Academic literature on the topic 'Sefwi (Ghana)'

The Divisions of Sefwi Wiawso, Sefwi Bekwai, and Sefwi Anwhiaso in the Western Frontier District of the Gold Caost were brought within the operations of the Native Jurisdiction Ordinance (1883) under the ‘Headchief of Sefwi Wiawso in 1909.’ They were administered from the Ankobra District until 1911 when an increase in the number of Assistant District Commissioners permitted the appointment of a Commissioner to the Western Frontier District. The headquarters of the Western Frontier District were at Amoya, a very small town near the Bia River and the Ivory Coast border. Three years later, however, in 1914, the Sefwi District was created and new headquarters established in the old capital of Sefwi Wiawso, the town of Wiawso perched on the top of a steep hill and not far from the important ferry crossing of the Tano River. The Sefwi Wiawso Native Tribunal was first established at this date. A few years later Native Tribunals were also established at Sefwi Bekwai and Sefwi Anwhiaso. The present court rooms in Wiawso were built in 1927/28 and the court records for Sefwi Wiawso to which I had access date from this time.The court records had been deposited (in 1970) on the floor and shelves of a storeroom at the back of what is now the District Magistrate's Court in Wiawso. Some of the earlier volumes seemed to be missing and many were in bad repair. I did my best to rebind these before returning them to the store.

The cocoa industry in Ghana is plagued with a number of challenges. Among such challenges is the issue of insecurity. This notwithstanding, there are limited scholarly findings on the nature and the underlying factors associated with these insecurity issues. This paper examined the cocoa industry in the Sefwi Akontombra District in the Western Region of Ghana and presents an analysis of the processes and procedures for cocoa purchasing in the district; the securityarrangements and mechanisms put in place during cocoa purchasing peak periods; the nature of access roads in cocoa growing areas in the district; and the influence of access roads on the insecurity of cocoa purchasing in the district. The study adopted a qualitative research approach and using a cross sectional study design, the case of OLAM Ghana Limited, a private licensed cocoa buying company operating in Sefwi Akontombra was examined. Primary data were gathered from purchasing clerks, drivers, warehouse keepers and officials of the company. Data from the District Command of the Ghana Police Service and the Department of Feeder Roads district office were solicited using interview guides. Non-participant observation and taking of photography were also employed as data capturing mechanism during the study. The study espoused content analysis in analysing the contents of the interviews and observational field notes in order to identify the main themes that emerge from the responses given by the respondents or the observation notes made. Inferences and implications were drawn then drawn from the analysis. The study found out that there was no security measure by OLAM Ghana Limited to ensure the safety of funds meant for cocoa buying, the storage and the transportation of cocoa beans in the study district. There was also no security arrangement during peak cocoa purchasing periods in the study district by key stakeholders within the cocoa sector in the district. Moreover, access road was further found out to be a major factor that accounts for some of the insecurity issues associated with cocoa purchasing activities in the Sefwi Akontombra District. The study thus recommends the development and adoption of security arrangements and mechanism by all stakeholders within the cocoa industry in the study district and the making of security issues a top priority by OLAM Ghana Limited.

Background. There is a dearth of information about the burden of cardiometabolic risk factors among the Ghanaian health workforce in the Western Region. This study sought to determine the prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors among healthcare workers at the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital in the Western Region of Ghana.Materials and Methods. A hospital-based cross-sectional study involving 112 employees of the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital was conducted. The cardiometabolic risk variables assessed were obesity, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, and diabetes. Sociodemographic parameters were also captured. The prevalence of hypertension and obesity was determined using the JNC VII panel and WHO BMI criteria for obesity classifications. Blood lipids and glucose concentrations were evaluated using standard methods.Results. The prevalence of hypertension and prehypertension was 16.07% and 52.68%, respectively. About 38.39% of participants were overweight, and 12.50% were obese. Atherogenic dyslipidaemia was 26.79%, whereas prediabetes glycaemic levels and diabetes incidence were 5.41% and 4.50%, respectively. Fifty percent (50.00%) of participants presented at least one cardiometabolic risk factor. Aging and adiposity were associated with increasing cardiometabolic risk.Conclusion. Cardiometabolic risk factors are prevalent among healthcare providers in Sefwi-Wiawso. The cardiometabolic dysregulation observed among this cohort of healthcare professionals may be modulated by age and adiposity.

This study analyses factors that influence fertilizer use among cocoa farmers in the Sefwi Wiawso District in the Western Region, Ghana. Primary data were obtained from 200 cocoa farmers in the district. Descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression analysis were used to analyse data collected. The results revealed that majority of the cocoa farmers were males and are getting old. Also farm size and price of fertilizer were significant factors affecting fertilizer use among cocoa farmers in the Sefwi Wiawso District in the Western Region. Moreover 74.5 percent farmers do not use fertilizer whereas 25.5 percent use fertilizer on their cocoa farms. The study recommends that Ghana government should further subsidise the price of fertilizer to make fertilizer more affordable to small holder cocoa farmers and also adopt strategies that hedge against price risk. In addition, illiterate farmers should be encouraged to undergo adult literacy programmes. Rural development policies should think about the importance of improving small-scale farmers? access to credit market. Furthermore, the extension unit of the Ghana Cocoa board and Ministry of Agriculture should be strengthened to educate cocoa farmers more on fertilizer usage. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/ije.v3i1.9939 International Journal of Environment Vol.3(1) 2014: 22-31

Forests provide immeasurable merits for the economies of most developing countries. Forests in developing countries experience harmful human-induced impacts such as unregulated removal of biodiversity and unsustainable land conversion. The Sefwi Wiawso District (SWD) located in Ghana, which includes portions of six protected forest reserves (FRs) such as Muro, Tano Suhien, Tano Suraw, Suhuma, Sui River, and Krokosua, is the subject of this study. The impacts of selected spatial variables on forest losses were examined using retrospective and predictive approaches. Past deforestation patterns were analyzed using classified Landsat 5 and 7 imagery from 1984 to 2017. Pixel areas in hectares (ha) from land use land cover (LULC) classifications were used to detect land cover classes that were vulnerable to potential loss. The study also carried out a simple forest prediction using the simple moving averages (SMA) forecasting model based on the past and present deforestation patterns from LULC classification. The results showed that 3587.49 hectares (ha) of protected forest cover was converted into agricultural lands and barelands. In addition, 2532.96 hectares (ha) was converted from close forest to nonforest land cover from 2000 to 2017, which is equivalent to a 16% reduction in close forest cover within the FRs in the SWD. This loss was also 11% higher than close forest areas between 2000 and 2010. SMA forecasting showed that from 2017 to 2024, 877.38 hectares (ha) of close forest resources will convert to open forest resources and other nonforest land cover. Subtle accessibility routes such as navigable rivers and unofficial roads are the key instigators of protected forest clearance in the Sefwi Wiawso Forest District (SWFD). The SWFD is surrounded by many communities and is susceptible to uncontrollable biodiversity removal due to lack of proper monitoring of agricultural practices, mining operations, fuelwood collection, and illegal hunting, which represents a means of livelihood for the forest fringe community dwellers. The research serves as a benchmark for similar studies in efforts to investigate, measure, and project land cover change in protected forest areas.

This study aim is to explore owners of small enterprises' appreciation of bank’s role in developing their businesses and the challenges that come along in accessing banking services in the context of Sefwi-Bekwai which is a rural community. Questionnaires were used to solicit information from the owners while descriptive statistics aided the data analysis. The study found that the main source of start-up capital is the owner’s funds whiles saving was recorded as the key benefit of banking. It further revealed that the high-interest rate charged was a barrier in accessing loans and the effect of bank relations was sound financial management for the SME’s operations. The paper suggests the need for small enterprise owners in the rural communities to form an association for their benefit in terms of taking advantage of group lending and demanding support and relief from relevant authorities. Improved institutional support would also give small enterprises better access to the information they need for financing and growth.

Background: Malaria cases continue to rise despite sustained efforts directed at eliminating the burden among Ghanaians. This study was aimed at describing the spectrum of malaria burden in a four-year (2013-2016) retrospective review among clients seeking care at the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital in the Western Region of Ghana. Materials and Methods: The study analyzed secondary data extracted on 32,629 patients who were referred to the Laboratory for malaria testing from January 2013 to December 2016. Socio-demographic data included age and gender, department of test requisition and malaria results were obtained from the archived Daily Malaria Logbook records. Approval for the study was granted by the authorities of the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipal Hospital. Results: The overall confirmed malaria case was 8629 (26.5%), among under five 1,384 (58.7%), pregnant women 4451 (20.3%) and 14.1% among asymptomatic population. Significant gender disparity in the confirmation of suspected malaria cases was observed with males recording higher rate (45.8%) than females (36.7%). The peak of the malaria epidemic was observed in the wet season (195 cases per month), compared to the dry season (133 cases per month). Conclusion: Cases of malaria is increasing with high rates among vulnerable groups in the Western Region. There is the need to intensify efforts to reduce the burden in the study area especially among vulnerable groups.

The dissertation aims to provide an understanding of the relation between political-economic power and the attribution of social value in twentieth-century Sefwi (Ghana). The existing literature on relations of dominance amongst the Akan has flaws: works examine single relations of dominance in isolation; studies focus mostly on discontinuity and change; peripheral areas are neglected. In the dissertation these issues are addressed. Hierarchy is used as an analytical tool which enables one to link diverse expressions of dominance; the persistence of certain hierarchical patterns throughout the twentieth century is analysed alongside transformations; and the focus is on Sefwi, a marginal region of the Akan world. The dissertation is divided into five sections. The introduction presents the methodological and theoretical approach adopted in the work. Part one is concerned with change in hierarchical patterns: twentieth-century dynamics are analysed to determine the extent of change with reference to chiefly power, capitalist.relations and gender issues. Part two shows that unequal relations inform three hierarchical domains -ancestry, gender and seniority. Part three addresses the issue of the coherence and unity of hierarchy by examining modes of organization of experience that cut across the three domains of inequality: reference is made to the use of kinship terms; concepts of ownership, caretakership and help; recourse to the supernatural; food and drink transactions. In the conclusion, Sefwi hierarchy is examined in a wider comparative and theoretical perspective with reference to the notions of 'encompassing of the contrary' (Dumont) and 'fetishization' (Marx).

Cette thèse s'intéresse à un segment de croûte d'âge Paléoprotérozoïque du craton ouest-africain. Les roches de la zone d'étude comprennent des roches volcaniques et volcanoclastiques mafiques à felsiques, des paragneiss de haut grade métamorphique et des ensembles volcano-sédimentaires faiblement métamorphisés. De nouvelles cartes lithologiques, métamorphiques et structurales sont construites à l'aide d'une approche intégrée, couplant cartographie de terrain et interprétation des données géophysiques aéroportées à l'échelle régionale. L'analyse des données géochimiques et géochronologiques des suites magmatiques de la ceinture de roches vertes de Sefwi révèle une affinité marquée avec le magmatisme calco- alcalin, produit des arcs volcaniques modernes et avec les TTGs d'âge Néoarchéen, impliquant une certaine diversité des sources et des processus pétrogénétiques. Des coeurs de zircons hérités, présents au sein de la suite magmatique livrent des âges autour de ca. 2250 à 2270 Ma. Leurs couronnes révèlent des âges de mise en place compris entre ca. 2189 et 2081 Ma. L'analyses Lu-Hf sur zircon livre des valeurs eHf positives et des âges modèles pour la croûtes situés entre 2650 et 2250 Ma. Ces valeurs indiquent l'existence d'une proto-croûte à tendance radiogènique et des temps de séjour limités pour ces magmas évoluant au sein de cette proto-croûte. L'évolution des magmas montre qu'ils ont été générés de façon concomitante, vers 2155 Ma, certains dérivants de la fusion d'une source mafique faiblement enrichit en potassium et formant des magmas sodiques, riches en silice, de type TTGs, d'autres de composition plus dioritiques, générés à partir de la fusion du manteau métasomatisé et enrichit en LILE. La mise en place plus tard vers ca. 2136 Ma de monzonites, présentant de teneurs élevées en potassium, soutient l'hypothèse d'une interaction avec des magmas de refusion de TTG existants au sein de la croûte. Le dernier stade du magmatisme est caractérisé par la mise en place de granites à deux micas et de leucogranites, le long de la marge nord-ouest de la ceinture de roches vertes vers ca. 2092 et 2081 Ma, marquant le stade de la collision au sein de l'orogène Eburnéenne. L'évènement tectono-métamorphique d'âge Eburnéen est caractérisé par un métamorphisme initialement de faciès amphibolite de haute pression, associé à un gradient géothermique assez froid (HP-MT, ~ 15-17 ° C / km). Le raccourcissement D1, orienté NNO-SSE, a généré une foliation pénétrative (S1), parallèle au litage des roches et des plans de chevauchement à tendance décrochant, orienté E-W. Cette tectonique précoce a provoquée l'enfouissement de roches supra-crustales (sédiments, roches volcaniques) et un épaississement de la croûte. Cet évènement métamorphique précoce évolue dans le temps et l'espace vers le facies amphibolite-granulite et l'anatexie. Les données SHRIMP U-Pb in-situ sur monazite livré des âges autour de ca. 2073 Ma. Ces monazites sont présentes au sein de paragénèses métamorphiques (D2) soulignant la foliation S2. Ces âges sont interprétés comme marquant le début de l'exhumation et du refroidissement de la croûte inférieure. Des détachements normaux, orientés NNE-SSO et des structures constrictives se sont formés conjointement au sein d'un régime de déformation D2 globalement transtensif, à jeux sénestre. Un régime compressif plus tardif (D3) a ensuite causé une réactivation en mouvement dextre de ces structures cisaillantes orientées NE-SO avec une rétrogression en schistes verts. Nous proposons que les segments de croute juvénile ont été générés en contexte d'arc intra-océanique, associé à un magmatisme intense et varié, issus des processus de subduction qui prendront fin lors des stades d'accrétion et de collision de ces segments d'autres terranes birimiens. La marge nord-ouest de la ceinture de roches vertes de Sefwi est interprétée comme une zone de suture entre des segments d'arc originellement séparés
This thesis investigates the Palaeoproterozoic crust of the West African Craton in southwest Ghana, providing insight into its controversial geodynamic and tectonic evolution. Rocks of the study area comprise greenschist- to amphibolite facies, mafic to felsic volcanic and volcaniclastic rocks, high-grade paragneisses and low-grade volcano-sedimentary packages, all of which are extensively intruded by multiple generations of granitoids. New lithological, metamorphic and structural maps are constructed using integrated field mapping and interpretation of regional airborne geophysical datasets. This approach is used to constrain the deformation history of the sparsely exposed rocks of the NE- to NNE-striking Sefwi Greenstone Belt and the adjacent volcano-sedimentary domains deformed during the Eburnean Orogeny (2150-2070 Ma). Combined geochemical and geochronological analysis of the magmatic suites of the Sefwi Greenstone Belt reveal calc-alkaline, volcanic arc affinities, as well as a striking similarity to Neoarchean TTGs that require diverse magma sources and petrogenetic processes. Rare inherited zircon cores from the Palaeoproterozoic magmatic suite yield ages of ca. 2250 to 2270 Ma, with granitoid emplacement ages ranging between ca. 2189 and 2081 Ma. Zircon Lu-Hf analysis reveals consistently positive eHf(t) values and two-stage crustal model ages between 2650 and 2250 Ma, indicative of a radiogenic proto-crust and short crustal residence times. The magmatic evolution reveals the coeval generation of sodic, high-silica TTGs derived from partial melting of low-K mafic sources and dioritic magmas generated in a metasomatised, LILE-enriched mantle wedge at ca. 2155 Ma. Subsequent emplacement of high-K quartz monzonites at ca. 2136 Ma supports the interaction of mantle-derived magmas and remelting of existing TTGs. The final stage of magmatism is characterised by the emplacement of two-mica-granites and leucogranites along the NW margin of the Sefwi Greenstone Belt between ca. 2092 and 2081 Ma, interpreted as a terminal collisional event during the Eburnean Orogeny. Eburnean metamorphism and deformation is characterised in the study area by initial high-pressure amphibolite facies metamorphism corresponding with low apparent geothermal gradients (HP-MT, ~15-17°C/km). D1 NNW-SSE shortening generated a ubiquitous bedding-parallel foliation (S1) and ~E-W striking thrust faults, resulting in the burial of supracrustal rocks and crustal thickening. In the high-grade terrane, subsequent amphibolite-granulite facies metamorphism is associated with anatexis. In-situ SHRIMP U-Pb monazite ages at ca. 2073 Ma, hosted within, D2 mineral assemblages, are interpreted as the initial timing of cooling and exhumation, significantly later than paroxysmal metamorphism in NW Ghana and central Ivory Coast (2150-2130 Ma). NNE-striking normal detachments and constrictional deformation structures formed during sinistral ENW-WSW transtension (D2), during which segments of the middle- and lower crust were juxtaposed with low-grade domains. Subsequent E-W directed shortening (D3) caused the dextral re- activation of NE-SW striking shear zones, associated with a localised greenschist facies metamorphic overprint. We propose that the juvenile crust of southwest Ghana was generated in an intra-oceanic arc setting, associated with diverse and intense subduction-related magmatism until subsequent terrane accretion and collision. The north-western margin of the Sefwi Greenstone Belt in interpreted as a suture between the separate arc terranes, diachronously accreted during the Eburnean Orogeny. The Palaeoproterozoic crust of the southern portion of the West African Craton represents a juvenile crustal growth event, recording the unique geodynamic and orogenic processes associated with nascent subduction-related plate tectonics in the early Earth