ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Benefitting from alter resources: network diffusion and SME survival

This study examines the usefulness of alter resources for the survival of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana. We utilize data from two rounds of poultry SME network surveys and accompanying SME attributes between 2014 and 2015. We focused on the resources that diffuse to SMEs from alters and the mechanism through which these resources diffuse. We observed that alter markets and technological resources are significant for the survival of SMEs in our sample. We also explored the effect of variations in alter resources along the lines of the type of resource being diffused and found that market resource spill overs have a positive effect while technological resource variations have a negative effect, but these do not rise to significance. Finally, we assessed the impact of the mechanism through which the resources are diffused and found that both direct and indirect tie mechanisms have a positive effect on survival but the effect of direct ties was higher than that of indirect ties.

Source: UG
Benefts of farmer managed natural regeneration to food security in semi‑arid Ghana

Promoting Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) aims to increase the productive capacities of farmer households. Under FMNR, farmers select and manage natural regeneration on farmlands and keep them under production. While FMNR contributes to the wealth of farming communities, its contribution to household food security has rarely been researched. We, therefore, used a mixed-methods approach to address the research gap by measuring FMNR’s contribution to food security among farmer households in the Talensi district of Ghana. We adopted the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS) and Food Consumption Score (FCS) to estimate food security status among 243 FMNR farmer households and 243 non-FMNR farmer households. Also, we performed a Chi-square test of independence to compare the frequency of each food group (present vs not present) between FMNR adopters and non-FMNR adopters to establish the relationship between adopting FMNR and consuming the FCS and HDDS food groups. Our results reveal that FMNR farmer households are more food secure than non-FMNR farmer households. The HHDS of the FMNR farmer households was 9.6, which is higher than the target value of 9.1. Conversely, the HHDS of the non-FMNR farmer households was 4.3, which is lower than the target value of 9.1. Up to 86% and 37% of the FMNR farmer households and non-FMNR farmer households fell within acceptable FCS; 15% and 17% of FMNR farmer households and non-FMNR farmer households fell within borderline FCS. While none of the FMNR farmer households fell within poor FCS, 46% of non-FMNR farmer households fell within poor FCS. Adopting FMNR is signifcantly related to consuming all food groups promoted and benefting from FMNR practices. The paper recommends enabling farmers in semi-arid environments to practice and invest in FMNR for long-term returns to food security.

Source: UG
Benevolence and Negative Deviant Behavior in Africa: The Moderating Role of Centralization

The growing interest in Africa as well as concerns about negative deviant behaviors and ethnic structures necessitates examination of the effect of ethnic expectations on behavior of employees. In this study we leverage insight from ethnos oblige theory to propose that centralization of ethnic norms moderates the relationship between benevolence expectations and negative deviant behavior. Using a cross-sectional design and data from two countries (Ghana: n = 328 and Botswana: n = 100) as well as moderation and cross-cultural analytic techniques, we find support for three-way interactions where the relationship between benevolence and negative deviant behavior is moderated by centralization and culture. We discuss the implications of the findings which support the dynamic perspective of management in Africa.

Source: UG
Benign disorders of the prostate: A histopathological study

Although the medical literature contains adequate accounts of the pathophysiology of various benign prostatic disorders, it is often necessary to revisit these lesions, to reexamine the relationships between known benign lesions and more sinister, malignant disorders, in the light of new advances in our understanding of the processes. We carried out a histopathological review of prostatic surgical pathology material seen over a seven-year period in our hospital. Our findings show that benign enlargement of the prostate or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is initially fibromuscular in many cases, becoming glandulostromal with advancing age. While we found no relationship between prostatitis and age, individual gland necrosis tended to occur relatively early and correlated well with stromal repair, which we believe forms the basis of fibromuscular hyperplasia. Epithelial hyperplasia may result from glandular regeneration, and basal cell hyperplasia, papillary hyperplasia and cribriform hyperplasia all showed significant correlation with prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN). On the other hand, only cribriform hyperplasia showed correlation with atypical adenomatous hyperplasia (AAH), and also demonstrated an increase in incidence with advancing age. Our findings underline the positive relationships between benign events such as glandular necrosis with repair and epithelial hyperplasia, which may itself predispose to recognized premalignant lesions such as PIN.

Source: UG
Best-worst scaling in studying the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on health professionals in Ghana

In this study, we utilized a best-worst scaling experiment design to assess the potential factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress among health professionals following the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic. The maximum difference model was performed to analyze the potential risk factors associated with depression, anxiety, and stress. As a case study, a total of 300 health professionals in Ghana were included in the survey. The majority, 112 (68.7%) male health professionals and 97 (70.8%) female health professionals reported that they had encountered suspected COVID-19 patients. 83 (50.9%) of the male health professionals and 76 (55.5%) of the female health professionals reported that they had encountered confirmed COVID-19 patients. A considerable proportion of the males 59 (36.2%) and females 57 (41.6%) health professionals reported coming into direct contact with COVID-19 lab specimens. The findings indicated that a high proportion of health professionals encountered suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, while a considerable proportion had direct contact with COVID-19 lab specimens leading to psychological problems. Risk factors such as contact with confirmed COVID-19 patients, the relentless spread of the coronavirus, death of patients and colleagues, shortage of medical protective equipment, direct contact with COVID-19 lab specimens, and the permanent threat of being infected should be given special attention, and necessary psychological intervention provided for health professionals endorsing these risk factors. Improving the supply of medical protective equipment to meet occupational protection practices, sufficient rest, and improving the vaccination of the population might help safeguard health professionals from depression, anxiety, and stress. Our results provide insight into policy discussions on the mental health of health professionals and interventions that are essential to enhance psychological resilience.

Source: UG
Better health statistics are possible

After decades of debate about the need to improve the quality of basic health statistics in developing countries, there is at last substantial progress on the horizon. The recently created Health Metrics Network and the Ellison Institute for World Health offer the potential for strengthened health information systems to inform better policy development.1 , 2 , 3 Both initiatives are backed by new funding. Both will lead to new secretariats and partnerships between academics, governments, and intergovernmental agencies. That is the promise. The magnitude of the need has been well documented. Many countries are still unable to count their dead, let alone produce accurate statistics for cause of death or disease. Most countries do not have the capacity to regularly assess the performance of their health systems and few use reliable information for decision-making. In recent years, some progress has been made in addressing the need for improved global and regional health data. For specific diseases, such as HIV, a solid empirical database has been established. However, most summary statistics of general mortality have relied heavily on complex modelling approaches to fill gaps in basic country-specific data. The new initiatives should focus on strengthening empirical knowledge at country level, thus enhancing the quality of global and regional estimates. Over the years, interest in improving the quality of basic health statistics has waxed and waned—no serious sustained effort has been made to get the basics in place. Now, for several reasons, the demand for high-quality data has accelerated. The reporting requirements of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the monitoring and evaluation measures required by the performance-based disbursement schemes of new global initiatives, such as the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, have highlighted the substantial gaps and needs in countries. Measurement systems are urgently needed to enable monitoring and evaluation of health-system interventions, to demonstrate accountability, and to sustain funding. Substantial resources coming through these global health initiatives can and should be used to build better health-information systems, and more investments are expected.

Source: UG
Between Conflict and Co-Operation: Globalisation and the Future of International Relations

In the past decade or two, the concept of Globalisation has received extensive hype in academic and developmental dialogue. While an overwhelming number of such discussions cite globalisation as involving the removal of some form of boundary and other cooperative phenomena, a critical examination of all the processes globalisation stimulates reveals that it has the potential of generating or sustaining conflict in international relations. This article examines the co-operative aspects of globalisation. It also explores some positions that point to the possibility of increased conflict in international relations. In looking at the prospects for co-operation this article discusses Immanuel Kant’s tripod of courses namely-democracy, membership in international institutions and economic interdependence.it also presents the territorial argument and the neo-liberal perspective of increase in international co-operation due to realisation of common interests and the gradual elimination of cultural barriers . As regards the prospects for conflicts in international relations, the article discusses the challenges arising from the globalisation of political values as well as culture, threats from the internet, challenges of social injustice and international terrorism. On the basis of the discussion the article concludes that the future of international relations insofar as globalisation is concerned, lies between conflict and co-operation. Consequently, it recommends that the apparent mass delusion about the absolutely positive aspects of globalisation must be replaced by conscious efforts by all stakeholders in international relations to ensure that the factors that generate conflict are acknowledged and efforts made at addressing them, while those that enhance co-operation are encouraged.

Source: UG
Between Hippocrates and God: Ugandan mental health professionals’ views on suicide

A negative attitude towards suicide is generally assumed to be predominant in low-income countries. In order to understand the negative attitude in general it is necessary to look at how religion and morality influence the attitudes. Our aim in this qualitative interview study was to investigate what attitudes professional mental health workers in Uganda bear towards suicide and suicidal persons. The professionals argue for their attitude by employing religious, communal and medical ethics arguments, which draw both in a negative and positive direction. The professionals are in general unambiguously negative towards suicide and positive towards suicidal people who are mentally ill. In cases other than mental illness non-accepting attitudes surface. This is discussed against previous research showing that effective treatment of suicidal people is to be based on a trusting and accepting relationship.

Source: UG
Between moral infraction and existential crisis: Exploring physicians and nurses’ attitudes to suicide and the suicidal patient in Ghana

Background: Negative attitudes of health professionals towards suicide may hamper their willingness and skills to work with attempt survivors. Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of physicians and nurses towards suicide and the suicidal patient. Methods: A semi-structured qualitative interview was conducted on Twenty five (25) health professionals: (15 physicians and 10 casualty nurses) from five hospitals in Accra, the capital of Ghana. Results: Findings showed that while majority of physicians viewed suicide as an existential crisis, most of the nurses viewed it as a moral infraction. Three key attitudes towards suicide and the suicidal patient were observed: stable, dissonant and transitioned. The findings are discussed under three main themes: Contexts, Theorizing suicide, and Shades of attitudes. Conclusion: Nurses and Physicians are key gatekeepers in suicide prevention in Ghana. Training is however, needed to improve both attitudes (especially for nurses) and competence towards suicide prevention in the country. © 2018 Elsevier Lt

Source: UG
Between the Tiger and the Deep Blue Sea: A Critique of Western Perspectives on Contemporary Sino-Africa Relations

Within the last ten years, China has made significant economic and political inroads in Africa. It has enhanced relations with a significant number of African countries and its trade volume increased from US$20billion in 2001 to an excess of US$114.8billion in2010. China’s involvement in Africa has generated interests from many quarters within the international community. While it appears that most African countries are keen on replicating China’s success story in Africa, perspectives on Sino-African relations largely emanating from the West, generally pointing to some form of continental exploitation by China. These perspectives are based on China’s dealings with countries such as Sudan, Zimbabwe and Guinea, largely considered as countries with politically repressive governments, disregard for environmental corollaries, unequal negotiating ground between China and African countries, and excessive control of Africa’s resources. Operating from a realist conceptualization of international relations, and using mainly qualitative data, this article presents a critique of the West’s perspectives on contemporary Sino-African relations. It proceeds on the hypothesis that contemporary Sino-African relations are mutually beneficial to China and Africa. It concludes that on the basis of the mutual benefits, African countries are likely to sustain their relations with China.

Source: UG
Bevacizumab versus ziv-aflibercept in branch retinal vein occlusion

PURPOSE: To compare the effectiveness of treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) and ziv-aflibercept (IVZ) in patients with macular edema (ME) post-branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). METHODS: Patients with treatment naïve ME post-BRVO were included retrospectively if they received either IVB (0.05 ml/1.25 mg) or IVZ (0.05 ml/1.25 mg) monotherapy with a follow up of 12 months. RESULTS: Thirty-two and 17 eyes received IVB and IVZ, respectively. The mean improvement in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.36 ± 0.3 logarithm of minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) in the IVB group and 0.27 ± 0.3 in the IVZ group (P = 0.35). The mean change in central macular thickness was 178.9 ± 180.9 and 173.5 ± 344.4 μm in IVB and IVZ groups, respectively (P = 0.94). The mean number of injections was higher in the IVB group (4.0 ± 1.8) compared with 1.82 ± 0.8 in the IVZ group (P < 0.0001). The IVZ group had significantly fewer number of visits (P < 0.0001) and longer maximum treatment-free intervals (P = 0.0081). CONCLUSION: IVZ appears to be cost-effective with the similar visual outcome and less number of visits in comparison to IVB.

Source: UG
Beyond affordability: Explaining the consumption of Chinese products in Ghana

The dominant thesis undergirding the surge in the consumption of Madein- China (MIC) in Africa is the idea that Chinese products are patronised by lowincome earners because they are cheap. This paper, however, argues for a discourse beyond affordability and asserts that the motivation for the consumption of MIC products are broader and more complicated. Data for this paper was collected using in-depth interviews with 65 individual consumers and 15 distributors of MIC electronics in Accra, Ghana. The findings indicate that apart from cost, the rising consumption of MIC products is anchored on product and service innovations such as product warranty and free after-sales services. Other factors include demands of urban living, perceptions of improved quality, identification with product ambassadors and product accessibility. This observation offers a conceptualisation of consumption consistent with the trickle-across model of consumption. While these Ghanaians do not discredit the quality of other brands, they envisage achieving similar or superior utility from consuming MIC products.

Source: UG
Beyond cardinals and ordinals: A Constructionist account of other numeral constructions in Akan

A numeral is defined as “a word or phrase expressing a number”, where number is defined as “a mathematical abstraction” (Hurford, 2001, p. 10756). Thus, a numeral is a linguistic representation of a number. This is how we understand that the two numerals ‘fifteen hundred’ and ‘one thousand five hundred’ express the same number, “1500”. Numerals have been studied from many different perspectives across languages. However, most studies focus on cardinal numerals in attributive constructions (cf. Greenberg, 1978; Heine, 1997; Stampe, 1976; von Mengden, 2010). Others too have paid considerable attention to ordinal numerals (Stampe, 1976; Stolz & Veselinova, 2011; Stump, 2010), and, indeed, cardinal and ordinal numerals have very interesting linguistic properties. However, the set of numerical expressions in any language is more than the set used to express the cardinality of sets or the ordinality of the items in the set. Other classes of numerals like fraction, frequentatives, distributives and multiplicatives abound and have been noted to present very interesting linguistic properties (cf., inter alia, Gil, 2013).This talk is a constructionist account of non-cardinal and non-ordinal numerals in Akan. I show that the formal structure of the various classes of numerals is quite regular because they inherit their structure from already existing syntactic and morphological constructions in the language, including coordinate constructions, compounding and reduplication. In the proposed constructionist account, I make the point that the properties of the various classes of numerals can be captured in schemas which abstract over the general as well as idiosyncratic properties of the various classes. I posit constructional idioms, in which various aspects of the numerals which may be regarded as constructional properties are prespecified in the schemas and inherited by the instantiating constructions.

Source: UG
Beyond certification: Investigating the nexus between compliance with sustainable agriculture standard and livelihood assets of certified smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

Studies have shown that farmers appear to deviate from set certification standards after they have passed audits and received their certificate. This usually makes them vulnerable and affects their livelihood assets. Therefore, this study set out to investigate the nexus between certified smallholder cocoa farmers’ continual compliance with sustainable agriculture standard (SAS) and their livelihood assets. The research was conducted in the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality of Ghana. Data were collected from a survey of 400 cocoa farmers. Ordered logistic regression modelling, Chi-square test, frequencies, means, standard deviations, and percentages were used to analyze data. The findings show that 43.5% of the certified cocoa farmers complied moderately with SAS. Gender, farm size, land ownership, access to credit, engaging in income-generating activities outside of farming, assistance provided by License Buying Companies and extension contact were the determinants of farmers’ level of compliance with SAS. The study revealed a statistically significant association between farmer compliance and livelihood assets. Efforts to increase access to credit for cocoa farmers must be accompanied by efforts to promote and educate farmers on sustainable farming practices.

Source: UG
Beyond fragmentation and towards universal coverage: Insights from Ghana, south africa and the united republic of Tanzania

The World Health Assembly of 2005 called for all health systems to move towards universal coverage, defined as " access to adequate health care for all at an affordable price" . A crucial aspect in achieving universal coverage is the extent to which there are income and risk cross-subsidies in health systems. Yet this aspect appears to be ignored in many of the policy prescriptions directed at low- and middle-income countries, often resulting in high degrees of health system fragmentation. The aim of this paper is to explore the extent of fragmentation within the health systems of three African countries (Ghana, South Africa and the United Republic of Tanzania). Using a framework for analysing health-care financing in terms of its key functions, we describe how fragmentation has developed, how each country has attempted to address the arising equity challenges and what remains to be done to promote universal coverage. The analysis suggests that South Africa has made the least progress in addressing fragmentation, while Ghana appears to be pursuing a universal coverage policy in a more coherent way. To achieve universal coverage, health systems must reduce their reliance on out-of-pocket payments, maximize the size of risk pools, and resource allocation mechanisms must be put in place to either equalize risks between individual insurance schemes or equitably allocate general tax (and donor) funds. Ultimately, there needs to be greater integration of financing mechanisms to promote universal cover with strong income and risk cross-subsidies in the overall health system.

Source: UG