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1
Matanda, Richard. "Effects of Microcredit on Beneficiaries’ Livelihood Improvement: A Case Study of Engage Now Africa (ENA) In Ghana." University of the Western Cape, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/11394/8403.
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Philosophiae Doctor - PhDIn Ghana, the number of people living in extreme poverty has reduced. Yet the poverty rate is currently 24.2 %, which is still high considering that Ghana is a lower middle-income country (Emmanuel, Frempong, Opareh & Rose, 2015; 35). In Ghana, the poor are classified in two groups: “ 1) … those who live above an upper line of GHC 1314.00 per day which is equivalent to US $ 1.83, and; 2) those within a lower poverty line of GHC 729.05 equivalent to US $ 1.03 a day…” (Emmanuel, Frempong, Opareh & Rose, 2015; 35). Those who “… live above the upper line of GHC 1314.00 are considered as non-poor, whereas those with a consumption expenditure equivalent or below GHC 729.05 a lower poverty line are in absolute poverty or living in extreme poverty…” (Emmanuel et al., 2015). In Ghana, Yaidoo and Kalaiah (2018) agree that microcredit programs are a neoliberal ploy that keep poor people in a perpetual state of poverty. Most microcredit beneficiaries are located in the rural areas and majority are the lowest income earners of the employed population. Microcredit should ordinarily have a broader range of empowerment services, yet the Ghana microcredit programs do not have this. Microcredit in Ghana has become a debt trap and its benefits to the poor is illusory (Yaidoo and Kalaiah, 2018). Most microcredits have high interest rates and seek to profit operations which had created a situation where microcredits are an additional burden to the people, impacting negatively on their livelihood (Yaidoo and Kalaiah, 2018). Further, Yaidoo and Kalaiah (2018) pinpointed that in Ghana, by observing the crippling consequences of debt burden on countries (such as Ghana who opted for the Highly Indebted Poor Country status in 2002), the world financial crisis in 2007/08, and cases of high default in repayment of debt, it would make sense to adopt a more impactful approach to microcredit. In that other role, players are needed to fill the gap with intervention resulting in improving people’s livelihood. This study aimed to empirically access the effect of microcredit on beneficiaries’ livelihood improvement. The study was conducted in four regions of Ghana, with the main objective to find out whether the Self-Supported Assistant Programme (SSAP) microcredit has improved the livelihood of its beneficiaries. The specific objectives of the study were to: i) evaluate the Beneficiaries Livelihoods Status as per their asset accumulation, voluntary saving, capabilities and frequency of loan repayment, and; ii) to estimate the effects of Demographic + Socioeconomic + Loan T&Cs Variables (financial training + loan interest rates + loan monitoring) on Beneficiaries Livelihoods Improvement (asset accumulation, voluntary saving, capabilities).
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Adu, Addai Emmanuel. "End-of-life care, death and funerals of the Asante: An ethical and theological vision." Thesis, Boston College, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2345/bc-ir:106929.
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Thesis advisor: Melissa M. KelleyThesis advisor: Lisa Sowle Cahill
Thesis (STL) — Boston College, 2016
Submitted to: Boston College. School of Theology and Ministry
Discipline: Sacred Theology
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Akorsu, Angela Dziedzom. "Labour standards application in Ghana : influences, patterns and solutions." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2010. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/labour-standards-application-in-ghana-influences-patterns-and-solutions(b42137b4-3d2a-41aa-84c5-84d12a3db96d).html.
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The debased condition under which people work is pervasive in contemporary societies and is especially ubiquitous in the so-called developing world. Yet, internationally recognized standards for the regulation of working conditions abound and are often applauded, without the passion for their application. Otherwise, why should a country like Ghana, which has one of the highest numbers of ratified labour standards conventions, continue to be fraught with poor working conditions? This undoubtedly simple but fundamental question is what this study sought to answer. Earlier attempts to answer this question have suffered from the lack of rich empirical data and compelling theoretical convictions. In view of this, 'Labour Standards Application in Ghana: Influences, Patterns and Solutions' may be considered a valuable contribution to the treatise of the labour standards phenomenon. Theoretically, the study collates salient aspects of both the market-oriented neo-classical and the non-market institutional and political-economy perspectives into an integrated model for the conceptualization of the labour standards phenomenon in Ghana. A combination of the quantitative and qualitative research strategies is then adopted for primary data collection in view of their respective epistemological and ontological implications. Specifically, a survey, which requires a large sample size to aid the generalisation of the existing patterns in the application of labour standards is used and complimented with interviews and observations to facilitate in-depth and contextual analyses of the issues under study.This thesis is therefore a presentation of a thoroughly researched and argued study of the influences on, patterns of, and solutions to, the labour standards problem. With regard to the macro level influences, the study has shown that continuous external influences in the form of the World Bank and the IMF policies, with their emphasis on economic growth, erodes the very fabric of the society and Ghana's capacity to turn workers away from victims of economic growth to dignified citizens. Meanwhile, what is needed to create wealth - which may be fairly distributed, is a dignified working class. Particularly as it relates to the patterns of labour standards application, the study provides a compelling reason for the conclusion that working conditions in Ghana are poor and that it is misleading to put all multinational corporations and local firms together and make blanket statements as to whether or not they apply labour standards. This is because a number of factors, such as the country of origin, determine whether they apply labour standards or not. Regarding solutions, the revelation is that, the solutions to the labour standards problem proposed in the literature and in use in many developed countries are simply not workable in Ghana. Deliberative recommendations are therefore presented, in a context specific fashion, to ensure that labour standards application in Ghana is not just rhetoric but a reality. This way, the labour standards problem will be minimised and the working people of Ghana will be treated as worthy of the decency and dignity due all humans.
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Appiah, Boateng Edward. "Decision making in end stage kidney disease (ESKD) in Ghana : exploring patient and clinician perspectives." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2016. http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/37965/.
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Introduction This study was carried out in Ghana, where the incidence of end stage kidney disease (ESKD) is increasing in a context of limited treatment options. Understanding the issues patients with ESKD grapple with when diagnosed with this life-threatening condition is essential to improve healthcare policy and practice in such low- and middle-income settings. In the absence of evidence related to the African ESKD patient journey, this study aimed at exploring how decisions about ESKD management are being made, especially in under-resourced settings where specific treatment modalities are not always available. The study addresses an important gap in the literature concerning choice and decision making in an international context. The key research question for this study is, in terms of the context, does the problem of limited resources in low- and middle-income countries present different choices to the patient with ESKD facing decisions about their treatment? Methodology and Methods The study employed a qualitative research design, using grounded theory methodology. Twenty-seven participants in three renal centres, comprising twenty-two patients with ESKD and five clinicians, were selected using the theoretical sampling approach and interviewed for this study. Constant comparative analysis was employed in data analysis. Results A conceptual map depicting the ESKD patient journey and key phases of decision making was developed from this study. Ghanaian patients with ESKD are mostly unaware of the implications of their initial symptoms, and end up delaying seeking healthcare from a hospital. Some of those who seek care from hospitals are initially diagnosed with and treated for other conditions other than ESKD. Thus, many patients with ESKD in Ghana present late to a renal centre. Treatment for ESKD is initiated for various reasons, including, initially, the urgent need to avoid premature death. Many approach their condition in terms of hoping for a cure and do not always understand the chronic nature of their condition. Decisions on initiating haemodialysis (HD) are mostly shared between clinicians and patients and/or their families but the process is mainly driven by the need to ascertain patient and family’s ability to finance HD, rather than considering other aspects of treatment burden. The subject of death or conservative management is not openly discussed and, once this is brought up, patients usually do everything possible to opt for another form of treatment, including the simultaneous use of other non-RRT and traditional or faith-based healing approaches. Clinicians play vital roles in the decision making of patients with ESKD although they have general feelings of helplessness while supporting these patients. Convergence between individuals’ experiences of realities of living with and managing ESKD, and support from clinicians in the renal setting ultimately leads to a reconstruction of health expectations that commensurate management goals of ESKD. This sums up the substantive theory of ‘reconstructing health expectations’ that was generated from this study. Conclusions Financial and geographical inaccessibility of renal replacement therapy (RRT) as well as the relative lack of biomedical treatment choices make decision making daunting for the individual with ESKD in Ghana. Reluctance to discuss death as a potential outcome is a hindrance to the consideration of conservative management as a treatment option. Effective realignment of healthcare policies to address changing patterns of diseases is necessary to contribute to prevention, early detection and effective management of ESKD in the country. An improved approach to conservative management is urgently required, including training support for clinicians on shared decision making as well as sensitisation of patients on this modality.
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Aidoo, Raphael. "The impact of philanthropy in rural development in Ghana." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2012. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-impact-of-philanthropy-in-rural-development-in-ghana(67cd3621-28cd-4f30-926f-0a54f0345800).html.
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This thesis is about how the philanthropy of individual foreigners is having an impact on rural development in Ghana. There is an important history of philanthropy as a source of resources for the alleviation of poverty and to contribute to development. Decentralisation of power in many developing countries, which began in the late 1980s, has meant that many village communities are increasingly in charge of their own destinies. In Ghana, one approach which rural communities are pursuing is the acquisition of capital for development through vertical philanthropy - where resources flow from the rich to the poor. Rural communities in Ghana are identifying foreign philanthropists who can inject financial capital into the village to initiate development. In addition, they are also invited to be involved in that ‘development’ by leading the development process. A key leadership position of development chiefs and queens has been created for them. This thesis evaluates the contribution of this new form of philanthropy to the wellbeing and livelihoods of rural communities through primary research in Ghanaian villages and with foreign development chiefs and queens. The study is framed with reference to theories about philanthropy and the practices of rural development, in particular the significance of community participation. The cultural implications and contestations about opting for foreign leadership in village-level development are also investigated. Its findings are that this new approach can yield important net benefits for rural people but outcomes are influenced by the interactions between the three main stakeholders involved in the concept – the philanthropists, the traditional leadership and the people. Issues related to leadership and participation proved to be of key significance.
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Osei-Amaning, E. "Management of Vitellaria paradoxa in Guinea savanna rangelands in Ghana." Thesis, Bangor University, 1996. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/management-of-vitellaria-paradoxa-in-guinea-savanna-rangelands-in-ghana(8ebb01bb-84ff-4365-9f49-1a881953db43).html.
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From 1993-1994, a study of Vitellaria paradoxa was carried out. This study involved an in-depth review of biological and ecological information on Vitellatia throughout its range. Stand studies and an analysis of the climate in relation to fire risk. There were also experimental investigations of germination and pollination. All field studies were at the site of the Cocoa Research Institute outstation at Bole. Stand characteristics of Vitellaria (>10 cm dbh) at the 68 kM2 plot of the Cocoa Research Institute's Sheanut Research Station, Bole were examined in two strata distinguished on the basis of distance from the nearest village: >3.0 km and <3.0 km. Regeneration (<10 cm dbh) was assessed and recorded for height, root collar diameter and mode of regeneration. Analysis of variance indicated higher stocking of individuals > 10 cm dbh further from villages but significantly more Vitellaria trees >10 m tall close to villages. Suckers accounted for > 86% of regenerating individuals, and more than 90% of regenerating plants were < 50 cm high. Analysis of climatic data indicated a mean drought index (1990-1994) of 514 ± 61 points. However, the fire danger index never reached an extreme value. The germination response of depulped, cracked and intact seeds of Vitellaria sown under- and outside the canopy of mature Vitellatia trees (> 30 cm dbh), showed a significant association between germination and seed treatment: a higher proportion of depulped than intact seeds germinated. Open pollinated flowers, gave significantly lower fruit set than hand-pollinated flowers. There was no difference, however, in the amount of fruit set achieved with pollen from sources 50 m, 500 m and 1000 m away or from flowers of two different style lengths. It is concluded that fires are adversely affecting the population structure and natural regeneration of stands at Bole, and that low fruit set in Vitellaria is due at least in part, to low vector activity. Suggestions are made for future research on the species.
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Abdulai, Abdul-Gafaru. "State elites and the politics of regional inequality in Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/state-elites-and-the-politics-of-regional-inequality-in-ghana(0991e06a-5ad1-4ce9-a776-6dbafa70f4ff).html.
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Recent years have witnessed renewed global attention to persistent spatial inequalities and the potential role of politics and power relations in redressing and reinforcing them. This thesis offers a political analysis of the problem of regional inequality in Ghana, with particular attention to the role of inter-elite power relations in underpinning the country’s historical North-South divide. The analysis is based on three main sets of data: the regional distribution of political power during 1993-2008; the regional composition of public expenditure; and elite interviews. The thesis argues that a key factor that explains Ghana’s stark unbalanced regional development has been the continuous exclusion of the historically poorer Northern regions from a fair share of both productive and social sector spending. The socio-economic marginalisation of these regions has been underpinned principally by a weaker influence of Northern elites on resource allocation decisions within a political environment that is driven largely by patron-client relations. Consequently, even policies and programmes designed with the formal objective of targeting the ‘poor’ often end up discriminating against the poorer Northern regions at the level of implementation. However, Northern elites’ lack of ‘agenda-setting powers’ is not a function of their exclusion from government, but rather of their ‘adverse incorporation’ into the polity, whereby they have often been included on relatively unfavourable terms. This explanation differs significantly from much of current mainstream thinking regarding the underlying drivers of persistent unbalanced regional development, including dominant accounts of Ghana’s North-South inequalities. Notably, there has been a tendency of both academics and policy makers to put the blame on certain innate characteristics of the North, such as the region’s fewer production potentials associated with its ‘bad geography’ and Northerners’ proclivity for violent conflicts. Such accounts therefore tend to blame the relative socio-economic backwardness of the Northern regions on the North itself rather than the nature of its incorporation into broader political formations.
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Asare, Emmanuel Tetteh. "An exploration of accountability issues in managing oil and gas revenues in Ghana." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2017. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/6ca461f0-fa08-454c-851f-a426d60b4f88.
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This study investigates accountability and transparency issues in the management of oil and gas (O&G) revenues in Ghana through public discourse. It establishes the factors that influence accountability and investigates how accountability is discharged amongst stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana, with respect to contemporary accountability theories. The thesis develops a contextualised analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012), and Gray et al.’s (1996) conceptualisations of accountability, in addition to other contemporary accountability concepts, mirrored through the ethical variant of stakeholder theory to classify, analyse and interpret the issues of transparency and accountability in revenue management in the O&G industry in Ghana. It uses this framework to analyse and interpret questionnaires and interviews of stakeholders in the O&G industry in Ghana; these include the government, civil society groups and upstream oil companies. The thesis establishes that the accountability relationships (strategic, financial, fiduciary and procedural) between accountees and accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana are hierarchical, bureaucratic and fussy, making the discharge of accountability unintelligent, ineffective and vulgate and only routinely given for cosmetic purposes. Consequently, the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana employ the positive variant of the stakeholder theory, motivated by legitimisation practices to regularise their activities, contrary to the expected ethical variant of the theory. The outcome reflects the practices of for-profit organisations such as upstream O&G companies, but conflicts with the government’s fiduciary responsibilities towards citizens and the espoused communal values of the legal and regulatory framework of the industry. Current perspectives on positive stakeholder and legitimacy theory therefore appear to explain existing stakeholder relationships and how accountability is discharged in the O&G industry in Ghana. The thesis contributes to the public accountability and transparency literature in a number of ways: First, the study presents an empirical basis to advance discourse about accountability and transparency in natural resource management in developing countries, by developing a contextualised theoretical and analytical framework drawing on Dhanani and Connolly’s (2012) and Gray et al’s (1996) accountability concepts, and using the ethical stakeholder theory as a lens for interpretation. Second, it provides an empirical basis for rethinking the hierarchical managerialist approach to accountability suggested by the positive variant of the stakeholder theory and its legitimisation mechanisms between accountees and the accountors in the O&G industry in Ghana, and suggests the adoption of the ethical variant of the stakeholder theory with its moral imperatives. Third, the study provides significant insight into governance issues in Sub-Saharan Africa that could inform policy formulation for the region by international bodies, including the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP), the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), by critically reviewing accountability and transparency issues in the oil sectors in Angola, Nigeria and the DRC and juxtaposing this evidence with empirical findings for Ghana. Finally, it advances understanding of the public accountability practices and transparency issues in the O&G industry in Ghana, while pointing out significant governance implications for policy-makers, civil society and advocacy groups, think-tanks, the O&G companies and academics.
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Gyamera, Gifty Oforiwaa. "A critical study of internationalisation in the public universities in Ghana." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2014. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/a-critical-study-of-internationalisation-in-the-public-universities-in-ghana(035f62c1-7d3a-4638-b64e-d9027a0aba67).html.
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This research critically examines the perceptions, rationales, strategies and challenges of internationalisation at the public universities in Ghana. The study contributes to the available literature on Ghanaian higher education and internationalisation in the public universities. The research was a qualitative study and the conceptual framework was informed by postcolonial theory. The theory helped to address major questions in higher education including the infiltration of neoliberal ideas, inequalities and exclusions, and the perpetuation of colonial legacies in international discourse. Three public universities were purposely selected as case studies; respondents were administrators, deans, heads of departments, academics, and students from these selected universities. Personnel from the supervisory bodies of higher education in Ghana were also interviewed. Data gathering included interviews, documentary analyses and observations, and analysed using content and discourse analyses. The findings indicate that internationalisation is perceived as an important concept in the universities in the study. There are, however, dominant discourses and views of internationalisation that seem to be rooted in colonialism and the marginalisation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems. I argue that the global influences of capitalism underlie many of the strategies of the universities. Though the meanings, rationales and strategies of internationalisation are similar in all the universities, there are different nuances in the various institutions’ thinking and approach. In spite of their efforts, the universities in the study are confronted with a lot of challenges which limit their ability to offer an alternative to the dominant internationalisation discourse. I argue, however, that internationalisation is a problematic concept which should be engaged with critically; there is a need for a critical orientation to iii internationalisation that appreciates and emphasises difference, and which enriches the educational experiences of students.
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Sanyare, Francis Nangbeviel. "Decentralised local governance and community development : empirical perspectives from Northern Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/decentralised-local-governance-and-community-development-empirical-perspectives-from-northern-ghana(faebf351-d451-44d9-bfbe-078f3731f70e).html.
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The efficacy of decentralised local governance to transform rural communities into vibrant modern communities has often been highlighted. The Constitution of Ghana lends a strong hand to decentralised local governance as key to achieving rural development and poverty reduction. Achieving the above is however premised on the basis that local authorities would function effectively; promote effective community participation; and are functionally autonomous. However, some conceptual and practical challenges appear to limit the achievement of the stated benefits of local governance in Ghana. This thesis seeks to examine the nature of local governance and how its function translates into rural community development. It responds to pertinent questions central to Ghana’s decentralisation. It questions the local community development initiatives implemented by local government institutions, by exploring perspectives on the usefulness of these initiatives to local communities. Further it explores how the participation of local communities is engaged in executing these initiatives; and thirdly, it investigates institutional capacities to effectively carry out the decentralised community development initiatives. The thesis sought answers by conducting in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 134 participants drawn from 32 local communities within three District Assemblies, and a variety of stakeholders including key local government actors, individuals, and groups from three Districts in Northern Ghana. The thesis argues that political, administrative and systemic deficits challenge effective local government function in Ghana. For instance, recent evidence points to the fact that regimes since December 2000 dwell on political gerrymandering to bolster their political fortunes, which further weaken existing local governments rather than facilitate their effective and efficient function. Further that, local governments are observed to work within a chaotic community development environment where initial development strategies where overly influenced by exogenous forces, which made them unrealistic to rural community development. Again, the findings suggests a history of decentralised local governance full of a continual tinkering and halfhearted implementation of the decentralisation process since colonial times. This is mostly to achieve well orchestrated political goals. This historical legacy stifles local governments’ capacities over time and also leaves mostly ineffective structures replete with opportunities for political favour and rent seeking behaviours. Evidently however, this has tendered to percolate present day systems and processes where local political elites seek to, and prosecute the political agenda of the national government instead of dealing with local needs. On the development strategies implemented by local governments, a penchant tendency to transplant national development plans as local development strategies on central governments’ insistence was discovered. Though a contradiction to the laid down local government development planning and implementation process, local governments follow through with this practice. Further, a historical legacy of powerful external multi-lateral stakeholders’ grips or influence of the local development agenda appears a paramount reason for the above, and this in real terms leads to a de-emphasises of home grown local development strategies. The implication is that unrealistic rural community development strategies perpetuate. This further leads to noted planning incongruence at the local level. Aside this, there is also an overbearing local political and administrative interferences, and manipulations which leads further to a ‘filtering’ of development strategies to meet national politically motivated strategies or interests. This notwithstanding, local communities have strong faith in local governments as viable community development agents. The findings further suggest local governments’ acknowledgement of the critical roles of active community participation in the local community development agenda. Yet again they struggle to apply the national development planning Act 1994, (Act 480), which holds the greatest promise to directly translate to effective participation. In the least, local governments preferred to consult and inform local community members. In the same vain, central governments some times implement community development initiatives within local government jurisdictions without consulting them. A chief factor which appears to work against direct local level influence of the development planning process is the existence of penurious institutions at the local level. Consequently an exercise of tokenism is thus promoted to satisfy requirements for effective local community participation. In most cases ultimate development decisions are taken by the management and political leadership and not in direct consultation with local communities. Notwithstanding the above, it appears that local governments’ institutional capacities to effectively deliver on their mandate appear potentiated when viewed from the extent of supporting legal and institutional frameworks which gives credence to local governance. Local governments possess a powerful list of constitutionally sanctioned guiding frameworks which should necessarily inure to their smooth operation. Ironically there are noted deliberate systemic and political processes which tend to constraint this smooth function. In the least central government deliberately keeps a functionally dependent relationship with local governments. One direct result of the subjection of local government within this perpetual highly dependent functional relationship is a continual blurring of roles. Local governments appear to be perpetually subjugated to functional obscurity by central governments through incomplete decentralisation, strained internal relationships, and unhealthy ‘politicking’ between District Assembly members and administrative staff to say the least. Although most decentralised departments appear to have competent technical staff, their function is limited because of numerical insufficiency as well as limited material and logistical support.
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Kwashie, Kuwor Sylvanus. "Transmission of Anlo-Ewe dances in Ghana and in Britain : investigating, reconstructing and disseminating knowledge embodied in the music and dance traditions of Anlo-Ewe people in Ghana." Thesis, University of Roehampton, 2013. https://pure.roehampton.ac.uk/portal/en/studentthesis/transmission-of-anlo-ewe-dances-in-ghana-and-in-britain(9ff88a5d-cdbe-4c58-9c5b-84cbe08c4f22).html.
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Among the Anlo-Ewe of Ghana, dance functions essentially as a pivot around which indigenous cultural practices revolve. Anlo-Ewe music and dance tradition which is the focus of this study, serves as a dynamic tool in the transmission of indigenous knowledge, skills, values and virtues. In addition to being a repository of Anlo-Ewe knowledge dance provides the avenue through which dancers, musicians, story tellers and visual artists are able to document, preserve and transmit indigenous knowledge and reenact the historical, socio-cultural and political structure of the Anlo-Ewe. Twenty-first century global cultural transformation in the midst of constant human migration continues to influence Anlo-Ewe cultural forms. Commodification of dance has affected the educational and cultural function of Anlo-Ewe dance and its related arts and continues to reduce them to mere entertainment activities. Due to these challenges, some Anlo-Ewe youths in Ghana and in Britain are gradually being separated from their cultural heritage and therefore, losing cultural identity. In view of the above, this study responds to the need to examine the elements and functions of Anlo-Ewe dance in the transmission of indigenous knowledge and values to serve as a source of information to help policy makers to create and promote the awareness of the use of Anlo-Ewe knowledge and values among Anlo-Ewe youths and scholars in Ghana, Britain and the diaspora. It investigates the indigenous knowledge and values embedded in Anlo-Ewe dance and the extent to which these cultural forms can be harnessed in building contemporary society in both the indigenous and the international settings. Therefore, this thesis focuses on the dance tradition of the Anlo-Ewe people in Ghana, its emergence in Britain as an art form in cross-cultural education as well as its dynamics or processes of change within the indigenous and international settings. It uses fieldwork including iii auto-ethnography and focuses on my own practice and the 21 years of operations by the British funded ‘Adzido Pan-African Dance Ensemble’ (1984-2005), a Ghanaian group that brought Anlo-Ewe dances to Britain. Through the lenses of key concepts including heritage, aesthetics, identity, nationalism and representation, I explore the fundamental elements of Anlo-Ewe dance, its use and significance as well as how it can be harnessed to serve the needs of contemporary multicultural society.
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Kusters, Annelies Maria Jozef. ""Since time immemorial until the end of days" : an ethnographic study of the production of deaf space in Adamorobe, Ghana." Thesis, University of Bristol, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.570857.
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The typical life experience for most sign language-using deaf people in the world is one of problematic communication with the surrounding society. However, a number of 'shared signing communities' exist where, due to the historical presence of a 'deaf gene', both deaf and hearing people use a locally-emerged sign language with each other. A number of western writers have tended to perceive these as utopian communities. This ethnographic study of one such community in Adamorobe, Ghana, problematicises this assumption in its analysis of the community's deaf-hearing and deaf-deaf social relationships. To frame everyday life in Adamorobe, this study employs Lefebvre's 'spatial trialectics' which consists of three dimensions, Percu, Concu and Vecu. Firstly, it demonstrates how the deaf people are inherently part of the space produced in Adamorobe "since time immemorial until the end of days", by interacting naturally with hearing people through sign language, but also by producing 'deaf spaces' (Percu). Secondly, it explains how they conceive of these spaces by exploring the deaf inhabitants' sharing of certain ontological experiences and characteristics, summarised in the expression that "deaf are the same" (Concu). Thirdly, it examines the tensions and difficulties they experience in relation to their own ideas of what an ideal or utopian world would be like (Vecu). The study also identifies the recent profound effects of external practices and discourses on deaf-hearing relationships, which affect the way the space of Adamorobe is produced, and the way the deaf people produce deaf spaces. It is believed that the conceptual framework used in this dissertation has the potential both to advance the investigation of other similar communities, and the discipline of Deaf Studies in general.
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Ayanoore, Ishmael. "Oil governance in Ghana : exploring the politics of elite commitment to local participation." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2018. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/oil-governance-in-ghana-exploring-the-politics-of-elite-commitment-to-local-participation(b3befa8b-3bf0-480b-b798-2df76a7b6863).html.
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This thesis explores the politics of elite commitment to promote local content and participation within Ghana's oil and gas sector. Since Ghana discovered commercial quantities of oil in 2007, debates over whether it would avoid the 'resource curse' have primarily taken place within a neo-institutionalist frame of analysis that emphasises the importance of establishing certain types of institutional arrangements which can help constrain and shape elite commitment to developing petroleum resources in the national interest. This thesis seeks to go beyond this framing by deploying new forms of political analysis which show that elite commitment is shaped not by institutions but by the wider configuration of power. It employs an extended 'political settlements' framework (incorporating ideas) that explains how elite interests and ideas shape developmental forms of political commitment to governing oil in the national interest. The analysis is based on three main cases - the politics of formulating and adopting local content legislation, the process through which this legislation was implemented and the effort put into building the capacity of Ghanaian firms to participate in the sector. The thesis argues that the underlying tendencies within Ghana's competitive clientelist political settlement (electoral incentives, coalition building, patronage politics and ideas) directly shaped the levels of political commitment to secure greater oil rents. Ghana's competitive political settlement generated incentives for politicians to use local content policy promises as a strategy to bring certain civil society and private sector elites within what would become a ruling coalition. This move, along with the resource nationalist ideology of the coalition in power at the time, in turn helped to generate relatively high levels of elite commitment to developing ambitious targets within the legislation. However, the process of implementation has been shaped more directly by incentives than ideas, particularly in terms of pressures to distribute participation opportunities in line with the clientelist logic of the political settlement, benefitting politically connected firms. In applying an extended political settlements approach, this thesis offers deeper political economy insights into the drivers of elite commitment to governing oil in the national interest, and shows how Ghana's efforts to avoid the resource curse have and will continue to be closely shaped by 'power relations', 'elite bargaining' and 'ideas'.
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Asante, Emmanuel Pumpuni. "Pathway(s) to inclusive development in Ghana : oil, subnational-national power relations and ideas." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2016. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/pathways-to-inclusive-development-in-ghana-oil-subnationalnational-power-relations-and-ideas(dc296301-5268-4427-88ed-535163ac5929).html.
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The discovery of commercial quantities of oil and gas resources in the Gulf of Guinea and parts of East Africa has once again raised expectations that sustained development will emerge in one of the world’s poorest regions. At the same time there is great concern that Africa’s new resource-rich countries will succumb to the so-called resource curse phenomenon because of their generally weak governance institutions. In response to this challenge, the international community has intensified its efforts to promote good governance mechanisms in such countries, focused on transparency and accountability, and informed by a dominant institutionalist literature which argues that the differences in resource governance outcomes can be explained by the differences in institutional design and performance. A recent turn to politics in both the development and resource curse literature has begun to move the research agenda beyond the primacy of institutions to look at the politics that underpin the emergence and performance of institutions. This is particularly evidenced in the emerging literature on political settlements that emphasise the distribution of power amongst social groups in society and how these power relations shape institutions and in turn development outcomes. This new political lens is helping to deepen analysis of how and why resource-rich countries prevent or succumb to the resource curse and provides an opportunity to interrogate the inclusive development prospects of Africa’s new oil-rich countries. In this thesis, I apply and extend the political settlement approaches by incorporating ideational and spatial dynamics, to analyse the prospect of inclusive development outcomes in Ghana where oil and gas resources were discovered in 2007. Focusing on the power relations between and amongst national elites and elites in the oil producing Western Region, I interrogate the ways in which the spatial dynamics of Ghana’s prevailing competitive clientelist political settlement is shaping the governance of the oil sector, and the implications it has for inclusive development. I find that at the onset of a resource boom, the dynamics of local politics, and the dominant incentives and ideas generated by the political settlement has strongly shaped the content and enforcement of Ghana’s foundation institutions to manage the oil sector, in ways that reinforces the pre-oil settlement around the governance of natural resources and undermines the long-term prospects for inclusive development. At the same time, the oil boom has also been accompanied by the increased use of formal institutions and suggests that Ghana may be moving away from personalised to more programmatic forms of clientelism.
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Afoakwah, Georgina. "Exploring the lived experiences of first-time breastfeeding women : a phenomenological study in Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2016. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/exploring-the-lived-experiences-of-firsttime-breastfeeding-women-a-phenomenological-study-in-ghana(55889707-3dba-48f4-85e2-edd49ad95246).html.
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Background: Breastfeeding is globally recognised as a gold standard of nutrition, recommended for the first six months of an infant’s life. Despite its benefits, most women in Ghana do not breastfeed, as recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF). Aim: To gain in-depth understanding of first-time Ghanaian mother lived experience of breastfeeding. Design/Method: A longitudinal qualitative design was adopted, underpinned by the hermeneutic phenomenological approach, as described by van Manen (1990). The study explored the lived experiences of thirty first-time women recruited from antenatal clinic. A series of three semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted; the first in late pregnancy, the second in the first week following childbirth and the final one between four and six months postpartum. Findings: Inductive thematic analysis informed by van Manen (1990) and principles of hermeneutic interpretation allowed the emergence of four main themes: the ‘Breastfeeding Assumption,' Breastfeeding as Women’s Business,’ the Postnatal Experience of Breastfeeding and ‘Family as Enabler or Disabler’. Within the context of this study, breastfeeding is expressed as an activity within the family and social environment. The overall phenomenon that emerged was ‘Social Conformity’. This demonstrates an understanding of the breastfeeding experience suffused with emotions as women project an image of themselves as successful breast feeders in order to conform to family and social expectations. Conclusion: Findings from the study demonstrated the multifactorial dimensions of breastfeeding. Most importantly, it was identified that first-time breastfeeding women use emotion work to cope with their experience of breastfeeding, within the social context. It was suggested that midwives play a pivotal role in helping women develop realistic expectations prior to breastfeeding. Furthermore encouraging family centered education that promotes holistic support for women. The findings therefore suggested the need for better antenatal education based on evidence-based practice. Breastfeeding women require individualised support that assesses their emotional needs and offers encouragement. Developing policies that ensure training of midwives and breastfeeding advocates was recommended. Future research could explore the impact of these interventions on breastfeeding practices, helping first time women to breastfeed effectively.
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Chebere, Margaret. "An evaluation of Human Resources managerial effectiveness of the public health sector of Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2011. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/an-evaluation-of-human-resources-managerial-effectiveness-of-the-public-health-sector-of-ghana(1b1e6d47-af08-4881-a79b-26946445d8e5).html.
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The objective of this research is to evaluate Human Resources managerial/development effectiveness (HRM/DE) of frontline managers from the perspectives of managers themselves and stakeholders in the public health sector (PHS) of Ghana. The study did this through the development of a conceptual framework which combined the use of integrated organisational and management theoretical perspectives and contextual variables. The study employed the mixed methods research methodology which combined both empiricism and post post-positivists' views with critical realism as the underpinning philosophy. A total of 18 district directors of health, from two regions were purposively sampled and interviewed utilising an in-depth open ended questionnaire through the discussion. Additionally, key policy makers were interviewed and focus group discussions held and a structured questionnaire completed by another group of employees, who assessed managers' capabilities. Discourse analysis was used for the analysis with the aid of Nvivo 7 for the qualitative material whilst quantitative data were analysed using simple descriptive statistics. Findings were triangulated using Marquart and Zercher's (2000) cross-over track analysis framework. Findings show research questions were answered. Majority of district directors lack managerial competencies; are less interested in HRM/D activities, less confident of their human resource skills and less sure of the political and representational skills required of managers. In particular, it is necessary to take account of the political structure of the PHS of Ghana; significant differences exist in power, individual or group interests, values, assumptions and expectations. However, most district directors have tried to indigenise HRM/D practices as a way of motivating and retaining staff. Core Human resources managerial competencies from the perspectives of the three sampled groups have been compiled. It is the first time such a study has been conducted in the PHS of Ghana and which has therefore made inroads in the existing literature and has contributed to HRM/D literature information in Africa particularly Ghana. It also paves the way for understanding management in the African context and perspective and specifically in health care settings. This study has gone beyond the two groups of respondents and proved that the use of multiple respondents generates rich findings and unveiled what would normally have not been possible if single respondents were used.
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Bawole, Justice. "Local government and NGO relations in Ghana : the paradoxes, rhetoric and the isomorphic forces." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2013. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/local-government-and-ngo-relations-in-ghana-the-paradoxes-rhetoric-and-the-isomorphic-forces(03c5035f-0dd1-480e-9b0e-3c7b72d4d9c7).html.
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In recent years, interest in the relations between government and NGOs and the implications of these relations for service delivery in developing countries has surged. This results from the increasing role of NGOs in many facets of development, especially in service delivery and poverty reduction. However, the focus of attention especially among researchers has been on the relations between central government and NGOs. Relations between local government and NGOs have received limited research attention, especially in developing country contexts. To contribute to opening the black box created as a result of the limited research interest, this study investigates the nature, driving forces and the implications of the relations between local government and NGOs for poverty reduction programme implementation in Ghana. The study adopts a qualitative research methodology, a multi-dimensional classification regime and a New Institutional Theoretical lens to investigate the phenomena. The study was conducted adopting semi-structured interviews and mini focus ground discussions; documentary reviews; and participant observations as the key data collection tools to document the nature, driving forces and the implications of local government and NGO relations in Ghana. This study establishes that the relations between local government and NGOs in Ghana are complex but fit into a four-dimensional classification typology of superficial and suspicious cordiality; tokenistic collaboration; friendly foes; and convenient and cautious partnerships. This typology is novel as previous studies have not classified the relations in this way. Further, it finds that a complex mix of forces drive the relations but in different directions - constraining and facilitating directions - contrary to conventional arguments that institutional isomorphic forces drive organisation into homogenisation. It adds that both the positive and the negative forces can be either beneficial or detrimental for poverty reduction programme implementation. In addition, the study establishes that the relations have more diverse implications for poverty reduction programme implementation than just the economic and efficiency arguments dominant in the extant literature. The relations have implications which are social, cultural, organisational, personality and political.
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Banyubala, Divine Ndonbi. "Organ transplants in Ghana : finding a context-appropriate and practically workable ethico-legal policy framework." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/organ-transplants-in-ghana-finding-a-contextappropriate-andpractically-workable-ethicolegal-policy-framework(7b1cdca8-c006-4645-9014-0a7f7f4c6763).html.
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Ghana is undertaking strenuous efforts to make organ transplantation a routine surgical procedure by the end of 2014. Thus far, some 20 test kidney transplants using living related organ donors have been carried out in Ghana. However the current practice of retrieval, retention and use of (deceased) human organs and tissues following pathological services is not done in accordance with the requirements of existing law. Also, the time of human death, its relationship with obtaining organs for transplant as well as the sociocultural sensitivity Ghanaians attach to death and dying are not explored in that context. Furthermore, there is no coherent examination of the various interests and rights recognised by Ghanaian law in deceased human bodies despite that fact that progress in medicine and biotechnology has recast the value in human biomaterials. Consequently, given that organ transplantation is new to Ghana; that there are no ethical, legal and professional governance frameworks specific to the sector; that there are concerns about a systemic culture of inappropriate retention and use of human body parts following pathological services; that there is illicit trade in human body parts (ova, sperm etc.); and that Ghana is undertaking test kidney transplants in the absence of specific ethical, legal and clinical guidance addressing the controversies surrounding the permissible uses of human organs and tissues; this doctoral thesis argues that examining these ethico-legal controversies within the Ghanaian socio-legal setting constitutes an essential step in the quest for context-appropriate and practically workable regulatory and governance frameworks for the emerging transplant sector in that country. Towards this end, the thesis discusses indigenous thinking around death (Post-mortem Personality Identity Renegotiation (PPIR)), ancestorship and the position of Ghanaian customary law on ownership interests and rights in deceased bodies and their parts and points policy makers to how the socio-legal peculiarities of the Ghanaian regulatory context could be exploited to achieve the dual aims of finding an adequate balance between, on the one hand, protecting individual, family and societal interests, and on the other hand, promoting the social utility aims of organ transplantation and science research. It concludes by proposing that i) the desired regulatory balance could be achieved through legal foresighting, and ii) that any such regulation must affirm the recognition of property interests in (deceased) bodies by Ghanaian customary law as that reflects the cultural, social and constitutional values of the regulatory context.
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Kukeba, Margaret. "Ethnography of household cultural feeding practices of children under five years in rural northern Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2017. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/ethnography-of-household-cultural-feeding-practices-of-children-under-five-years-in-rural-northern-ghana(cac6d660-1ac9-447d-9fc3-1970fdb56df0).html.
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Background: Appropriate child feeding prevents nutrient deficiencies, diseases, and deaths in children. However, only 13.3% of children aged 6-23 months in Ghana receive the minimum acceptable diet. Thus, undernutrition remains high in rural northern Ghana, especially among under-fives. This is showing no improvement despite economic development and implementation of globally recommended nutrition & feeding interventions. There is limited context specific evidence about child feeding in rural northern Ghana. Aim: To examine how culture might impact upon the feeding of children under five years of age in rural northern Ghana. Methods: A qualitative ethnographic study was completed between October 2014 and May 2015. Data were collected in a rural Ghanaian community via participant observation and sixty-one ethnographic interviews with mothers, fathers, and grandparents in 15 households, and spiritual leaders are known as "diviners". Themes were developed through inductive analysis of field notes and verbatim transcribed interviews using a framework approach. Results: The content of a child's diet and the pattern of feeding were found to be influenced by the community's notion of food, taboos, and beliefs which originated in a traditional African religion. Shared household responsibility for feeding children and the gendered and age related hierarchy of household decision making also influenced child feeding. Discussion: This study has shown multifaceted taken-for-granted social and cultural influences on child feeding. Whilst mothers are the main recipients of the official public health nutrition and child feeding advice, the communal structures, living arrangements and social interactions support, enhance, and reinforce the community inclined practices that limit mothers' independent decision making. Conclusion: To effect community change and promote uptake of public health nutrition recommendations, a community wide nutrition intervention approach may be more beneficial than the current approach which targets mothers. Furthermore, community and cultural influences must be understood and considered by health professionals if such interventions are to succeed.
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Danso, Humphrey. "Use of agricultural waste fibres as enhancement of soil blocks for low-cost housing in Ghana." Thesis, University of Portsmouth, 2016. https://researchportal.port.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/use-of-agricultural-waste-fibres-as-enhancement-of-soil-blocks-for-lowcost-housing-in-ghana(7cfab325-47fb-4174-8d9d-17d39d4b1897).html.
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The work presented in this thesis investigates the properties and internal mechanism of novel soil blocks made with three different agricultural waste fibres in two different soil types. Experiments were conducted and the main variables include: three fibres (bagasse, coconut and oil palm), three soil samples (Brown, Red and Horsea Island), five fibre content (0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75 and 1 wt.%) and five fibre aspect ratios (25, 50, 75, 100 and 125). Tests conducted include density, compressive, tensile, erosion, wearing, SEM, CT scan, optical microscope analysis and pull-out. Initial tests on small cylindrical specimens produced to determine the effect of compaction rate for producing soil blocks on the strength properties found that, although the low rate of compaction achieved slightly better performance characteristics, there was not a statistically significant difference between the soil blocks produced with low and high compaction rates. Investigation on the effect of aspect ratio of the fibres on the mechanical properties of soil blocks revealed that, in general, an increase in fibre aspect ratio has a positive effect (20-25% improvement) on the strength of enhanced soil blocks. Fibre lengths of 50, 80 and 38 mm for coconut, bagasse and oil palm fibres, respectively, produced maximum strength, only bagasse showed an optimum. Another investigation on the properties of soil blocks reinforced with different fibre contents found that, the inclusion of fibres, enhanced the properties of soil blocks (16-57% strength and 20-70% durability improvement), with optimum performance generally at 0.5wt.% fibre content. Furthermore, the high clayey soil performed better in all the properties of the fibre reinforced soil blocks than the low clay soil. The study on the internal mechanism of fibre-soil matrix interaction established that fibres in the soil matrix are randomly distributed with gaps between the fibres and matrix due to fibre shrinkage. It also found that natural fibres in soil matrix can either be pulled out or break under load. In addition, fibres in the soil matrix undergo changes in size when wet and at its natural moisture content state. In general, the work concludes that the fibre reinforced soil blocks are suitable for use as a building material especially for less economically developed (LED) countries, particularly Ghana, because of the abundance and low-cost of the selected fibres.
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N-unkyer, Anglaaere Luke Cyprian. "Improving the sustainability of cocoa farms in Ghana through utilization of native forest trees in agroforestry systems." Thesis, Bangor University, 2005. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/improving-the-sustainability-of-cocoa-farms-in-ghana-through-utilization-of-native-forest-trees-in-agroforestry-systems(2db9c4a0-0a9c-4a66-a2b1-570ccecbf094).html.
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The study investigatedf armers' ecologicalk nowledgea nd managemenrte lating to cocoa aggroforestins the Atwima district of Ghana,w ith the view to selecting and developing the potential of native forest tree species for use as shade in multi-strata cocoa agroforestry systems. More specifically, the study investigate farmers' knowledge about the ecology and managemenot f multi-stratac ocoas ystems,w ith the view to identifying native forest tree species preferred by farmers as shade for cocoa. Based on this preliminary survey of fanner knowledge and preferences, eight indigenous forest tree speciesw ere selectedf or field screening. Field studies involved: (i) assessmenot f their natural distribution in different landuse systems, to determine natural regeneration potential; (ii) evaluation of their phenological patterns and light regimes under their canopies, with the view to determining their suitability for shade provision; (iii) evaluation of growth performance, when planted as shade on cocoa farms; (iv) determination of potential below-ground complementarity in resource use (particularly water) between planted shade and the cocoa, through evaluation of root competitivity indices for the planted species, as well as determination of water use by means of sap flow measurementT. he study also evaluatedm ethodso f seedp re-treatmentt o enhance germinationo f T. letraptera seedsw, hich usually take a long time to germinate. Farmers' knowledge on site selection for cocoa cultivation was based on soil types and biological indicators. Their description of soil types was based on soil texture and colour. Trees, shrubs, and herbaceous species are used as indicators of soil fertility status. Farmers identified over 50 forest tree species and their role in the cocoa farming system. In Eight of these were selected for screening on-farm and on-station. These included: Albizia adianthifolia, Entandrophragma angolense, Entandrophragma utile, Newbouldia laevis, Pericopsis elata, Terminalia ivorensis and Tetrapleura tetraptera. The natural distribution of these species in mature cocoa farms, fallow lands and natural forest was evaluated and their regeneration potential discussed. Results of phenolog&icIa l patterns and crown characteristicso f the shadet ree speciesa re presenteda nd discussedw ith regards to their temporal complementarity in light (PAR and Red/Far Red light) capture. Seed pre-treatment and vegetative propagation techniques for T. tetraptera were investigated, with results indicating a good potential for the use of locally grown Citrusjambhiri Lush. (rough lemon) juice for seed pre-treatment. Auxin (IBA) application on leafy stem cuttings, at concentrations of 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.8% and 1.6% produced good rooting responses, compared to a control (0%), with 0.4% producing the highest response. Growth performance of all the planted species was evaluated over a two-year period, while root structure of, and rates of water uptake by, E. angolense, T. ivorensis and T tetraptera, which appeared to be the most promising species in terms of initial growth performance on the field, were also investigated. The results showed that T ivorensis, which appeared to be more shallow rooting than the others at this age Q years), was drawing more water from the soil than the other two species while T. tetraptera, with its roots oriented more vertically, was using less water than the others. Above-ground biomass, carbon and nutrient content, as well as litterfall, decomposition and nutrient release patterns of a multi-strata cocoa-Gliricidia agroforest are also reported and discussed.
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Tsopanakis, Georgios. "Different aid paradigm or familiar pattern? : a critical study of two technical cooperation projects of JICA in Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2011. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/different-aid-paradigm-or-familiar-pattern-acritical-study-of-two-technical-cooperationprojects-of-jica-in-ghana(ba9fa145-aaa2-4b47-91dd-32e03952e4b7).html.
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Development aid has long been a major policy tool of the discourse and policy practiceof bilateral and multilateral donors alike. Originally used for servicing the reconstructionof post-war economies and the wider geo-political aspirations of the period, moderndevelopment aid was quickly transformed to an ever-growing industry which hasexpanded to the most remote locations of the globe. Large countries and internationalorganisations swiftly set up a variety of specialised agencies, institutes and researchcentres in order to promote their aid programmes and projects to the poor countries ofthe South. The persistent failure of the development industry to achieve substantialresults in the poorest regions of the world has meant that discourse and priority areashave been redirected multiple times according to the trends of every period. However, itis not clear how far development practice actually alters in correspondence with changesin aid discourse. This dissertation provides an empirical study of the relationshipbetween the two in the context of the move to bottom-up 'partnership' discourse andJapan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) development practise in Ghana. During the last ten years Ghana has geared its development policies towards achievingthe Millennium Development Goals and entering the group of countries classified ashaving (lower) middle-income status. Major donor agencies like JICA have gathered inthe country to provide their 'expertise' and to 'assist' Ghana in reaching the targets ofthe Millennium Declaration. Drawing from two JICA case studies of TechnicalCooperation for Capacity Development in Ghana in health and education this thesissheds light on the differences between JICA's aid rhetoric and practice. This studyargues that despite JICA's aid discourse for a 'demand-driven', 'relevant' and'participatory' aid understanding, its implementation practice contradicts the substantivenormative meanings of these terms and is instead reticent of the past orthodox and 'topdown'aid practices of big donor countries and organisations.
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Adam, Mohammed Amin. "Oil boom, fiscal policy and economic development : a computable general equilibrium analysis of the role of alternative fiscal rules in Ghana's emerging petroleum economy." Thesis, University of Dundee, 2014. https://discovery.dundee.ac.uk/en/studentTheses/a96d44d7-e4cb-4eb5-9bcc-b3d2033737e9.
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The objectives of the study are to assess the fiscal sustainability and development impacts of Ghana’s fiscal rule for allocating petroleum revenues to the annual budget against alternative fiscal rules - the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Fiscal sustainability is measured by government long-term fiscal space in proportion to non-oil GDP, whilst development impacts are measured through a dynamic CGE model of Ghana. Generally, the study makes four important findings on how fiscal policy triggered by the inflow of new petroleum revenues could affect the long-term fiscal sustainability and growth of the economy. One, Ghana’s fiscal rule is neither fiscally sustainable nor provide higher impacts of petroleum revenues on economic development relative to the permanent income and the bird-in-hand rules. Two, fiscal sustainability does not necessarily lead to greater development outcomes. The bird-in-hand rule is the most fiscally sustainable, but the permanent income rule provides higher development outcomes and can move Ghana’s transformation towards a full middle income status. Three, institutional quality in a country could lead to efficiency gains in government spending. Four, efficiency in government spending could improve on development outcomes. Ghana could therefore benefit from its petroleum revenues by adopting the permanent income rule; and with temporary petroleum revenues, the focus of the country should be on current investment of petroleum revenues in building the country’s asset base to support short-term and long-term growth of the economy. However, this should be complemented with strengthening the quality of institutional arrangements to enhance efficiency in government spending.
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Clarke, Jemima. "The everyday lived experiences of faith and development : an ethnographic study of the Christian faith community in Ayigya, Ghana." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2016. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-everyday-lived-experiences-of-faith-and-development-an-ethnographic-study-of-the-christian-faith-community-in-ayigya-ghana(6fffa0e5-3880-43eb-b99c-9052fd015ff7).html.
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After decades of marginalisation, there is a resounding assertion that 'faith matters' in development. A growing body of evidence suggests that religion promotes developmental values of social justice, equity, and compassion for the poor, it shapes people's identities and is an important source of welfare provision. Nevertheless, studies on faith and development have been restricted to the instrumental approach; a developmentalised version of religion which biases faith based organisations and other formalised organisations that conform to the mainstream development agenda. This thesis departs from the instrumentalisation of faith to a lived religion approach and sees development as 'inherent' in what religions do. It explores how a Christian faith community (CFC) in Ayigya, Ghana lives and experiences its faith in the everyday. It considers how these experiences shape and construct both the wellbeing aspirations and achievements of the CFC. The research adopts an ethnographic methodology to investigate the wellbeing experiences of the CFC. This consisted of the profiling of the CFC, qualitative interviewing (in-depth, semi structured, conversational and focus group discussions), participant observation and faith dairies. This study finds that the CFC offers a rich associational life for its members; one that constructs what wellbeing is and one that contributes significantly to how wellbeing is achieved. As such, for many the CFC has replaced the role of the state in social service delivery and welfare provision. The CFC provides a compelling wellbeing narrative that is congruent with both traditional norms and values and modern neoliberal discourses, that shapes the wellbeing aspirations of its members. The CFC also supplies its members with a social and spiritual capital, but most pertinently a divine agency to translate these wellbeing aspirations into achievements. This study contributes to the alternative development literature; it proposes that a lived religion and multidimensional subjective wellbeing approach is well suited to understanding the complex processes involved in the wellbeing narratives of faith communities in the global South.
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Afrifah, Michelle. "Diaspora tourism and homeland development : exploring the impacts of African American tourists on the livelihoods of local traders in southern Ghana." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2014. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/diaspora-tourism-and-homeland-development(577df549-2dac-4af2-becf-d97f1ca90096).html.
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The value of Diasporas to homeland development is a key research area in tourism development literature. The African Diaspora has been contributing to homeland development in a number of ways, but especially as tourists. Tourism research on sub-Saharan Africa has focused little on the supply side issues such as the nature and impact of African American tourists’ spending behaviour whilst holidaying in the continent. This is important because it is of great concern in tourism development literature whether vulnerable people such as local craft traders receive a livable share of visitor spending. So using the concept of Diaspora relations and homeland development as a platform, the thesis assesses the benefits of African American tourists’ expenditure on the livelihoods of local craft traders in several tourist sites in southern Ghana, whilst also examining the impacts of tour operators who manage these tourists on their expenditure patterns. The study found that though African American tourists provide a significant input into traders’ total incomes, their market alone does not provide traders with a survivable or livable income. They do not spend enough to provide the sole source of traders’ incomes. Tourist expenditure on handicrafts such as beads and fabrics, although infrequent, was nonetheless a key source of income for craftsmen and has enabled them to sustain themselves, their homes, their businesses and their families. The study also traces the commodity chain involved in the production of one particular handicraft, beaded crafts, providing insights into the global and local factors which influence who benefits from their production and trade before they reach the final point of sale to tourists. Beaded crafts are heavily patronized by Diaspora tourists. Sales from these were found not only to benefit larger scale businesses but also to reach smaller one-man businesses, helping them to sustain themselves. As the beaded craft industry is international and sources many of its beads from China as well as other sub-Saharan African markets, tourist expenditure in Ghana is also aiding bead sellers and manufacturers in neighboring African countries.
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Obiri, Beatrice Darko. "Improving fallow productivity in the forest and forest-savanna transition of Ghana : a socio-economic analysis of livelihoods and technologies." Thesis, Bangor University, 2003. https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/improving-fallow-productivity-in-the-forest-and-forestsavanna-transition-of-ghana--a-socioeconomic-analysis-of-livelihoods-and-technologies(421000d8-39ca-4fc4-8103-54a988d3d0a6).html.
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Rotational bush fallowing, the dominant agricultural land-use practice in Ghana is no longer sustainable as fallow periods have declined from over 10 to five or less years mainly due to increased population pressure on land, along with inter alia drought and rampant wild fires. Managed fallows have in recent times been useful in improving short fallow productivity in many parts of the tropics including Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). However, adoption of agricultural innovation by smallholders has often been poor. This is attributed to the inappropriateness of sound scientific breakthroughs to the complex socio-cultural and economic conditions that characterize rural livelihoods in the SSA. This study forms part of a bigger project that tested and developed managed fallow technologies in a participatory manner in three villages, Gogoikrom, Subriso III and Yabraso in the Atwima, Tano and Wenchi Districts of Ghana respectively. It involves a socio-economic analysis of livelihoods of farmers and their involvement in the development of the technologies to complement bio-physical aspects to ensure that technologies developed suit the socio-cultural, tenurial and economic circumstances of farmers and are adoptable by the farmers. PRA tools, mainly key informant, group and semi-structured interviews as well as structured questionnaire interviews of 242 households, were employed in collecting data to characterize the livelihoods of the people in the study villages. This guided the identification of suitable fallow improvement interventions and possible domains for their uptake. The data were analyzed descriptively and complemented with a regression analysis and analysis of variance to describe the infra and inter-village similarities and differences. Input-output data on crop, livestock and off farm enterprises were collected and analyzed to estimate farmers' financial resource capacity. Primary and secondary economic data on the technologies were gathered and analyzed through ex-ante cost benefit analysis to assess the profitability of the technologies. A chi-squared analysis was carried out to identify the determinants of adoption of the technologies. Community perceptions of the performance of the technologies and adoption potential were assessed and verified with a survey of 99 non-participating farmers. Farmer indicators were developed for evaluating the performance and the design of the experiments by participating farmers. Technology expansion and diffusion of knowledge gained by the experimenters were also assessed. The study area is characterized by two main classes of farmers, natives (indigenous landowners) and settlers (mainly tenants) whose livelihoods rely largely on the management of natural fallow rotations for the cultivation of a range of crops, i. e. maize, plantain, rice and cocoa for Gogoikrom; maize, plantain, cassava, groundnuts, tomato and pepper for Subriso; and maize, yam, groundnuts and pepper for Yabraso. However, fallow periods have declined and numerous associated problems of which poor soils, high weed pressure, poor yields and low farm incomes are paramount. Four interventions, namely: maize-legume relay suitable for all three districts; plantain-legume for Atwima and Tano; and cocoa-shade tree for Atwima and planted tree fallow for Wenchi were identified for on-farm experimentation after a series of ranking and discussion of interventions proposed at a stakeholder workshop to address the short fallow constraints. The interventions were experimented with farmers over two seasons. Farmers' assessment of the technologies over the two seasons revealed that the weed suppression and moisture conservation or retention potential of the maize-legume relay had been realized, V while they anticipated improved maize yields and a reduction in labour for land preparation in subsequent years. The major limitation to the use of this technology identified during a monitoring process was labour for weeding before and after relaying the legume to facilitate growth and spread. The labour constraint for relaying the legume can be addressed by targeting this activity to coincide with the first or second weeding as appropriate to the fanner. The weeding after the legume relay is a necessity where weed pressure is high as this may retard legume biomass productivity. The potential effects of the plantain-legume, cocoa-shade tree and planted tree fallow are likely to be realized in the long-term. However, farmers were hopeful that these technologies would address their respective targeted problems based on their judgments of the performance of the technologies at the time. The ex-ante economic assessment of the farmer experiments yielded higher gross margins, returns to labour, B/C ratios, NPV, LEV and IRR than the alternative options in the absence of the technologies but were sensitive to reductions in prices and yields. However, tenure, age and gender differences may be important in technology adoption. Although all the main community groupings participated in technology development it was observed that male tenants and landowners are potential adopters of the most preferred cocoa-shade tree technology in Gogoikrom-Atwima while in Subriso-Tano, middle-old aged, landowner men are potential adopters of the maize-legume relay and plantain-legume technologies. Native landowners including women are the potential adopters of the maize-legume and planted tree fallow technologies in Yabraso-Wenchi. The participatory technology development process was documented. It was observed that while the process was interactive, enlightening both farmers and scientists, farmers need to be encouraged to take greater control to enhance innovativeness and reduce research cost. Improving fallow productivity should be a national concern, as it has a wider implication on the livelihoods of rural people and that of the economy of the country. The majority of the producers that are directly involved in crop production may be tenants who are unlikely to improve soil productivity due to tenure restrictions. Government policies that encourage landowners to adopt fallow improvement technologies are required. Policies encouraging education, training or extension of improved fallow techniques are useful. Likewise, participatory policy research for improving traditional tenure systems to encourage sustainable land improvement need consideration. Policies that ensure stability in prices of agricultural commodities will improve farm income gained from improved fallow productivity and encourage the adoption of fallow techniques.
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Di, Lorenzo Fabiana. "All is quiet on the partnerships front : scrutinising power dynamics in cocoa partnerships and their effects on child rights advancement in Ghana." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2014. https://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/all-is-quiet-on-the-partnerships-front-(afaf4724-b2fd-4e3e-87e8-24b9bdafc4d4).html.
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This research looks at public private partnerships in Ghana and their role in promoting legal compliance with child rights by guaranteeing efficiency and enforcement. Child rights face a number of obstacles when being enforced in Africa. The causes of poor legal compliance are three-fold: legal transplants as well as exogenous and endogenous causes of poverty. Partnerships among civil society, governments, international organisations and companies try to offer a solution to poor legal advancement, by implementing projects which affect the enforcement and efficiency of child rights. This research is intended to contribute to the literature which already exists in relation to partnerships and human rights, and make a strong contribution to the existing reflections on the role of partnerships in human rights advancement. Given cocoa partnerships have a long and established history, I decided to use them as case study. The conclusions derive from my field research which involved conducting interviews with chocolate and cocoa companies, NGOs, trade unions and public organisations in the UK, USA, Switzerland and Ghana. Existing literature on human rights and partnerships tends to provide only a surfaced limited analysis of partnerships. It rests on the claim that multinationals have enormous power and thus prevail in partnerships, ultimately favouring the privatisation of human rights. It seemed important, therefore, to explore in depth the power dynamics between businesses, public organisations and civil society organisations in order to properly understand what has become one of the most popular institutional organisations for the advancement of human rights.
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Bukari, Zakaria Hamza Zakaria. "Performance management and local government administration in Ghana : the case of the District Development Facility and the Functional Organisational Assessment Tool." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2014. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/performance-management-and-local-government-administration-in-ghana-the-case-of-the-district-development-facility-and-the-functional-organisational-assessment-tool(1f70942d-902a-44e5-bacd-4b87f6fced05).html.
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For the past two decades, interest in the performance of local governments has become high in public management. The wave of performance consciousness has thus far diffused from developed countries to developing countries where decreasing public confidence and trust in government has made the implementation of performance management policies a way of improving public perception of government performance. Meanwhile, the implementation of such policies is often based on untested assumptions some of which constitute gaps in the literature. For instance, it is understood that performance management systems enable public organisations that provide services to satisfy citizens’ demand for services. It is also assumed that mechanisms for managing organisational performance recognise and address the interests of multiple stakeholders in an organisational environment and that once performance management systems generate performance information, decision makers are likely to use that information to advance the goals of their organisations. This study explores these assertions by investigating performance management practices of local government authorities in Ghana. It sets out to understand how local governments manage organisational performance and what shapes their performance. It also examines the scope of a performance enhancing policy to determine whether it addresses multiple perspectives of organisational performance and the extent to which local government managers use performance information to improve service delivery. The study adopts a qualitative research approach by using data from interviews, focus group discussions, observations and documents to construct and interpret research findings. This research identified internal and external mechanisms for managing local government performance and found that central-local government relations allows the former to influence the latter’s priorities by imposing on them, the national development policy, in ways that define development planning, performance reporting and local government controls. Following Kaplan and Norton (1992), a Balanced Score Card framework was used to examine the scope of performance indicators used to assess the performance of local governments under the District Development Facility. The findings reveal that performance indicators tend to be skewed towards financial and internal organisational aspects of performance rather than incorporating citizens’ views about local government performance or promoting organisational learning, innovation and accountability. The findings offer insights for re-examining multiple principal-agent relationships at the local government level where the assessment of local government performance excludes the opinions of local residents and affects local governments’ accountability to citizens. Although developing a culture of performance emerged as a key factor for improving local government performance, the findings revealed that the use of performance information by local government managers to make decisions on service delivery depends on the importance of performance information, their commitment to central government’s priorities, reporting requirements of externally funded projects and public service motivation. This study concludes that the utilisation of performance information to improve service delivery is necessary but not sufficient without adopting an all-inclusive, citizen-centred approach woven into the formulation, implementation and evaluation of performance management systems in a developing country context.
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Amissah, Patrick. "Justice and righteousness in the prophecy of Amos and their relevance to issues of contemporary social justice in the church in Ghana." Thesis, King's College London (University of London), 2013. http://kclpure.kcl.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/justice-and-righteousness-in-the-prophecy-of-amos-and-their-relevance-to-issues-of-contemporary-social-justice-in-the-church-in-ghana(82ab7101-f58f-446d-8e30-5fbe3219ed85).html.
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The study identifies social justice themes in the prophecy of Amos and investigates how these themes fit into social justice in the wider Biblical context and the context of the ancient Near Eastern societies. Following from this, the research examines how the principles in Amos' call for 'justice and righteousness' can be applied to issues of contemporary social justice in the Ghanaian Church. The question guiding the research is: To what extent are the social justice values in Amos and the Hebrew Bible in general relevant to the promotion of social justice by the church in Ghana? In searching for the answer, the study investigates: the relationship between justice and righteousness (social justice principles) in Amos and those elsewhere in biblical and ancient Near Eastern texts; contemporary views on social justice and the relevance of social justice in the prophecy of Amos to the Ghanaian church in its quest to promote social justice. The main method of the study is active transpositional hermeneutics which helps to interpret the social actions of the church in Ghana in the light of the social justice principle in Amos and the Hebrew Bible. It also employs literary and comparative analysis of the biblical and the ancient Near Eastern text. The study analysis the selected social justice themes in Amos and how the Ghanaian translations of the Bible present them. Empirical data from policy documents of ecumenical Christian bodies in Ghana and also from interviews with key figures in selected churches is analysed in the light of the principle of social justice in Amos to ascertain how the church in Ghana is achieving its quest to eliminate social injustice. The study aims to find out whether or not the social action programmes of the church in Ghana are motivated by the biblical principles of justice and righteousness and that the execution of these social action programmes are beneficial to the poor, needy and vulnerable members of the Ghanaian society.
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Wiking, Sofia. "From Slave Wife of the Gods to " ke te pam tem eng". Trokosi seen through the Eyes of the Participants." Thesis, Malmö högskola, Lärarutbildningen (LUT), 2009. http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:mau:diva-28419.
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AbstractThis final essay in religious studies at Malmö Lärarutbildningen (Teacher’s education) is a minor field study (MFS) carried out in Ghana about Trokosi. Trokosi is a tradition, system and practice where young girls are given to village shrine priests as sexual and domestic slaves, or "wives of the gods", in compensation for offenses allegedly committed by a member of the girl's family. My main research question has been: What are the thoughts of the victims as well as the rescuers of Trokosi thoughts about the Trokosi tradition, system and practice? The thesis is based on a minor field study, observations and interviews. I observed the work at International Needs Network Ghana (INNG) and their work with Trokosi mainly focusing on the International Needs Vocational Training Centre (INVTC). At INVTC former Trokosi get the opportunity of becoming independence and self-sufficient - ke te pam tem eng. In this essay I have interviewed two opponents to Trokosi, in this essay called the rescuers, as well as one victim of Trokosi. In my interviews, the only person who criticized the theory and the religion behind Trokosi was the victim, a person who was born into this belief system. INNG’s critics are not about the theory behind Trokosi but how it is practised. Applying of feminist perspective this thesis focuses religious and cultural practices, in this case Trokosi, as a part of a larger system that is limiting women’s lives. In addition, post colonial theory may contribute to the analysis of “third world women’s own struggle and aspiration for independence. There are different views and perspectives on Trokosi and despite Ghana’s constitution and other documents that forbid this type of practice it is still vital. This indicates that there are more factors to consider. For instance overall patriarchal structures and post colonial experiences. Information and education is essential for the transformation of Trokosi in order to favour women’s right especially in the fields of human- and women’s rights.
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Pace, Andrew Ross. "Participating in the musical tradition of prejjem : transmitting the guitar culture of għana within and between insular musical communities of islanders in Malta and the Maltese-Australian diaspora." Thesis, University of Manchester, 2015. https://www.research.manchester.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/participating-in-the-musical-tradition-of-prejjem-transmitting-the-guitar-culture-of-gana-within-and-between-insular-musical-communities-of-islanders-in-malta-and-the-malteseaustralian-diaspora(1e4bf33d-1c5c-4566-9b75-35f3e8292bc9).html.
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Prejjem is a style of guitar music that is practiced in the Maltese islands and its diaspora as part of the għana folksinging tradition. Although għana has been studied by a number of ethnomusicologists, anthropologists, sociologists and linguists, its guitar aspect has been almost entirely overlooked by academia. Emerging in Malta over a century ago, prejjem is analogous to the guitar component of flamenco or fado. It, too, is a complex improvised guitar tradition that serves to accompany and complement a vocal tradition and which simultaneously exists as a separate instrumental ensemble practice. Guitarists maintain a close-knit association with the għana community, but they also engage in a set of activities and behaviours with one another that are unique to their position within it. In this thesis, I examine both the social and musical attributes of prejjem and its communities of guitarists, employing a range of methodologies and theories drawn from a number of disciplines to reveal the totality of the practice as it exists in Malta and its diaspora (specifically Australia). Drawing extensively upon ethnographic fieldwork research that I have undertaken in Malta and Australia, I explore the material culture of prejjem, its musical forms, its history, its performance environments, the sociability of its participants and the means by which performers develop musical ability. These topics are bound together as a holistic investigation into how knowledge about prejjem exists in the għana community, how social factors shape the forms of this knowledge and, most importantly, how this knowledge is transmitted and transformed as it passes between members of this community.