ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The economic impact of inventory credit programme (ICP) on cereal farmers in the PRU District of the Brong Ahafo Region

Small - scale farmers make up more than 90 percent of the Pru district farming population. Although their production represents nearly three quarters of the district’s food produced, small-scale farmers do not enjoy any real market clout. As a result, they remain classic price-takers generally isolated from market information and profitable market opportunities and also find it difficult in accessing working capital loan. 111100 Inventory Credit Programme (ICP) is seen as a panacea to the exploitation by middlemen of farmers in the rural areas, the wastage of farm produce during the peak period in light of non-availability of processing centers and the difficulty of credit accessibility by small-scale farmers. The goal of this study is to examine the effects of ICP on the socio-economic lives of rural cereal farmers in the Pru çlistrict by assessing the impact of ICP on Access to Credit, determining percentage Net Incremental Benefit of ICP to farmers over a 5 year period and identif’ Non — Quantifiable Benefits of ICP to the district. The entire TechnoServe-assisted groups in the Pru district served as a target population. Thus, members of the 15 groups in 8 communities were considered. This population was selected because that would give a wide coverage of the result of the findings. In addition to this, data were collected from YAPRA Rural Bank; the rural bank operating and collaborating with TechnoServe in the implementation of ICP in the district. By contacting both ICP participating and non-participating cereal farmers, and the maj or lending institution for ICP in the Pru district primary information was obtained for the study. From the study it was realised that besides quantifiable benefits accrued to participating farmers (access to credit, premium price) there are other long-term socio-economic benefits such as improved food security, stable food prices and incomes, market and service linkages creation, group development promotion of local investment to both the participating communities and farmers. The significance of this findings is that Inventory Credit model has shown its effectiveness in not only enabling small —scale farmers in rural districts to access formal credit but also shown its effectiveness in fighting hunger and reducing extreme poverty in the Pru district, it can be selected as an example of ‘good practice’ to be implemented at a national level to other storable crops.

Source: KNUST
The Economic Impact of Hiv/Aids on Labour and Capital on the Ghanaian Economy

There is no doubt that the greatest public health problem threatening the human race in these times is HIV/AIDS pandemic. The greatest burden of this scourge is in sub – Saharan Africa. This thesis reveals the impact of HIV/AIDS on labour and capital on Ghanaian economy. The model constructed used data spanning from 2006 to 2008. The findings revealed that, the epidemic impacts directly on labour supply and indirectly on the provision of capital. Descriptive research design was used, a mathematical model was constructed, which appropriately relied on the principles of predator – prey model, for studying the dynamics of the impact of the epidemic on an economy. The economic impact of HIV/AIDS is identified by tracing through the effects on households, firms and the government and thus on measures of overall economic activity. Numerous studies that were reviewed during the study had shown that, high prevalence of malaria is correlated with low rates of economic growth, with particular reference to HIV/AIDS, it is fair to say that, it has a trenchant, or impoverishing effect on economies. The costs of HIV/AIDS come in the form of reduced growth, declines in savings and investment rates, and huge health care costs. Those studies that were sampled had been extremely valuable in improving or sharpening our understanding of the threat posed by the epidemic. The young people in their most productive years are more at risk of HIV infection than other demographic group. This has had the effect of sharply reducing life expectancies across the continent. Ghana is considered as one of the countries with low HIV/AIDS prevalence rates, yet the annual AIDS deaths was 17,058 and prevalence is high among the 40 – 44, and 45 – 49 year groups. The first – order system of differential equations which models the impact of HIV and AIDS on labour supply and capital is as shown here; u(x, y)= [ kx , -hy ]. The equation, u(x, y) = 0 was solved, Two equilibrium points (0, 0) and (X, Y) were obtained from the solution. The stability of the first equilibrium point is unstable saddle point. The stability of the second equilibrium point is stable centre, because its eigenvalues were purely imaginary. The results, discussions, and recommendations of the thesis were based on the behaviour or stability in the neighborhood of the equilibrium point (X, Y).

Source: KNUST
Economic Impact of Labour-Based Constructions for Road Works in Ghana: Case study of Asankare and Dampong

The labour based Technology approach in road construction has been in existence since 1986 and responsible for (1) improving rural accessibility, (2) increasing the construction capacity, and (3) Creating rural employment. This method of road construction has faced a lot of challenges over the years. This research sought to identify the economic impact and the associated challenges of labour based road construction works on the standard of living of the people in Ghana. Three sets of questionnaires were designed and administered to Clients (technical staff of the Department of Feeder Roads in Ashanti Region), Staff of the Construction Company and members of the beneficiary communities who worked on the project. These questionnaires sought the impact of labour base technology on the Asankare and Dampong communities which were used as case studies. Descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index were used to analyse and quantify the extent of the identified impacts and challenges of LBT for road construction as perceived by the respective stakeholders. Stakeholders believed that indeed more human capacity was engaged in the LBT and thereby cost less expensive to adopt this technology in road construction. The results again showed that all the sixteen identified impacts of LBT in road construction had an effect on the standard of living in the communities. Rural employment generation was the most prevalent identified impacts. According to the stakeholders though generation of rural employment is prevalent it has not been sustainable enough to support the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy. The least impact being the sense of local ownership of the road and access to potable drinking water during the project implementation. Ten (10) factors were also considered in the assessment of the challenges of LBT for road construction , delayed payments, which has been a major setback in the road construction sector is the most prevalent challenge which must be addressed seriously by the road ministry. Lack of efficient tools is the least challenge of LBT for road construction because most of the tools are locally manufactured and they believe it is not a challenge in Ghana.

Source: KNUST
Economic policy reforms and agricultural production in Ghana: (a case study of cassava production in Atebubu District)

Ghana’s economic policy reforms including substantial trade and exchange rate policy reforms have had pervasive effect on agriculture through their influence on the sizes and prices of agriculture export as well as intermediate agricultural inputs. Current economic policy reforms aim at promoting export led growth through agriculture and to boost the international competitiveness of tradables especially the production of cocoa. The study notes that Ghana has within the past decade rationalised its tariff structure, comprising drawbacks of import duties on inputs and sales tax exemption for non traditional exports. While the export taxes on traditional export still remain those on non traditional export are currently at 8 per cent. Empirical evidence reveals that producers of non tradable like cassava have of late been obvious beneficiaries of trade deregulation; and devaluation. This study therefore undertook a full analysis only for cassava and to ascertain how the Atebubu district given its characteristics has specifically responded to this policy of export diversification. The case study methodology was generally applied using trend analysis. An overview of reforms in Ghana’s economic policies and its effect on agriculture in general at the macro level was analysed as the framework to begin with. The characteristics of agriculture in Atebubu district was also analysed in order to examine the farming systems and to identify the policy, institutional and infrastructural constraints affecting the farming systems. The study confirms that supply of Ghana’s agricultural crops especially cassava is responsive to price changes. It also argues that beyond price incentives, other constraints deteriorating infrastructure must be addressed if agricultural production is to be sustained. It was also observed that bank credit do not play major part in cassava cultivation and therefore investment and working capital requirements are primarily funded from farmers own savings. This study concludes that changing price incentives induced by economic policy reforms have boosted cassava production for export and helped promote some degree of export diversification.

Source: KNUST
Economic valuation of improved solid waste management in the Ga East Municipality

Similar to settlements worldwide, the Ga East municipality faces as one of its main challenges effective solid waste management. This is attributable to the high rates of population growth coupled with lack of the financial resources and institutional capacity to provide needed municipal infrastructure. This study analysed the economic value of an improved solid waste management system in the Ga East municipality based on 150 sampled household respondents, 50 from each community level. Communities in the municipality, based on their life standards, income levels, housing and other facilities, were categorized into three levels in the first stage. Employing the contingent valuation method (CVM) and the logit linear regression model, values for willingness to pay (WTP) were determined. Additionally, factors which influence WTP were identified. The study revealed that most (74%) of the respondents were willing to pay for improved SWM in the Ga East Municipality. It was discovered that the annual mean total willingness to pay for improved Solid Waste Management was GH¢ 595,571.16. Residents’ WTP for improved solid waste management were significantly related to monthly income, educational level and number of years lived in the community. There was an indication that residents desire change in the currently operating waste management system and also a viable business venture for investors. The WTP estimates determined could be used as an essential tool to further estimate taxable revenues by urban planners and administrators to determine the socially optimal charges for solid waste services where all households in a particular community would receive planned and properly scheduled collection services, proper disposal of waste with additional recycling and composting features.

Source: KNUST
Economic value and latent demand for agricultural drought forecast: Emerging market for weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria

Provision of weather and climate services are expected to improve the capacity for rural households’ preparedness and response plans to weather shocks. With increase in public investments in developing and communicating weather information on local scale in Nigeria, uncertainty in timescales that meet farmers’ needs and economic value of the information is still poorly understood. It is now a policy concern on whether farmers’ preferences and demands might increase its uptake. This study analyzed the economic value, latent demand, and emerging market of weather and climate information in Central-Southern Nigeria. Farm-level crosssectional data reveals that 76% of the respondents were willing to pay for improved weather information and early warnings in taking climate smart decisions. Within farmers who showed positive responses, 86% would pay for sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information while 38% would pay for medium and short range weather information respectively. The economic value of sub-seasonal to seasonal weather information was estimated at N1600 ($3.60) per year per capita with total aggregated value of N1.3 billion ($2.9 m) yearly for the derived savannah area. Predictive total market value of N17.43billion ($39 m) would be obtained from improved weather information in Nigeria. Simulated results of 5% increase in the uptake with better dissemination channel through mobile phones in addition to robust farmers’ oriented features will generate additional annual market value at N86m ($193,360) for service providers. Large farm size, good farm-income, mobile phone dissemination channels, and location-specific information were drivers of farmers’ uptake decisions of weather information in the dry savannah area. The huge emerging market for improved weather information should be developed into a public–private market to efficiently facilitate uptake and use in Nigeria.

Source: KNUST
Economic valuation of improved solid waste management in Effutu Municipality

The study investigates the economic valuation of improved Solid Waste Management (SWM) in Effutu Municipal assembly.The households in the municipality were categorized into threegroups as underdeveloped, developed and new sites using the quality of housing in the absence of any other formal way of stratification. A dichotomous choice contingent valuation technique was used to elicit households' willingness to pay (WTP), using the survey format of contingent valuation method (CVM).This research focused on 50 households in each stratification summing up to 150 to determine the factors that motivate the households to pay for the improved solid waste management.The logit linear regression model was used to obtain the Willingness to pay of the households.Out of the 150 administered questionnaires, only 11 households representing 7.3% of the total sample size indicated their unwillingness to pay for an improved solid waste management. 92.7% of the respondent households were willing to pay various amounts to improve the services of waste collection and disposal in the Effutu Municipality.The minimum WTP amount per month was GH₵ 1.00 while the maximum was GH₵ 15.00. The anticipated amount to be collected for improved SWM per month for the municipality was GH¢ 49,178.15. The annual mean total WTP would be GH¢ 590,137.80 for the Municipal.The factors which influenced WTP significantly were gender (p=0.003), in which females were 69.10% more willing to pay than males (30.90%), Family size (p=0.004), Marital status (p<0.001), Monthly households income (p<0.001), Responsibility of SWM (p<0.001). However, Age of household head (p=0.975), level of education (p=0.511) and Time...

Source: KNUST
Economic risk analysis of mineral projects in Ghana - a simulation approach

Economic evaluation of a mineral project is conventionally conducted by employing cost and revenue estimates in a conventional cash flow analysis using profit indicators like Net Present Value (NPV), and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) to assess the economic viability of the project. Sensitivity analysis is then conducted to investigate the effect of changes in variable values on the profitability of the mineral venture. Unfortunately the conventional approach techniques do not represent reality, as the techniques neglect the probability associated with variable values, and the numerous random variations of individual variable values that affects the projects profitability. There is therefore the possibility that a mineral venture investigated by the conventional approach, and considered viable can turn out to be a non-profitable venture. This mishap could partly be attributed to the neglect of incorporating risk in evaluating mineral projects to predict realistic evaluation results. In this dissertation, a cash flow evaluation model that account for country risk has been formulated. Subsequently, a Monte Carlo simulation program that account for mineral project risk has been developed. The conventional approach and the new approach are applied to evaluate the economic viability of a placer gold deposit prospected by Blue River Mining Company. Though the new approach offers lower values of NPV and IRR, the approach is found to offer the most likely values of NPV and IRR, and the probability of individual cash flows deviating from expected.

Source: KNUST
Economic Viability Assessment of Small‑Scale Biomass Composting Project Within a Developing Country Contex

Promoting investment in biomass composting is necessary to halt fnite resource depletion and transition consumption and production processes into sustainable circular bioeconomy paths. This notwithstanding, there is a lack of demonstrable evidence of the economic via bility of such investment, which often disincentivises the adoption of composting and other greener production technologies by entrepreneur. To address this problem, this study evalu ates the economic viability of composting as technology for valorising biowaste and tropi cal aquatic invasive plants in the Owabi catchment in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Using data from interviews with key informants, pilot study fndings and market survey, a cost–beneft analysis (CBA) was performed to determine the economic viability of composting organic waste under public and private ownership models (M1P1 and M1P2, respectively) as well as aquatic invasive plants under similar models (M2P1 and M2P2). The fndings show that a positive net present value (NPV) of GHS 507,520.31(US $64,243.08) to GHS 1,217,358.77 (US $154,095.92) is achievable from the alternative scenarios modelled. Each of the scenarios analysed (M1P1, M1P2, M2P1 and M2P2) resulted in a beneft–cost ratio (BCR) greater than 1 and an internal rate of return (IRR) greater than 28%. These results remain robust even with sensitivity analysis based on pessimistic assumptions about costs, benefts, discount rate and project lifespan. The study thus concludes that investing in a small-scale compost production technology with biowaste and aquatic invasive plants as feedstock is a feasible business with positive social, economic and environmental net benefts. Future development in the carbon credit market will make biomass composting even more economically viable to investors and thereby contribute to sustainability and the transition to a circular economy.

Source: KNUST
Economic viability of faecal sludge-to-fortifer composting project in the northern sector of Ghana

Recently, the application of excreta-based fertilizers has attracted attention due to the strongly increasing prices of chemically produced fertilizers and poor soil fertility problem of the agricultural land. Meanwhile, faecal sludge from on-site sanitation systems is rich in nutrients and organic matter constituents, which contribute to replenishing the humus layer and soil nutrient reservoir and to improving soil structure and water-holding capacity. Hence, it represents an important resource for enhancing soil productivity on a sustainable basis. However, there is little in the scientific literature about the performance of treatment technology allowing recovery of nutrient resources from human waste. Meanwhile, waste management is seen as a financial burden for most developing countries. Hence, there is a general call for private sector participation in the sanitation sector. In Ghana, the most predominant way of managing waste is by disposal in designated and illegal places. In an attempt to find a sustainable way of managing faecal sludge and solid organic waste, the fortifer business model which falls within the broad resource reuse and recovery project was started by the International Water Management Institute on a pilot scale. This led to the production of fortified excreta pellets, the so called “fortifer”.The feasibility of faecal sludge and or market waste composting into fortifer in the Northern Ghana was studied from an economic perspective. Two models using the ‘fortifer’ were evaluated under this study. The decentralized composting plant situated at the Tamale metropolis is being operated by both community and entrepreneur (M1), and the second one involves operation by the entrepreneur alone (M2). The results reveal that the fortifer business model is economically viable for the two ownership scenarios. From the results, it was noted that, the facilities being operated by both community and entrepreneur (M1), is the best alternative which generates the highest cost-benefit ratio and net present benefit. On the other hand, the second alternative (M2) had the highest capital costs. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted. M1 was always better than the other alternative regardless of the changes in the key uncertain parameters.

Source: KNUST
Economic Viability Assessment of Small‑Scale Biomass Composting Project Within a Developing Country Context

Promoting investment in biomass composting is necessary to halt fnite resource depletion and transition consumption and production processes into sustainable circular bioeconomy paths. This notwithstanding, there is a lack of demonstrable evidence of the economic via bility of such investment, which often disincentivises the adoption of composting and other greener production technologies by entrepreneur. To address this problem, this study evalu ates the economic viability of composting as technology for valorising biowaste and tropi cal aquatic invasive plants in the Owabi catchment in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Using data from interviews with key informants, pilot study fndings and market survey, a cost–beneft analysis (CBA) was performed to determine the economic viability of composting organic waste under public and private ownership models (M1P1 and M1P2, respectively) as well as aquatic invasive plants under similar models (M2P1 and M2P2). The fndings show that a positive net present value (NPV) of GHS 507,520.31(US $64,243.08) to GHS 1,217,358.77 (US $154,095.92) is achievable from the alternative scenarios modelled. Each of the scenarios analysed (M1P1, M1P2, M2P1 and M2P2) resulted in a beneft–cost ratio (BCR) greater than 1 and an internal rate of return (IRR) greater than 28%. These results remain robust even with sensitivity analysis based on pessimistic assumptions about costs, benefts, discount rate and project lifespan. The study thus concludes that investing in a small-scale compost production technology with biowaste and aquatic invasive plants as feedstock is a feasible business with positive social, economic and environmental net benefts. Future development in the carbon credit market will make biomass composting even more economically viable to investors and thereby contribute to sustainability and the transition to a circular economy

Source: KNUST