Bongo District Research Articles

Attitudes and Social Norms Influencing Adolescents' Contraception Utilisation in Bongo District, Ghana

Attitudes and Social Norms Influencing Adolescents' Contraception Utilisation in Bongo District, Ghana

Soil Forces Prediction on Animal Traction Operation in Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana

The soil and implement interaction during ploughing can be analyzed through the geometry and working depth of the implement and soil parameters such as shear stress, cohesion and soil internal frictional angle. The objective of the study was to predict the forces that react with the implement parts during ploughing in the three (3) sampled areas in Bongo District. Soil samples were taken at a 30 cm depth. Laboratory tests were performed on them on triaxial, grading and Atterberg limits. The results were used to describe the soil and for the force prediction. There were some field tests to determine tractive efforts, speed of travel and ploughing depth. The three (3) soil types considered were sandy loam, loamy sand and course loamy sand. Food and Agriculture Organization classified the three (3) soil types as Lixisols and the local soil series also put all the soil samples as Tranchera. At the time of ploughing, the densities were ranging from 1.28 to 1.44g/cm3 and moisture content of 9.43 to 22.96%. The rake angle measured on the animal plough was 190, and the soil metal frictional angles of the three soil type ranged from 32.355 to 37.1290 with soil cohesion of 0 kPa for course loamy sand, 2.664 kPa for loamy sand and 56.338 kPa for the sandy loam soil. The resultant (P) forces for the three soil samples; loamy sand, sandy loam and course loamy sand were 0.5551 kN, 0.1024 kN and 0.0106 kN respectively.

Evaluating community adoption and participation in water and sanitation interventions in the Bongo District, Ghana

Access to improved water and sanitation is a major conduit to meeting global development goals. This has resulted in the proliferation of various improved water and sanitation interventions in most communities of the world. Little evidence, however, exists in Ghana to reveal the extent to which these interventions are being adopted and sustained by the communities they are intended to benefit. This study, therefore, sought to assess the adoption of water and sanitation interventions and their sustainability. The mixed method approach, guided by the concurrent mixed method design was implemented in the Bongo District. Quantitative data were obtained from 389 sampled households in the District with the aid of a survey. Thereafter, univariate and bivariate statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data with the aid of STATA version 15. The qualitative data on the other hand was collected from officials of the District Water and Sanitation Management Team (DWSMT) and members of the water and sanitation management committees at the community level through key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The qualitative data was analyzed manually using thematic analysis. The study found a high adoption rate of both water and sanitation interventions in the Bongo District. The household demographic characteristics that were found to have a strong positive association with the adoption of improved water or sanitation interventions included the sex of household head, age, level of education and household size among others. Major factors influencing the adoption of water and sanitation interventions found included the knowledge of the derived benefits of the facilities and education on the use of the facilities. The study also found that as part of activities geared towards sustainability, most community members were involved in deciding the appropriateness of these water and sanitation facilities; siting of the facilities; and cash contributions. The study, therefore, concludes that the extent of adoption of water and sanitation in the Bongo District is relatively high and communities were involved to some extent to engender the sustainability of the facilities.

From multiplicity of infection to force of infection for sparsely sampled Plasmodium falciparum populations at high transmission.

High multiplicity of infection or MOI, the number of genetically distinct parasite strains co-infecting a single human host, characterizes infectious diseases including falciparum malaria at high transmission. It accompanies high asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum prevalence despite high exposure, creating a large transmission reservoir challenging intervention. High MOI and asymptomatic prevalence are enabled by immune evasion of the parasite achieved via vast antigenic diversity. Force of infection or FOI, the number of new infections acquired by an individual host over a given time interval, is the dynamic sister quantity of MOI, and a key epidemiological parameter for monitoring the impact of antimalarial interventions and assessing vaccine or drug efficacy in clinical trials. FOI remains difficult, expensive, and labor-intensive to accurately measure, especially in high-transmission regions, whether directly via cohort studies or indirectly via the fitting of epidemiological models to repeated cross-sectional surveys. We propose here the application of queuing theory to obtain FOI on the basis of MOI, in the form of either a two-moment approximation method or Little's law. We illustrate these methods with MOI estimates obtained under sparse sampling schemes with the recently proposed " coding" method, based on sequences of the multigene family encoding for the major variant surface antigen of the blood stage of malaria infection. The methods are evaluated with simulation output from a stochastic agent-based model, and are applied to an interrupted time-series study from Bongo District in northern Ghana before and immediately after a three-round transient indoor residual spraying (IRS) intervention. We incorporate into the sampling of the simulation output, limitations representative of those encountered in the collection of field data, including under-sampling of genes, missing data, and usage of antimalarial drug treatment. We address these limitations in MOI estimates with a Bayesian framework and an imputation bootstrap approach. We demonstrate that both proposed methods give good and consistent FOI estimates across various simulated scenarios. Their application to the field surveys shows a pronounced reduction in annual FOI during intervention, of more than 70%. The proposed approach should be applicable to the many geographical locations where cohort or cross-sectional studies with regular and frequent sampling are lacking but single-time-point surveys under sparse sampling schemes are available, and for MOI estimates obtained in different ways. They should also be relevant to other pathogens of humans, wildlife and livestock whose immune evasion strategies are based on large antigenic variation resulting in high multiplicity of infection.

Local Governments’ Capacity to Adapt to Climate Change in Ghana: Evidence From Bongo District

Global environmental policies require strong local actions to make an impact. However, the capacity for local action and impact are often taken for granted. This paper examines the institutional capacity of the Bongo district assembly to support the livelihood adaptation capacity of rural smallholder farmers. Twenty key informant interviews were done, and five focus group discussions were also conducted in five communities. The paper finds that the local government is too weak to facilitate climate change adaptation at the local level due to four institutional barriers: politics of climate change, barriers relating to centralized planning, limited funding stream, and absence of skilled manpower.

Investigation of fluoride concentrations, water quality, and non-carcinogenic health risks of borehole water in bongo district, northern Ghana

Access to potable water is a significant concern due to the increasing global threat posed by fluoride contamination in groundwater sources. This study investigated the concentrations of fluoride (F−), the suitability of groundwater for human consumption, the physicochemical characteristics affecting the water quality, and non-carcinogenic adverse health risks to both children and adults in the Bongo district in Northern Ghana. The findings revealed that the groundwater had a mean pH, salinity, TDS, conductivity, and turbidity below the WHO guideline values with a mean fluoride concentration of 1.76 mg/L above the guideline limit of 1.5 mg/L. The study also found that there was no strong relationship between fluoride and the measured water parameters, which may be attributed to poor control of distribution, transport mechanisms, and sources. The WQI scores ranged from 42.62% to 70.72%, indicating that all borehole water samples were of good and excellent quality. The average chronic daily intake showed that children are often more exposed to the harmful impact of fluoride than adults. The average HQ > 1 indicates the probability of dental and skeletal fluorosis after continuous exposure over time in adults and children. The study recommends taking immediate action to mitigate high groundwater fluoride concentrations, implementing appropriate water management strategies, and raising public awareness of the health risks. These measures can guide future groundwater management practices and help policymakers address contamination and protect local communities.

Causes and Strategies for Reducing Road Traffic Accidents in the Bongo District of Ghana

Aim: This study intends to assess drivers’ state of knowledge on the main causes and the best strategies capable of reducing road traffic accidents in the Bongo District of Ghana.
 Study Design: The study was a descriptive design.
 Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana between July 2023 and August 2023.
 Methodology: The researcher conducted a survey involving 100 drivers who were randomly selected from a driver population of 120 in the Bongo District. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel [Version 19]. The results of the data analysis were presented as tables and charts.
 Results: The study found that the main causes of road traffic accidents emanate from human error such as low driving skills, excessive speeding, and poor vision of driver. Also, road conditions like bad road networks, no lane markings, and no speed limit signs were found as causal factors of road traffic accidents. Faulty vehicles with causative factors such as defective tyres, brakes, and lights were noted to be also responsible for road accidents. Nevertheless, the least factor was environmental conditions such as bad weather conditions and stray animals being enumerable as environmental conditions which cause road accidents. The study further found that the best strategies for curbing road traffic accidents were enforcement of traffic laws, education and training of drivers, obeying traffic rules by drivers, and maintaining vehicles well.
 Conclusion: The study, therefore, concluded that human factors play a central role in contributing to road accidents and curbing road traffic accidents. The research findings can be used to guide stakeholders in formulating and prioritizing interventions that are more human-centred for the curbing of road traffic accidents in the Bongo District of Ghana.

Assessing Indigenous and Modern Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change Among Legumes Producers in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region, Ghana

Globally, climate change adaptation initiatives have significantly improved recipient farmers’ livelihoods by increasing their resilience, production, and overall standard of living. Climate adaptation results in noticeably higher yields from food crops. Climate change events have had a detrimental impact on farmers in Ghana, especially in the Upper East region. This includes producers of legumes in the Bongo District, which is a part of the fragile savanna semi-arid zone. The growing food insecurity and failure of legume crops point to serious losses in climate change adaptation methods. Farmer’s adaptation strategies have fallen short over time, necessitating a revision of programs to assist growers of legumes in the Bongo District. The obstacles connected with indigenous and contemporary adaptation techniques to climate change are also examined in this study, along with local and contemporary stakeholders’ involvement in adaptation efforts. The primary data was gathered through the use of focus group discussions and interviews. In three communities, 70 farmers who grow legumes were sampled using a simple random sampling technique to select the respondents. The study concludes that farming and mixed cropping are important indigenous adaptation techniques, whereas forecasting and greater variety are important modern adaptation strategies. The MoFA and the Bongo District Assembly are the two important entities in executing adaptation plans, while local farmers were highlighted as key stakeholders. Additionally, it was determined that weak extension services and a lack of integration of indigenous adaptations into contemporary practices could pose serious obstacles to developing climate change adaptation strategies. The study recommends integrating local and contemporary adaptation strategies to combat climate change.

Comparison of molecular surveillance methods to assess changes in the population genetics of Plasmodium falciparum in high transmission.

A major motivation for developing molecular methods for malaria surveillance is to measure the impact of control interventions on the population genetics of Plasmodium falciparum as a potential marker of progress towards elimination. Here we assess three established methods (i) single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) barcoding (panel of 24-biallelic loci), (ii) microsatellite genotyping (panel of 12-multiallelic loci), and (iii) varcoding (fingerprinting var gene diversity, akin to microhaplotyping) to identify changes in parasite population genetics in response to a short-term indoor residual spraying (IRS) intervention. Typical of high seasonal transmission in Africa, multiclonal infections were found in 82.3% (median 3; range 1-18) and 57.8% (median 2; range 1-12) of asymptomatic individuals pre- and post-IRS, respectively, in Bongo District, Ghana. Since directly phasing multilocus haplotypes for population genetic analysis is not possible for biallelic SNPs and microsatellites, we chose ~200 low-complexity infections biased to single and double clone infections for analysis. Each genotyping method presented a different pattern of change in diversity and population structure as a consequence of variability in usable data and the relative polymorphism of the molecular markers (i.e., SNPs < microsatellites < var). Varcoding and microsatellite genotyping showed the overall failure of the IRS intervention to significantly change the population structure from pre-IRS characteristics (i.e., many diverse genomes of low genetic similarity). The 24-SNP barcode provided limited information for analysis, largely due to the biallelic nature of SNPs leading to a high proportion of double-allele calls and a view of more isolate relatedness compared to microsatellites and varcoding. Relative performance, suitability, and cost-effectiveness of the methods relevant to sample size and local malaria elimination in high-transmission endemic areas are discussed.

Socio-Cultural Dynamics of Women Participation in Socio-Economic Development: Experiences of Women in The Bongo Traditional Area of the Upper East Region

Empowering women to contribute their quota to community and national development has become a contemporary issue embraced worldwide. Despite the fact that women’s political participation right has been enshrined in international law, little is known about the struggles and experiences women in Africa face in their quest to participate in the development of their respective communities and the country at large. This study examined the socio-cultural factors affecting the participation of women in socio-economic development in Bongo Traditional Area of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. Questionnaires were adopted in soliciting responses from 123 respondents. Qualitative data was also obtained by conducting unstructured interviews with the District Chief Executive of the Bongo District, a former Assembly Woman, a Community Based Organization Manager, a reformed Deviant, and the Tindana. Three focus group discussions (FGDs) were also held with men and women groups with the aid of FGD guide The study revealed that the patrilineal system, extended family system, early marriage, early parenting, land ownership, ownership of valuable properties, seeking of permission from husbands before accessing credit and kind of animals to rear negatively affects the participation of women in the development of the Bongo traditional area. The study thus recommended that, the National Commission for Civic Education, media, district assembly and traditional authority should collaborate in educating and sensitizing people as well as adopt custodian reforms of cultural values that have negative influence on women while emphasizing the important role women play in socio-economic development.

Land use and land cover change detection and prediction based on CA-Markov chain in the savannah ecological zone of Ghana

Environmental problems have accompanied the accelerated land use and land cover change (LULCC), yet few local level studies make an attempt to assess the dynamics of LULCC. This work employed GIS and remote sensing to quantify the past and predict future dynamics of LULCC based on the synergy Cellular Automata (CA) - Markov Chain Model (MCM). The results revealed that agricultural land in the Bongo district witnessed the greatest expansion from 10.03% to 27.17% of total area from 1990 to 2019, while wooded savannah area witnessed the greatest decline from a share of 42.26% to 15.51% of total area from 1990 to 2019. In the Kassena-Nankana West (KNW) district, shrub and tree savannah and agricultural land expanded from 32.91% to 54.2% and 9.44% to 18.16% of the total area, respectively, at the expense of wooded savannah area (-32.9% of total area) between 1990 and 2019. Future predictions based on prevailing socio-economic development demonstrate that the observed trend would continue till the 2050 period. In the Bongo district, the settlement area will witness the highest proportion of net increase in total area (5.63 km2) at the expense of wooded savannah (-11.26 km2) between 2019 and 2050. Conversely, in the KNW district, the shrub and tree savannah area will experience the highest proportion of net gain in total area (156.02 km2) at the expense of wooded savannah area (-111.49 km2) between 2019 and 2050. This result is an indication that the synergy CA-MCM have effectively captured the spatiotemporal trend in LULCC in this study.

Feeding Hungry Soils of Northern Ghana using Kitchen Waste as Compost

The soils of northern Ghana are mostly undeveloped and characterized by poor fertility and productivity especially towards the Sahara desert. The issue of climate change affecting rainfall patterns and high cost of fertilizers further exacerbates issues surrounding productive soils and food security. Waste separation is not a common practice in both rural and urban areas of the country. Domestic composting of kitchen waste is therefore not a popular practice amongst small holder farmers in the area, as they mostly rely on subsidized fertilizers and waste from livestock and other animals to improve their soils. The Regentropfen College of Applied Sciences in Ghana has however mapped out a research plan that sought to use kitchen waste from their students’ hostel and model schools to promote nutrient cycling in their ecosystem to produce 100% organic food products to sustain its community. The intervention will eventually be scaled up in the immediate community (Bongo district) after implementation. The main ideology of this endeavour is to promote sustainable agriculture, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote sustainable livelihoods for all. This article is therefore a mini review on the subject matter.

The Role of Early Childhood Mathematics Teachers during Play in the Mathematics Classroom in Bongo District of Ghana

The study sought to find out the role of early grade mathematics teachers during play in the mathematics classroom. The study adopted the quantitative approach of research with a descriptive survey as a design. A simple random sampling and census sampling were used to select 410 respondents for the study. The data were analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study revealed that teachers played such roles as and facilitators to guide and provide the materials necessary for the play, thereby creating a conducive environment for effective play in the early childhood mathematics classroom. It was recommended that play-based learning should be fully integrated into the early childhood Mathematics curriculum, and intensive workshops or in-service training should be organized for the teachers to know and appreciate their roles during play in the classroom. Also, workshops are seminars organized for teachers should concentrate on how to assist teachers to prepare play materials using local materials to bridge the deficit gap of play materials.

Indoor residual spraying with a non-pyrethroid insecticide reduces the reservoir of Plasmodium falciparum in a high-transmission area in northern Ghana.

High-malaria burden countries in sub-Saharan Africa are shifting from malaria control towards elimination. Hence, there is need to gain a contemporary understanding of how indoor residual spraying (IRS) with non-pyrethroid insecticides when combined with long-lasting insecticidal nets (LLINs) impregnated with pyrethroid insecticides, contribute to the efforts of National Malaria Control Programmes to interrupt transmission and reduce the reservoir of Plasmodium falciparum infections across all ages. Using an interrupted time-series study design, four age-stratified malariometric surveys, each of ~2,000 participants, were undertaken pre- and post-IRS in Bongo District, Ghana. Following the application of three-rounds of IRS, P. falciparum transmission intensity declined, as measured by a >90% reduction in the monthly entomological inoculation rate. This decline was accompanied by reductions in parasitological parameters, with participants of all ages being significantly less likely to harbor P. falciparum infections at the end of the wet season post-IRS (aOR = 0.22 [95% CI: 0.19-0.26], p-value < 0.001). In addition, multiplicity of infection (MOI var ) was measured using a parasite fingerprinting tool, designed to capture within-host genome diversity. At the end of the wet season post-IRS, the prevalence of multi-genome infections declined from 75.6% to 54.1%. This study demonstrates that in areas characterized by high seasonal malaria transmission, IRS in combination with LLINs can significantly reduce the reservoir of P. falciparum infection. Nonetheless despite this success, 41.6% of the population, especially older children and adolescents, still harboured multi-genome infections. Given the persistence of this diverse reservoir across all ages, these data highlight the importance of sustaining vector control in combination with targeted chemotherapy to move high-transmission settings towards pre-elimination. This study also points to the benefits of molecular surveillance to ensure that incremental achievements are not lost and that the goals advocated for in the WHO's High Burden to High Impact strategy are realized.

Challenges Educators Face in Incorporating Indigenous Story-Based Pedagogy (ISBP) into Classroom Instruction: Evidence from Bongo District, Ghana

Indigenous story-based pedagogy in early childhood education plays a significant role in knowledge construction as situated in the cultural ecosystem of learners. The study assessed early childhood educators' challenges in incorporating indigenous story-based pedagogy in the Bongo District of Ghana. The research employed a qualitative study approach. Research participants were chosen through a purposive and convenient sampling strategies to provide information for the study. Forty (40) participants of early childhood educators and headteachers were interviewed using an interview guide with questions framed from the research questions to elicit qualitative data from them. The approach was triangulated by observing educators' work in the classroom and views from key informants from the Bongo education directorate. Key findings of the research emerged that early childhood educators demonstrate inadequate knowledge of indigenous story-based pedagogy in the classroom. Insufficient skills in creative pedagogy using indigenous stories, negative attitude towards early childhood education, and indigenous stories as a tool for teaching. Others are inadequate related teaching and learning resources (TLRs), ineffective policy implementation of the KG curriculum, and the general concentration on Eurocentric-based curriculum and pedagogic approaches. Therefore, the study recommends revising training content and context for educators to incorporate indigenous based-stories in the classroom, in-service training for educators on the field on the policy. Framing training modules for educators should depict the local knowledge systems and ensure effective implementation of policies and curricula. School authorities should strengthen school-community relations and the need for educators to develop a positive attitude towards the pedagogy of indigenous knowledge systems. Keywords: Indigenous story-based pedagogy, educators, indigenous knowledge systems, pedagogy, early childhood education. DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-9-09 Publication date: March 31 st 2022

Eligibility for the use of ready-made spectacles among children in a school-based programme in Ghana.

Ready-made spectacles are low-cost spectacles for correcting refractive errors in children who would otherwise have their refractive errors uncorrected due to lack of availability and affordability of conventional, expensive custom-made spectacles. Thus, this study seeks to estimate the proportion of children with uncorrected refractive errors eligible for ready-made spectacles in a school-based programme. A school-based descriptive cross-sectional study was employed to screen children aged 12-15 years in eighteen public junior high schools within the Bongo district of Ghana. Children who failed the 6/9 acuity test were refracted and given spectacles. Ready-made spectacle was prescribed when visual acuity improved by ≥2 lines in at least one eye with full correction (astigmatism of ≤0.75D); spherical equivalent corrected visual acuity to ≤1 line worse than best corrected visual acuity with full correction in the better eye; and there was ≤1.00D difference between the two eyes. A total of 1,705 school children were examined. Of this number, 30 (1.8%; 95% CI: 1.2-2.5%) met the criteria for refractive correction but none had any. Twenty-six (86.7%; 95% CI: 69.7-95.3%) were found to be eligible for ready-made spectacles (power range: -1.50D to +1.00D, mean spherical equivalent ± SD = -0.27D ± 0.79D) while 4 (13.3%; 95% CI: 4.7-30.3%) were not, hence, given custom-made spectacles. A binary logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of being eligible for one type of spectacles was similar between males and females (OR: 1.1; 95% CI: 0.1-12.7; p = 0.93). A large proportion of students who met the criteria for spectacle correction could be corrected with ready-made spectacles. There is, therefore, the need for these spectacles to be considered an appropriate alternative for refractive error correction during school eye health programmes.

Exploring the Gender-Specific Adaptive Responses to Climate Variability: Application of Grazing Game in the Semi-Arid Region of Ghana

Regional climate change assessments show a likely temperature increase that is higher than the global average for all seasons in Africa, which would have extreme negative implications for ecosystem health and productivity. Most extreme climate change effects in West Africa are predicted to occur in desert and grassland areas. It is important for smallholder farmers in this region to understand the implications of these projections to their livelihood and to identify appropriate adaptation strategies. A grazing game was used to explore gender-specific adaptive responses to climate variability in the semiarid region of Ghana. The game was designed to understand the decision-making processes that result in the overgrazing of animals, leading to desertification based on the players’ interactions with the environment. A total of 44 grazing games comprising 22 games for male-headed households (HH) and 22 games for female-HH were played from August to December 2014 from 14 communities within the Bolgatanga Municipality and the Bongo district. The study revealed that males migrate to the southern part of the country to work on other people’s farms during the dry season as an adaptation strategy, while females engage in off-farm activities such as shea-butter production and basketry. Results of the game showed that males produced the highest number of cattle but created the largest desert patches. Females, on the other hand, were more conscious about the environment (long-term condition of the rangeland) than the short-term income benefits from the sale of cattle; hence, they created fewer desert patches. Strategies such as reducing the number of cattle to allow for the re-growth of vegetation in periods of feed scarcity, ploughing for one another using bulls, and family support using income from the sale of livestock were employed by both gender groups. The involvement of female farmers in decision-making is crucial to improve natural resource management.

Impact of Mathematics Anxiety on the Academic Performance of Junior High School Pupils in the Bongo District of Ghana Stanley Appiah Essuman, Josephine Nyarko, Kwarteng Frimpong

This study aimed to explore the impact of mathematics anxiety on the academic performance of junior high school pupils in the Bongo district of Ghana. In this study, 492 pupils in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana were sampled. Using a questionnaire to gather data for the study, Descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation and inferential statistics such as the independent samples t-test, one-way between-groups analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Pearson Moment Correlation were used for analysis. Findings from the study identified that mathematics anxiety negatively affects the mathematics performance of pupils and the study also revealed that, gender plays a very key role in influence the mathematics anxiety of pupils. Based on the findings, it was recommended that mathematics teachers should teach Mathematics with the psychology of teaching and learning the subject to prepare pupils’ for the subject.

The impact of indoor residual spraying on Plasmodium falciparum microsatellite variation in an area of high seasonal malaria transmission in Ghana, West Africa.

Here, we report the first population genetic study to examine the impact of indoor residual spraying (IRS) on Plasmodium falciparum in humans. This study was conducted in an area of high seasonal malaria transmission in Bongo District, Ghana. IRS was implemented during the dry season (November–May) in three consecutive years between 2013 and 2015 to reduce transmission and attempt to bottleneck the parasite population in humans towards lower diversity with greater linkage disequilibrium. The study was done against a background of widespread use of long‐lasting insecticidal nets, typical for contemporary malaria control in West Africa. Microsatellite genotyping with 10 loci was used to construct 392 P. falciparum multilocus infection haplotypes collected from two age‐stratified cross‐sectional surveys at the end of the wet seasons pre‐ and post‐IRS. Three‐rounds of IRS, under operational conditions, led to a >90% reduction in transmission intensity and a 35.7% reduction in the P. falciparum prevalence (p < .001). Despite these declines, population genetic analysis of the infection haplotypes revealed no dramatic changes with only a slight, but significant increase in genetic diversity (H e: pre‐IRS = 0.79 vs. post‐IRS = 0.81, p = .048). Reduced relatedness of the parasite population (p < .001) was observed post‐IRS, probably due to decreased opportunities for outcrossing. Spatiotemporal genetic differentiation between the pre‐ and post‐IRS surveys (D = 0.0329 [95% CI: 0.0209 – 0.0473], p = .034) was identified. These data provide a genetic explanation for the resilience of P. falciparum to short‐term IRS programmes in high‐transmission settings in sub‐Saharan Africa.

The Role of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOS) in Expanding Access to and Participation in Basic Education in the Bongo District

The study explores the role of Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in expanding access to and participation in basic education in the Bongo District of the Upper East Region of Ghana. The research design used for the study is based on descriptive survey. Basic school teachers, officials of NGOs and District Education Office Staff constituted the population for the study. The final sample size stood at one hundred and fifty nine (159). Data was gathered using a questionnaire in the form of a likert scale and interview guides. Major findings of the study among others are that NGOs in their quest to promote access and participation provide means of transport to pupils, school uniform and footwear to pupils. They also engage in monitoring and supervision of instructions in schools. They are also beset with some challenges in terms of funding and other related matters.