ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Climate Change and Variability Affect Rangeland Quality and Productivity- How?

Climate change is a principal threat to the sustainability of our planet which consists partly of the world’s rangelands. According to numerous studies and reports, the trend at which the global climate is changing is a clear indication that the long term sustainability of global rangelands is uncertain. There is abundant evidence of climate change across the globe. The global average surface temperature is predicted to increase between 1.8°C and 4.0°C by 2100. This will no doubt have adverse and tremendous impact on the quality and productivity of rangelands, which in turn is expected to affect ruminant livestock production since about 70 % of forages fed on by animals are produced from these rangelands. The current climate change is basically as a result of anthropogenic activities leading to a build up of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. These gases are trapped in the atmosphere and in return increase global surface temperature and alter known climatic patterns globally. This review, therefore, highlights the effect of climate change on rangeland quality and productivity considering how the drivers of climate change impact on the length of the growing period, plant species composition, nutritional value of forages, drought stress in plants, lignification, vegetation flammability and mortality/extinction of range plant and animal species. The review revealed that, climate change will result into the extinction of over one million terrestrial species in the next five decades. The elevation of CO2 levels will increase non-structural carbohydrate content of grasses by 25 % and reduce their nitrogen content by about 8 %. It is also reported that, for every 1 % rise in temperature, there will be 0.4 % rise in Neutral Detergent Fibre decreasing forage intake and digestibility. Rising temperature also results in faster decomposition of soil organic matter. However, minerals will be lost through leaching and erosion if mineral uptake by rangeland plant species is slower than the rate of mineral release into the soil. It is clear that changing climate is having a toll on rangeland quality and productivity, the impact is mixed and difficult to quantify. It is recommended that, much research efforts be put into quantification of climate change impacts on rangelands through modelling and projections simplified for the comprehension of the resource poor livestock farmers particularly in developing countries. Vulnerable rural based livestock farmers should be assisted with adaptation strategies to remain in production.

Source: UG
Climate Change and Variability in Ghana: Stocktaking

This paper provides a holistic literature review of climate change and variability in Ghana by examining the impact and projections of climate change and variability in various sectors (agricultural, health and energy) and its implication on ecology, land use, poverty and welfare. The findings suggest that there is a projected high temperature and low rainfall in the years 2020, 2050 and 2080, and desertification is estimated to be proceeding at a rate of 20,000 hectares per annum. Sea-surface temperatures will increase in Ghana’s waters and this will have drastic effects on fishery. There will be a reduction in the suitability of weather within the current cocoa-growing areas in Ghana by 2050 and an increase evapotranspiration of the cocoa trees. Furthermore, rice and rooted crops (especially cassava) production are expected to be low. Hydropower generation is also at risk and there will be an increase in the incidence rate of measles, diarrheal cases, guinea worm infestation, malaria, cholera, cerebro-spinal meningitis and other water related diseases due to the current climate projections and variability. These negative impacts of climate change and variability worsens the plight of the poor, who are mostly women and children.

Source: UG
Climate Change Impact and Variability on Cereal Productivity among Smallholder Farmers under Future Production Systems in West Africa

Agriculture in West Africa is constrained by several yield-limiting factors, such as poor soil fertility, erratic rainfall distributions and low input systems. Projected changes in climate, thus, pose a threat since crop production is mainly rain-fed. The impact of climate change and its variation on the productivity of cereals in smallholder settings under future production systems in Navrongo, Ghana and Nioro du Rip, Senegal was assessed in this study. Data on management practices obtained from household surveys and projected agricultural development pathways (through stakeholder engagements), soil data, weather data (historical: 1980–2009 and five General Circulation Models; mid-century time slice 2040–2069 for two Representative Concentration Pathways; 4.5 and 8.5) were used for the impact assessment, employing a crop simulation model. Ensemble maize yield changes under the sustainable agricultural development pathway (SDP) were −13 and −16%, while under the unsustainable development pathway (USDP), yield changes were −19 and −20% in Navrongo and Nioro du Rip, respectively. The impact on sorghum and millet were lower than that on maize. Variations in climate change impact among smallholders were high with relative standard deviations (RSD) of between 14% and 60% across the cereals with variability being higher under the USDP, except for millet. Agricultural production systems with higher intensification but with less emphasis on soil conservation (USDP) will be more negatively impacted by climate change compared to relatively sustainable ones (SDP).

Source: UG
Climate Change Issues: where we have come from and where we are going

The earth is warming at a steady pace and is having a devastating impact on the earth’s climate. Climate change is mostly natural. However, clear evidence exists that the rate of the occurrence of the changes we are experiencing in the climate and the intensity of the impacts are closely related to human activity. We understand the reason for this is the increase in human-caused greenhouse gases causing more warming of the earth's climate. How much have humans contributed to the greenhouse gases and what is the contribution of humans to climate change is still a global discussion. The presentation will focus on what climate change is, where we have come from and where we are going with the level of human influence. A debate on whether climate change mitigation is a moral or political issue will also be opened.

Source: UG
Climate change/variability and food systems: Evidence from Afram Plains, Ghana

While there are many studies of the impacts of climate change and variability on food production, few studies are devoted to a comprehensive assessment of impacts on food systems. Results of a survey of food systems and household adaptation strategies in three communities in the Afram Plains, Ghana, reveal how extreme climatic events affect rural food production, transportation, processing and storage. Adaptation strategies implemented by the three communities during past droughts serve as a foundation for planning responses to future climate change. Results of this study suggest that food security in this region—where droughts and floods are expected to become more severe due to climate change—could be enhanced by increasing farm based storage facilities; improving the transportation system, especially feeder roads that link food production areas and major markets; providing farmers with early warning systems; extending credit to farmers; and the use of supplementary irrigation. This study also indicates that some cultural practices, particularly those that prohibit the consumption of certain foods, may reduce the resilience of some individuals and ethnic groups to food system disruptions. Understanding the local context and the responses of households is critical to the development of effective strategies for reducing the potential adverse impacts of climatic change on food security in rural Ghana.

Source: UG
Climate change/variability and schistosomiasis transmission in Ga district, Ghana

Most studies on climate change and schistosomiasis transmission have mainly been on the development of models to understand the nature of the relationship. Globally, no attempt has been made to understand the relationship from the point of view of community members through public perception studies. In addition, there is no study on the nexus between climate change and schistosomiasis transmission in Ghana, albeit the disease is endemic in some parts of the country. This article attempts to fill both knowledge gaps. It uses four climate variables, hospital reported schistosomiasis cases, and data from focus group discussions undertaken in Ga District. Results show an increasing trend in total annual rainfall, maximum and minimum temperatures, and a decline in the number of rainy days between 1970 and 2010, during which time there was an increase in reported schistosomiasis cases. A Pearson correlation analysis shows negative and positive significant associations, respectively, between temperature and total rainfall and schistosomiasis cases. However, maximum temperature granger causes reported schistosomiasis cases. Community members perceive that extreme warm temperatures in recent times encourage people to swim in rivers, which increases infection rates. Rainfall is associated with water-based activities including swimming, washing, and bathing. Some control and prevention interventions and treatment-seeking behaviours are discussed, and some recommendations provided.

Source: UG
Climate Prediction and Agriculture Advances and Challenges, edited by Mannava V. K. Sivakurnar and James Hansen. In: Chapter 20; &quot;Can ENSO help in agricultural decisionmaking in Ghana?&quot; - Berlin Heidelberg

Rainfall variability has become a major agricultural issue in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially since crop production is mainly rainfed. Irrigation technologies are expensive and their implementation is slow. Many researchers now believe that some understanding of the causes of rainfall variability would lead to measures that could be used to investigate reduction in total rainfall and/or drought effects.

Source: UG
Climate risk and financial stability in Africa: A comparative study before and during the Paris agreement

This study examines the impact of climate risk (CRI)1 on the financial stability of African countries (AFC), measured by their ZScore, before and during the enactment of the Paris Agreement (PAG) and for the period 2010–2019. It also explores the impact of their governance system on the relationship between CRI and financial stability. Data from thirty-two African countries and various regression analyses were estimated for the study. Robust analyses were used to validate the findings. The study found that before, during the enactment of the PAG and for the period 2010–2019, CRI had no impact on the financial stability of AFC. Additionally, their gover nance system did not impact on the relationship between CRI and financial stability. As AFC face severe chal lenges, coupled with the fact that CRI exposure had no significant impact on AFC financial stability following the enactment of the PAG, in addition, the fact that their governance mechanisms do not mitigate CRI exposure, highlights the urgent need to integrate climate risk exposure in the financial monitoring system of African countries and the need to address the challenges that AFC face. To the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to examine the impact of CRI on the financial stability of AFC considering the enactment of the PAG and how other mechanisms impact their CRI exposure and their financial stability.

Source: UG
Climate variability and climate change impacts on smallholder farmers in the Akuapem north district, Ghana

Climate change is unequivocal and these changes have increased over the past few years. The recent vulnerability and prospect of climate variability and change impact, thus, warrants measures now to reduce the adverse impacts. This is especially important in relation to smallholder farmers whose activities provide large proportion of the food consumed in the developing world, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. A qualitative approach was used to collect data on the perceptions of smallholder farmers from three communities in the Akuapem North District in Ghana. The perceptions of the farmers about rainfall changes were compared with the empirical daily rainfall total data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency to corroborate changes in rainfall. By comparing the perceived changes in the rainfall of the district with the empirical data, it was identified that shifts in the rainfall regime was themain cause of crop failures in the study area but not decline in the annual rainfall total. Farmers being aware of changes in the rainfall have employed new stresses to improve their productivity. However, it was observed that non-climatic stresses such as low capital and absence of institutional support in the district have increased smallholder farmers’ vulnerability. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015.

Source: UG
Climate variability indicators - scientific data versus farmers perception; evidence from southern Ghana

Even though copious knowledge has been advanced in the extant lit erature on climate variability and change. Two schools of thought exist—one that views farmers’ perceptions of climate indicators as erroneous and inferior, while the other views, scientific data, specifically meteorological data, to be superior and accurate. The accuracy of farmers perception of climate variability indicators is in doubt relative to the scientific data. This article targets assessing farmers percep tion of climate variability indicators compared to the scientific data with an eye to distil policy implications for climate variability resilience and adaptation. Using cross-sectional data on 197 smallholder maize farmers in southern Ghana, the article answers the research question: To what extent do smallholder farmers perception of climate variability indicators align or vary from objective climate data? We find variation between farmers perception of climate indicators and the objec tive data from the Ghana Meteorological Agency. Specifically, while farmer percep tions showed a decrease in rainfall over the past 10 years (2009–2018), the objective data proved otherwise. Again, a contradiction existed between farmers perception of sunshine and the scientific data. However, farmers’ perceptions of temperature aligned with the objective data. The scientific data established coeffi cient of variations of 0.21, 0.04, 0.03, and 0.12 for rainfall, sunshine, maximum, and minimum temperatures respectively. We recommend collaborative efforts between the national research council’s, Ghana Meteorological Agency, and academic insti tutions to commission further studies that will test, confirm, and harmonize the reliability of smallholder perceptions of climate variability and change in climate adaptation efforts

Source: UG
Climate‑influenced vector‑borne diseases in Africa: a call to empower the next generation of African researchers for sustainable solutions

The Department of Parasitology conducts research into parasitic diseases of public health importance with the overall goal of reducing their transmission and the heavy disease burden that they impose on affected populations. The Department maintains focus on parasitic diseases in general. These include major diseases such as malaria, and others listed under the Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTD) control initiative such as, lymphatic filariasis, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis, soil-transmitted helminthiasis, trypanosomiasis and leishmaniasis.

Source: UG
The Climatic Analysis of Summer Monsoon Extreme Precipitation Events over West Africa in CMIP6 Simulations

We evaluate the capability of 21 models from the new state-of-the-art Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, Phase 6 (CMIP6) in the representation of present-day precipitation characteristics and extremes along with their statistics in simulating daily precipitation during the West African Monsoon (WAM) period (June–September). The study uses a set of standard extreme precipitation indices as defined by the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices constructed using CMIP6 models and observational datasets for comparison. Three observations; Global Precipitation Climatology Project (GPCP), Climate Hazards Group InfraRed Precipitation with Station data (CHIRPS), and Tropical Applications of Meteorology using SATellite and ground-based observation (TAMSAT) datasets are used for the validation of the model simulations. The results show that observed datasets present nearly the same spatial pattern but discrepancies in the magnitude of rainfall characteristics. The models show substantial discrepancies in comparison with the observations and among themselves. A number of the models depict the pattern of rainfall intensity as observed but some models overestimate the pattern over the coastal parts (FGOALS-f3-L and GFDL-ESM4) and western part (FGOALS-f3-L) of West Africa. All model simulations explicitly show the pattern of wet days but with large discrepancies in their frequencies. On extreme rainfall, half of the models express more intense extremes in the 95th percentiles while the other half simulate less intense extremes. All the models overestimate the mean maximum wet spell length except FGOALS-f3-L. The spatial patterns of the mean maximum dry spell length show a good general agreement across the different models, and the observations except for four models that show an overestimation in the Sahara subregion. INM-CM4-8 and INM-CM5-0 display smaller discrepancies from their long-term average rainfall characteristics, in terms of extreme rainfall estimates than the other CMIP6 datasets. For the frequency of heavy rainfall, TaiESM1 and IPSL-CMGA-LR perform better when compared with observational datasets. MIROC6 and GFDL-ESM4 displayed the largest error in representing the frequency of heavy rainfall and 95th percentile extremes, and therefore, cannot be reliable. The study has assessed how rainfall extremes are captured in both observation and the models. Though there are some discrepancies, it gives room for improvement of the models in the next version of CMIP.

Source: UG
Clinic Visits and Cervical Cancer Screening in Accra

Objective: To determine the factors that increase the chances of a woman in Accra having a Pap smear and whether women who have recently visited clinics have higher chances of having had Pap smears. Design: A cross-sectional study Methods: A representative sample of women in Accra, Ghana was interviewed and the clinical and demographic factors influencing cervical cancer screening was assessed. Results: Out of 1193 women with complete data, only 25 (2.1%) had ever had a Pap smear performed though 171 (14.3%) had their last outpatient clinic visit for either a gynaecological consultation or a regular check up. Simple logistic regression showed that a high educational level, high socioeconomic status and a history over the past month of postmenopausal or intermenstrual bleeding significantly increased the odds of ever having a pap smear. Neither monthly income nor last clinic visit for a gynaecological consultation or regular check up increased the odds of having a pap smear. Multiple logistic regression showed that a high educational level and experiencing postmenopausal or intermenstrual bleeding were the most important determinants of ever having a Pap smear. Conclusion: While we wait for a national program for cervical cancer screening, there is a need for clinicians to put more individual effort into ensuring that asymptomatic women are screened for cervical cancer.

Source: UG
Clinic-based evaluation of point-of-care dual HIV/syphilis rapid diagnostic tests at primary healthcare antenatal facilities in South Africa and Zambia

Background Southern African countries have the largest global burden of HIV and syphilis, with a high prevalence among women of reproductive age. Although antenatal screening is standard of care, syphilis screening has generally lagged behind HIV screening. We aimed to evaluate the performance and operational characteristics of two commercial dual HIV/syphilis point-of-care tests (POCTs) for simultaneous maternal HIV/syphilis screening. Methods A clinic-based evaluation of dual HIV/syphilis POCTs (SD Bioline and Chembio) was conducted at five primary healthcare centres (PHCs) in South Africa and Zambia. POCT results using capillary fingerprick blood were compared to reference laboratory syphilis and HIV serological assays. Results Three thousand four hundred twelve consenting pregnant women aged≥18 years were enrolled. The prevalence of treponemal antibody seropositivity and HIV infection ranged from 3.7 to 9.9% (n=253) and 17.8 to 21.3% (n=643), respectively. Pooled sensitivity for syphilis compared to the reference assay was 66.0% (95%CI 57.7– 73.4) with SD Bioline and 67.9% (95%CI 58.2–76.3) with Chembio. Pooled specificity for syphilis was above 98% with both POCTs. The sensitivities of SD Bioline and Chembio assays were 78.0% (95%CI 68.6–85.7) and 81.0% (95%CI 71.9–88.2), respectively compared to an active syphilis case definition of treponemal test positive with a rapid plasma reagin titre of ≥8. The negative predictive values (NPVs) based on various prevalence estimates for syphilis lis with both assays ranged from 97 to 99%. The pooled sensitivity for HIV was 92.1% (95%CI 89.4–94.2) with SD Bioline; and 91.5% (95%CI 88.2–93.9) with Chembio. The pooled specificities for HIV were 97.2% (95%CI 94.8–98.5) with SD Bioline and 96.7% (95%CI 95.1–97.8) with Chembio. The NPV based on various prevalence estimates for HIV with both assays was approximately 98%. Most participating women (91%) preferred dual POCTs over two single POCTs for HIV and syphilis, and healthcare providers gave favourable feedback on the utility of both assays at PHC level. Conclusions Based on the need to improve antenatal screening coverage for syphilis, dual HIV/syphilis POCTs could be effectively incorporated into antenatal testing algorithms to enhance efforts towards elimination of mother-to-child transmission of these infections

Source: UG
Clinic-based surveillance of adverse pregnancy outcomes to identify induced abortions in Accra, Ghana.

Reliable measures of induced abortion remain elusive, especially when the public perception is that the procedure is immoral or improper. This study draws on interviews using a modified preceding birth technique (PBT) with women attending antenatal and maternity clinics in Accra to compare rates of adverse pregnancy outcomes (stillbirths, miscarriages, and induced abortions) with rates from a household maternity history and the Ghana Demographic and Health Survey. The reports from the antenatal clinics produced some of the highest rates for adverse outcomes of pregnancy. In light of the generally high coverage of antenatal services found even in developing countries, the method based on the PBT holds promise for the improvement of reports of miscarriage and abortion worldwide. © 2008 The Population Council, Inc.

Source: UG
Clinical and laboratory diagnosis of buruli ulcer disease: A systematic review

The Bacteriology Department aims to improve the quality of life first for Ghanaians and the world at large by conducting research into bacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana and globally. In addition to working on enteric pathogens and sexually transmitted diseases, the department’s current main focus is on the two most important mycobacterial diseases of public health importance to Ghana, namely Buruli ulcer (BU) and tuberculosis (TB).

Source: UG