ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Ghana-Korea Economic Relations – The Record after 40 Years and the Future

Over the last sixty years the economic and industrial fortunes of Ghana and Korea have proved worryingly divergent. Though Ghana and South Korea had comparatively similar  per capita in the 1960s, South Korea in 2017 ($29,742.839) has been able to attain a  per capita that is about ten times that of Ghana ($1,641.487). This work critically examines the economic relationship between Ghana and South Korea in the last forty years. It focuses on the economic miracle of South Korea and the lessons for developing countries like Ghana. The article utilizes economic, historical and policy data drawn from primary and secondary sources in an attempt to examine the eco- nomic relations between the two countries thus far and prescribe ways in which Ghana can benet far more than ever before from her economic co-operation with Korea. The paper argues that for Ghana to benet from its economic relations with South Korea the ideational example of this East Asian state in constructing a developmental state (DS) is critical. Flowing from this, it is recommended that this West African nation be- comes more diligent and innovative in her economic relations with Korea as a matter of strategic necessity in pursuit of Ghana’s long held industrialization dream.

Source: UG
Ghana-Korea Relations Research: A-State-of-the-Art Review

Even though scholars have written on Ghana-Korea relations over the past forty years, there is a lacuna in the literature because there is no “one-stop shop” from which one could easily access the literature. The problem is that scholarly works on Ghana-Korea relations are scattered in books and journals which has made undertaking research on the relations between the two countries a bit Herculean. The purpose of this article is therefore to fill the lacuna and provide a state-of-the-art on some key themes in Ghana-Korea relations which have emerged and yet scattered in scholarly works. They include culture and society; governance and leadership; economy; bilateral relations (including political, economic and technical cooperation); and science and education. The methodology employed is desktop research through the consultation of government publications, books and articles.

Source: UG
Ghana-Saudi Relations: Analysis of Bilateral Trade and Development Aid

This research analyses the relations between Ghana and Saudi Arabia with particular attention to the bilateral relations of the two countries from 2010 to 2022. To reach the required goal both primary data and secondary data were used. It was observed that Ghana had a long-standing relation with Saudi Arabia dating back to 1960 and that it has so far inured into fruitful cooperation in various field with more room for improvement. In theorizing the relations between the two countries, the theory of cooperation was used to conceptualize Ghana–Saudi Arabia relations. Weber (1991) posits that cooperation materializes when states adjust their policies in a coordinated manner so that each state would be able to pursue its goals and aspirations. The theory is relevant to the study in a sense that it answers what underlines cooperation among states and provides guidelines to ensure win-win situation among nations. Trade relations between the two countries tilt in favour of Saudi Arabia. The research examines the causes of the Trade imbalance and established that some of the causes of trade imbalance between the two countries are; Ghana's low export capacity and Saudi Arabia's export of raw materials needed in the manufacturing of plastics to Ghana. As a remedy, it has been observed that serious efforts be made through collaborative programs by both countries on all bilateral issues especially pertaining to needed agreements to provide a suitable framework to improve foreign direct investments (FDIs). On development aid, it has been observed that Saudi Arabia's aid to Ghana has been very instrumental in improving good relations between the two countries as well as cement the peaceful co-existence between the adherents of the Islamic and Christian faiths, as Saudi aid has not been biased. However, Saudi aid to Ghana lacks proper and efficient implementation mechanisms. As a measure, the study recommended the establishment of specialized Saudi agency in Ghana to coordinate Saudi aid in the country and neighboring countries

Source: UG
Ghana-UK Collaboration in Combating Drug Trafficking: Prospects and Challenges

In recent years, Ghana has become a major transshipment point of illicit drugs. This has attracted both domestic and global attention. The government of Ghana has instituted various approaches to dismantle the illicit drug industry, but has seen only marginal success. One strategy that has emerged as an effective pathway to tackling the drug trafficking menace is cooperation between/among countries. Due to the transnational nature of drug trafficking, various countries have explored collaborative strategies to combat drug trafficking. While the Ghana-UK collaboration called Operation West Bridge has existed for over a decade, very little is known about the extent to which that collaborative effort has helped to address drug trafficking particularly in Ghana. Following a thorough analysis of the data obtained from both primary and secondary sources, this study has established that the Operation West Bridge has chalked some successes and there is need to consolidate the gains made. Arrests and drug seizures have increased significantly since the inception of the collaboration. Using cooperation as theoretical framework, the study has also revealed that there exists an unequal relationship in the collaborative agreement. Notably, Ghanaian officials (NACOB) have no access to UK Airports but other hand; West Bridge officials have unfettered access to Airports in Ghana. Also, the collaboration is not holistic enough to serve the interest of both parties, as it looks as though it serves more the interest of British than their Ghanaian collaborators. The study further argues, among others, that the rise in drug trafficking is also a function of undue intermeddling in the work of state security agencies.

Source: UG
Ghana: Country overview

Review books or articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It also the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field.

Source: UG
Ghana: Media Complicity in Human Rights Violations

Following the examples of South Africa, Nigeria and some Latin American countries, Ghana instituted a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate human rights abuses inflicted during periods of unconstitutional rule. This article interrogates media complicity in bolstering unconstitutional governments and their culpability in past human rights abuses in Ghana. Through a qualitative analysis of newspapers and focus group discussions with journalists, this paper examines the manner in which the media (as an institution) were both victims and victimisers during some of the periods investigated by Ghana's National Reconciliation Commission. Drawing on theories of hegemony, it examines strategies of legitimisation used by the media in creating fertile grounds for state repression and the abuse of human rights and the methods used by repressive governments to ensure media compliance.

Source: UG
Ghana: The Life and Death of Adult Education and Implications for Current Policy

The relevance of adult education in national development in the twenty-first century cannot be underestimated. Since the 1990s, international conferences on adult education have called the attention of national governments to the critical role that adult education plays in national development and to ensure that citizens have access to lifelong learning opportunities without discrimination based on gender, age, disability and ethnicity. The study discusses the role of the adult education movement of the 1950s and 1960s, the factors that caused the death of the movement and the need for a strong and unified adult education movement in the twenty-first century to advocate and hold governments accountable to provisions enshrined in the 1992 Constitution and from recommendations from International Conferences on Adult Education.

Source: UG
Ghana: Women in Decision-making — New Opportunities, Old Story

Two decades of democratic change in Ghana, coupled with economic liberalization and intensified advocacy for women’s equality, had fueled optimism among those in journalism that there would be significant improvements in the status of women in the media industries. However, empirical evidence emerging from recent research suggests otherwise. Not only do men outnumber women by a 2:1 ratio in the nation’s newsrooms, in particular, but few women own media, or occupy top governance and management positions (Byerly 2011). The aim of this chapter is to assess the occupational status of women in the Ghanaian news media and examine whether or not transformations in the media landscape resulting from redemocratization have facilitated women’s rise in decision-making positions. The analysis draws on new data from the Global Report on the Status of Women in the News Media (Global Report) (Byerly 2011), existing research on the career conditions of women in the news business and the antecedents of female media workers dating back to the colonial period. It argues that while there have been positive improvements in media-related education and jobs, the proverbial glass ceiling continues to perpetuate gross gender inequalities in decision-making positions in the Ghanaian media.

Source: UG
Ghanaian academic libraries’ use of social media: A structural equation modelling approach

The study was largely quantitative and employed the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as its theoretical lens. The target population was 31,157 consisting of library staff and library patrons from four academic libraries in Ghana. Sampling tables and census sampling techniques were used to select a sample size of 767 respondents. Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, the study used a pre-tested questionnaire to collect data from the sampled respondents. Statistical analyses were carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The structural equation modelling technique was further used to estimate the relationships and correlations between the theoretical constructs from the UTAUT to understand behavioural intentions and use behaviour of social media in the academic libraries. The study found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions have significant influence on the intention to use and subsequent use of social media in academic libraries in Ghana.

Source: UG
Ghanaian academic libraries’ use of social media: A structural equation modelling approach

The study was largely quantitative and employed the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) as its theoretical lens. The target population was 31,157 consisting of library staff and library patrons from four academic libraries in Ghana. Sampling tables and census sampling techniques were used to select a sample size of 767 respondents. Adopting a cross-sectional survey design, the study used a pre-tested questionnaire to collect data from the sampled respondents. Statistical analyses were carried out using the Statis tical Package for Social Sciences. The structural equation modelling technique was further used to estimate the relationships and correlations between the theoretical constructs from the UTAUT to understand behavioural intentions and use behaviour of social media in the academic libraries. The study found that performance expectancy, effort expectancy and facilitating conditions have significant influence on the intention to use and subsequent use of social media in academic libraries in Ghana.

Source: UG
Ghanaian Female Adolescents Perceived Changes in Nutritional Behaviors and Social Environment After Creating Participatory Videos: A Most Significant Change Evaluation

Background: Understanding the influence of participatory video-making on the nutrition-related behavior of video creators may help shape nutrition education interventions. Objectives: This study assessed the perceived value and influence of a participatory video intervention among participants and stakeholders. Methods: A 2018–2019 cluster randomized controlled trial (registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03704649) selected 20 schools (10 intervention, n = 181; 10 control, n = 170) in 1 Ghanaian rural district, enrolled adolescent girls aged 13–16 y, and provided a nutrition curriculum. Each intervention school also participated in 2 series of activities designed to help adolescents plan, film, and screen 2 nutrition-related videos. The Most Significant Change method involved intervention participants and local stakeholders to assess the value and influence of the intervention – a secondary outcome of the trial. Project staff collected 116 stories of change from the adolescents. Stories described shifts in 4 domains: participant, peer, and family behavior, and structural changes in the school. The project team used a selection rubric to identify 14 stories that reflected heightened nutrition literacy. Staff conducted interviews with the 14 adolescents whose stories were selected to elaborate on details and perceived resonance. Finally, local stakeholders assessed the stories to identify the 4 most significant changes of the intervention – 1 per domain. A separate thematic analysis identified emerging patterns of motivation and action across the 14 interviews. Results: The chosen Most Significant Change stories revealed how adolescents found creative solutions to acquire iron-rich foods, encouraged neighbors to eat iron-rich foods, taught their family new agricultural practices, and promoted change in their school canteen. Local stakeholders valued stories that addressed common community nutrition issues in a creative and sustainable way, whereas adolescents prioritized stories that showed a change in health outcomes. Conclusion: Stories of change revealed that the intervention promoted a transformative influence; participants modified their eating habits, lifestyle, and their environment.

Source: UG
The ghanaian forestry regime: Bridging the gap between the north and the south

The importance of forests as sources of food, medicine, habitats, and sinks, inter alia, cannot be overemphasized: humankind's very existence relies on the continued existence of these vital natural resources. This can be summed up in the adage, “When the last tree dies, the last man dies.” Indeed, the phenomenon of climate change has been declared a common concern of humankind; and forests as sinks for carbon have been identified as one of the major means for dealing with the phenomenon. Hence, the existence of forests anywhere in the world must be of concern to the entire global community. In Ghana, the forestry sector contributes almost 6 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with the timber industry providing direct employment to over 100,00 people and indirect employment to over 2.5 million others. Wood fuel accounts for 75 percent of Ghanaian domestic and industrial energy sources estimated at $USD200 million per annum. Hunting and the trade in bush meat also account for between $USD270 and $USD350 million annually. Nontimber forest products also contribute to the daily livelihood of forest fringe communities and the national economy by creating employment for a substantial number of people and by generating an annual amount of $USD250 million. The sector is also the backbone of the country's mainly nature-based tourism industry. Because of well-funded protected areas and the diversity of these nature-based attractions, this sector has become the number three foreign exchange earner for Ghana. © IUCN Academy of Environmental Law 2008.

Source: UG
Ghanaian mature students’ motivation to pursue degree programmes through distance education

Mature distance education students in Ghana, like part-time students all over the world, need to be motivated in order to enjoy their studies and succeed in what they do. In order to come up with incentives for such learners to join and complete a course, universities have to be aware of the characteristics and the socio-economic background of this group of learners and use an approach that best suits their needs at any given time. Based on Richard M. Ryan and Edward L. Deci’s self-determination theory, the authors of this article investigate the factors that motivate mature students to engage in distance education and how their motivation is sustained throughout their studies. Using a survey questionnaire, the authors collected data from 210 mature distance education students (106 males and 104 females; aged 30+) of the University of Ghana. Interestingly, some of the authors’ findings depart from the norm in terms of adult learners’ motivations and what extant literature holds as typified in the work of Ryan and Deci. Adult learners more generally are described in the literature as being mainly intrinsically motivated (e.g. by the desire to learn for its own sake, for the enjoyment it provides, or the feelings of accomplishment it evokes). Interestingly, this survey reveals that mature distance education students who were enrolled in a higher education programme offered by the University of Ghana were mainly extrinsically motivated, giving career development as their top reason for course selection. © 2018, Springer Nature B.V., and UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning.

Source: UG
Ghanaian Men Living with Sexual Transmitted Infections: Knowledge and Impact on Treatment Seeking Behaviour- A Qualitative Study

The purpose of the study was to explore Ghanaian men's knowledge about sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and their treatment seeking behaviour. An exploratory descriptive design was used. The research site for this study was a STI clinic at a large government hospital in the Ashanti region in central Ghana. Purposive sampling was used to recruit men diagnosed with or previously infected with STI/HIV attending the clinic. Twelve participants were interviewed, and the data was thematically analysed. The findings were presented as themes: knowledge of STI, misconception, health seeking behaviour: visiting the hospital, buying drugs, using herbal treatment, visiting the traditional healer, and -shopping for health‖. Participants had good knowledge of the causes and/or mode of transmission of STIs/HIV. Their source of information was the radio, friends and education at the STIs/HIV unit of the hospital. Participants had little knowledge about the STIs/HIV treatment options before they received health education from the personnel at the STI/HIV unit. Participants had fallacies and believed they developed STIs/HIV infection because of a curse or someone who wanted them dead or bewitched them. The overarching reason for participants' choice of care was an expectation to recover from the infection. Seeking treatment at the hospital was one of the major choices for treatment. Participants tried various forms of treatment to find the most effective treatment. The research findings have several implications for health education, research, and practice in Ghana. There is the need to scale up health education by the various health institutions. Further research is needed on the general treatment seeking behaviour of men with an emphasis on the contextual and cultural differences that influence men's behavioural change. Gender based research is mostly focused on women and further studies are needed on the health and treatment seeking behaviour of men.

Source: UG
Ghanaian nurses’ emigration intentions: The role of workplace violence

A cross-sectional study was conducted in Ghana to examine the impact of workplace violence on nurses’ emigration intentions from 2013 to 14. A combination of purposive and random sampling techniques was used to select 12 public hospitals and 592 professional nurses. The results showed that 48.9% of the participants had emigration intentions. Junior nurses were 2.8 times more likely to have emigration intentions compared to senior nurses, and those who experienced violence were also more likely than their counterparts who were not involved in such incidents (physical 2.1 times; verbally abused 1.8 times and sexually harassed 2.4 times) to have intentions to emigrate. Binary logistic regression showed that workplace violence is a significant predictor of nurses’ emigration intentions. These results reiterate the need for pragmatic measures to curb workplace violence against nurses. © 2016 The Author

Source: UG
Ghanaian parents' perceptions of pre and postnatal nutrient supplements and their effects

Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) have been studied in efficacy and effectiveness trials, but little is known about how parents perceive the products and their effects. In a randomised trial in Ghana, efficacy of SQ-LNS provided to women during pregnancy and the first 6 months postpartum and to their children from 6 to 18 months of age was assessed by comparison with iron-folic acid (IFA) capsules and multiple micronutrient (MMN) capsules provided to women. In a follow-up study conducted when the index children from the original trial were between 4 and 6 years of age, we used survey-based methods to assess retrospective and current parental perceptions of nutrient supplements generally and of SQ-LNS and their effects compared with perceptions IFA and MMN capsules. Most parents perceived that the assigned supplements (SQ-LNS, IFA, or MMN) positively impacted the mother during pregnancy (approximately 89% of both mothers and fathers) and during lactation (84% of mothers and 86% of fathers). Almost all (≥90%) of mothers and fathers perceived that the assigned supplement positively impacted the index child and expected continued positive impacts on the child's health and human capital into the future. A smaller percentage of parents perceived negative impacts of the supplements (7%-17% of mothers and 4%-12% of fathers). Perceptions of positive impacts and of negative impacts did not differ by intervention group. The results suggest that similar populations would likely be receptive to programs to deliver SQ-LNS or micronutrient capsules.

Source: UG
Ghanaian Prosperity Preaching

Abstract The notion that suffering cannot be part of the Christian life has become pervasive in contemporary Ghanaian Christianity. Proponents of the Prosperity Gospel teach that suffering such as poverty, disease, failure, and hardships are not part of God’s plan but rather signs of lack of faith and even sin. Their preaching re-packages retributive theology, which characterizes many books of the Tanak. However, the personal and social experience of the silence of God before “unjust” suffering has generated texts—such as Psalm 73, the book of the prophet Habakkuk, and above all the book of Job—which express a challenge to this commonly held theology and to any reassuring theology. In Ghanaian Christianity, where God is identified with prosperity, miracles, success, wealth, absence of pain, disease, and death, the health, social, and economic crises provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic present a hermeneutic challenge and a biblical-theological question. Where is God in human suffering? Against this background, the article proposes an intercultural and pragmatic reading of the theological debate between Job and his friends, between experiential and retributive theology, to reconstruct a new image of God, capable of offering hope to Ghanaians in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: UG