procedures (as institutional arrangements) are adequate for safeguarding the environment against the effects of mining, but the performance of implementation agencies for the same purpose has fallen below expectation. Furthermore, even though the national Environmental Action Plan of 1991 had a ten year implementation period and therefore expired in the year 2000, with regard to the implementation of the strategies for safeguarding the environment against the effects of mining, implementation of the plan has been a problem. The problem has not been the inability to formulate the right policies, rules and the relevant laws for the purpose, but instead, the problem has been the inability to implement plans made. It is to help address these lapses that recommendations have been made for some things to be done in respect of the Environmental Protection Agency, District Environmental Management Committee of the Obuasi Municipality, the Small Scale Mining Centre in Dunkwa, and the Water Research Institute.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of institutional capacity for implementation of population policy in Ghana

Rapid population growth has been a matter of great concern to governments all over the world in view of the problems that it poses to socio-economic development effort. Ghana realised this, and in 1969 formulated a comprehensive national population policy. As a major public policy, the population policy appeared to have satisfied the necessary conditions for its successful implementation. However, after almost three decades of the promulgation of the policy, Ghana’s population problems appeared to be reaching crisis proportions. Following the abysmal performance, the policy was revised in 1994 with renewed efforts in institutional framework restructuring. The aim of the study has been; I. to identify the institutions and their roles in the implementation of the revised population policy; II. to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the institutions in the performance of their roles; III. to identify problems hindering the successful implementation of the revised policy; and IV. to make recommendations towards the realisation of the goals of the policy. The study adopted qualitative descriptive measure of analysis as the major tool of data analysis. The main theoretical and analytical framework applied for the study included performance category and performance indicators, variance analysis and strength- weakness- opportunity- threat (SWOT) analysis. Ghana has a comprehensive population policy with clearly defined goals, objectives, target, and implementation strategies as well as an elaborate institutional framework and plan of action for its implementation. Nonetheless., he desired result appear not have been realised because of the apparent generally weak institutional capacity in terms of financial, human, equipment and logistical resources to implement the programmes of the policy. Other problems relate o unclearly defined roles; inadequate working relationships and co-ordination among the implementing institutions; excessive dependence on donor support; high level of illiteracy and strict adherence to traditional and cultural beliefs. To help address these problems and improve upon the capacity of the implementation institutions, the following recommendations have been made: • alternative and adequate sources of funding for population programmes should be sought to help solve the manpower and equipment/logistic needs; • effective strategy to co-ordinate the activities of institutions in the implementation of the population policy should be designed; • the pace of integration of population and family life education into curricula of formal education should be accelerated; • research on population issues should be expanded and intensified and • all sectors and segments of society should be brought into the implementation of the population policy.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Internal Cocoa Marketing of By Licensed Buying Companies in Ghana: A Case Study of the Produce Buying Company Ltd (PBC).

The marketing concept states that a business is most likely to achieve its goals when it organizes itself to meet the current and potential needs of customers more effectively than competitors. The changing environment of the marketing of the commodity both internal and external marketing is likely to pose a threat to maintenance of quality. Specifically, the study seeks to achieve the objective of evaluating the liberalization of the internal cocoa marketing as far as quality is concerned and its impact on Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs). The study used both primary and secondary data sources. A sample size of two hundred (200), comprising fifty (50) staff and one hundred and fifty (150) farmers of the target population responded to the administered questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using Microsoft Excel Software, table and graphs. The study revealed that Produce Buying Company (PBC) is facing the problem of ageing purchasing clerk whose level of efficiency is decreasing gradually. Again, due to the fact the purchasing clerks are not full time employees, their commitment level is low. Furthermore, incentives to the farmers are too small. Also, District Managers do not visit the farmers regularly to learn firsthand their difficulties. Lastly, Farmers are not well motivated to go the extra mile in the level of their production. The study recommended that management should ensure that district managers adopt effective monitoring and evaluation instead of leaving the entire work in the hands of the purchasing clerks whose commitment level by virtue of their status as partial employees is not encouraging.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of intersectoral collaboration towards health care development: a case study in Offinso District.

The objective of the Ministry of health (MOH) is to improve the health status of all Ghanaians. Success in achieving this objective requires the MOH forging linkages with other partners in health development to provide an effective multisectoral approach to health development. The main objective of the study was to determine and assess the general level of co-ordination and co-operation of MOH (DHMT) with other health related Ministries /Departments / Agencies (MDAs) towards health care development in the Offinso District and to make appropriate recommendations that would make intersectoral collaboration (ISC) towards health care development more effective. The study was a descriptive cross-sectional type using qualitative research methods. The sampling was both purposive and random. The main techniques used for data collection were; review of documents, individual interviews and questionnaire administration. The main finding were that, MDAs have a high perception and attitude towards forging partnership with the MOH (DHMT), however, their level of commitment for the success of the collaborative venture is woefully inadequate and the problem is worsen by the lack of clear cut policies to guide the operation of these collaboration processes. Nevertheless, MOH (DHMT) motivational efforts to instigate other MDAs towards forging these partnerships were also no forth coming. The study therefore recommends the District assembly to develop more vibrant institutional and administrative reforms to co-ordinate the present sectoral and vertical programmes towards horizontal linkages between sectors. The health sector should also assist other sectors in monitoring and evaluating the health impact of development projects.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of job satisfaction among unionised and non-unionised employees. A case study of Volta River Estates Ltd and Cocoa Abrabopa Association

One of the most pressing problems facing many organizations today is how to motivate employees to work more productively and to increase their feelings of satisfaction, involvement, and commitment. Job satisfaction of employees has been found to be an important factor affecting productivity and has received considerable interest. There have been various assertions in the public domain that owner managers or bosses of indigenous Ghanaian companies do not treat their workers well as compared to other multinational establishments. It is against this backdrop that this research attempts to investigate the level of job satisfaction in a unionized and non-unionized environment in two indigenous organizations in Ghana. Other literature has found that Job satisfaction is lower in trade union members with the explanation that emphasis on unions organisation occurs where working conditions are poor, also explained that trade union voice is used to improve the bargaining power. The objective of the study was to investigate job satisfaction level of unionized and non-unionized employees. The simple random selection method was used to select the sample from the population. The Volta River Estates Limited can be said to be more inclined to allowing the employees to freely join a trade union but the same cannot be said about cocoa Abrabopa. This reflected in the level of satisfaction with Volta River Estates Limited enjoying higher levels of satisfaction than Cocoa Abrabopa. The impact of unionisation of job satisfaction was tested. The results showed that unionisation leads to job satisfaction which contradicts previous works done on this subject.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of Knowledge and Utilization of E-Banking Facilities in Ghana Commercial Bank Limited in the Yilo Krobo and the Asuogyaman District Assemblies

The attempt to catch a greater share of the market coupled with the quest for easy, convenient, cost saving and readily available banking, most banks are now focusing on e banking instead of opening more branches at different geographical locations. In spite of the introduction of e banking, most customers still queue in banking halls struggling to transact business. The study was undertaken in Somanya and Akosombo to assess the knowledge and utilization of e-banking facilities in the Ghana Commercial Bank. Specifically, the study sought to: assess the availability of e-banking facilities in the Ghana commercial bank; assess customers’ awareness of e-banking facilities in the Ghana Commercial Bank; examine customers’ knowledge and utilization of e-banking facilities and find out how effective these services are to benefit customers. In this study, systematic sampling technique was used to select a sample of 100 respondents for the study. The data was analyzed by means of SPSS. Charts and frequency table were used to summarize the data. It discovered that e-banking facilities were available and assessable at GCB and they included internet banking, the use of electronic cards and SMS mobile banking. The study however, discovered that even though knowledge about e banking is high among the study population, utilization of these facilities is low. Lack of internet facilities and delay in issuing electronic cards were found to be the factors influencing e-banking in the study area. The researcher recommends that issuing of electronic cards should be decentralized finally; bankers should increase the awareness creation.

Source: KNUST
Assessment of knowledge and socioeconomic status of caregivers of children with malnutrition at a district hospital in Ghana

Background: Malnutrition is a significant public health problem and is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in children. Aims: To assess knowledge and socioeconomic status of caregivers of children under 5 years with malnutrition at a district hospital in Ghana. Methods: Case Report forms were used to gather data in a cross-sectional study which was carried out among 189 caregivers and their children aged from zero to fifty-nine months at the Out-Patient Department clinic. Results: Most (80.95%) children had marasmus. Sixty-two point four-two percent had severe wasting, while 35.45% had mild stunting. The rest, 21.69% had moderate stunting; while only 2.12% severe stunting. Almost all caregivers (94.71%) had heard of exclusive breast feeding as a good feeding practice but only 58.20% practiced it. Most caregivers (68.26%) had no education or only up to basic level, p=0.035. The average number of children per family was 4.8 per household (SD: 1.69) with majority of them (64.55%) having 4-6 children per family and 13.23% of them had more than 7 children per family, p=0.009. More than a third (37.04%) of the caregivers earned less than a hundred Ghana cedis (GhC 100 [US$ 19] per month and 50.26% of them earned between GhC 101 (US$ 19) and GhC 500 (US$ 96) per month. Conclusion: Lower level of caregivers’ education and large family size were risk factors for developing malnutrition among children.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of job satisfaction and its effect on employees’pPerformance: A case of Mining Companies in the [Bibiani – Anhwiaso – Bekwai District] in the Western Region.

Employee attitudes are very significant to management and organisations since they determine the behaviour of employees in an organisation. It is believed that employees who are satisfied are normally productive than their counterparts who are dissatisfied. Satisfied employees are not only creators of a pleasant atmosphere within organisations to perform well but ensure quality gain and show loyalty as well. Therefore, job satisfaction has been the topic of many studies. Although some researches focused on job satisfaction and employee performance, empirical work on the determinants of job satisfaction and its effect on performance especially in mining organisations is scanty. This research attempts to fill the gap by using mining organisations in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai District in the Western Region of Ghana as a case study. The study reviewed literature on the concepts of job satisfaction and performance. The study employed quantitative and qualitative methodology. Data was collected through the administration of questionnaire and an in-depth interview. Questionnaires were administered to 90 employees of 2 mining companies in the Bibiani – Anhwiaso – Bekwai District. In-depth interviews (IDL) were conducted on 4 management staff to elicit their responses on job satisfaction.. It has emerged from the study that out of the nine determinants that were explored, the management and employees viewed compensation/pay as their main determinant of job satisfaction. The study indicated further that their satisfaction level was high especially with health and safety policies in the two mining companies. Additionally, compensation/pay has positive impact on their performance while nature of work negatively affects performance. Finally, the study revealed that inadequate training was a major challenge to the job satisfaction of mine workers. It is recommended that management should attach important to training.

Source: KNUST
An assessment of knowledge on VCT for HIV among adolescents in SHSs in the Nadowli district of the Upper West Region of Ghana using HIV/AIDS and VCT education

Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT) for HIV has long been recognized from many studies to have a potent effect on the reduction of HIV infections as well as case fatality and therefore is recommended in national HIV/AIDS control programmes. If VCT for HIV education is properly tailored to adolescents before VCT for HIV services are rendered to this age group significant result will be obtained in scaling up the patronage of VCT for HIV services as well as reducing the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS issues. However, education concerning the linkages between VCT for HIV and other relevant services remain not fully exploited in sub-Saharan Africa. This interventional study was carried out from August, 2008 to September, 2008 to find out the effect of HIV/VCT education on the uptake of VCT services by in-school adolescents at Nadowli Queen of Peace and Daffiama SHSs. It involved 100 students as intervention group and 100 others as control group in two SHSs in Nadowli district of Ghana. The intervention group was given HIV and VCT education while the control group was given ‘placebo’ education in personal hygiene before subjecting both groups to VCT services. The study revealed that 90 per cent of the respondents were willing to know their HIV status while still healthy but lacked basic information about VCT and therefore a lot of education should be channeled in that direction. The results of participation in the VCT for HIV exercise were also analyzed and it revealed that 91.80 per cent took the test in the intervention group while 80.00 per cent of respondents took the test in the control group. The study recommended that the National AIDS Control Programme (NACP) and Ghana Health Service (GHS) should intensify mass campaigns on “Know your HIV status” throughout the year. This would benefit both in and out of school adolescents while the Ghana Education Service (GES) adds VCT education as a topic to the HIV/AIDS education that exist in the curriculum of SHSs and stress on VCT during the teaching and learning of these topics since adolescents play a role in the efforts towards reducing HIV/AIDS.

Source: KNUST