ABSTRACT Climate Change has been globally recognized as a multi-scalar socio-economic and environmental problem. Its effects are multidimensional and affect ecosystems, rain-fed agriculture, forestry resources, water, and health. Developing countries, particularly those whose livelihoods are tied to climate-sensitive sectors coupled with low resilience and high vulnerability, will suffer the worst of this menace. Despite these daunting realities confronting developing countries and local comm...
ABSTRACT Improving maternal healthcare remains a major public health concern globally but particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, maternal mortality continues to be pervasive and improvements have been rather slow. Investing in supervised and emergency obstetric care resources has been touted as one major strategy to avoiding preventable maternal deaths. The clustering of mortality around delivery, and the dominance of hemorrhage, infections, and hypertensive disorders as major causes o...
ABSTRACT Micro and small enterprises play a significant role in the socio-economic development of many countries over the world. In Ghana, the bulk of these enterprises are in the informal sector providing employment and income, especially for the poorest members of society. Using data from the EGC/ISSER survey in 2009/10, the study employed a probit regression model in examining the determinants of individual participation in the non-farm sector and then estimated the intensity of participat...
ABSTRACT Although School Feeding Programmes (SFP) is seen as an essential aspect of child growth and holistic development, evidence suggests that SFP’s alone cannot determine educational outcomes of school children. Studies have identified a strong relationship between home environment factors and school children’s learning outcomes. In Ghana, the School Feeding Programme targets children from poor and vulnerable households who attend Government public schools. Evidence on school feeding ...
ABSTRACT Although prison inmates are often seen as burdens on society, as their criminal activity has made them unproductive citizens, rehabilitation programmes within prisons give inmates the ability to become productive citizens upon their release. Such programmes, which focus on providing inmates with skills and knowledge, have the potential to greatly affect their integration back into society post-release, thus decreasing the likelihood that they will commit similar crimes in the future....
ABSTRACT The aim of the study was to determine the difference in flora diversity in two farming systems and how the diversity contributes to sustainable livelihoods of cocoa farmers in an era of changing climate in Atwima Mponua District of Ghana. Sixteen organic and sixteen conventional cocoa farms were selected in Gyereso and Pasoro in the district. In each farm, flora were sampled to include three life forms viz., trees, shrubs and herbs. Households were also interviewed with a structured ...
ABSTRACT Globally, the twenty-first century has been considered as an age of urbanization and globalization. These contribute to cities as key nodes, with potential to lead in socio-economic development: increasing connectivity in goods, information, people and, consequently, creating jobs within economies of scale and of scope. Most city managers have often assumed that development is synonymous with economic growth, ease of access to social services, and a foregone conclusion that with pros...
ABSTRACT Extreme human activities couple with climate change have the potential to reduce the resilience of communities whose livelihoods depend on the forest ecosystem services. As a way of building resilience of society using the same resource also has the capacity to derive co-benefits for the forest ecosystem upon which livelihoods activities operate. To this end, the study sought to adopt the Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) to identify Ecosystem services of the Worobong South Forest Res...
ABSTRACT While some studies support the growing body of evidence that countries endowed with natural resources are cursed, others are of the view that they have been blessed. One major explanation common to such studies is how institutions determine if resources would be a curse or a blessing. Ghana discovered oil in June, 2007and in November, 2010 produced her first oil in commercial quantities. Through a comprehensive legal framework, Ghana assigned roles to institutions to avoid the oil cu...
ABSTRACT Governments of Ghana have endeavored over the years to promote the use of cleaner energy and stoves for domestic use, but about 70% of Ghanaian households still rely on biomass fuel for their main household energy sources. This, therefore, makes the adoption and use of improved cook stoves (ICSs) important to curtail the adverse health, economic and environmental effects associated with using biomass fuel and traditional cook stoves. The aim of the study was to assess the status of a...
ABSTRACT The climate change challenge in this century threatens life itself on the planet; natural systems and human societies alike. The ability for human systems to adjust to and deal with threats posed by climate change is in no doubt better than natural systems. The very existence and well-being of humanity especially the rural poor is solely dependent on a proper functioning natural systems and the services they provide and more importantly the livelihoods they derive from it. This study...
ABSTRACT Livelihoods are the ways in which people satisfy their needs, or gain a living. In Ghana, cocoa production supports the livelihoods of more than 800,000 smallholder households and many others who depend on it for a significant share of their income. The primary objective of the study was to assess the sustainable livelihoods of rural cocoa farmers in the Atwima Mponua district in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Mixed method approach was used and one hundred and fifty (150) cocoa farmers...
ABSTRACT There is a global consensus about climate change and variability‟s effects as serious environmental problems. Against this backdrop, adaption and mitigation have been established as key elements for addressing them. However, adaptation to climate change has been established as an important and complementary response to mitigation. In view of this, the study examined the adaptive strategies of the people of Dome to the effects of climate change and variability. Drawing on the adapti...
ABSTRACT Social protection is critical for enhancing agriculture livelihoods and sustainable development in rural economies.Social protection affects the social and material situations of women and men, shapes gender relations, vulnerabilities and livelihoods. Yet, many studies on social protection insubSaharan Africa, the Asia Pacific, the Middle East and the North Africa regionsthat have relatively large informal economies have neglected gender relations. It is in line with the gender, soc...
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study was to assess the effect of Rural Enterprise Programme on poverty reduction in Tano-North District. Using a stratified sampling technique, one hundred and forty five (145) respondents made up of oil palm extractors and oil palm farmers, as well as Rural Enterprise staff were sampled from the study’s target population of 220. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were used in probing the research questions of how the Rural Enterprise Program...