ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Risk sharing in Ghanaian construction contracts

The aim of this study is to identify the major risk factors associated with Ghanaian construction contracts and to develop a tool for risk sharing by participants of a construction contract to improve management practices in the construction industry. The study identified some thirty-four (34) risk factors that are inherent in Ghanaian construction contracts. Samples of clients, consultants and contractors were surveyed, using structured questionnaires supplemented with interviews with the aim of identifying the most important risk factors perceived by contract participants. The participants also indicated, through the questionnaire survey, their preferences of how risks should be shared in selected clauses of the Ghana Government Conditions of Contract for Building Works (the Pink Form). The study revealed that clauses in the Conditions of Contract that relate to disputes, variation, fluctuation, degree of inspection and compliance, limited time and funding for design and subsurface investigation, damages and delays during construction, materials and workmanship, contract administration, weather variations and payments are considered to contain the most important risks inherent in the Ghanaian building construction industry. It also revealed that even though contract participants agree that there are risks inherent in the contracts, they have divergent opinions on how these risks should be shared. A risk sharing mechanism has been developed, in the study, as a tool to help contract participants of the construction industry in Ghana to allocate risks. The mechanism allows a contract to evolve, which optimally distributes the risk elements, reduces the contingencies in mark-up, cut down disputes and improves management practices generally.

Source: KNUST
Risk perception and agricultural insurance development strategy for cashew crop farmers in the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana

Although cashew development is imperative to mitigating the effect of climate change in 2030 and beyond when cocoa revenue begins to fall in Ghana, Cashew farmers lack access to credit to expand their production. The study was aimed at assessing risk perception of cashew farmers, financial institutions and insurers in order to develop agricultural insurance to enhance cashew crop farmers’ access to credit to foster cashew development. The study covered seven districts and 21 comunities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Both quantitative and qualitative techniques were utilized in the study. A a multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 500 respondents comprising 420 farmers, 30 pool stakeholders from Ghana Agricultural Insurance Pool (GAIP) and 50 credit officers from financial institutions.Primary data were collected by means of focus group discussions, semi-structured questionnaires, in-depth interviews, and choice experiments based on stated preference techniques. Means scores, percentages, frequencies, standard deviations, factor analysis, and Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, mix logit, latent class and multinomial logit models were employed in analysing the data. The results indicated that farmers’ residual risks and key perils which needed insurance covers were excess rainfall, high temperature, high wind speed and fire. It was found that farmers and financial institutions were willing to pay for agricultural insurance schemes based on index, indemnity and functional synthesis philosophies and GAIP stakeholders were willing to accept. The mix logit model and latent class models results show that the mean willingness to pay for functional synthesis approach was highest, followed by simulation, indemnity, index and benchmarking with mean WTP per acre of GH¢102.38, GH¢93.94, GH¢76.34, GH¢71.34 and ¢67.70, respectively and four latent classes were observed. Feasible distribution channels, insurance companies, banks, marketing champions, while full service model, banccassurance model, partner-agent and agency models were detected as supply models.Cashew crop farmers’ perception of insurance companies was positive with an index of 0.22, while a negative perception index of -0.15 was recorded for insurance benefit. Almost all farmers indicated that promotion of agricultural insurance education should be done through local radio and television stations. A value chain financing model in a public-private partnership (PPP) model was seen as an appropriate framework to lend and distribute insurance products to cashew farmers. To overcome the constraints to the development of agricultural insurance to enhance farmers’ access to credit for cashew development, a policy aimed at forming cashew development, building capacity for insurers, and legislation on agricultural insurance and value chain financing in Ghana will be useful.

Source: KNUST
Road traffic crashes on the Konongo-Kumasi highway - two years after reconstruction

Reconstruction of the 42Km Konongo–Odumase-Kumasi road began in December 2003 and was fully completed in November 2007. It undoubtedly incorporated one of the most comprehensive and elaborate road safety measures in Ghana, aimed at treatment of known accident black spots and other accident prone locations to reduce road traffic crashes (accidents) on this highway. The motivation for this study was from a personal desire to ascertain data-wise the effectiveness or otherwise of the measures implemented. The study, contrary to public perception, shows that the number of road traffic crashes is on the increase for all indicators except pedestrian fatalities. Analyzing crash records from 1999 to 2009, a total of 116 crashes were recorded in 2003, the last year before commencement of construction, whereas the year 2009 recorded a total of 148 crashes, representing 27% increase two years after construction completion. Total casualties for the year 2009 indicated a 53% increase over that for 2003, resulting in a 54% increase in fatalities. Hit-pedestrian crashes continue to dominate collision types. Post-construction records give 114 hit-pedestrian crashes of which 75 were fatal over the two year period. This, however, considered on yearly terms represents 7% and 17% reduction respectively over the pre-construction period. Resulting hit-pedestrian deaths reduced from 54% of all deaths during the pre-construction period to 51% during post-construction period. The study also shows that the Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) category now leads vehicle type involvement in fatal crashes with 22 fatal crashes (31%) of the 72 recorded within the two year post-construction period, even though it contributes just 5% to 9% of current vehicular traffic. The bus category held this position during the five year pre-construction period with 41% of all 186 fatal crashes. Furthermore, the minibus category which was not involved in any fatal crash during pre-construction period, made an entry during the four year construction period with 7% of fatal crash involvement, and increased its share to 11% for the post construction period. In general, the rural Konongo-Ejisu section of the highway with an annual traffic growth rate of about 9.8%, showed a 16% reduction in traffic crash rate relative to pre-construction rate. The peri-urban Ejisu-Kumasi section with an annual traffic growth rate of about 4.5%, on the other hand showed an increase of 24%. Spot speed measurements conducted within a typical town within the rural section of the highway showed speeds are within posted limits. Maintenance of traffic calming devices in addition to continual safety evaluation and remediation is strongly advised.

Source: KNUST
Road traffic accident and its financial consequences in Ablekuma Sub-Metro of Accra

Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) in Ghana, as in the case of other developing countries, are on an alarming increase and pose a major loss to society. There is no doubt that RTAs, whether fatal or not, cause socio-economic burden to the victims themselves, their families and the country. A descriptive study was conducted in Ablekuma sub-metro of Accra, from July 2002 to October 2002 to examine the financial consequences of RTAs. Sixty accident victims and their caretakers (one per victim) were sampled purposively from the Accident Centre of Korle Bu Teaching Hospital and the community. Fifty drivers were also sampled using cluster sampling from drivers’ unions in the study area. Seven insurance companies were sampled systematically. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and fed into a computer using the EPI INFO 6 for data analysis. Questionnaire administration, interviews and observation were the techniques employed in data collection and the tools used were questionnaires, interview guide, checklist and camera. The results of the study indicated that road user errors, vehicular defects and poor roads were the main factors responsible for RTAs. 4 people on the average were killed every month in RTAs in Ablekuma sub-metro. The findings showed that 5% of accident victims were maimed. Mean length of stay in hospital was 3.19 weeks and mean length of disability was 4.05 weeks. Mean man-hours of 3.76 per day were spent by caretakers to care for victims. Cost incurred by health facility in treating a victim on the average was 3 million cedis and victims’ out of pocket expenses ranged between one hundred and twenty thousand cedis (¢120,000.00) and five million two hundred thousand cedis (¢5,200,000.00). The findings further showed that those in their productive years constituted the highest proportion of accident victims. This means that RTAs had a telling effect on the overall national economic performance. It is therefore concluded that RTAs were a major public health problem in Ablekuma sub-metro of Accra. Such accidents lead to huge financial loss to individuals, families and the nation. The following recommendations would help to minimize the magnitude of RTAs and their adverse financial consequences in Ablekuma sub-metro and Ghana as a whole: 1. Integration of Road Safety into the school curriculum at different educational levels. 2. Traffic laws should be strictly enforced. 3. Ambulance services should be provided at RTAs scenes and prompt referral made under competent experts. 4. Speed limits should be strictly monitored using sensitive modem equipment. 5. There should be more intensive public education of road users-drivers and pedestrians. 6. There should be improvement of road design with enhanced safety features.

Source: KNUST
Road constuction plant pools as an alternative to individual equipment ownership in Ghana

The non performance of road contractors in Ghana have been largely attributed to the non availability of road construction equipment that they require to do the work. The Road Sector Development Programme (RSDP) which was initiated to support the achievement of the goals of the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), aimed at achieving an overall condition mix of 59% good,22% fair and 14% poor for the road network in Ghana......

Source: KNUST
Road safety and mobile phone use among commercial drivers at Kejetia lorry Station in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Despite the numerous social benefits of the mobile phone, using it while driving is highly distracting and increases the risk of road traffic accidents. There is dearth of information on the mobile phone use whilst driving among commercial drivers in Ghana. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the prevalence of mobile phone use whilst driving, identify factors that influence commercial drivers to use the mobile phone while driving and also ascertain whether there is an association between the occurrence of road accidents whilst driving and using the mobile phone among commercial driver at the Kejetia lorry station in Kumasi, Ghana. It was a cross-sectional study involving 637 members of 10 driver unions at the Kejetia lorry Station. Open and closed-ended questionnaire was used to interview the study participants. Information collected included demographic characteristics, mobile phone usage and ownership, driving history and involvement in road accident whilst driving and using the phone. Data entry into the computer and analysis was done using the SPSS. Mobile phone use whilst driving was very prevalent 358(60.1%) among the commercial drivers, despite the fact that most 611(95.9%) of them we aware of the law banning phone use whilst driving. The use of hands free function of the mobile phone, driving above posted speed limits, awareness on the ban of mobile phone use whilst driving and driving routes within the Ashanti Region were significant predictors of mobile phone use whilst driving. There was no association between the use of mobile phone and the occurrence of Road Traffic Accident. It is clear from the findings that commercial drivers are aware of the law banning the use of mobile phone whilst driving, yet the practice appears difficult to be discontinued. It is recommended that education on road accidents and the use of the mobile phone whilst driving should be intensified with special emphasis on strategies that change human behavior.

Source: KNUST
Robustness of the Quadratic Discriminant Function to Correlated and Skewed Training Samples

This study investigates the asymptotic performance of Quadratic Discriminant Function and its robustness when the training samples are correlated normal or skewed. The scenarios considered were correlated normal, uncorrelated normal and skewed distribu- tions. Three populations (Πi, i = 1, 2, 3) with increasing group centroid separator function (δ = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5) were considered. The number of predictor variables were 4, 6, and 8 with sample size ratios 1:1:1, 1:2:2 and 1:2:3. We simulated N (µi, Σi) of sample size 30, 60, 100, 150, 250, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 and 2000 with MatLabR2009a for p variables in Π1. The sizes of Π2 and Π3 are determined by sample ratios at 1:1:1, 1:2:2 and 1:2:3 for n1 : n2 : n3 and these ratios also determine the prior probabilities considered. The population means were µ1 = (0, 0, 0, . . . , 0), µ2 = (0, 0, 0, . . . , δ) and µ3 = (0, 0, 0, . . . , 2δ) respectively. The covariance matrix Σi has σkl = 0.7 and σ2 = i for k = l, i = 1, 2, 3. Reduction in error rates was more pronounced with increase in Mahalanobis distance than asymptotically. The coefficients of variation for sample size ratio 1:2:3 was more volatile under the three distributions considered. The optimal sample size ratio for the three distributions is 1:1:1. The results show the correlated normal distribution exhibits high coefficient of variation as δ increased. Further results show that the Quadratic Discriminant Function perform poorly when the training samples were skewed therefore, uncorrelated normal distribution was preferred

Source: KNUST
Rock Phosphate Recapitalization: A P Fertilizer for Mature Oil Palm (Elaeis Guineensis Jacq.) in the Semi- Deciduous Forest Zone in Ghana

The study focused on direct application of phosphate rock (PR) as an alternative source of phosphorus (P) to the use of superphosphate (triple superphosphate) for mature oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. The objectives of the study were to assess the fertilization effect of phosphate rock (PR) on the growth, development and yield of oil palm. The experiment also aimed at studying the influence of PR on soil microbial activity under oil palm as well as the influence of PR on soil nutrient changes, The economic benefit of using PR under oil palm was examined. A field experiment was conducted between 2003 to 2007 at the Oil Palm Research Institute (OPRI), Kusi in the semi-deciduous forest zone of Ghana. The study was carried out on the soils of Nzema series classified as Ferric Acrisols (FAO) and Typic Hapludult (USDA). The oil palm « trees selected were 8 year old tenera (DXP ex OPRI). Each plot measured 17.6 m x 17.6 m and had 6 palms. There were four treatments, consisting of; 1). TSP - OPRI fertilizer recommendation - 222 kg of AS + 222 kg of TSP + 296 kg of MOP / ha / yr (control); 2). PR1 - PR 715 kg + 222 kg of AS + 296 kg of MOP / ha - Yr 1. PR 358 kg + 222 kg of AS + 296 kg of MOP / ha - Yr 2. PR 358 kg + 222 kg of AS + 296 kg of MOP / ha - Yr 3; 3). PR2 - PR 1428 kg + 222 kg of AS + 296 kg of MOP / ha applied once in every 5 years; 4). PR3 - PR 142.85 kg / ha +222 kg AS / ha + 296 kg of MOP / ha applied twice in every 5 years. Chemical analysis of the soil indicated that application of treatments influenced the soil chemical properties to a varying extent. Soil pH ranged from extremely acidic (3.73) to acidic (5.43). Available K was as high as 125 mg/kg with available P recording 9.55 mg/kg which was slightly below the medium range of available P for oil palm production. The use of PR improved soil chemical properties especially increasing exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and ECEC. The results showed that treatment PR2 was effective and gave the highest oil palm fresh fruit bunch yield of 62.8 t/ha whiles the TSP was the least effective with a production of 53.7 t/ha. Development, growth and yield response of P fertilization by palms followed the trend: PR2 > PR3 > PR1 > TSP. This trend could be attributed to sustainable supply of P to palm trees by PR than TSP. Microbial C, N and P were higher at the 4th year of study than during the 1st year of study. PR2 recorded the highest microbial C and N values, with PR3 holding more available phosphorus at the end of four year period. The cost benefit ratio in a declining order were: 3.4, 3.1, 2.9 and 2.4 for PR3, PR2, PR1 and TSP respectively. The study has clearly shown that, agronomically and economically it is sound to use PR under matured oil palm.

Source: KNUST
Robust Procedure for the Fit of Oneway Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) models under uncorrelated errors

The possible dominance of basic assumption about underlying models on the analysis of data is of much concern to some statisticians (Anscombe (1967);Hogg (1974); B uning (1996)). The advocacy of distribution-free (nonparametric) tests for di erences in location problems between samples has been emphasized over the past seven decades (Hao and Houser, 2011). This study develops a robust tting procedure for one-way ANOVA models. Further investigation on Asymptotic Relative E ciency (ARE) of this procedure and parametric F-test under class of distributions was carried out. In line with these objectives, 10,000 simulations were carried out for a one-way ANOVA model with three levels for size 5, 10, 15, and 20. Intralevel correlation coe cient = 0 was considered in these simulations. The ndings revealed that the parametric F-test for Oneway ANOVA model performed better than the non-parametric Adaptive test proposed for symmetric and moderate tailed distributions and then in symmetric and light tailed distributions with ARE between 2% and 55%. However, the Adaptive test outperformed the F-test in symmetric and asymmetric with varying tail weights distributions with ARE between 5% and 70%. Although, the F-test displayed superiority in e ciency in symmetric medium and light tailed distributions, the Adaptive test was more effi cient in more broader class of continuous distribution.

Source: KNUST
Rock type prediction and 3D modeling of clastic paleokarst fillings in deeply-buried carbonates using the Democratic Neural Networks Association technique

This study outlines a probabilistic model based on artificial neural networks applied to the deeply-buried karsted carbonates of the Ordovician Yingshan Formation, which represent significant oil reservoirs in western China. The complexity of both rock type prediction and 3D facies modeling of paleokarst fillings, which are hosted within the cavities, drives the need to apply innovative techniques for identifying new oil plays. Due to the high heterogeneity of clastic fillings and patchy continuity of the karst patterns, physical evaluation of these reservoirs is extremely complex. We propose the Democratic Neural Networks Association (DNNA) as the probabilistic technique to solve these challenges. This technique simultaneously runs several artificial neural networks in parallel and combines seismic data and well logs. The resulting probable facies volume is expected to provide an appropriate distribution and delineation of clastic fillings (i.e., conglomerates, fine-grained sandstones, silt stones, mudstone, dolomite fragments, and sparry calcarenite) and unfilled or empty spaces. This calculated volume is then used as a reliable input data to condition trend analysis on a very fine geological grid, in order to model the complex patterns in question. The static model obtained shows that, the probabilistic distribution of each filling has the same orientation as karst system. Likewise, spatial dimensions similar to the proposed analogue model of these patterns (vertical and horizontal scales) are delineated. Finally, we validated prediction results by comparing them with the interpreted karst facies of a well not initially considered in the 3D model. The results indicating that the DNNA technique proves to be a useful innovative tool for generating realistic de pictions of fillings deposited within deeply-buried paleokarst.

Source: KNUST
The role and impact of environmental pressure groups in solving landscape issues

Though the human environment has been a comfort to both body and soul since creation, human activities associated with our long history of Agricultural development, resulting in industrial pollution, deforestation, desertification and depletion of the ozone layer among others, have left in their trail the problems of ensuring sustainable use of environmental resources. These multi-dimensional problems have now engaged the attention of both developed developing countries. The need has now been felt even more than ever before to co-ordinate the activities of environmental groups to address sustainable use of environmental resources. The primary focus of this project is to provide information on how to co-ordinate the activities of all environmental pressure groups operating in Ghana with the view to ensuring that their activities complement government's effort at ensuring the sustainable use of environmental resources. It is further contended that environmental pressure groups acting in concert with government should prescribe standards and guidelines relating to the pollution of air, water, land and other forms of environmental pollution including the discharge of wastes. The operations of pressure groups should be streamlined to ensure their compliance of the country's environmental laws. Through collaborative efforts government and environmental groups should initiate and pursue formal and informal environmental education to create public awareness on the need to protect the environment for social-economic reasons. Finally landscape architects should work in close collaboration with environmental organizations in finding lasting solutions to environmental problems that confront this nation.

Source: KNUST