ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Finishing of wooden furniture in Ghana (a case study in Accra and Kumasi)

The survey was udertaken in Accra and Kumasi to assess the present methods, procedures and extent of finishing, to find the relationship between the various types of finishing as done by the different categories of furniture producers and to determine consumer preferences and extent to which their finishing demands are met. sixty furniture producers, 20 each from the large, medium and small scales were randomly selected and visited. The evaluation was based on discussions, questionnaires and observations carried out in their workshops/factories. The study revealed that there was no consistency in finishing of wooden furniture but rather finishing was done differently within the same scale and between the different scales of production. Finishing of wooden furniture was dependent on factors like wood species used, type of finish, skill and customer demands. Furniture items are produced with very wide variety of finishes to suit customer’s preference (the most preferred being stained and matt finish). The procedures for finishing in each scale were similar but the methods and extents differed greatly. The large and medium scale furniture producers used high quality and costly finishing materials to produce high quality and highly priced items for the higher income and commercial consumers, whereas locally made inferior quality finishing materials were used to produce items at lower prices for the lower income domestic consumers. Furniture items are usually ordered by consumers with their own finishing specifications or they had the option to choose from items with a wide range of finishing specifications. Only forty two workshops/factories had completely separate finishing sections with specialised facilities and skilled workers. Recommendations have been made to improve and further develop the existing situation by adopting measures such as frequent training schemes, provision of external finance or credit, acquisition of appropriate finishing machinery and equipment, provision of technical advice and assistance in finishing of furniture together with furniture production in general.

Source: KNUST
First use of the 137Cs technique in Nigeria for estimating medium-term soil redistribution rates on cultivated farmland

Soil erosion is a serious problem in the forest-savanna transition zone or derived savanna of West Africa and Nigeria and needs to be reduced to maintain soil quality and to ensure food security. In 2007, the use of the fallout radionuclide 137Cs as a tracer for estimating the magnitude of medium-term (40–50 years) rates of soil redistribution was tested at a research station in Ibadan, Nigeria, to investigate, for the first time, its applicability in the derived savanna of West Africa. Because of the traditional tillage practice for cassava cultivation of creating downslope oriented ridges and furrows during the annual ploughing, there was a need to adapt the 137Cs approach to these specific condition. The mean inventory was determined for cores collected from both ridges and furrows at different positions down the slope and this value was used to estimate the downslope variation in the longer term soil redistribution rate. The mean 137Cs reference inventory obtained for an undisturbed site was 568 138 Bq m 2 . The average inventory for the upper slope of the cassava field (423 323 Bq m 2 ) was generally lower than the average inventory for the middle slope (509 166 Bq m 2 ) and for the lower slope (606 245 Bq m 2 ) and these results provided clear evidence of the downslope movement of soil. The mean 137Cs inventory for the study area within the cassava field (496 273 Bq m 2 ) was 13% lower than the reference inventory, indicating that some of the soil mobilised and redistributed by erosion had been exported beyond the field. Using 137Cs data set and the conversion model mass balance model 2 (MBM2), the gross erosion rate from the cultivated site was estimated to be 18.3 t ha 1 year 1 and the net erosion rate 14.4 t ha 1 year 1 , providing a sediment delivery ratio of 78%. These estimates are comparable to the rates generated by conventional soil loss measurements made close to the study site. The study demonstrates that the 137Cs technique can be successfully used to obtain data on medium-term soil redistribution in the derived savanna of Nigeria, and that it could be a useful tool for supporting the improvement of soil conservation on farmland in West Africa

Source: KNUST
First performance assessment of blends of jatropha, palm oil and soya bean biodiesel with kerosene as fuel for domestic purposes in rural-Ghana

Performance assessments of jatropha, palm oil and soya bean based biodiesel were carried out to investigate their potential use as conventional substitute for kerosene for domestic purposes in ruralGhana. The assessments were done by comparing some of the combustion characteristics of blends of the biodiesel with kerosene. The blends were categorised as B100 (100% biodiesel), B80 (80% biodiesel and 20% kerosene), B60 (60% biodiesel and 40% kerosene), B40 (40% biodiesel and 60% kerosene), B20 (20% biodiesel and 80% kerosene) and B0 (pure kerosene). The results showed that the calorific values of the B100s were less than that of the B0 and decreasing in the order of jatropha, soya bean and palm oil. The wick wastage results for both the B100s and B0, revealed higher rates in the WTL than the BB even though the BB recorded low fuel consumption rates than the WTL for both B100s and B0. Similarly, the luminous intensity test with the B100s showed low values in WTL than the BB in a decreasing order of jatropha, soya bean and palm oil. However, B0 recorded higher luminous intensity values that were quite comparable in both WTL and BB.

Source: KNUST
First use of the 137Cs technique in Nigeria for estimating medium-term soil redistribution rates on cultivated farmland

Soil erosion is a serious problem in the forest-savanna transition zone or derived savanna of West Africa and Nigeria and needs to be reduced to maintain soil quality and to ensure food security. In 2007, the use of the fallout radionuclide 137Cs as a tracer for estimating themagnitude of medium-term (40–50 years) rates of soil redistribution was tested at a research station in Ibadan, Nigeria, to investigate, for the first time, its applicability in the derived savanna of West Africa. Because of the traditional tillage practice for cassava cultivation of creating downslope oriented ridges and furrows during the annual ploughing, there was a need to adapt the 137Cs approach to these specific condition. The mean inventory was determined for cores collected from both ridges and furrows at different positions down the slope and this value was used to estimate the downslope variation in the longer term soil redistribution rate. The mean 137Cs reference inventory obtained for an undisturbed site was 568 138 Bq m 2. The average inventory for the upper slope of the cassava field (423 323 Bq m 2) was generally lower than the average inventory for the middle slope (509 166 Bq m 2) and for the lower slope (606 245 Bq m 2) and these results provided clear evidence of the downslope movement of soil. The mean 137Cs inventory for the study area within the cassava field (496 273 Bq m 2) was 13% lower than the reference inventory, indicating that some of the soil mobilised and redistributed by erosion had been exported beyond the field. Using 137Cs data set and the conversion model mass balance model 2 (MBM2), the gross erosion rate from the cultivated site was estimated to be 18.3 t ha 1 year 1 and the net erosion rate 14.4 t ha 1 year 1, providing a sediment delivery ratio of 78%. These estimates are comparable to the rates generated by conventional soil loss measurements made close to the study site. The study demonstrates that the 137Cs technique can be successfully used to obtain data on medium-term soil redistribution in the derived savanna of Nigeria, and that it could be a useful tool for supporting the improvement of soil conservation on farmland in West Africa.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal decentralisation and local participation, the way forward for sub-national development in the Atwima Kwanwoma District.

The debate on the relevance of fiscal decentralisation and local participation as a means of fostering sub-national development has been on-going in academia for a while. However, there are many grey areas pertaining to the actual expenditure of revenue in terms of geographical allocations. Getting local people to own and sustain development projects that affect them through local participation is one of the predominant challenges facing the decentralisation processes. The study therefore sought to examine the utilisation of funds and local participation towards the development of the Atwima Kwanwoma District (AKD); assess the direction of spread of development activities in relation to urban, peri urban and rural areas; assess the level of local participation in development activities and lastly to examine the effects of developmental projects on the living conditions of the local people in AKD. A case study research design was employed with the help of a multi stage sampling technique. The study used purposive, systematic and proportionate sampling techniques to select 160 respondents (urban-66, peri urban- 41, rural-53) who were all household heads. An additional Forty (40) key respondents were engaged in focus group discussions (FGDs). Seven officials were also selected purposively for interview. The study revealed that the Assembly realised a higher percentage of budgeted IGF (70.2%) as compared to percentage of budgeted DACF (42.8%). Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, cross-tabulation, trend analysis (quantitative) and Thematic analysis (qualitative). In ranking the utilisation of revenue across the various sectors, the local government sector (roads, water and sanitation and administration) received the highest (49%), followed by education (20%) and the least being health (3%). The finding unveiled that there was unequal distribution of development projects across the rural, peri-urban and urban sectors. The distribution was skewed towards the urban sector. Also the nature of the projects determines the effects they have on living conditions of beneficiaries either in the long term or short term. It is therefore recommended that the Government takes steps to transfer funds on time and limit engagements that would reduce funds expected by the Assembly. The Assembly should embark on intensive public education on development projects in the district as well as build local capacity of residents to engage them to participate in community based projects. Furthermore, development projects should be distributed evenly for the benefit of residents in the district.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal Decentralisation, District Assemblies Common Fund and Local Development in Ghana

One of the key components under decentralisation policy is the devolution of means. In the past, decentralisation policy in many developing countries failed to produce the anticipated impact because the issue of fiscal devolution was not given much attention. In Ghana, it has been realised that the issue of fiscal devolution, among others, is the main cause of local government failure, because the central government had transferred responsibilities to the local governments without the corresponding means. To address this problem, the new decentralisation policy envisioned to transfer means to the local governments. It is against this background that the study was pursued. The study aimed at examining the nature of fiscal decentralisation policy, assesses fiscal resources allocation to the District Assemblies and their impact on local development. To this effect, a cross-section of five District Assemblies selected in Ashanti region were studied focusing on their traditional revenue sources, central government financial transfers to them, the proportions and relationships between these sources of revenue and their impact on local level development. The study showed that there is not much evidence of full devolution of revenue and expenditure. The analytical expositions revealed declining revenue from the traditional sources and increasing dependence on central government transfers by the District Assemblies. This problem has existed in the face of the new decentralisation policy which seeks to transfer power, authority and competence, and means to the District Assemblies. They were also identified as having appreciable degree of fiscal empowerment and with the common fund seeing improvement in basic services. Recommendations, therefore, targeted the strengthening of District Assemblies finances by devolving more lucrative sources of revenue to them and improve the methods used in transferring funds to them. The analytical expositions also unearthed weak financial management which needs to be improved at the local level. It is the view of the author that the adoption of the recommendations made in this report can considerably enhance the design and implementation of fiscal decentralization in the country.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal Decentralization and the Promotion of Local level Development; a Comparative study of Ghana and Uganda.

Over the last decade, the governments of both Ghana and Uganda have demonstrated their commitment to the devolution of political and administrative authority to the districts as a means of promoting effective community participation in local development. In addition, efforts have been made to transfer the necessary financial resources to local governments to promote their role in local level development. In Ghana, these efforts culminated into the enactment of the local government Act of 1993, Act 462 and the drafting of Chapter 20 of the 1992 constitution. In Uganda, these efforts resulted into the enactment of the local government (Resistance Councils) Statute of 1993. These policies aim at giving local governments the power to mobilise and/or allocate the financial resources spent within their jurisdictions. However, much as the decentralisation policies in both countries provide for an effective transfer of financial resources, the measures put in place to affect this transfer do not grant the local governments units substantial control over them. As a result, the local governments have little control over the financial resources that they need to perform the devolved functions. To investigate this problem, the case study approach was adopted. Two districts, Atebubu in Ghana and Iganga in Uganda, were chosen. Questionnaires were administered and interviews held with government officials. References were also made to both published and unpublished literature related to fiscal decentralisation. It was established in the course of this study that although some progress had been made towards strengthening local fiscal autonomy, a lot still remains to be done. Assigned sources of revenue were found to be unstable and mostly unproductive in both Ghana and Uganda. In Ghana, the District Assemblies Common Fund (DACF) is restricted to development projects within specified sectors and the budgetary procedure still leaves most of the financial decision-making powers centralised.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal deficit, money growth and inflation dynamics in Ghana

The issue of inflation has attracted a great deal of attention over the past two decades, as reflected in substantial academic literature. The objective of the study was to investigate the causal relationship between fiscal deficits, money growth and inflation, having controlled for macroeconomic variables such as interest rate, exchange rate and real GDP in the Ghanaian economy for the period 1960-2012 and to test whether the Sargent Wallace Hypothesis holds for the Ghanaian economy. The time series properties of the underlyin g series were examined using the Argumented Dickey Fuller and the Philip Perron unit root tests and the result reveals that the interaction between fiscal deficit and money supply, fiscal deficit, money supply, were all stationary at the levels, while other incorporated variables in the empirical analysis- real income and the nominal exchange rate -were stationary at first difference. Using the autoregressive distributive lag model the long and short run models were estimated, and the Granger Causality test was employed to test for causality among the variables. The results suggest a positive relationship between fiscal deficits and inflation in the Ghanaian economy occurs only in the short run; however the money supply shows a consistent positive relationship with inflation, both in the short and long run. This supports the position that in the long run, inflation is mainly driven by monetary expansion. The Granger causality test supported a unidirectional causality from fiscal deficit to inflation and money supply; and a bi-directional causality existing between money supply and inflation. The results indicated that the best approach to understand the causal relationship between fiscal deficit, money supply and inflation in the Ghanaian economy in the long run is given by the SW-H. The study suggested policies which aimed at properly formulating and implementing good monetary and fiscal policies.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal Policy, Monetary Policy and Stock Market Activity in Ghana

The study examined the impact of fiscal and monetary policy actions on the stock market in Ghana. In pursuing this I probed the inter-temporal interaction between fiscal policy, monetary policy and stock market activities in Ghana and investigated the efficiency of the stock market with respect to fiscal and monetary policy information. The theoretical contention of the Keynesian Economics that a policy mix of fiscal and monetary policy is the best in achieving macroeconomic objectives informed the study. Empirical evidence supported the proposition but its interaction with interest rate suggests that such policies may have concurrent effect on stock market activities. Stock market activity is either enhanced or disrupted as a result of changes in any of the policy effects. It was found that, both from common correlation analysis to recent econometric modeling; indicate fiscal policy actions have significant effects on stock market activities and not the other way round. In addition, there is a unidirectional causal effect of fiscal policy actions on stock market activity. It was thus concluded that the fiscal policy actions do matter in the activities of stock market activities and, perhaps, becoming more important over time. Thus such actions should be incorporated in the pricing of securities in the market to eliminate all inefficiencies in the market and build investor confidence. The study recommends that government must synchronizes its fiscal policy actions with activities in the stock market among other

Source: KNUST
Fishing Port Design, Elmina

Since the creation of man, the quest for survival has led him to explore many ways of finding food. He hunted for animals if he found himself in the forest and fished if he was at a riverside lake or lagoon side or at the coast, by the sea. Fishing became a very important means of finding food. In ancient times, some of the tools used for fishing included fishing hooks tied to the stems of the vine plant. In the second (2nd) and third (3rd) centuries (AD), the Roman rhetorician, Claudius Aelian wrote about Macedonian trout anglers who used artificial flies to catch fish. Over the years, civilization has enabled man to find many improved ways of fishing from the use of fishing hooks and rods to seine nets, canoes, boats, trawlers and ships. The growing population of the human race has made it expedient for fishing to be commercialized so as to satisfy the growing numbers. The commercialization of fishing has called for facilities on land where the catch will be loaded off and sorted out before it could be sold off quickly since fish tend to go bad easily especially in hot humid environments. In Africa, most commercial fishing is done on the coast because it has been found to be a « cheaper and easier way of fishing as compared to inland fish farming. Consequently, most fishing ports in Ghana, for instance, are found on the coast. » From this study, one could deduce that the fishing ports in Ghana have to be put in a proper shape in order to meet the growing demand for seafood. It has therefore become imperative to make recommendations for the upgrading of one existing fish market. The Elmina, (Edina) fishing port has therefore been selected to help solve the problem of inadequate seafood for the people.

Source: KNUST
Fiscal resource mobilisation and management for local level development - a case study of Mpohor-Wassa East District in Ghana

The Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government has introduced further reforms in the decentralisation efforts in Ghana through the promulgation of the Local Government Law, 1988 (PNDC Law 207). By the law the district assemblies are responsible for the overall development of their areas. Since development cannot be achieved without finance, the law also gives administrative and financial powers to the assemblies. The responsibilities given to the district assemblies are enormous but the means of achieving them are limited. Skilled manpower, material and financial resources are scarce in view of the tasks entrusted to them. Using Mpohor-Wassa East District as a case study this work focuses on how fiscal resources could be mobilised and managed efficiently and effectively for local level development. Main areas investigated included the existing and potential sources of revenue, the expenses on local revenue collection, revenue stability, the expenditure pattern, financial ability and how to ensure that the people benefit from development activities. The study relied on both primary and secondary sources of data. The analytical method involved simple descriptive statistical tools such as percentage and coefficient of variation. The major findings of the study include the existence of enormous socio economic potentials for revenue, poor revenue collection system and expenditure control. The poor revenue collection system was the result of unreliable data base on taxable people and magnitude of each revenue source, unskilled revenue collectors, poor transportation and high rate of embezzlement of collected revenue by the collectors. People were also unwilling to honour their tax obligations because they could see no link between payment and benefits. Due to poor expenditure control, the administrative expenditures were characterised by overspending of estimated targets. On the basis of these findings, recommendations aimed at enhancing fiscal resource mobilisation and management for local level development was made. These include increasing own-source revenue, reducing ineffective expenditure, ensuring that the people derive the required benefits from revenue collected and increasing external sources of revenues. It was emphasised that the District Assembly should rely heavily on its independent own possibilities which are within its control rather than external sources which are outside its influence.

Source: KNUST