ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Food Security and Perceived Well-being among Household Heads in Ghana

Access to food as a critical factor in determining individuals' well-being in low income countries is of grave importance both in theory and public policy. Therefore this study, designed to enhance our understanding of food (in)security's impact on quality of life, presents a micro-level analysis of factors associated with food provision, food satisfaction, and happiness in Ghana. Our empirical analysis first investigates the patterns and variations of food provision among Ghanaian households, and then evaluates how the provision factors, along with other socio-economic status and reciprocal behaviors, affect avowed well-being as measured by (1) the household heads' subjective sense of being nonpoor and (2) reported feelings of happiness. The data are drawn from the Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire (CWIQ) survey conducted in 2003, with a sample of 40,481 households. Regression outcomes reveal that the usage of land, owning of livestock and amount of food spending particularly favor male-headed households' food security, which in turn leads men not to endorse "feeling poor" and, instead, to report greater happiness than is the case, in most instances, for women. Familial reciprocity also strengthens subjective well-being by way of increasing food security among Ghanaians. Family values as such, rather than decline in significance, appear to play a critical role in food security in Ghana. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQOLS).

Source: UG
Food security impacts of industrial crop production in sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of the impact mechanisms

A number of industrial crops have been promoted in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to meet a range of policy objectives including economic growth, rural development, agricultural modernization and energy security. The food security impacts of industrial crop production have received extensive policyattention and have been widely discussed in the academic literature. There is, however, an overall lack of a clear understanding of these impacts due to thelarge diversity of industrial crops, and their varied modes of production, expansion areas, and impact mechanisms. This systematic review synthesizes theavailable knowledge on the interface of industrial crops and food security in SSA. In particular we identify key patterns with how different industrial cropsand impact mechanisms are represented and studied in the current literature, and how they intersect to affect food security. The current literature isfragmented, as most studies focus on single or small subsets of crops and impact mechanisms. Most studies capture mechanisms related to food access andavailability, rather than to food utilization and stability. A clustering analysis identified the main literature clusters that combine mechanisms related to foodavailability, access to food, and environmental impact. The overall analysis presented in this systematic review allowed us to identify priority policy andpractice domains that need to be targeted in order to improve the food security outcomes of industrial crop production in SSA

Source: UG
Food Security in Ghanaian Urban Cities: A Scoping Review of the Literature

Urbanisation in Ghana could be negatively impacting the state of food security, especially in economically vulnerable groups. Food supply, safety, and quality are all aspects of food security which could be impacted. We conducted a scoping literature review to understand the nature and magnitude of evidence available on the urban food security situation in Ghana. A literature search was conducted in Medline, CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, Scopus,Web of Science, AfricaWide Information and Google Scholar to identify relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature. 45 studies, mainly cross-sectional surveys/food samples analysis, met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies were concentrated in the Greater Accra Region (n = 24). Most studies focused on food safety and quality (n = 31). Studies on supply and stability were, however, scarce. Qualitative research methods were uncommon in the included studies. The existing literature on food security are concentrated in two regions: The Greater Accra and Ashanti regions. Future studies exploring food security in urban Ghana should focus on exploring the lived experiences and perceptions of food insecurity and food stability by urban-dwellers using qualitative methods. The evidence suggesting that the safety/quality of foods sold in Ghanaian markets is poor should be a concern to consumers and policy makers.

Source: UG
Food Security in Northern Ghana: Does Income from Shea Based Livelihoods Matter?

Shea is an important resource that support livelihoods and food security in northern Ghana. This study assesses the contribution of shea’s contribution to collectors’ income and food security. Shea income contributes about 21% to total income. Using The Food Consumption Score (FCS) to determine household food security status of shea collector households, majority of households (75.3%) were found to lack high food security. The Ordered Logit Regression (OLR) model was used to estimate the effect of shea income on household food security. The effect of shea income on food security was minimal. Income obtained from combining shea collection, farming and butter production has the highest effect on household food security. Other factors found to positively affect food security were attainment of basic education, farm size, picking nuts from family field, number of household’s food contributors while household size had an inverse effect on food security. The study recommends the encouragement of positive gender relations that allow women to have access to shea resources and advocates training to build capacity of collectors in other livelihood activities.

Source: UG
Food security in rural sub-Saharan Africa: Exploring the nexus between gender, geography and off-farm employment

How to eradicate hunger and achieve food security remains a key developmental issue, particular in countries south of the Sahara. Most of the empirical literature focuses on agriculture-based interventions although it is well known that rural households have a gamut of income generating activities that constitute their livelihood. This article uses panel data for six African countries to examine the association between off-farm income and household food security and tests key hypotheses that have not been previously explored. We hypothesize that the association between food security and off-farm income is neither gender-neutral nor the same for households living in low and high agroecological potential areas. Because a nontrivial number of households do not earn off-farm income, we also hypothesize that the food security effect of nonparticipation differs by gender and geography. The results show that although off-farm income has a strong statistically significant association with food security the correlation magnitudes are not as strong. However, off-farm income has a significantly stronger association with food security among female-headed and poor region households than it has among male-headed and rich region households in most countries. The gender-related result supports the notion that households tend to benefit more from women's greater control over resources than when such resources are controlled by men. We also show that nonparticipation in off-farm income is more costly, food security wise, for female-headed households and households who live in low agroecological potential regions than it is for male-headed households and those who live in high potential regions. The rural nonfarm sector in high agroecological potential areas tends to be associated with greater poverty reduction among female-headed households than among male-headed households. From a policy and development practice perspective, the results suggest that focusing rural development policies on factors that raise farm productivity alone (e.g., input subsidies) may not lead to gender-neutral welfare outcomes. This means that interventions such as rural nonfarm microcredit schemes that targets female-headed households or women in general could help achieve gender-equitable poverty reduction, as others have shown.

Source: UG
Food systems thinking unpacked: a scoping review on industrial diets among adolescents in Ghana

Unhealthy diets are among the main risk factors associated with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). In Sub Saharan Africa, NCDs were responsible for 37% of deaths in 2019, rising from 24% in 2000. There is an increasing emphasis on health harming industrial foods, such as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), in driving the incidence of diet-related NCDs. However, there is a methodological gap in food systems research to adequately account for the processes and actors that shape UPFs consumption across the diferent domains of the food systems framework and macro-meso-micro levels of analysis. This paper interrogates how the Food Systems Framework for Improved Nutrition (HLPE in Nutrition and food systems. A report by the high level panel of experts on food security and nutrition of the committee on world food security, 2017), considered the dominant framework to analyse nutrition, and language of interdisciplinarity are practised in research with regards to consumption of UPFs among adolescents in Ghana, a population group that is often at the forefront of dramatic shifts in diets and lifestyles. We conducted a scoping review of studies published between 2010 and February 2022, retrieved 25 studies, and mapped the fndings against the domains and analysis levels of the Food Systems Framework for Improved Nutrition (HLPE in Nutrition and food systems. A report by the high level panel of experts on food security and nutrition of the committee on world food security, 2017). Our study illustrates that there is a tendency to address unhealthy diets among adolescents in a siloed manner, and as a behavioural and nutritional issue. In most cases, the analyses fail to show how domains of the food systems framework are connected and do not account for linkages across diferent levels of analysis. Methodologically, there is a quantitative bias. From the policy point of view, there is a disconnect between national food policies and food governance (i.e., trade and regulations) and initiatives and measures specifcally targeted at adolescent’s food environments and the drivers of UPFs consumption.

Source: UG
Food vending safety concerns: Consumer perception on fresh coconut in New Juaben South Municipality of Ghana

This study assessed the perception of consumers on the safety of fresh coconut in the New Juaben South Municipality of Ghana. A study was conducted with 35 coconut vendors and 210 consumers using purposive and accidental sam pling techniques. Officials of the municipal food safety regulatory bodies were interviewed to get the institutional regulatory aspects of coconut vending. Descriptive statistics were processed from the survey data. Post-harvest, marketing and servicing activities of coconut vendors were identified as a major threat to food safety in the municipality. High awareness of the health benefits of tender coconut water accounts for its continuous consumption among consumers. A majority (36.2%) of consumers were of the view that vendor operations are likely to result in malaria outbreaks followed by Covid-19 infections (26.2%), cholera (20%) and dysentery (17.6%). Increased awareness through education for vendors and consumers and improved regulatory functions are recommended because of the cultural significance and health benefits of coconut consumption.

Source: UG
For Better for Worse Even After Death: Is ‘Widow Politics’ in Ghana’s Fourth Republic Becoming a Reliable Pathway for Women?

The quest to bridge the gender disparity in the politics of Ghana has seen little progress owing to the challenges associated with the passage of the Affirmative Action bill by the actors involved. However, the recent emergence and unconventional adoption of ‘widow succession’ politics in Ghana have sparked some public debates into the viability of the practice in the promotion of women in politics. This paper examines all five identified cases of widow politics in Ghana between 2000 and 2020 (Asutifi South, Shai Osudoku, Ayawaso West Wuogon, Mfantseman and Tempane constituencies) and draws on the widow effect and affirmative action concepts to propose lessons and the possible implication of the practice in Ghana.

Source: UG
For Better for Worse Even After Death: Is ‘Widow Politics’ in Ghana’s Fourth Republic Becoming a Reliable Pathway for Women?

The quest to bridge the gender disparity in the politics of Ghana has seen little progress owing to the challenges associated with the passage of the Affirmative Action bill by the actors involved. However, the recent emergence and unconventional adoption of ‘widow succession’ politics in Ghana have sparked some public debates into the viability of the practice in the promotion of women in politics. This paper examined all five identified cases of widow politics in Ghana between 2000 and 2020 (Asutifi South, Shai Osudoku, Ayawaso West Wuogon, Mfantseman and Tempane constituencies) and draws on the widow effect and affirmative action concepts to propose lessons and the possible implication of the practice in Ghana.

Source: UG
For money or service? A cross-sectional survey of preference for financial versus non-financial rural practice characteristics among Ghanaian medical students.

Abstract Background Health worker shortage and maldistribution are among the biggest threats to health systems in Africa. New medical graduates are prime targets for recruitment to deprived rural areas. However, little research has been done to determine the influence of workers' background and future plans on their preference for rural practice incentives and characteristics. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of preference for rural job characteristics among fourth year medical students in Ghana. Methods We asked fourth-year Ghanaian medical students to rank the importance of rural practice attributes including salary, infrastructure, management style, and contract length in considering future jobs. We used bivariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression to estimate the association between attribute valuation and students' socio-demographic background, educational experience, and future career plans. Results Of 310 eligible fourth year medical students, complete data was available for 302 students (97%). Students considering emigration ranked salary as more important than students not considering emigration, while students with rural living experience ranked salary as less important than those with no rural experience. Students willing to work in a rural area ranked infrastructure as more important than students who were unwilling, while female students ranked infrastructure as less important than male students. Students who were willing to work in a rural area ranked management style as a more important rural practice attribute than those who were unwilling to work in a rural area. Students studying in Kumasi ranked contract length as more important than those in Accra, while international students ranked contract length as less important than Ghanaian students. Conclusions Interventions to improve rural practice conditions are likely to be more persuasive than salary incentives to Ghanaian medical students who are willing to work in rural environments a priori. Policy experiments should test the impact of these interventions on actual uptake by students upon graduation.

Source: UG
For money or service? A cross-sectional survey of preference for financial versus non-financial rural practice characteristics among Ghanaian medical students.

Background: Health worker shortage and maldistribution are among the biggest threats to health systems in Africa. New medical graduates are prime targets for recruitment to deprived rural areas. However, little research has been done to determine the influence of workers' background and future plans on their preference for rural practice incentives and characteristics. The purpose of this study was to identify determinants of preference for rural job characteristics among fourth year medical students in Ghana. Methods: We asked fourth-year Ghanaian medical students to rank the importance of rural practice attributes including salary, infrastructure, management style, and contract length in considering future jobs. We used bivariate and multivariate ordinal logistic regression to estimate the association between attribute valuation and students' socio-demographic background, educational experience, and future career plans. Results: Of 310 eligible fourth year medical students, complete data was available for 302 students (97%). Students considering emigration ranked salary as more important than students not considering emigration, while students with rural living experience ranked salary as less important than those with no rural experience. Students willing to work in a rural area ranked infrastructure as more important than students who were unwilling, while female students ranked infrastructure as less important than male students. Students who were willing to work in a rural area ranked management style as a more important rural practice attribute than those who were unwilling to work in a rural area. Students studying in Kumasi ranked contract length as more important than those in Accra, while international students ranked contract length as less important than Ghanaian students. Conclusions: Interventions to improve rural practice conditions are likely to be more persuasive than salary incentives to Ghanaian medical students who are willing to work in rural environments a priori. Policy experiments should test the impact of these interventions on actual uptake by students upon graduation.

Source: UG
“For my safety and wellbeing, I always travel to seek health care in a distant facility”—the role of place and stigma in HIV testing decisions among GBMSM – BSGH 002

Gays, bisexuals, and all other men who have sex with men (GBMSM) are heavily impacted by HIV in Ghana compared to the general population. In addition to HIV and same-sex intercourse stigma, barriers such as reduced privacy, lower-income status and limited health care facilities (HCF) affect HIV testing decisions among GBMSM. We employed a phenomenological research design to understand the role of place and stigma in HIV testing among GBMSM in slums. GBMSM (n = 12) from slums in Accra and Kumasi, Ghana, were recruited and engaged in face-to-face interviews. We used a multiple reviewer summative content analysis to analyze and organize our key findings. The HIV testing options we identified include 1. Government HCF, 2. NGO and community outreach 3. Peer-educated services. Factors influencing GBMSM to test for HIV at HCF outside their areas included 1. The location of HCF 2. HIV and sexual stigma from slum areas 3. Positive HCW attitudes at distant HCF. 4. Negative Healthcare worker (HCW) attitudes towards GBMSM. These findings highlighted how stigma from slums and HCW influence HIV testing decisions and the need for place-based interventions to address stigma among HCW in slums to improve testing among GBMSM.

Source: UG
Foraging activities, success and efficiency of cattle egrets (Bubulcus ibis) in three habitat types in the Greater-Accra Region of Ghana.

Cattle egrets are considered one of the most widely distributed bird species globally. They are regarded as cosmopolitan due to their ability to adapt to different habitats and spread over anthropogenic habitats such as lawns and landfill sites. This study investigated their relative abundance, foraging success and efficiency in three habitat types (grassy areas, silted drain, and landfill sites) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The number of total strikes (strike = a peck made by the bird when foraging which may or may not result in prey capture) and successful strikes (identified by a characteristic head-jerk swallowing behaviour of the birds) were used to assess foraging success and efficiency. Mean successful strike rate was significantly different across the three major habitat types (H = 10.97, p < 0.05) with cattle egrets foraging at the landfill sites recording the highest (4.79 ± 2.82 min-1) and those in the grassy areas the lowest (2.32 ± 1.54 min-1). The maximum number of successful strikes in a minute by a cattle egret was 12, 16 and 23 at the grassy, silted drain, and landfill sites respectively. Cattle egrets at the landfill sites were the most efficient (75 %) foragers. Landfill sites should be managed to control the populations of cattle egrets

Source: UG
Forced migration and transformation of refugees

There has been much talk about the transformational experience of refugee hosting communities, but relatively little about the impact of these societies on the forced migrants. Using the case of Liberian refugees in Ghana, this paper examines the transformational experience of refugees during the forced migration experience. The paper specifically examines how the structures of forced migration interact with the refugee's agency to transform both the resources of the refugees and the structures of forced migration. The research argues that the resource transformational experience of refugees is a result of the complex interplay between the structures of forced migration and the refugee's agency. Drawing on social constructivism's mutual constitution of structure and agents, the study highlights the various structures that refugees encounter as having different influences on different agents (refugees). It also provides a context within which to understand and examine how refugees as agents operate within structures of constraint and opportunity, which more or less likely leads to resource gains and losses

Source: UG
Forecasting peak asthma admissions in London: An application of quantile regression models

Asthma is a chronic condition of great public health concern globally. The associated morbidity, mortality and healthcare utilisation place an enormous burden on healthcare infrastructure and services. This study demonstrates a multistage quantile regression approach to predicting excess demand for health care services in the form of asthma daily admissions in London, using retrospective data from the Hospital Episode Statistics, weather and air quality. Trivariate quantile regression models (QRM) of asthma daily admissions were fitted to a 14-day range of lags of environmental factors, accounting for seasonality in a hold-in sample of the data. Representative lags were pooled to form multivariate predictive models, selected through a systematic backward stepwise reduction approach. Models were cross-validated using a hold-out sample of the data, and their respective root mean square error measures, sensitivity, specificity and predictive values compared. Two of the predictive models were able to detect extreme number of daily asthma admissions at sensitivity levels of 76 % and 62 %, as well as specificities of 66 % and 76 %. Their positive predictive values were slightly higher for the hold-out sample (29 % and 28 %) than for the hold-in model development sample (16 % and 18 %). QRMs can be used in multistage to select suitable variables to forecast extreme asthma events. The associations between asthma and environmental factors, including temperature, ozone and carbon monoxide can be exploited in predicting future events using QRMs.

Source: UG