ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Assessment of human activities and its effects on forest management: a survey of charcoal producers in the Sekyere Central District of Ghana

A survey to assess the effects and sustainability of charcoal production on the local vegetation cover was conducted in the Sekyere Central District of Ashanti region from December 2017 to April 2018. The study involved the use of structured questionnaires, focus group discussions(FGDs), key informants, secondary data and field observation by reconnaissance survey. The socio-economic survey was to identify who in the district is undertaking charcoal production as an economic venture, how widespread the activity is, and the preferred tree species being harvested to produce charcoal. In the field survey, the vegetation types in the study area were identified in a reconnaissance survey as secondary forests with increasing grassland. The relative abundance of tree species which could be used for charcoal production was also identified and quantified. A 640-meter square plot was delimited and divided into 64 square plots within each of which five-meter quadrats were marked at random and presence or absence was recorded for the individual tree species. The results of the study indicated that charcoal production is widely carried out throughout the district especially in the Afram Plains portion. It is practiced by the Akan and the Sissala ethnic groups who have very little education. Female producers(8%)were less than their male counterparts. Majority (73%) of the producers was 31 and above years whiles those of 30 years and below was 27%. The study revealed that most tree species are becoming rare and are only common in the protected area (Kogyae strict natures reserve) in the district.

Source: UG
Assessment of Immunization Data Quality of Routine Reports in Ho municipality of Volta Region, Ghana

Background: Immunization has been an important public health intervention for preventing and reducing child morbidity and mortality over the years and coverage has increased in the past decades. However, the validity of the data from immunization coverages is usually disputed. Immunization data from health facilities show poor concordance between tallied registers and monthly reports as they are reported to higher levels of the health system. The study assessed the quality of data from routine immunization of some health facilities in the Ho central municipality in the Volta region of Ghana. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was used to review routine immunization data in tallied registers and reports submitted to the Municipal Health Directorate (MHD) from January to December, 2015. Simple random sampling was used to select three health facilities in Ho central municipality. The World Health Organization (WHO) Data Quality Self-assessment (DQS) tool was the main instrument used to present and analyze data for accuracy and discrepancy level between the tallied registers and reports. A template was created in Microsoft excel which automatically presented accuracy and discrepancy levels when data was entered. Ethical approval for the study was obtained from Ghana Health Service Ethics Review Committee. Results: The result showed discrepancies between recounted tallies at the facilities and reports submitted to the MHD. Accuracy ratios of 102, 64 and 94% for Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG), Pentavalent (Penta) vaccine dose 3 and Measles 2 respectively indicating underreporting for BCG and over reporting for the rest were obtained. There was 460 over reported data to the municipal level representing accuracy ratio of 80% and discrepancy level of 20%. Conclusions: Immunization data was characterized by underreporting and overreporting, hence not accurate and lacked quality. Immunization data quality should be a priority among health staff at health facilities.

Source: UG
Assessment of impacts of fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) on maize production in Ghana

Spodoptera frugiperda was considered an insect pest only in the Americas until its first report in African countries in 2016. In this study, farmers and agricultural officials in Ghana were interviewed on their perceptions and knowledge of the pest, on infestation and maize yield variations across years, and on management practices. Farms were inspected to determine the infestation level of 100 plants per hectare. Interviews revealed that farmers were familiar with the larval stages of this pest and noticed that the pest occurred throughout the year, but populations of S. frugiperda increased only during cropping seasons. Infestation levels reported by farmers in surveys were much lower in 2018 (30.38%) than in 2017 (80.92%). Farm inspections confirmed that infestation levels were much lower in 2018 (20.90%) than 2017 (73.70%). The belt formed by Guinea Savannah, Transitional Zone, and Semi Deciduous Forest Agro-Ecological Zones (AEZs) recorded the highest infestations while the lowest were observed from the Sudan Savannah and Tropical Rain Forest AEZs. Insecticides were the most commonly used tactic to manage populations of this new pest. Maize yields increased across Ghana between 2013 and 2015 from 1.52 to 1.73 t/ha, decreased between 2015 and 2017 to 1.55 t/ha, and increased to 1.69 t/ha in 2018. The impact of fall armyworm injury to maize production is discussed.

Source: UG
An Assessment of Institutional Importance of Climate Change Adaptation in the Volta River Basin of Northern Ghana

Climate change affects a lot of sectors including agriculture. Several measures are being adopted to avert the impacts associated with it. Water resources in semi-arid areas are not excluded. The study, conducted in Lawra District of Upper West region of Ghana was undertaken to identify and assess the adaptation strategies adopted by settlers along and in the Volta River Basin as well as to analyse the level of agreements among the institutions that are helping farmers to adapt to climate change impacts. This study used a mixed method including focus group discussion and a semi-structured questionnaire to obtain information from 160 farming households in 8 randomly selected communities in the Lawra district. Results revealed three classes of adaptation strategies which include environmental, cultural/agronomic and economic strategies. Majority (65%) of the settlers adopted the environmental practices, whiles 52% of the respondents also adopted the cultural/agronomic practices and less than half of the respondents (31%) adopted the economic practices. We viewed that adoption levels, though more than half of the respondents adopted the environmental and cultural strategies, are still not encouraging given the magnitude of interventions related to water management. The results also reveal that community watchdogs, climate change, agriculture and food security platforms and non-governmental organisations are the three most important institutions working to improve farmer resilience to climate change. Therefore the results could re-stimulate policy implementation with the overall aim of increasing adoption levels of the strategies. Only when this is done, will a significant step have been taken towards saving our water resources from climate change impacts.

Source: UG
An Assessment of Islamic Work Ethics of Employees in Organizations: Insights from the United Arab Emirates

The purpose of this research is to present a critical assessment of Islamic work ethics (IWE) of employees in public and private organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The work uses a quantitative survey method to gather the opinions of employees in both public and private organizations in the UAE on IWE. The findings of the study revealed that the ability of a worker to balance his or her personal and organizational needs in the workplace meant success in his religious and organizational life. Also, findings showed that being productive in work organizations should not be tied to the amount of money one gets, and that illicit behavior like stockpiling grains and other essential commodities for the purpose of profit - making in times of need is unethical and un-islamic. This study clearly indicates the need for employees and managers to uphold the Muslim teachings which can be manifested in their daily work attitudes (best practices) in various organizations. The study highlights the various ethical variables that employees believe are essential to work organizations while keeping faith to the Islamic religion.

Source: UG
An Assessment of Islamic Work Ethics of Employees in Organizations: Insights from the United Arab Emirates, Problems of Management in the 21st Century

The purpose of this research is to present a critical assessment of Islamic work ethics (IWE) of employees in public and private organizations in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The work uses a quantitative survey method to gather the opinions of employees in both public and private organizations in the UAE on IWE. The findings of the study revealed that the ability of a worker to balance his or her personal and organizational needs in the workplace meant success in his religious and organizational life. Also, findings showed that being productive in work organizations should not be tied to the amount of money one gets, and that illicit behavior like stockpiling grains and other essential commodities for the purpose of profit - making in times of need is unethical and un-islamic. This study clearly indicates the need for employees and managers to uphold the Muslim teachings which can be manifested in their daily work attitudes (best practices) in various organizations. The study highlights the various ethical variables that employees believe are essential to work organizations while keeping faith to the Islamic religion.

Source: UG
Assessment of knowledge and treatment practices of hepatitis B infection in children among health professionals in Krachi districts in Ghana: a cross-sectional stud

Background. Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains one of the neglected infectious diseases. Children infected with HBV are at higher risk of becoming chronic carriers. Barriers to meas ures against HBV in children are attributed to inadequate knowl edge by some health professionals. This study assessed knowledge and treatment practices of HBV in children among health profes sionals Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional survey was con ducted among health professionals (185) in three districts in Krachi using a structured questionnaire. Stata version 15 was used to analyze participants’ responses on awareness, knowledge, and treatment practices. Pearson’s product-moment correlation was used to determine the relationship between knowledge and treat ment practices. Multivariate regression analysis assessed the rela tionships between variables at P<0.05 and 95% confidence inter val. Results. 20% were not aware of HBV in children and 85% had only fair knowledge about HBV in children. Only 29% indicated good knowledge and treatment practices of HBV in children. A unit increase in knowledge of HBV in children leads to a 1.42 unit increase in awareness (P<0.01), and a 1.3 unit increase in treatment practice (P<0.01) of HBV in children. Conclusions. Participants demonstrated only fair knowledge about HBV in children. Seminars and workshops on HBV in chil dren for health professionals must intensify

Source: UG
Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude and Vaccination Status of Hepatitis B among Nursing Training Students in Ho, Ghana

Background: Viral hepatitis B is a disease condition of the liver caused by the hepatitis B virus, and it leads to complications such as cancer and cirrhosis. This poses an occupational hazard because about 66,000 health care workers get infected with the virus annually. Adequate knowledge and right attitude of health workers are required to prevent the disease. Compared to average health care workers, trainee nurses are more vulnerable to the disease due to inadequate knowledge on infection control guidelines. Purpose of the Study: The study assessed the knowledge, attitude and vaccination status of hepatitis B among nursing training students in Ho, Ghana. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out between September and December 2017 in which 358 student nurses were randomly selected to participate in this study. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used as a data collection tool to get information from the students. Data were then entered into SPSS version 20 for cleaning and analysis. Result: The majority of participants were between the ages of 20–26 years with the mean age 21.56 (SD ± 2.65). About 78.2% knew the disease is caused by a virus. Also, 69.8% reported transmission through needle stick injuries, and the mean knowledge score was 29.6 (SD ± 6.98). Also, 68.8% recapped needles (P = 0.012), and 49.4% have taken the full three doses of vaccines. Conclusion: The study points to a satisfactory knowledge and vaccination status of hepatitis B among the trainee nurses but poor attitude toward the disease, hence the need for massive health education among the nurses

Source: UG
Assessment of levels of occupational exposure to workers in radiofrequency fields of two television stations in ACCRA, Ghana

A survey of the radiofrequency (RF) radiation was undertaken within the premises of two television (TV) stations, TVA and TVB, in Accra, Ghana. The primary objective of this study was to determine the level of RF exposure to workers in the TV stations. A spectrum analyser, a bi-conical antenna (30-300 MHz) and a log-periodic antenna (200 MHz-2.0 GHz) were used. Results obtained indicated that the wideband electric field strength levels recorded in this work vary between 0.006 and 58.5 V m21 at TVA and between 0.007 and 28.5 V m21 at TVB. Compared with the results from TVB, TVA recorded relatively higher values in the 30-400 MHz range, whereas TVB produced relatively higher values in the 400 MHz-1.7 GHz range. Generally, results obtained were found to be below the occupational reference levels of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection, but at some locations, the field intensity was 4.3 times higher than the reference levels for the general public. © The Author 2015.

Source: UG
Assessment of livelihood opportunities among farmers in the Shai Osudoku district of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana

The objective of this study was to assess livelihood opportunities among smallholder farmers in five communities namely Dodowa, Ayikuma, Agomeda, Asutsuare and Doryum in the Shai Osudoku district of the Greater Accra Region, Ghana. One hundred and fifty (150) farmers were selected from the Shai Osudoku district using multi-stage sampling procedure. Purposive sampling was used to select these communities due to their intensive involvement in farming. Furthermore, simple random sampling technique was adopted to pick 150 farmers for the survey. The study showed that farm households were able to ‘pair’ their farming activities with alternative livelihoods without abandoning their primary livelihoods, which is farming. The income levels of farmers from their primary livelihood activities were comparatively low with majority, 82.7%, earning GH₵100 or less every month compared with fewer farmers, 13.3 %, earning above GH₵ 150. However, more than half of farmers (58%) earned above GH₵ 150 every month from their alternative livelihoods. Again, farmers who decided to undertake their primary and alternative livelihoods concurrently have seen a rise in the level of their income and accordingly contributing to the reduction of income poverty among rural farm households.

Source: UG
An Assessment of Local Content Policy and its Significance for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Oil and Gas Industry in Ghana.

The concept of local content has gain a worldwide acknowledgement as the debate as to whether indigenes and indigenous business is worthwhile protecting. Local content provides a significant framework in driving the development of Ghana and increase the influx of foreign investment. Therefore, this study sought to provide a comprehensive assessment of local content policy and its significance for FDI in the oil and gas industry in Ghana. It employed a random sampling qualitative methodology through the aid of a well-structured open ended and closed ended questions and found that the introduction of the local content policy increased the level of foreign investment in Ghana through structures laid down in implementing the local content legislation in the oil and gas sector in Ghana. This has also increased locals participating in the upstream oil and gas industry has improved through various mechanisms such as employment, joint venture partnership, supply of goods and services and through sub-contracting. On the whole, the study identified that the local content policy has not been able to significantly achieve its intended purpose since its inception hence, strict implementation and adherence is on the low key. Thus, it is recommended that there should be an establishment of local content funds to support indigenous SMEs to enhance their competitiveness vigorously in the industry with their foreign counterpart thus increasing the participation of Ghanaians in the oil and gas industry and eliminating fronting of foreign companies. Additionally, the local content policy should be strengthened such that foreign investors and local industry players are clear on their overall scope of work so that unnecessary expectation would be reduced to avoid any conflict between industry participants.

Source: UG
Assessment Of Malnutrition In Patients Undergoing Chemotherapy At The National Oncology Centre Of The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana

Background: Globally, cancer is on the rise, despite several interventions. The link between nutrition and cancer has long been established, with the consequences of poor nutrition on the cancer pathway being dire. Early nutrition intervention is recommended for all cancer patients. Objective: To assess malnutrition among patients undergoing chemotherapy at the National Radiotherapy Oncology and Nuclear Medicine Centre of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 123 patients with different types and stages of cancer who were undergoing chemotherapy. Data was collected from December 2018 to January 2019. The PG-SGA tool was used to assess weight loss at one and six months; food intake and nutrition impact symptoms. A correlation test was used to test the association between the PGSGA score and nutritional triaging. A T-test was used to determine the association between chemotherapy cycles and nutrition. A p-value <0.05 was considered to be significant. Results: The results revealed that 5.7% (n= 7) of the patients were well nourished, and 31.7% (n= 39) were suspected of being malnourished, and 62.6% (n = 77) were severely malnourished. About half of the participants (48%) had experienced weight loss ranging between 1 and 20 kg, with weight loss ≤5kg being most prevalent at both one and six months prior to the study. More than half (56.9%, n = 70) of the participants were consuming less than their usual intake. The majority of the participants had 4-6 nutritional symptoms (39.0%), with symptoms being mostly mild (39.1%). Poor nutritional status was positively correlated with nutritional symptoms (r = 0.747, p<0.001). Conclusion: The PGSGA tool identified that more than half of the patients were severely malnourished, hence the need for early nutrition intervention in cancer patients.

Source: UG
Assessment of maternal near-miss and quality of care in a hospital-based study in Accra, Ghana

Objective To assess the baseline incidence of maternal near-miss, process indicators related to facility access, and quality of care at a tertiary care facility in urban Ghana. Methods A prospective observational study of all women delivering at the facility, including those with pregnancy-related complications, was conducted between October 2010 and March 2011. Quality of maternal health care was assessed via a newly developed WHO instrument based on near-miss criteria and criterion-based clinical audit methodology. Results Among 3438 women, 516 had potentially life-threatening conditions and 131 had severe maternal outcomes (94 near-miss cases and 37 maternal deaths). More than half (64.4%) of the women had been referred to the facility. The incidence of maternal near-miss was 28.6 cases per 1000 live births. Anemia contributed to most cases with a severe maternal outcome. More than half of all women with severe maternal outcomes developed organ dysfunction or died within the first 12 hours of hospital admission. Although preventive measures were prevalent, treatment-related indicators showed mixed results. Conclusion The WHO near-miss approach was found to represent a feasible strategy in low-resource countries. Improving referral systems, effective use of critical care, and evidence-based interventions can potentially reduce severe maternal outcomes. © 2013 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics.

Source: UG
An Assessment of Mediation in Conflict Management in Africa: The Case of Ghana

This dissertation studied the need for contemporary mediation in Africa, specifically Ghana, and the effectiveness and efficiency of contemporary mediation in resolving conflicts in Africa. The study adopts a qualitative method, using both secondary data and primary data, which were gathered from the target population which consists of practitioners of ADR, academics with expertise in mediation and students of the University of Ghana. The findings of the study indicate that the administration of mediation and other ADR methods have been successful in improving the judicial system of Ghana and promoted peace and stability in various Ghanaian communities. An example of success chalked by mediation and other ADR methods include the successful resolution of major conflicts such as the Andani and Abudu conflict of the people of Dagbon state, leading to the installation of a new Dagbon King, Yaa Naa Abubakari Mahama, in January 2009. Despite the successes of mediation in Ghana, the study also found that mediation has not been successful in its attempt to resolve some disputes in Ghana; noticeable among them are the Kokomba and Nanumba conflicts in Northern Ghana and the Nkonya and Alavanyo crisis in the Volta region. The unsuccessfulness of mediation in resolving conflicts in Ghana is attributable to different challenges which are classified into three categories namely: Practitioner Challenges, Regulatory Challenges and Client Challenges. In order to make the administration of mediation more effective and efficient in resolving conflicts in Ghana, the study recommends that the government of Ghana should come out with an adequate remuneration package for Mediators and other ADR practitioners so as to get the best from them. The government should also adopt a project to comprehensively sensitize and educate the Ghanaian populace about the availability and the benefits of using mediation and other ADR methods in conflict resolution. Thirdly, the government of Ghana should come out with a regulatory body that will harmonize the activities of all the institutions that administer mediation in the country. Finally, the study also recommends that mediators and other ADR practitioners should fully comply with the code of ethics of ADR so as to gain the trust of community members, business men and the entire Ghanaian populace in the usage of mediation as an effective conflict resolution mechanism in Ghana.

Source: UG