ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Measurement of Technical Efficiency and Its Determinants among Maize Farmers in Asante Akyem North Municipality

Agriculture is the backbone of Ghana’s economy likewise that of Asante Akyem North Municipality. Agricultural productivity varies mainly due to differences in efficiency and production technology. Efficiency measurement has been the concern of most researchers with much focuses on the estimation of technical efficiency levels (scores) and their determinants. Based on empirical studies, policy makers have realised that one important source of growth for the agricultural sector is efficiency gain through greater technical efficiency. This study attempts to measure the level of technical efficiency of maize farmers in Asante Akyem North Municipality by identifying its determinants, estimating the scores and evaluating the importance of the socio-economic variables on technical efficiency. Technical efficiency is defined as the ratio of the observed output to the corresponding frontier output and is estimated from the composed error term. Technical efficiency is estimated using the maximum likelihood and seemingly unrelated estimation methods under the specification of the Cobb Douglas stochastic frontier model with half normal assumption for inefficiency effects. The study used well structured questionnaire to obtain cross-sectional data from 250 maize farmers in the farming areas of the municipality. The results from the study indicate that the mean technical efficiency of maize farmers in the municipality is 73%; implying that actual maize production is in shortfall of 27%. However, efficiency scores range from 17.3% to 95.48%. Analysis of the determinants of technical efficiency indicates that, access to credit and education, hybrid seed, weedicide, male farmers and farm size are positively related to the technical efficiency of maize farmers. Fertilizer application, labour hours, number of seed sowed per hole and farmer’s family size were negatively related to the technical efficiency of farmers. However, all the variables were statistically significant except, fertilizer application and farmer’s family size; which were statistically insignificant at 5% level. Based on these findings, the study recommends the loosening of various constraints associated with credit acquisition, diversification of produce and also the promotion of farmers’ cooperatives to ease the accessibility of credit to farmers. Secondly, redesigning the F-CUBE programme to improve the quality of education and providing informal agricultural education to farmers within the farming areas, will be useful mechanisms to improve efficiency of maize farmers. Additionally, there is the need to train more extension officers, equip and motivate them with adequate facilities and attractive remuneration to enable them deliver. Finally it is recommended that, further studies can be pursued through an extension to cover allocative efficiency, greater geographical area, inclusion of additional variables, increase in sample size and the use of Data Envelopment Analysis.

Source: KNUST
Measurement of television white space spectrum in the Central region of Ghana

Recent studies on efficient TV frequency spectrum used have proven that TV frequency spectrum in most geographical areas (especially the rural areas) are under utilized. These significant researches have shown that, the amount of frequency spectrum which is under-utilized in the TV bands is much larger than the spectrum available for use by current unlicensed user applications and services. TV White Space is an emerging concept of technology that has emanated while studying the effective utilisation and efficient management of the TV spectrum in various regions of the world. Studies have also shown that the actual unutilized frequency spectrum available varies significantly from one geographical area to another spatially as well as temporally. For this reason, TV white space estimation has been done in countries like the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), Europe, and Japan but unfortunately in Ghana, to the best of the authors’ knowledge no such work has been done. This thesis presents the very first effort of estimation of the amount of available TV white spaces in the Central Region of Ghana. In this study, TVWS is used as a tool for effective utilisation and efficient management of frequency spectrum. The very first localized geolocation database for TVWS in Central Region of Ghana is presented. Comparative analysis of Wi-Fi and TVWS networks revealed that Wi-Fi in the absence of strong interference from its environment works better in LoS networks while TVWS works better in the NLoS network mode. Also signal strength tests performed has shown that geographical features of a location and weather elements can have significant effect on the quality of signal strength. Finally, a proposed hybrid method for the protection of incumbent spectrum users and WSD from interference is demonstrated.

Source: KNUST
Measuring cost and technical efficiency in the operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme in Ghana: the case study of Ashanti Region

Measuring cost and technical efficiency in the operations of the NHIS in Ghana is a vital issue. The study used DEA-Technical Efficiency Model and DEA-Cost Efficiency Model to estimate the technical and cost efficiency levels of the NHIS. A regression was also adopted to determine which factors are responsible for variation of technical and cost efficiency in the operations of the NHIS over the period (2009-2012). The findings indicates that only one NHIS of the sample units (NHIS) operates at its optimal from 2009-2012 in the case of technical efficiency while for cost efficiency results, none of the sample units operates at optimal level from 2009-2012. The technical efficiency result reveals that on average, efficiency results are higher, thus 0.719, 0.704, 0.701 and 0.730 respectively from 2009-2012 while the cost efficiency results suggests that on average, the efficiency results are low, thus 0.555, 0.441, 0.404 and 0.419 respectively from 2009- 2012. The determinant of technical efficiency results indicates that only AGE, Total Assets (TASSETS) and Location (LOC) that are inversely related to technical efficiency while only Total Premium (TPRM), Loss Ratio (LR), and Total Subsidy (TSUBSIDY) that relates positively to technical efficiency. In the case of cost efficiency, the determinants results shows that only AGE, Total Assets (TASSETS) and Total Subsidy (TSUBSIDY) that are negatively related with cost efficiency while only Total Premium (TPRM), Loss Ratio (LR), and Location (LOC) that relates positively with cost efficiency. The study concludes that AGE, TASSETS, TPRM, and LR except TSUBSIDY and LOC are all significant determinants of the NHIS’s operations in terms of cost and technical efficiency as they influence the operations of the NHIS in one way or the other over the period (2009-2012).

Source: KNUST
Measuring E-Commerce Success in Telecommunication Organisations in the Koforidua Municipality (Working Topic: Testing of Delone and Mclean Model of e-commerce success on the operations of the telecommunication organisations in Koforidua Municipality)

The telecommunication networks are getting increasingly popular as a new distribution channel for e-products and e-services. The success in e-commerce goes a long way to enhance the way business is done and its relevance to customers in terms of benefit from e-commerce implementation and satisfaction with the implementation. Both the popular and academic literatures promise many benefits to be derived from e-commerce systems. Many companies have started adopting e-commerce as a secondary arm to their business. The number of successes has been relatively small and the lessons, which can be learnt from these organisations, are outlined in this thesis. Since the project is about assessing how the telecommunication organisations (MTN, VODAPHONE AIRTEL and TIGO) do business electronically and the rate of success, the e-commerce success models by Delone and Mclean comes to play to capture and display the important elements and to offer a handy shorthand way of referring to. In the attempt to test the research model and achieve the research objectives, a structured questionnaire was conducted among Koforidua e-commerce customers in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The questionnaire was designed to collect data related to demographics and possible factors affecting the success of e-commerce from individual customers, institutional customer and the telecoms. All of the scale items were measured using a five-point Likert-type category-scaling format. Judgemental sampling is used to select the population of telecommunication organisations who are good prospects for accurate information on e-commerce activities. Convenience sampling is used to select the easiest population of customers from which to obtain information about the service provided to them by these organisations. The study concludes with relevant findings in assessing the e-commerce success in telecommunication organisations in Koforidua.

Source: KNUST
Measuring the Academic Efficiency of the Four Campuses of the University for Development Studies Using Data Envelopment Analysis

The purpose of this paper is to utilize data envelopment analysis (DEA) to measure academic efficiency of the four campuses of University for Development Studies. DEA has been recognized as a robust tool that is used for evaluating the performance of profit and non-profit institutions. The proposed approach is deployed based on empirical data collected from the four campuses. On an efficiency scale of 0–1.0, DEA analysis assesses the relative efficiency of every campus relative to the rest of the campuses in terms of academic performance. For inefficient campuses, DEA analysis provides quantitative guidance on how to make them efficient. The 2010/11 academic year data from the four campuses of University for Development Studies were used. Four input variables and five output variables were identified. The input variables were lecture to student ratio, cost per student, library facilities and academic staff to non-academic staff ratio. Output variables were estimated as: classes obtained (that is first class, second class upper, second class lower, third class and pass). Three campuses (Tamale, Nyankpala and Wa) formed the efficiency frontier and the fourth campus (Navrongo) was found inefficient for the academic year. There was an indication that reduction in academic staff to non-academic staff ratio as input has a larger effect on efficiency of Navrongo campus than does in input cost per student ratio. For Navrongo campus to be on the efficiency frontier , it is better for cost per student ratio as input to be reduced more than the library facilities. Keywords: Data Envelopment Analysis, efficiency frontier, quantitative guidance, relative efficiency, empirical data, inefficient and profit and non-profit institutions,

Source: KNUST
Measuring the efficiency of basic students performance using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA)

The increasing interest in the measurement of the performance and efficiency of Basic students has led to the development of performance indicators, each of which attempts to measure the output (input) of a group of nearly homogeneous products (factors of production). The Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methodology is used to evaluate the performance indicators in other to obtain an overall performance measure through the comparison of a group of decision makers. This Project conducts an application of the DEA methodology in the assessment of the efficiency of the Basic students in the Adansi North District of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. The major indicators included the student attendance, teachers attendance and student continuous assessment as inputs and the students B.E.C.E performance as output. The results revealed the students who were more efficient in terms of student attendance, student continuous assessment and average input. Finally, I discuss about the existence of differences in the strength and weaknesses between the sampled students.

Source: KNUST
Measuring the Efficiency of University Libraries, Ghana- Using Data Envelopment Analysis Method

Data envelopment analysis is a non- parametric linear programming based technique used for measuring the relative performance of organisational units where the presence of multiple inputs and output makes comparison difficult. The aim of this project is to apply Data Envelopment Analysis in order to measure the relative efficiency of University Libraries. The data for three universities for years 2009 and 2010 has been estimated. We identified one input and two outputs. The input variable is print edition expenses. As outputs variable we identified: number of customers served and number of books borrowed. We found that one library formed the efficiency frontier in 2009 and one university formed the efficiency frontier in 2010.

Source: KNUST
Measuring the Efficiency of World Vision Ghana’s Educational Projects Using Data Envelopment Analysis

In the current era, donors are more interested in value for their money and are now keener about how their hard earned money is being used. As such Non-governmental organisations face crucial decisions as resources become scarcer. Based on these, more efficient use of resources becomes more important than ever before. This thesis therefore evaluates the performance of Educational Projects of four Area Development Programmes of World Vision Ghana using Data Envelopment Analysis Approach. The Data for the four Area Development Programmes and their respective District Education Offices for the years 2009 and 2010 were obtained. The two inputs that were recognised are number of staff and number of vehicles. We also identified two outputs as BECE pass rate and completion rate at JHS level. The results revealed that in 2009 and 2010 three Area Development Programmes and two Area Development Programmes were identified as efficient respectively. One Area Development Programme and two Area Development Programmes were marked out as inefficient in the years 2009 and 2010 respectively. To improve the performance of any inefficient Area Development Programme one of the efficient ADP was set as a benchmark.

Source: KNUST
Measuring The Investment Risk and Using Annuities to Determine The Expected Liability of Pension Funds:A case study of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT)

Effective management of investment risk is essential for every institution which is exposed to investment risk. Pension funds in Ghana are especially exposed to investment risk due to increasing investment risk factors exposed to the market. Pension fund exist to provide benefits to its members, therefore members are mainly concerned with losses as far as it decreases the value of their benefits. These losses usually occur as a result of the pension fund investing in the financial market and portfolio mismatching, which makes the tradeoff between risk and return a topic that most pension fund (investors) must consider carefully before an investment decision is made. The study uses the concept and methodology of the “value at risk" risk measure which is a tool for measuring an entity’s exposure to market risk, to determine the maximum loss of the investment portfolio of SSNIT on the Ghana capital market. The maximum loss of the scheme’s investment is quantified under the variancecovariance method of computing value-at-risk using an implementation of portfolio consisting of twenty-three stocks for 30 time interval with the confidence level of 95%, 99% and 90%.The study further used the whole life annuity model with mortality data to determine the expected liability to be paid by the fund to its members. Based on the normality of the distribution of the portfolio risk factors at 95% confidence level,the maximum loss of SSNIT is quantified under the 95% confidence level.

Source: KNUST
Measuring network performance with different levels of firewall security

The experiment was performed to ascertain application performances on the network with different levels of protection over Wide Area Network (WAN). In order to access related applications over the cloud there must be an internet connectivity to assist the network to reach their servers remotely for the various applications deployed over the network. The networking devices such as routers are configured via Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) routing protocol to reduce utilization, ensure load sharing over the network and also to interconnect Local Area Network (LAN). In this research three scenarios are modeled with or without protection. The level of protection used was firewall to filter and block some applications and their performance is measured. Sixty workstations are used in the simulation which all accesses the database FTP and HTTP server under different scenarios. The relationship between network security and performance are estimated which include the effects of protection such as firewalls on network performance. Various scenarios were evaluated through simulations using Riverbed Modeler Academic Edition 17.1 to show the effects of different levels of protection on a network using firewalls. The results show that protecting a network with firewall directly relates to network performance for all applications. Also blocking HTTP application reduces the load on the network for better network performance.

Source: KNUST
Measuring the severity of fungi caused disease on leaf using triangular thresholding method

In recent years, agriculture has become much more important than it used to be some years back where plants were only used to feed humans and animals. This is due to the fact that plants are now used to generate electricity and other forms of energy to improve living conditions of humans. For this reason, there is the need to take proper care of plants in order to get the maximum benefits from them. One major area that needs urgent attention is curbing plant diseases. There are several diseases that affect plants that can cause great harm to various economies and societies. It can even lead to great ecological losses. For this reason, it is better to diagnose plant diseases accurately and timely to avoid such loses. Fungi caused diseases in plants are the most common diseases which appear as spots on plant leaves. These spots make it very difficult for such plants to prepare their food by means of Photosynthesis since they affect the green pigments (chlorophyll) in the leaf, hence to a large extent affects the growth and the yield of such plants. In case of severe infection, the leaf becomes totally covered with spots and this leads to the withering of the plant. Plant disease can be detected and severity estimated using Thresholding and Segmentation. This paper employs the Triangular thresholding method with a written algorithm to detect and measure the severity of fungi caused disease on leaves. It can also be used to detect diseases caused by bacterial on plant leaves. The algorithm is estimated to give up to about 97% accurate results.

Source: KNUST
Mechanical characterization of bio-composites fabricated from natural coconut fibre and linear low density polyethylene

Fibre reinforced composite materials constitute an important class of engineering materials with outstanding mechanical properties, unique flexibility in design capabilities and ease of fabrication. Today, green, environmentally friendly, sustainable, renewable and biodegradable composites from natural fibres are among the most keenly required materials of choice. Coconut fibres can be used as environmentally friendly alternatives to conventional reinforcing fibres in composites. Composites consisting of linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) and coconut fibres with percent fibre loading of 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50 respectively were fabricated by extrusion. The extruded strands were pelletized, ground and test samples were injection moulded. The mechanical properties of composites were evaluated using standard American Society of Testing Methods (ASTM). Also, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and Swelling Index studies were performed. Coconut fibre (CCF) was treated with sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (5% w/v) for 24 hours. The FTIR results revealed a partial removal of lignin and hemicellulose after the CCF treatment, manifested through the disappearance of the peak at 1740 cm-1. The NaOH treatment increased the tensile strength and tensile modulus in the treated coconut fibre composites (TCFC) whilst slightly decreased the % elongation when compared to the untreated coconut fibre composites (UCFC) at similar % fibre loading, although both were lower than the pure LLDPE. For both the UCFC and TCFC, maximum or optimum ultimate tensile strength was attained at 30% fibre loading (w/w). Generally, the results showed that increasing percent coconut fibre content loading decreased the tensile strength and elongation at break but increased the young’s modulus at similar fibre loading in all cases studied. The swelling index generally increases with increasing amount of fibre loading in the composites with a corresponding decrease in crosslink density.

Source: KNUST
Mechanism(s) Underlying Interactions Between Cattle Manure and Mineral Fertilizer in a Maize Field Soil in Ghana

A 70-day laboratory incubation study was conducted to unravel the mechanism(s) underlying synergistic interactions between organic and inorganic nutrient inputs to the soil. Soil from a maize farmer's field at Kpongu in the Upper West Region of Ghana was amended with a factorial combination of 0, 50% and 100% levels of the recommended rates (RR) of inorganic fertilizer and cattle manure and incubated at room temperature in plastic cups. Deionized water was added to maintain soil moisture at 70% field capacity throughout the incubation period. Cups were covered with gas-permeable parafilm. Soil sampling was done at 7, 28, 42, 56 and 70 days after incubation. The soil was analyzed for available phosphorus, organic carbon, microbial biomass carbon, nitrates, ammonium, soil urease activity, iron, and copper at each sampling. The addition of 100% RR NPK + 50% RR manure often results in higher amounts of the measured parameters,synergistic interactions and supply of nutrients to the soil, with longer residual effects. While all the under-studied mechanisms (improved nutrient synchrony, priming effects, general fertility improvement fertility) contribute to synergistic interactions, the improved nutrient synchrony mechanism is the most prominent. Farmers can therefore manage the timing of the nutrient inputs well to capitalize on this mechanism for improved soil fertility.

Source: KNUST