Sustainable mini-grid model as an alternative energy source for deprived communities in Ghana

Off-grid electrification planning increasingly recognizes the importance of productive use of electricity (PUE) to promote community value creation and (financial) project sustainability. To ensure a sustainable and efficient integration in the community and energy system, PUE assets must be carefully evaluated to match both the community needs and the residential electricity demand patterns. We propose a novel methodology interlinking qualitative interviews, statistical analysis and energy system modeling to optimize decision making for PUE integration in off-grid energy systems in rural Madagascar by aligning relevant PUE effectively with anticipated residential electricity demand patterns based on socio-economic determinants of the community. We find that a possible contribution of the PUE to reducing the electricity costs depends significantly on three factors: (1) The residential electricity consumption patterns, which are influenced by the socio-economic composition of the community; (2) The degree of flexibility of (i) PUE assets and (ii) operational preferences of the PUE user; and (3) The capacity of community members to finance and operate PUE assets. Our study demonstrates that significant cost reductions for PUE-integrated off-grid energy systems can be achieved by applying our proposed methodology. When matching PUE and residential consumption patterns, the integration of PUE assets in residential community energy systems can reduce the financial risk for operators, provided the PUE enterprise operates reliably and sustainably. We highlight that the consideration of local value chains and co-creation approaches are essential to ensure the energy system is addressing the community’s needs, creates value for the community, enhances the project’s financial sustainability and is achieving the overall objectives of decentralized energy system planning.

Comparison of childhood household injuries and risk factors between urban and rural communities in Ghana: A cluster-randomized, population-based, survey to inform injury prevention research and programming

BackgroundThe Coronavirus Infectious Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has continuously affected human life with several devastating effects. Currently, there are effective vaccines to protect people from COVID‐19 and the World Health Organization (WHO) has highlighted strategies to influence COVID-19 vaccine uptake in hard-to-reach communities in Ghana. However, prior studies on COVID-19 vaccine acceptability in Ghana are online surveys targeting the literates and those in urban areas, leaving residents in far-flung communities. We assessed knowledge, attitude and acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine among residents in rural communities in Ghana.MethodsThis study was a community-based cross-sectional study and was conducted at three selected regions in Ghana (Northern, Ashanti and Western North) from May to November, 2021. This study included residents 15–81 years, living in the selected rural communities for more than 1 year. Study participants were recruited and questionnaires administered to collect data on knowledge, attitude and acceptance of the COVID-19 vaccine. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 26.0 and GraphPad Prism Version 8.0 software.ResultsOf the 764 participants included in this study, more than half had inadequate knowledge (55.0%), poor attitudes (59.4%) and bad perception about COVID-19 vaccine (55.4%). The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine in this study was 41.9%. The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine in Ashanti, Northern and Western North regions were 32.5%, 26.2% and 29.6% respectively. In a multivariate logistic regression analysis, receiving recent or previous vaccine such as HBV vaccine [aOR = 1.57, 95% CI (1.23–3.29), p = 0.002], having good attitude towards COVID-19 vaccine [aOR = 61.47, 95% CI (29.55–127.86), p < 0.0001] and having good perception about the COVID-19 vaccine [aOR = 3.87, 95% CI (1.40–10.72), p < 0.0001] were independently associated with higher odds of accepting COVID-19 vaccine.ConclusionMore than half of residents in Ghanaian rural communities have inadequate knowledge, poor attitudes and bad perception about COVID-19 vaccine. The acceptability of COVID-19 vaccine is generally low among rural residents in Ashanti, Northern and Western North regions of Ghana. Residents living in hard-to-reach communities must be educated about the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine to achieve effective vaccination program.

Purpose This study aims to explore culturally nuanced health promotion strategies that have proven effective in combating HIV/AIDS in rural communities in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Guided by a phenomenological design, face-to-face in-depth interviews were conducted with 24 community health workers across 6 rural health facilities in the Savannah region of Ghana to understand their successful approaches to HIV/AIDS health promotion in rural cultural contexts. The data were analyzed using thematic data analysis procedure. Findings With 58.33% of the participants being male and 62.50% having worked three to five years, this study identified that in rural Ghanaian communities, HIV/AIDS health promotion achieves remarkable success through the innovative integration of community durbars – cultural gatherings that blend traditional performances with health education, sanctified by the presence of chiefs and elders who serve as cultural gatekeepers for health messaging. The study also reveals a sophisticated dual-approach strategy where health workers complement these large-scale cultural gatherings with targeted community talks at schools and Parent and Teacher Association meetings, while leveraging prenatal care visits as intimate spaces for HIV education. Research limitations/implications Only the experiences of community health workers in the Northern part of Ghana were solicited. The results of the current study could be deepened with data from Southern Ghana. Hence, the authors recommend further studies in this region that the current study did not include. This notwithstanding, the current study has clear methodological strength for replication in the other region and presents the direct voices of practitioners in rural communities. Hence, it has enormous implications for national rural health promotion policy. Practical implications The authors propose establishing permanent “cultural health hubs” in communities where health education integrates seamlessly with cultural practices through storytelling, dance and arts. These hubs should be complemented by innovative “community health apprenticeship” programs that pair young community members with both health-care workers and cultural leaders. To ensure sustainability and cultural authenticity, health centers should establish “health heritage committees” comprising traditional healers, health workers and community leaders to develop culturally grounded approaches to health communication that effectively bridge medical science with indigenous wisdom. Originality/value This study offers a novel perspective by eliciting rural community health workers’ insider views on effective HIV/AIDS health promotion in Ghana. A key finding is the strategic engagement of chiefs and elders to lend validity and convene community durbars, reflecting their influential role in rural cultures. These rare insights into leveraging traditional authority structures contribute valuable evidence for optimizing HIV/AIDS interventions in rural Ghana. Based on these, the study recommends that, despite the limited resources to engage in extensive nationwide efforts, Ghana’s Ministry of Health, through the Ghana AIDS Commission and other stakeholders, should strengthen local health facilities in rural communities to fluidly consider the nuances in rural living and adopt culturally appropriate strategies for health promotion. Future research should, instead of exploring only the northern region, include the southern region of Ghana.

Women’s empowerment and gender equality have been given attention by development practitioners and communities over the last two decades. Studies show, however, that in the face of the increase attention to gender equality in community development, women’s advancement, and participation in both developed and developing countries are restricted. The situation of women involvement in the community development process in Ghana is abysmal. The purpose of this study was to ascertain how colonialism, patriarchy and neoliberalism serve as barriers to women within community development processes in rural Ghana. This paper is approached from transnational feminist perspective. A total of twelve (12) women from three randomly selected rural communities in Ghana were interviewed about their community development experiences. The findings implicate Western influence and structural factors in the low participation of women in community development processes in rural Ghana. This study found that Western interference in the form of the superimposition of a neoliberal capitalist agenda has had a negative consequence on the level of participation of women in their communities. This ideology has imbued in women individualistic ideals to the detriment of traditional communal life. The women were particularly disadvantaged by the reliance on level of education and fluency in English, as requirements for local government positions since English is the national business language. The existing patriarchal norms and values in rural communities such as traditional gender roles and “name calling” militate against women within the context of community development. Western interference, colonialism, patriarchy, and capitalist ideologies continue to hinder the involvement of women in the development of their communities. It is therefore important to address these issues to help better the lives of women in rural Ghana.

ABSTRACTCocoa farming provides employment for over 800,000 households in rural Ghana, with the country currently touted as the second largest producer of cocoa worldwide. Agriculture is one of the riskiest occupations for the eyes due to the numerous ocular hazards on farms. The authors conducted an ocular health assessment among cocoa farmers at Mfuom, a rural community in the Central Region of Ghana, to examine the ocular health status and the ocular safety measures used by cocoa farmers. A structured questionnaire was used to evaluate demographic characteristics, ocular injuries, and utilization of eye care services and ocular protection, and a clinical examination was used to evaluate their ocular status. Cocoa farmers were at high risk for ocular injuries and farm-related vision disorders and utilized eye care services and ocular protection poorly. Ocular condition identified were mainly refractive error (28.6%), cataract (20.0%), glaucoma (11.7%), conjunctivitis (13%), pterygium (2.7%), and cornea opacity (2.2%). There is a need for the introduction of an interventional eye care program to help address the ocular health challenges identified among the farmers. This can be done through collaborative efforts by educational institutions, government, and other role players in the agricultural industry to improve the quality of life of the vulnerable cocoa farmers in rural Ghana.

Biomass supplies about 80% of the energy needs for cooking and heating in rural Ghana. It is predominantly used in traditional and inefficient forms (firewood and charcoal), which presents environmental and health concerns. In order to better the living standard in rural Ghana, efforts must be made to provide modern energy services. Most rural communities in Ghana are so remote that an extension of the national grid is uneconomical, hence biomass electricity provides a viable alternative. Biomass is pivotal to the socio-economic development of rural Ghana due to its easy accessibility and enormous potential in the production of varied energy forms. In this paper, a comprehensive review of biomass resources, biomass energy conversion technologies and bioenergy production potential for rural development in Ghana is provided. The most important feedstock from an energy perspective was found to be crop residues. Based on 2017 statistics, Ghana has a theoretical potential of 623.84 PJ of energy from agricultural crop residues and 64.27 PJ of energy from livestock production. Evidence from literature suggests that biomass gasification is the best conversion technology to expand electricity access rate for rural households in Ghana. The paper concludes that although ample biomass resources exist, cocoa pod husks (CPH) which is very common in rural Ghana can be pelletized and used as feedstock for rural power generation systems.

Poverty, environmental sustainability and health issues have attracted global attention in recent years. However, the public health implications of human activities within the environment are most often glossed over. As embedded in the Millennium Development Goals, the major developmental challenges of our time are poverty, environmental decay and ill health. Despite the global increase in poverty rates and the corresponding increase in morbidity and mortality rates in deprived communities, very little effort has been made over the years to juxtapose poverty, environment and health in order to elucidate the relationship between them. This paper examines the built environment situation in rural Ghana with a focus on the Amansie West District. It analyzes the impact of housing poverty and poor sanitation on the health conditions of households in rural Ghana and highlights policy approaches and gaps for ensuring environmental sustainability in Ghana. A sample of 306 rural households from nine rural areas in the Amansie West District in Southern Ghana was used for data collection with heads of households as units of inquiry. Data collection techniques included questionnaires, structured interviews, focus group discussions and participant observation. Relevant data were analyzed with both descriptive statistics and participatory housing assessment techniques. The analysis indicates that the poor-quality housing and sanitation conditions in the study area are a function of low household income levels. It further establishes a close association between housing quality and disease occurrence in the rural communities selected for this study. The paper concludes that the nature of the built environment as regards rural housing and sanitation is a significant determinant of disease prevalence in the study villages. Thus, it provides a window on the public health implications of the poor built environment in the Amansie West rural communities in Ghana.

The majority of injury deaths occur outside health facilities. However, many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) continue to lack efficient Emergency Medical Services (EMS). Understanding current first aid practices and perceptions among members of the community is vital to strengthening non-EMS, community-based prehospital care. This study sought to determine caregiver first aid practices and care-seeking behavior for common household child injuries in rural communities in Ghana to inform context-specific interventions to improve prehospital care in LMICs. A cluster-randomized, population-based household survey of caregivers of children under five years in a rural sub-district (Amakom) in Ghana was conducted. Caregivers were asked about their practices and care-seeking behaviors should children sustain injuries at home. Common injuries of interest were burns, laceration, choking, and fractures. Multiple responses were permitted and reported practices were categorized as: recommended, low-risk, or potentially harmful to the child. Logistic regression was used to examine the association between caregiver characteristics and first aid practices. Three hundred and fifty-seven individuals were sampled, representing 5,634 caregivers in Amakom. Mean age was 33 years. Most (79%) were mothers to the children; 68% had only completed basic education. Most caregivers (64%-99%) would employ recommended first aid practices to manage common injuries, such as running cool water over a burn injury or tying a bleeding laceration with a piece of cloth. Nonetheless, seven percent to 56% would also employ practices which were potentially harmful to the child, such as attempting manual removal of a choking object or treating fractures at home without taking the child to a health facility. Reporting only recommended practices ranged from zero percent (burns) to 93% (choking). Reporting only potentially harmful practices ranged from zero percent (burns) to 20% (fractures). Univariate regression analysis did not reveal consistent associations between various caregiver characteristics and the employment of recommended only or potentially harmful only first aid practices. Caregivers in rural Ghanaian communities reported using some recommended first aid practices for common household injuries in children. However, they also employed many potentially harmful practices. This study highlights the need to increase context-appropriate, community-targeted first aid training programs for rural community populations of LMICs. This is important as the home-based care provided for injured children in these communities might be the only care they receive.

Theories on collective efficacy and social support suggest that indigenous values that support collective practices and sanction community obligations to childcare would be protective against child neglect. Likewise, new qualitative findings show that collective values are stronger in rural areas than in urban. This study tested the claims that the value of Ubuntu, which is a symbolic cultural value of ‘being for others’, will be protective against the likelihood of neglect; this relationship will be stronger in rural compared with urban communities in Ghana. Using data obtained from a nationally representative sample of 1100 mothers (from 22 communities) in Ghana, we tested the claims using fixed effects logistic regression. The Ubuntu norms were significantly endorsed in rural communities compared with the urban. The overall model showed that higher levels of Ubuntu are associated with lower odds of child neglect (OR .47, [.29, .76] p &lt; 0.05), and the relationship remained significant only in the rural sample (OR .13, [.06, .31] p &lt; 0.001). Similar evidence was recorded for the Ubuntu norms of community care and compassion. The results suggest that child protection in rural Ghana can be fruitful when interventions are developed to boost the value of Ubuntu and the norms of collective childcare.

ObjectivesStudies from high-income countries suggest higher prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD) among individuals in low socioeconomic groups. However, some studies from low/middle-income countries show the reverse pattern among those...

Background of the study: Fisherfolk are often exposed to physical hazards, environmental changes, economic fluctuations, and policy/regulatory changes while contributing to food security and economic development. Purpose: The study aimed to explore challenges in and ways to strengthen health information dissemination methods for fisherfolk in rural Ghana. Method: This study utilised a case study design with 26 participants from three rural fishing communities in Ghana's Keta Municipal District. Qualitative data was collected through interviews with five public health workers as well as focus group discussions with 21 fisherfolk. The study employed purposive and convenience sampling methods for the selection of participants. Data collected from the participants were analysed through the use of thematic analysis. Findings: The study revealed that fisherfolk depended on interpersonal and media sources to meet their multidimensional health information needs. Public health officials also leveraged interpersonal approaches to disseminate information to these communities. However, the fisherfolks encountered infrastructural and other barriers that hindered their ability to obtain health information. Conclusion: The study highlights the need to tailor health information dissemination approaches to the needs and preferences of fishing communities while strengthening the rural information infrastructure by the Ghana Health Service to more effectively disseminate and expand access to health information in these settings.

Renewable-hydrogen (H2) is a key component in Scotland’s decarbonisation plans and its implementation in farming communities can support achieving net-zero goals. HydroGlen, a demonstrative renewable-powered farming community at Glensaugh, is used as a case-study to investigate the potential of renewable-hydrogen in enabling Scotland farms’ energy transition. For our case-study farm, two renewable-hydrogen configurations (Solar-H2 and Wind-H2) were proposed, sized, and assessed to identify their capability in supplying most of the farm’s residential and commercial demands by clean renewable-energy as well as the transport demands by green hydrogen stored during renewables’ surplus. The effectiveness of the proposed configurations was then assessed against that of the Solar-Wind-H2 configuration proposed by RINA (RINA 2021). The study started by assessing the currently installed renewables-system in meeting the farm’s demands and results showed that the system can only meet 11% of farm’s commercial and residential demands and none of the transport fuel demands. To allow meeting more residential and commercial demands as well as transport demands, a hybrid Solar-H2 system was proposed with an additional photovoltaic (PV) capacity that was sized to feed a higher percentage of the demands with renewable power and a hydrogen energy-storage system to store the surplus in PV production in the form of green H2 to be used in feeding the transport fuel demands. Components of the proposed green-H2 energy-storage system (electrolyser and storage-tank) were accordingly sized. The effectiveness of the proposed hybrid PV-H2 configuration was then assessed, and results showed it was capable of supplying 35% of the residential and commercial demands from solar energy and 100% of the transport demands by green H2. This generous amount of green H2 resulted from the plenty PV daytime surplus given that most of the residential demand is not during sun availability hours. A hybrid Wind-H2 configuration was then proposed, sized and assessed. Results showed that this configuration was capable of supplying most of the residential and commercial demands from wind energy as the wind-generation profile closely matched these demands, and around 44% of transportation fuel demand by green H2. The levelized cost of energy (LCOE) was then estimated for each of the proposed hybrid configurations showing that the LCOE for the hybrid PV-H2, 0.3 £/kWh, is more cost competitive than that of the Wind-H2 of 0.4 £/kWh; thus, the hybrid PV-H2 system was recommended for the farm. Finally, a Simulink model was developed to simulate and assess the operation of the proposed PV-H2 system given that this has not been considered in RINA study.

Women across the world face a myriad of barriers in every sphere of their socio-economic life, negatively affecting their ability to utilise available societal resources to achieve their full potential. They are often relegated to the background when it comes to participation in community development and decision-making. The present study seeks to examine the relative strength of barriers to women’s involvement in the community development processes in rural Ghana. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit 210 women from three rural communities in Ghana. A questionnaire comprising a series of scales was used to collect the data. The study found that the most critical barriers faced by women in rural Ghana include the patriarchal norms of Ghanaian society, as well as behavioural, and idiosyncratic patterns associated with their socialisation. The study recommends the provision of opportunities to communities to be able to empower and encourage themselves to make the cultural shifts necessary to overcome and address the key barriers women face. Community development processes must incorporate meaningful participatory approaches geared towards greater equality, freedom, and advancement of local community members, especially women.

Infant mortality remains a major developmental challenge in many low-income countries. Epidemiological evidence suggests that infant acquisition of maternal microbiome is essential for programming of immunity and metabolism. As such, irrational maternal antibiotic use may affect infant health. The aim of the study was to determine the effects of prenatal antibiotic use on early postnatal life (90 days) in a low-income community in Ghana. The study was a retrospective study of 412 mother-baby pair medical records in a low-income community in rural Ghana. During the ninety-day period, the prevalence and relative risk of neonatal sepsis, respiratory disorders, and dermatitis were significantly higher in infants treated prenatally with antibiotics compared to untreated infants. Prenatal antibiotic treatment was not significantly associated with the risk of developing neonatal jaundice and conjunctivitis. However, prenatally antibiotic exposed infants were three times likely to visit the hospital for a non-scheduled/non-review treatment within the first 90 days compared to unexposed babies. Intrapartum antibiotic treatment is associated with poor early infant health. Rationalizing antibiotic use during pregnancy may contribute to reducing infant mortality.