Practices In Ghana Research Articles

Between spin and reality: examining disclosure practices in three African countries

AbstractThe declaration of assets and liabilities represents a growing trend in the avoidance and resolution of conflict of interest and has become a part of an integrated strategy to control corruption. This article reviews practices in Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda by addressing questions of who must declare, what must be declared, where to declare and how often to declare. It argues that like all the other mechanisms for controlling corruption, its efficacy depends on enforcement and compliance. The three cases reviewed suggest that there is a significant gap between the rhetoric of declaration and the reality of effective monitoring and compliance to make the system work to ensure transparency and public trust. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Principals’ and teachers’ attitudes and knowledge of inclusive education as predictors of effective teaching practices in Ghana

Surveys and observations were undertaken in selected primary schools in Ghana to determine whether principals’ and teachers’ attitudes towards and knowledge of inclusive education, as well as principals’ expectations of teachers in implementing inclusion, were predictors of effective teaching practices in their classrooms. The sample of 128 educators (20 principals and 108 teachers) drawn from 20 primary schools in two districts, were required to respond to questionnaire measures of Attitude Towards Inclusive Education Scale (ATIES), Knowledge of Inclusive Education Scale (KIES) and Principals’ Expectations Scale (PES). Of the total number of teachers (N = 108), 37 were observed during instructional delivery in their classrooms. The data were analysed by a variety of statistical procedures including Regression Analysis and Discriminant Function Analysis. In the context of the Theory of Planned Behaviour (Ajzen, 1985), the results showed that whilst attitudes towards inclusion (attitude element) and knowledge of inclusion (perceived behavioural control element) predicted effective teaching practices, principals’ expectations (subjective norm) did not. Implications for the implementation of effective inclusive practices in Ghanaian schools and the need for future research are discussed.

Minimizing sediment deposition in urban drainage channels in Ghana: Channel section design approach

The phenomenon of sediment deposition leading to the silting-up of drainage channels has been a major problem in the performance of urban drainage systems. Preventive and costly maintenance measures are often employed to mitigate the problem. In the area of design, critical or self-cleansing velocity methods have been used to achieve certain levels of flushing-out of sediment load in the channels. As an alternative to the current design practices in Ghana, this study presents the channel section approach. Deposition of suspended sediment in channels takes place mainly because of velocity fluctuations in the channel. In this study, therefore, a channel section capable of maintaining a constant vertical velocity distribution is presented. The advantage of the constant velocity channel section is that it minimizes the velocity fluctuations in the channel and subsequently reduces the deposition of sediment in the channel.

Transnational Migration and the Economy of Funerals: Changing Practices in Ghana

ABSTRACTMigrants are increasingly leading transnational lives, impacting the institutions that shape local economies both in their place of residence and in their home communities. One example of this is the institution of funerals in developing countries. Funerals are becoming multi‐sited events as migrants from developing countries play important roles in the organization, financing and practice of funeral ceremonies in their home countries. Funerals thus give rise to flows of money, goods and people across national borders, ultimately affecting different economies around the world. This article uses a multi‐sited research design to follow the flows associated with a funeral held in a village in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Detailed data were collected simultaneously in four locations involved in the funeral, and a multiplier analysis was used to trace funeral spending in different locations and sectors. The analysis shows that funeral spending supports various economic sectors in Ghana and across the globe, reinforcing the nature of funerals as (partly) economic events, which should be included in economic analyses of remittances and migration. Funeral practices are modified in various ways to accommodate transnational elements. At the same time, funerals continue to act, even in a transnational context, as occasions for reaffirming ties and a sense of belonging; they form a way for home communities, both rural and urban, to keep migrants interested in them.

Progress in developing technologies to domesticate the cultivation of shea tree (<i>Vitellaria paradoxa</i> L.) in Ghana Progres realises dans le developpement des technologies pour domestiquel la cultivation du karitier (<i>Vitelleria paradoxa</i> L.) au Ghana

Studies were conducted on natural and hand pollination, sexual and vegetative propagation, natural regeneration, fruit characteristics and individual tree yields of sheatrees (Vitellaria paradoxa L.) The locations of the studies were at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG) sub-station, Bole from 1989 to 1994 and at the University for Development Studies, Nyankpala Campus from 1995 to 2003. The objectives of the studies were to: develop hand pollination techniques, sexual and vegetative propagation methods and to review studies on response of sheanut to agronomic practices in Ghana. Hand-pollination techniques, seed germination and nursery practices, methods for rooting shea tree stem cuttings and air layering were developed. Fruit shape and size were also used to describe four main types of sheatrees. It was also observed that shea tree populations on farms developed from natural regeneration had tree densities of 1,200 trees per hectare and begin to bear fruit within seven years of establishment. Keywords: Vitellaria paradoxa, shea trees, technologies, pollination Agricultural and Food Science Journal of Ghana Vol. 3 2004: 249-268

Farmers' knowledge and perceptions of cotton insect pests and their control practices in Ghana

A survey of 337 cotton farmers in the three northern regions of Ghana was conducted between November 2002 and March 2003 with the objectives of assessing farmers' knowledge and perceptions of cotton insect pests and examining their control practices. The survey revealed that between 69 and 86% of the farmers were illiterate. Farmers' age average 42 years and had an average of 9 years of cotton farming experience. Farmers were familiar with cotton insect pests, especially those whose feeding caused obvious symptoms in the field such as bollworms, leafrollers and cotton stainers. Farmers relied on chemical insecticides supplied by their contract cotton companies to control insect pests on their fields. Insecticides from three classes namely organochlorines (e.g. endosulfan), pyrethroids (e.g. Lambda-cyhalothrin), organophosphates (e.g. Chlorpyrifos) or their mixtures were used. An average of five applications were made during the season. Farmers indicated that the control practice was largely ineffective against the pests, and attributed the cause to the use of expired and inadequate quantities of chemicals. The study showed that only 28% of the respondents had some knowledge of alternative pest control measures. It is important to improve farmers' knowledge and management skills of cotton insect pests through participatory research and training in integrated pest management (IPM). IPM training through farmer field schools will help farmers to acquire the requisite knowledge and skills to improve their management of insect pests on their fields. Keywords: cotton, farmer knowledge and perception, insect pest control, Ghana Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 26(1) 2006: 39-46

Networks, distance, and trust: Telecommunications Development and changing trading practices in Ghana

Summary Ghana liberalized its telecommunications sector in 1995. This article examines the impact of the phenomenal growth in access to cell phones on informal traders’ business practices. The study demonstrates how these “telecommunication pioneers” have changed their mode of operation to reduce both transportation and transaction costs. It is argued that traders with access to tools for more efficient communication over long distances provide better services and create a higher profit potential than others. It is further argued that adoption of new technology enhances trust building in trade networks, thus facilitating a higher number of transactions in an uncertain economic environment.

Farmer perceptions and pesticide use practices in vegetable production in Ghana

As an initial part of a programme aimed at promoting safe and sound agricultural practices in Ghana, a study was made of farmers' perceptions of pesticides for use and application in vegetable production, using a small survey of 137 farmers who applied pesticides. Field surveys, interviews, questionnaires and analytical games were used to obtain information on the type, scope and extent of use of pesticides, farmers' knowledge of pesticides, and their perceptions about the chemicals' potential for harm. Data from this sample of farmers were used to describe the status of use of pesticides in vegetable cultivation in Ghana. Using chi2 tests, associations between farmers' age and possible pesticide poisoning symptoms, their farm size and method of spraying pesticides, and their perception of pesticide hazard and its perceived effectiveness against pests were also examined. The survey showed that knapsack sprayers were the most widely used type of equipment for spraying pesticides. However, on large-scale vegetable farms of 6-10 acres, motorised sprayers were also used. Various inappropriate practices in the handling and use of pesticides caused possible poisoning symptoms among those farmers who generally did not wear protective clothing. Younger farmers (<45 years of age) were the most vulnerable group, probably because they did more spraying than older farmers (>45 years of age). Farmers did not necessarily associate hazardous pesticides with better pest control. The introduction of well-targeted training programmes for farmers on the need for and safe use of pesticides is advocated.

Getting the fundamentals wrong: woes of public–private partnerships in solid waste collection in three Ghanaian cities

AbstractUntil over a decade ago, concerted efforts at involving private agents to deliver solid waste collection services did not feature in local government's (LG's) policies and practices in Ghana. The LGs had over the years directly delivered the services with their labour, materials and equipment. The purpose of entering into partnerships with private contractors was to improve service delivery. This comes at a time when the private sector is generally viewed as more efficient and effective than the public sector. There is abundant literature on potential benefits of private sector participation in public service delivery; yet, figures of efficiency gains are often accepted without challenge. More advantages but fewer disadvantages are cited and anecdotal evidence is used only to illustrate successful applications of the concept of public–private partnerships (PPPs). Using research data from three cities (Accra, Kumasi and Tema) in Ghana, this article exposes the contrast between policy expectations and outcomes of PPPs. The article argues that simply turning over public service delivery to private agents without ensuring that the fundamentals that make them successful are put in place leads to a worse situation than portrayed in literature about the benefit of PPPs. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.

Value of Children: Effects of Globalisation on Fertility Behaviour and Child-rearing Practices in Ghana

Why do people have children, or what values do they assign to having children and how does the value assigned to children reflect in the ways they are socialized? These are the two main questions this paper discusses from a theoretical point of view and as basis for generating hypotheses to be tested out within the Ghanaian cultural setting. The paper draws upon ideas emerging from an ongoing research project - Value of children (VOC) - which was initiated about 30 years ago in nine countries and is currently being replicated in some nine different countries. Of concern in the VOC-project is that African countries were neither included in the original studies, nor in the on-going replication studies. This is not to suggest that the issues addressed by the VOC-studies are of no relevance to Africa. On the contrary, problems of rapid population increase growth / in the presence of stagnant economies plus the burden of the HIV / AIDS epidemic in sub-Sahara Africa make Africa an ideal site to undertake such a study. The primary aim of this paper is therefore to raise some of the concerns about the implications of the VOC-study findings for Africa and in particular for Ghana, and perhaps more importantly to initiate a similar study in Ghana. To elucidate the relevance of VOC for Ghana, the paper examines some of the changes globalization has bought in Ghana and links these to fertility behavior and child-rearing practices.

Witches, Oracles, and Colonial Law: Evolving Anti-Witchcraft Practices in Ghana, 1927-1932

A partir de l'analyse minutieuse de la controverse tongo sur la sorcellerie au Ghana entre 1927 et 1932, l'A. tente de demontrer comment des forces locales ont influence les croyances et les pratiques de la sorcellerie. Il montre comment la legislation antisorcellerie de l'administration coloniale britannique a contribue de facon significative a la transformation de la pratique de purification des sorcieres qui, d'un processus coercitif, quasi-juridique, fonde sur l'accusation, est devenue une pratique volontaire, therapeutique, centree sur la confession. Il montre que la legislation elle-meme fut le resultat d'une longue succession de negociations entre des leaders africains - chefs, pretres, juristes et journalistes - et les colonisateurs. Cette controverse est un exemple, en periode coloniale, de l'interaction entre les croyances sur la sorcellerie et le pouvoir de l'Etat d'une part, ou les contextes de modernisation de l'autre.

AIDS-Related Knowledge and Risks and Contraceptive Practices in Ghana: The Early 1990s

AIDS-Related Knowledge and Risks and Contraceptive Practices in Ghana: The Early 1990s

AIDS-related knowledge and risks and contraceptive practices in Ghana: the early 1990s.

HIV/AIDS in Africa is transmitted primarily through heterosexual contact. This mode of disease transmission places sexually active childbearing women at high risk of contracting the disease. In this study, data from the 1993/94 Ghana Demographic Health Survey were used to explore the relationship between AIDS-related knowledge and family planning practices, specifically the use of contraceptives and condoms. While the study finds high levels of AIDS-related knowledge among Ghanaian women, this knowledge is yet to translate into increased condom use. It is suggested that the use of rational choice models in AIDS prevention programs may not be adequate to change people's sexual behaviour, especially in societies where the prevailing cultural practices and norms encourage large families and discourage the use of contraceptives of any type. In such settings, there is the need to find appropriate mechanisms that could help increase the use of all types of contraceptives. As contraceptive use increases, it is likely that the use of condoms for AIDS prevention and also for family planning purpose would increase in sub-Saharan Africa.

Trokosi (Child Slavery) in Ghana: A Policy Approach

GHANA STUDIES / Volume 1 ISSN 1536-5514 / E-ISSN 2333-7168© 1998 by the Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System 35 TROKOSI (CHILD SLAVERY) IN GHANA A Policy Approach1 ROBERT KWAME AMEH But let us not rush into the error of condemning genital mutilations as uncivilized and sanguinary practices. One must beware of describing what is merely an aspect of difference in culture as barbarous. In traditional Africa, sexual mutilations evolved out of a coherent system, with its own values, beliefs, cultural and ritual conduct. These practices, however, raise a problem today because our societies are in a process of major transformation and are coming up against new socio -cultural dynamic forces in which such practices have no place or appear to be relics of the past. What is therefore needed are measures to quicken their demise. The main part of this struggle will be waged by education rather than by anathema and from the inside rather than from the outside. I hope that this struggle will make women free and “disalienated,” personifying respect for the eminent dignity of life. —Abdoul Diouf, President of the Republic of Senegal, 19852 Introduction The practice of trokosi has been in existence since the Ewes settled in Ghana around the seventeenth century.3 However, it was only in the first half of the 1990s that it became a national social problem. Several individuals and groups have called on the Ghanaian government and Parliament to abolish the practice,4 and even though Parliament debated the issue at length, it was 1. This paper is result of a larger research project (doctoral dissertation) in progress on controversial cultural practices in Ghana. 2. Quoted in Sanderson 1986: 71 (emphasis added). President Diouf made these remarks with respect to female genital mutilation; however, I believe they apply equally to the issue of trokosi in Ghana. 3. It is not known when exactly the Ewes settled in Ghana. Scholars have given dates ranging from the eleventh to the eighteenth century. See Asamoa 1986 and Amenumey 1986. 4. Several speakers and participants at the First National Workshop on Trokosi System in Ghana, organized by International Needs Ghana and held on 6–7 July 1995, made such a call. 36 Ghana Studies • volume 1 • 1998 only in June 1998 that Parliament passed a law making the practice of trokosi a criminal offence.5 Nevertheless, several hundred slave girls have been set free6 and there is already talk of “success” in eradicating the trokosi problem.7 Thisessayisanattempttoaccountfortherelativesuccessthathasbeenmade in dealing with the trokosi problem. The general context of analysis is how to effectively address traditional practices which endanger the health of people or which violate their human rights in order to make change acceptable to both the opponents and supporters of such practices. The concern here is with the development of implementable policies on the issue, that is, policies which enjoy the ardentsupportofthosemostdeeplyandpersonallyaffectedbythechange ,whether they are the child slaves or slave owners/keepers. The paper adopts the position that the process of eradicating certain traditional African practices, such as child slavery, which violate fundamental human rights, must be sensitive to the cultural norms and values of the practitioners in order to make change acceptable. International Human Rights Standards and Local Cultural Sensibilities The concerns of this study are reminiscent of the universalism versus relativism debate in the literature on international human rights. There is a perceptionamongsomescholarsthatinternationalhumanrights norms,considered to be “Western” in origin, are not sensitive to cultural values and norms which Similar calls have also been made in the media. See articles in Progressive Utilization Magazine (PUM)1994:1;1995:1.TheJune1994issueofTheMirror(aGhanaianweeklynewspaperpublishedinAccra )carriedthestoryofatrokosislaveappealingtoPresidentJ.J.Rawlingsforhelp. 5. Pimpong 1998b. 6. A Reuters report published on the Internet, filed from Mepe, Ghana, on 1 April 1997, put the number of female slaves released in the second half of 1996 at 344. Reports indicate that in the first half of 1997, well over 100 shrine slaves had been released; see Ghana Review International (GRI) Newsreel, 29 July 1997 (website: www.ghanareview.com); Ghanaian Times report of 27 July 1997 and Reuters report of 1 April 1997. Pimpong (1997: 2) puts the number of liberated slaves at 672 as of December 1997...

Response of improved robusta coffee to location and management practices in Ghana

Studies were carried out at three locations in Ghana to investigate the effects of Glyricidia maculata shade intensity and of the spacing of coffee on the growth and yield of improved robusta coffee. The three locations selected fall within ecological zones which could be described as suitable, moderately and marginally suitable in terms of rainfall availability and soil conditions.The experimental design was a split plot with shade as the main plot and coffee spacing as the sub-plot. The four levels of shade were: no shade, and Glyricidia maculata at densities of 70, 90 and 185 per ha corresponding to sparse, moderate and heavy shade conditions. The coffee spacings were 3 m×2 m, 3 m×2.2 m, 3.5 m×2 m and 3.5 m×2.5 m giving plant populations of 1670, 1520, 1430 and 1140 per hectare, respectively.There were no effects of shade or spacing on coffee seedling growth at all locations during establishment. Sparse shade gave higher yields in the suitable areas. Moderate shade was required for the moderately and marginally suitable areas. In general, closely spaced coffee gave higher yields than the widely spaced coffee at the suitable and moderately suitable areas whilst there was virtually no response to coffee spacing in the marginally suitable area. There were no interaction effects of shade and spacing on coffee growth or yield. Biennial alternation of coffee-bearing associated with seedling materials was observed in this study.

Introducing a National Radiation Protection and Safety Infrastructure in Ghana

Ghana has for the past three decades or so been engaged in human activities which involve the exposure of people to ionising radiation from natural and man-made sources without any national legislation to control them. In pursuance of the Ghana Atomic Energy Act 204 of 1963, as amended, Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Law 308 and the enactment of further regulation, Radiation Protection Instrument, LI 1559 of 1993, the Radiation Protection Board was established to regulate the introduction and conduct of any practice involving sources of ionising radiation in the country. The Radiation Protection Board is the National Competent Authority for registration or licensing and inspection of practices in Ghana for the purposes of radiation protection and safety. Being the sole regulatory authority, it should have an inventory of all radiation sources either imported into the country, or already in existence in the country, as well as a system of control for their safe use. To achieve these goals, there has been a system of Notification, Authorisation by Registration or Licensing and Control of Radiation Sources by the Regulatory Authority

School psychology in Ghana

The nature of school psychology programs and practices in Ghana are described, beginning with the historical development of these practices during the period 1529–1971. Information on the years 1972–1979, based on the author's clinical experiences and research as well as a review of the relevant literature, serves as the basis for a comparative analysis of past and contemporary school psychology practices. Particular emphasis has been placed on students' mental health, the roles of pastoral (church-connected) counselors, and the nontraditional roles of classroom teachers. Discussion includes an examination of the system of school administration, professional education of teachers and psychologists, and the services they provide.

Strategies for understanding and changing local revenue policies and practices in Ghana's decentralization programme

The 1971 Local Administration Act is the basis for Ghana's attempt to decentralize development planning and budgeting from the centre in Accra to the 68 districts of Ghana. The Act allows District Councils to collect numerous revenues and to retain them as a financial base for implementing District development projects. In 1977 the Economic and Rural Development Management training programme was initiated to help improve revenue collection and the development planning and budgeting capacity of elected officials and civil servants at the district level. Participants worked in teams to determine the potential district revenue base for decentralized development planning, to understand local behavioural patterns in the revenue collection process, and to recommend procedures for improving district revenue administration. The training programme has resulted in dramatic improvements in district government revenue policies and practices leading to a larger financial base for the funding of projects identified and designed locally. Data indicating the positive impact of the training programme for improving local revenue are provided for Techiman District.