ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Ghana’s elections of 7 December 2016: a post-mortem.

Ghana went to presidential and parliamentary polls on 7 December 2016, leading to the defeat of President John Mahama and the National Democratic Congress government by the opposition, the New Patriotic Party led by Nana Akufo-Addo. The outcome of the elections therefore followed in the same vein as those held in Ghana in 2000 and 2008, in which the incumbent party lost to the opposition. This article is based on a desk study review of the 2016 elections. There is a brief overview of the state of affairs in Ghana's electoral politics, followed by a discussion of Ghana's electoral reforms, the organisation and management of the elections, the candidates and the campaigns, and the outcome of the elections, as well as some of the challenges that faced the transition process.

Source: UG
Ghana's family planning program: A neglected policy initiative?

Ghana's Family Planning Program (FPP), maternal mortality intervention, and HIV/AIDS control program are all health policy priorities, which are supposed to be complementary to achieve desirable reproductive health outcomes. However, it appears disproportionately less attention is being paid to the former compared to the latter two, which are relatively new health policies. This may have implications not only for the effectiveness of the FPP and the other two policies, but more broadly reproductive health outcomes. This study investigates this claim and finds that the FPP has policy merits and that its relegation to the background has led to a very little incentive to space births, and a marginally positive incentive to increase fecund level, with attendant negative developmental consequences. It then concludes that despite the alarming rate of maternal mortality and loss of lives through HIV/AIDS, Ghana's population is still growing at a dangerous pace, making the FPP as relevant as ever.

Source: UG
Ghana’s National Border Security Strategy And Counter Terrorism

The main objective of this study is to analyse Ghana’s National Border Security and the prevention of Terrorism. Specifically, the study examines Ghana's exposition to terrorism threats, the efficacy of the National Border Security Strategy (NBSS) in Countering Terrorism and the challenges faced by state agencies in border management. The study employed qualitative methodology and relied on primary and secondary data for the analysis. The study focused specifically on the land borders of Ghana. The data was analysed using thematically based on the study’s objectives. The study revealed that the NBSS contributes significantly to the efforts in countering terrorism in Ghana. Therefore the study recommends easy accessibility to all agencies/personnel engaged in border security and protection. This can be achieved through the inclusion in the curricula of all national security services training schools and training courses. Additionally, the study found that security personnel face some challenges that directly affect their duties at countering terrorism. These include threats associated with the movement of animals across borders, overcrowding, attacks from citizens and nationals, smuggling of goods, human and drug trafficking, armed robbery. The study recommends personnel protection, constant engagement with leaders and citizens of border communities to facilitate countering terrorism at the borders and inland. Finally, the study recommends that the government of Ghana adequately funds the National Border Security Fusion Centre to ensure sustainability and the achievement of the goals of the NBSS

Source: UG
Ghana's national health insurance scheme and maternal and child health: A mixed methods study

Background: Ghana is attracting global attention for efforts to provide health insurance to all citizens through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). With the program's strong emphasis on maternal and child health, an expectation of the program is that members will have increased use of relevant services. Methods: This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a baseline assessment for the Maternal and Newborn errals Evaluation from the Northern and Central Regions to describe women's experiences with the NHIS and to study associations between insurance and skilled facility delivery, antenatal care and early care-seeking for sick children. The assessment included a quantitative household survey (n = 1267 women), a quantitative community leader survey (n = 62), qualitative birth narratives with mothers (n = 20) and fathers (n = 18), key informant interviews with health care workers (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3) with community leaders and stakeholders. The key independent variables for the quantitative analyses were health insurance coverage during the past three years (categorized as all three years, 1-2 years or no coverage) and health insurance during the exact time of pregnancy. Results: Quantitative findings indicate that insurance coverage during the past three years and insurance during pregnancy were associated with greater use of facility delivery but not ANC. Respondents with insurance were also significantly more likely to indicate that an illness need not be severe for them to take a sick child for care. The NHIS does appear to enable pregnant women to access services and allow caregivers to seek care early for sick children, but both the quantitative and qualitative assessments also indicated that the poor and least educated were less likely to have insurance than their wealthier and more educated counterparts. Findings from the qualitative interviews uncovered specific challenges women faced regarding registration for the NHIS and other barriers such lack of understanding of who and what services were covered for free. Conclusion: Efforts should be undertaken so all individuals understand the NHIS policy including who is eligible for free services and what services are covered. Increasing access to health insurance will enable Ghana to further improve maternal and child health outcomes. © 2015 Singh et al.

Source: UG
Ghana’s National Health insurance scheme and maternal and child health: a mixed methods study

Abstract Background Ghana is attracting global attention for efforts to provide health insurance to all citizens through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). With the program’s strong emphasis on maternal and child health, an expectation of the program is that members will have increased use of relevant services. Methods This paper uses qualitative and quantitative data from a baseline assessment for the Maternal and Newborn errals Evaluation from the Northern and Central Regions to describe women’s experiences with the NHIS and to study associations between insurance and skilled facility delivery, antenatal care and early care-seeking for sick children. The assessment included a quantitative household survey (n = 1267 women), a quantitative community leader survey (n = 62), qualitative birth narratives with mothers (n = 20) and fathers (n = 18), key informant interviews with health care workers (n = 5) and focus groups (n = 3) with community leaders and stakeholders. The key independent variables for the quantitative analyses were health insurance coverage during the past three years (categorized as all three years, 1–2 years or no coverage) and health insurance during the exact time of pregnancy. Results Quantitative findings indicate that insurance coverage during the past three years and insurance during pregnancy were associated with greater use of facility delivery but not ANC. Respondents with insurance were also significantly more likely to indicate that an illness need not be severe for them to take a sick child for care. The NHIS does appear to enable pregnant women to access services and allow caregivers to seek care early for sick children, but both the quantitative and qualitative assessments also indicated that the poor and least educated were less likely to have insurance than their wealthier and more educated counterparts. Findings from the qualitative interviews uncovered specific challenges women faced regarding registration for the NHIS and other barriers such lack of understanding of who and what services were covered for free. Conclusion Efforts should be undertaken so all individuals understand the NHIS policy including who is eligible for free services and what services are covered. Increasing access to health insurance will enable Ghana to further improve maternal and child health outcomes.

Source: UG
Ghana’s pineapple innovation history: An account from stakeholders in Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly

Despite the pineapple fruit contributing significantly towards Ghana’s non-traditional export, the empirical space inadequately accounts for innovations within the sector. This article addresses prime questions that beg answering, such as as: the origin of innovations, when, how, what conditions facilitate adoption intensity or otherwise, what type of innovations are systematically associated with pineapple production. This study fills this lacuna by chronicling the main pineapple innovations using innovation history methodology embedded in an agricultural innovation system conceptual framing. Relying on a qualitative approach, the findings showed the emergence of two varieties: smooth cayenne and sugar loaf, overtaken by the MD2 variety. Degreening, forcing, and global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) dominate. The Millennium Development Authority programme consolidated business plan development, efficient marketing, record-keeping, and farming as a business. Successes were recorded in some instances with the transfer of technology extension model, but this article argues that the agricultural innovation system can be prioritized given the plurality of actors. The history of innovation is trivialized, but it is essential for learning and co-learning in building stronger partnerships. This article underscores a radical use of innovation history both as a methodological tool and means of documenting innovations, particularly in the global south, where copious record-keeping remains rare.

Source: UG
Ghana’s pineapple innovation history: An account from stakeholders in Nsawam Adoagyiri Municipal Assembly

Despite the pineapple fruit contributing significantly towards Ghana’s non-traditional export, the empirical space deficiently accounts for innovations within the sector. This article addresses prime questions that beg answering such as: the origin of innovations, when, how, what conditions facilitate adoption intensity or otherwise, what type of innovations are systematically associated with pineapple production. This study fills this lacuna by chronicling the main pineapple innovations using innovation history methodology embedded in an agricultural innovation system conceptual framing. Relying on a qualitative approach, the findings showed the emergence of two varieties – smooth cayenne and sugar loaf, overtaken by the MD2 variety. Degreening, forcing, and global Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) dominate. The Millennium Development Authority programme consolidated business plan development, efficient marketing, record keeping, and farming as a business. Successes were recorded in some instances with the transfer of technology extension model, but this article argues that the agricultural innovation system can be prioritized given the plurality of actors. The innovation history is trivialized, but it is essential for learning and co-learning in building stronger partnerships. This article underscores a radical use of innovation history both as a methodological tool and means of documenting innovations, particularly in the global south, where copious record-keeping remains rare.

Source: UG
Ghana’s population policy implementation: Past, present and future

The effective implementation of population policies is critical in addressing development challenges particularly for developing countries. Ghana’s experience at population policy implementation spans a period over four decades. There have been successes, failures and challenges as new issues which hitherto were non-existent at the inception of the policy, emerge in the course of implementation. This paper assesses Ghana’s efforts at implementing its national population policy and brings out deep insights on lessons learnt and makes proposals for the way forward. The assessment shows that while some successes have been achieved in the area of fertility transition, increasing life expectancy at birth, etc., there are still critical challenges which are socio-cultural and political in character. Institutional structures for coordinating the implementation are undermined by poor resource in-flow from the state resulting in loss of trained human resources for effective implementation. The functional integration of population variables into development planning at the district level is consequently virtually non-existent. It is, therefore, just not enough to have a population policy as a document if the state does not attach the highest level of importance to population dynamics as a development planning priority in the country. © 2015 - African Population Studies.

Source: UG
Ghana’s post-independence economic growth 1960–2000

Introduction When Ghana became the first African nation to achieve independence from colonial rule on 6 March 1957, there was much jubilation and hope that it would pioneer the way toward rapid growth and development for Africa as a continent. Indeed, Ghana experienced reasonably high growth soon thereafter, but by 1965 per capita growth was already negative, and when the coup d’état overthrew the Nkrumah regime in February 1966, per capita income was below its value at the time of independence. Conditions appeared to improve significantly during the late 1960s and early 1970s. However, the mid-1970s saw the beginning of significant deterioration, so that, by the early 1980s, per capita GDP had reached its nadir in the history of Ghana’s post-independence. While economic conditions have improved markedly since then, the growth rate has failed to accelerate significantly, and per capita income has yet to reach its level in 1957. In 1993 Ghana set itself the target of becoming an upper middle-income country by 2020, requiring an estimated GDP growth rate of about 8% per annum. In the five years since the inception of the set targets, however, the economy showed no capacity to move towards it. Whereas GDP was expected to grow by between 7.1% and 8.3% in the period 1996-2000, actual growth was between 4.2% and 5.0%. In 1999, for example, all macroeconomic targets were off by quite substantial margins, and the trend continued into 2000. © James Currey Ltd 2007.

Source: UG
Ghana’s Progress Towards Measles Elimination: Surveillance Data Analysis, Greater Accra Region, 2015 – 2019

Introduction: Although measles is targeted for global elimination by 2020, an An estimated 869,770 measles cases and 207,500 deaths occurred in 2019. Ghana adopted the World Health Organization measles elimination strategies, however, evidence of a systematic, comprehensive analysis of data tracking progress towards elimination is sparse. We analyzed measles data to describe its epidemiology, surveillance, and vaccination coverage performances in the Greater Accra Region. Methods: We reviewed and conducted a descriptive analysis of measles surveillance, laboratory, and vaccination data for 2015 to 2019 obtained from the regional health directorate and the national public health reference laboratory. Case patients’ demographic and clinical variables were analyzed into frequencies, proportions, and rates. We used WHO measles elimination performance targets; at least one suspected measles case reported per 100,000 population, 80% of suspected measles cases investigated with adequate blood samples, measles incidence <1/1,000,000 population, 95% routine vaccination coverage and during SIAs as benchmarks. Results: Of the 930 suspected measles cases reported, 605 (65.1%) were tested. Males accounted for 356 (58.8%), 141 (23.3%), 342 (56.5%), and 122 (20.2%). children <1, 1–4, and ≥5 years old, respectively. Of those tested, 10 (1.65%) were measles IgM confirmed, of which 7 (70.0%) had received at least one dose of measles vaccine. The annualized measles reporting rate ranged from 1.8 to 6.4 per 100,000 people from 2015 to 2019. The district specimen collection rate was 100%, and measles incidence was between 0 and 0.6 per million of the population in the period 2015–2019. Measles vaccination coverage increased from 73.5% in 2016 to 102% in 2019, with 75% of districts achieving 95% coverage in 2019. Conclusion: The measles case-based surveillance system and vaccination program in the Greater Accra region showed an increasing level of performance toward Ghana’s elimination status. However, performance in laboratory testing of blood specimens were suboptimal. Authorities of Ghana’s health system should strengthen laboratory capacity for prompt diagnosis of measles.

Source: UG
Ghana's quest for oil and gas: Ecological risks and management frameworks

Ghana discovered commercial oil and gas in 2007, and, subsequently, commenced production in the last quarter of 2010. In the light of the potential economic boost that will accompany petroleum production, its discovery was welcome news for Ghanaians. However, oil exploration and production involve several activities that can have detrimental impacts on the ecosystem. In this paper, the potential sources of pollution in the upstream sector of the oil and gas industry and their effects on the environment are discussed. Also discussed are existing national environmental management legislations in the extractive industry, and the implementation and enforcement challenges these regulations face. Strategies to curtail the effects of oil and gas development on the ecosystem are also put forward. These include the need for government to formulate petroleum industry-specific environmental protection guidelines and appropriate regulatory frameworks. Such regulations in managing the environment should employ an integrated approach involving (i) prescription of environmental codes and setting of standards by government to be met by operators, and (ii) the need for oil companies to develop environmental management system (EMS) to ensure that they operate within the environmental standards for the industry. Administrative and institutional restructuring and reforms, as well as the provision of the necessary financial and human resources for the various environmental agencies, should be encouraged to ensure effective implementation, enforcement and monitoring.

Source: UG
Ghana's renewable energy agenda: Legislative drafting in search of policy paralysis

Renewable energy has been touted as the panacea to Ghana's energy crisis, and one which will lay a solid foundation for industrialisation. Consequently, recent trends in energy policy place just as much weight on clean and renewable energy as they do on the age-old quest for energy independence. Using a desktop review approach, complemented with the analysis of government policy documents, we offer a critical perspective on Ghana's renewable energy agenda. We argue that institutional weakness, ambiguous regulatory frameworks, implementation challenges, lack of proper planning and coordination, and dependencies on donor support are responsible for the poor development of renewable energy in Ghana. We also contend that, if the renewable energy agenda and, indeed, the nation is to survive and thrive, the relevant legislative framework within the renewable energy sector must be reviewed. The paper concludes by identifying practical steps that need to be taken to place the renewable energy drive on a proper policy and legislative pedestal in the country.

Source: UG
Ghana’s rice value chain resilience in the context of COVID-19

The 2020 State of the Food Security and Nutrition World report suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic may render 83 to 132 million people food insecure. The global south has been projected to be adversely affected by COVID-19 in terms of food and nutritional security. This potentially renders Africa off track in achieving SDG -2 of zero hunger by 2030. Ghana is a net importer of rice and how the sector responded to the global pandemic has received less traction in the agri-food system literature. There is skewed literature that concentrates on the global north. The paper employed a qualitative approach involving key informant interviews across 6 regions in Ghana. The study covered 48 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) officers, 80 farmers, and 48 market leaders. We use one of the country’s main food staple - rice to show the food (in)-security situation during the pandemic. We articulate that using the right food security conceptual and theoretical framing remains imperative in understanding food (in)-security. The findings showed price hikes during the imposition of lockdown affected access (physical and effective demand). Rice however remained available during and after the lockdown imposition. Ghana’s rice production output was affected during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The ramification of COVID-19 on Ghana’s rice sector was not dire but points to the vulnerability of the rice value chain to future pandemics. Important policy actions are needed to consolidate particular gains made in Ghana’s planting for food and jobs to minimize rice imports.

Source: UG
Ghana-Cote D’ivoire Relations in Post ITLOS Maritime Boundary Judgement

The continent of Africa and natural resources are two things that are always placed together, be it negatively or positively. The vast wealth in natural resources has brought the continent to its knees due to the sheer violence and instability it caused in years past. In contemporary times, there have been newer discoveries such as oil, gas, uranium and others but this has led to some natural-resource-based boundary conflicts among some African states. A case in point is the maritime boundary dispute between Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire. This study sought to assess how the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) judgement has been implemented by the two states and assesses their reactions and relations after the verdict has been given and its directives operationalized. The study uses a qualitative approach as it explores the field of natural resource-based conflicts in Africa and specifically delves into the ITLOS judgement on the Ghana- Cote d’Ivoire dispute. The research findings include the fact that the implementation process for the judgement’s directives have been peaceful and this is related as normal state practice for countries that resort to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) settlement bodies. It also finds that the implementation process of the judgement has led to an upsurge in cooperation between the two states in multiple sectors yielding significant mutual benefits and greatly improving bilateral relations. The research recommended that the two states should focus on implementing all the directives of the judgement and must seek to secure sustainable bilateral cooperation.

Source: UG