The OGUAA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES (JOSS) is a publication by the faculty of Social Sciences, University of Cape Coast. The Journal aims to promote a high level of intellectual scholalrship at both individual and collective levels. To this end, JOSS provides space for articles , proceedings of seminars, symposia and workshops, book reviews as well as disucssion od topical issues of national/ international significance. All papers have relevance to the subject matters of the social sciences.
Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Cape Coast
Civil society organisations, conflict prevention and peacebuilding in Northern Ghana
The complexity of contemporary violent conflicts requires a shift from the traditional notion that preventing conflicts and building peace reside within governments to include the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs). Using a qualitative research design with 20 in-depth interviews conducted with representatives of CSOs in northern Ghana, the study reveals three broad categories of CSOs namely Faith-Based Organisations (FBOs), Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) performing conflict prevention and peacebuilding roles. These CSOs respond constructively to conflict using dialogue and mediation in different ways by using multiple instruments such as early warning systems and peace education for conflict prevention and peacebuilding. The study shows that, unlike the state, CSOs worked towards conflict prevention and peacebuilding through local initiatives and partnership with communities. The dominant philosophy guiding CSOs’ work is the integrationist paradigm. One serious limitation identified in the conflict prevention and peacebuilding work of CSOs in northern Ghana is the lack of a common peacebuilding framework that can guide them to reduce the duplication of functions within the same space. The paper recommends that CSOs should forge a working partnership to roll out a comprehensive conflict prevention and peacebuilding activity to build sustainable peace for the development of the regions of northern Ghana.
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The person or the issue? Relational process, person- and idea- targeted questions in UK and Ghanaian parliamentary questions
Using parliamentary questions as data and a corpus-assisted systemic functional approach through Wordsmith Tools, this paper, with specific reference to relational processes, explores yes/no interrogatives in order to establish how MPs encode in their questions issues of attitudes, commitments, personalities and ideas of (Prime) Ministers during Ghanaian Minister’s and UK Prime Minister’s Questions. The paper finds that MPs use yes/no interrogatives with relational processes to describe (Prime) Ministers as carriers of certain attributes relating to their positions and responsibilities, while some of the questions are issue- focused. To achieve this, MPs employ two main questioning strategies: person-targeted and idea-targeted pragmatic strategies, thereby raising issues of (Prime) Ministers’ credibility and commitment to duty. The paper has implications for parliamentary questions, party politics and MPs’ and (Prime) Ministers’ duties as representatives of their constituents.
Improving socio-economic conditions of informal sector operators: A study of garage operators at Suame, Kumasi
Macro-economic strategies for poverty reduction, such as the SAP and GPRSs were not adequately successful. A micro-economic focus is therefore proposed as a contemporary approach towards poverty reduction. The fact that the informal economy employs more than eighty percent of Ghana's working population suggests that improving the socio economic conditions of informal operators would mean reducing poverty for the majority of the working population. This study aimed to examine how incomes generated in the informal garage economy reflect in the socio economic well-being of informal garage operators and explore the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of informal garage enterprises that can help improve the socio-economic conditions of the operators. A descriptive study design was adopted by the study. Interview schedule and interview guide were used to collect primary data. The study found that most informal garage operators contributed a greater portion of their household income. The opportunities available for the enterprises included high access to market and supplies. High competition, job insecurity, and inadequate support from local government were some identified threats. The study recommended garage operators to develop a common fund for infrastructural development within the cluster. It also recommended collaborative support o flocal government authorities and NGOs.
Improving access to health care facilities through decentralisation in Ghana
The study assessed the impact of decentralization on physical accessibility to healthcare facilities in ghana. It was conducted in the Asante Akim North Municapility,New Juaben Municipality and Twifu-Heman-Lower Denkyira district. The study was conceptualised within the geographical accessibility framework and the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technique was used to create health buffers. It was found that health care facilities were expanded and physical accessibility improved, partly as a result of the implementation of the decentralisation programme. However, the study showed that the inequalities between and within Municipalities and Districts were not addressed. A meaningful intervention by the Municipal/District Assemblies (MDAs) and the Ghana Health Service • (GHS) on inequalities requires mapping of existing health facilities. Application ofcoverage models using GIS is therefore recommended to the MDAs in collaboration with the GHS in order to reduce inequalities in physical accessibility to health care facilities.
Effects of the Ghana school feeding programme on enrolment, attendance and drop-out rate in basic schools in Savelugu-Nanton District
For reasons of its geographical location, colonial legacies and cultural practices, the Savelugu-Nanton District is characterised by high illiteracy rate, poverty and low school attainments. The Savelugu-Nanton District was a beneficiary district during the five year piloting of the Ghana School Feeding Programme. The objectives of the study were to examine the effectiveness of the implementation processes of the GSFP and assess the effect of the policy on school attainments in the beneficiary schools and to suggest recommendations towards improving its management. The study employed triangulation. Survey instruments were administered on a study sample of 53 respondents selected purposively from the GSFP institutional set up and major stakeholders. Survey reports and content analysis of published records were used to examine the policy implementation processes. Four schools were selected through probability sampling and Analysis of Variance was used to compare intervention effects on school attainments. The study revealed irregular funding, poor collaboration and participation by the major stakeholders and the non compliance with the selection criteria for beneficiaries and an irregular school feeding. The programme produced no effect on enrolment and attendance except for drop-oat numbers. The study concluded that the implementation processes were not so effective and therefore, failed to achieve any influence on school attainments in the study area. The study recommended to government to involve key stakeholders to reformulate the policy through Parliament into a statute and set standards for management and stakeholder participation. The new statute must incorporate budgetary funding.
Poverty, vulnerability and exclusion in Ghana: A socially-responsive methodological approach
In identifying vulnerabilities that predispose people to chronic poverty and/or exclusion, causal factors to determine the vulnerable groups have always been a challenge to the change agent's concerned. It is only in rare cases that people succeed in teasing out important causal issues. This is rather disturbing as policy will neither be coherent nor proactive without a clear acknowledgement and appreciation of the adversities and challenges responsible for causing and/or perpetuating chronic poverty. In particular, those at risk are likely to be missed out if the causal factors are not properly identified. There is high diversity in the issues underlying vulnerability and exclusion. Using a socially-responsive methodology which includes such criteria as incidence, severity, and marginalisation, poverty issues could be captured in a broader context to enable wider inclusion of vulnerable and excluded groups in society. The paper argues that a deployable and acceptable methodology will necessarily entail trade-offs. In particular, it takes account of existing gaps in the identification of the poor, vulnerable and excluded.
Children as ’invisible’ contributors to household income in Ghana
Poverty reduction in Ghana has attracted varied approaches. Over the recent past decade, the government implemented a number of programmes tailored to reduce income poverty. These include the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP), School Feeding Programme, National Health Insurance Scheme and Capitation Fund. Recent data on poverty indicate that Ghana has achieved the Millennium Development Goal I (MDG 1). Beyond these poverty reduction programmes are children who contribute immeasurably to household income which could lead to household poverty reduction, yet are largely unnoticed and least focused. The paper used both survey and qualitative data from a child-mobility research in four different settlement types in the Central and Brong Ahafo Regions to assess the contributions of children to household income. The findings revealed that a week preceding the survey, 55% of the children assisted parents/guardians on the farm, about 25% sold at the market (largely by hawking) and less than 3% took care of herds in the fields on behalf of their parents. Some ofthe children who sold earned between GH$ 7 and GHQ15 per day to support household income. In addition, the children undertook varied household activities including caring for younger siblings to enable parents to have adequate time to engage in socio-economic activities. Children's involvement in the socio-economic space needs to be further explored as a means of formally evaluating and reconceptualising their contributions to household income and possibly poverty reduction. By so doing these 'invisible' contributors can be properly recognised and acknowledged. Consequently, this will activate the necessary offices, structures and systems to regulate their activities and contributions legitimately..
Economic exclusion and working poverty: the case of the informal sector workers in the MIDA intervention zone in Ghana
There is a growing concern over working poverty, especially in nations where inequality remains very high. While scholars in the advanced economies attribute working poverty mainly to economic exclusion, there appears to be limited literature on the issue, particularly for the informal sector of the developing economies. However, surveys (various issues of GLSS) on the Ghanaian economy have identified some informal sector worker as poor. Using the data of Ghana Living Standard Survey Five Plus (GLSS 5+), both OLS and probit models were employed in estimating the incidence of working poverty in the MiDA intervention area of Ghana. Factors such as high dependency ratio, labour inefficiency and underemployment by classification of hours worked came out strongly as supporting 'working poverty'. The results seem to confirm the outcome of several studies in the developed economies that have identified factors of economic exclusion such as labour inefficiency and underemployment as the main causes of 'working poverty'. This means that poverty among informal sector workers in Ghana should not be solely attributed to joblessness. A comprehensive poverty reduction strategy is therefore needed to tone down underemployment while improving labour efficiency of the informal sector workers to ensure higher labour returns.
Sports tourists' satisfaction with the CAN 2008 continental sporting event in Ghana
Satisfaction is essential for the successful marketing of events, yet most studies on events have been restricted to measuring economic impact. This study examined sports tourists' satisfaction with the African Cup of Nations (CAN 2008) tournament in Ghana as well as identified some of the factors that influenced their satisfaction. A total of 428 sports tourists from participating countries were purposively sampled and given questionnaires to self-administer. Secondary data on the performance of the various participating teams was obtained from internet sources. The results of the study suggest that respondents were generally satisfied with the event though they were more satisfied with the sociological aspects of the event. Ticketing, pricing and dissemination of information had the lowest ratings. The study has implications for both the management of future events and for research..
Peri-urban agriculture and land tenure dynamics in Southern Ghana
Peri-urban zones are characterised by strong urban influences including increased possibilities for marketing of farm produce, provision of inputs and services, and non-farm employment but also exacerbated competition for land, inequalities in its distribution and risks from pollution. In developing countries, the positive elements generally are less than the negative influences. Peri-urban areas - lying in the interface between the urban and the rural - therefore tend to experience the development problems associated with 'both worlds'. Rural problems of inadequate social facilities still occur at the same time that land pressures and poor environmental health problems associated with growing urban areas create typical urban problems. This study used structured interview schedules to collect primary data from 504 randomly selected households in 50 randomly selected peri-urban communities. These communities were sampled from five purposively selected districts, namely Cape Coast, Ho, Sunyani, Koforidua and Accra. The issues examined related to agriculture in the context of the increasing tendency towards freehold land titling. It was concluded that all the zones are facing severe land shortage, which is affecting agricultural production, given the deficiencies in agri-support services. Women tended to have even smaller farm sizes. The trend towards land title registration is putting women in disadvantaged positions as landholders bequeath their lands to sons, even in matrilineal societies. It is therefore recommended that any policy on land, especially the LAP project, should consider the interests of women and the periurban poor..
Beyond science: traditional concept of preservation and biodiversity in Ghana: focus on two traditional areas in Central Region
Presently, while some of these edifices are being preserved for various reasons, others are facing extinction due to diverse challenges. The study, underpinned by dimensions of indigenous knowledge and indigenous ecological knowledge frameworks within the paradigm of endogenous development, explores the beliefs and practices that have been used to preserve groves in three selected communities in the Central Region of Ghana. It also explores some of the benefits associated with the groves, and focuses on the intangible benefits to these communities. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions, as well as community institutional resource mapping and observation were used to collect data from chiefs, priests and elders. The results show that groves were owned and managed by either clans or communities, or both. Traditional sciences have been used to preserve these groves. Groves preserve community histories, ancestral and local knowledge. However, the breakdown of traditional values threatens the existence and preservation of such heritage.
Does access and use of financial service smoothen household food consumption?
The study relies on Ghana's Living Standard Measurement Survey to test the hypothesis of no relationship between credit and household food consumption expenditure. Albeit the plausibility of endogeneity problems, we use single stage and pooled least squares, given the non-availability of national panel data in Ghana and lack of better instruments in the Living Standard data. The is does not provide enough evidence to reject the null hypothesis. This suggests that access to credit does not contribute to the smoothening of household consumption. This observation cuts across different sub-samples based on socio-economic classification. We recommend circumspection in propagating the ability of credit in smoothening consumption..
Impact of import liberalization on aggregate imports and tariff revenue in Ghana
In contributing to the ongoing debate on the impact of trade liberalization, this paper investigates the quantitative effect of import liberalization on imports and tariff revenue in Ghana. The Johansen cointegration and error correction technique was employed to determine the impact of import liberalization on aggregate imports, and inferred from the estimated results, how liberalization affects import tariff revenue. The findings of the study indicate that import liberalization has been in conflict with the revenue objective of economic reforms in Ghana. It has been suggested that public policy should focus on the identification of the major sources of duty revenue leakage and also focus on complementary measures such as tax replacement, for example substituting sales taxes for tariffs.
Willingness to pay for efficient waste management: the case of Bolgatanga Municipality
This study sought to determine how much individual households are willing to pay for efficient solid waste management in the Bolgatanga municipality as well as what factors influence people's demand for the services at a particular price. In pursuance of this, the contingent valuation method which employed the biding game was used. Using cross tabulation and Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) the calculated mean willingness to pay (WTP) was Cl6,750. The income variable was found to have a significant effect on the individuals' WTP. Through the interaction dummy variables model, the income elasticity was 0.37. It was also found that occupation (OCC), level of education (EDU), the interaction between sex and occupation(SOC) and the interaction between sex and education (SED), as well as income(lnY) which is the covariate were all significant. Thus the antilog of the differential effects of OCC, EDU, SOC and SED were found to be; 0.64194, 1.65571, 1.69476 and 0.44884, respectfully. Thus the mean WTP of SOC was higher by C2.3367, while the mean WTP of SED was also higher by C2.10455. It is recommended that differential pricing as well as door-to-door refuse collection in selected areas among other services be put in place to ensure efficient refuse management in the municipality.
Implementation of the Community Education Teaching Assistants Module of the National Youth Employment Programme: Outcomes and Challenges in northern Ghana
This paper analyses the outcomes and challenges of the Community Education Teaching Assistants (CETAs) module, one of the modules of the National Youth Employment Programme (NYEP) which the Government of Ghana (GoG) started implementing nationwide in 2006 as part of its poverty reduction programme. The paper draws on the livelihood framework for analysing how far the module provides a meaningful and or sustainable means of living, the very core objective of every livelihood. It draws on qualitative data from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions of key personnel and beneficiaries of the programme. It also draws on secondary data, both qualitative and quantitative data for analysis. The residts show that the programme has achieved some modest livelihood outcomes. First, District Employment Task Forces (DELTA Forces) were constituted and reactivated to improve on their performance in implementation of the module. Secondly, the module provided only temporary employment for most CETAs. The majority of CETAs are laid off after two years per their contractual terms ill-prepared to make a sustainable living. Thirdly, the phase out plan to latch CETAs onto the Untrained Teacher Diploma in Basic Education (UTDBE) programme for professional teacher training is benefiting only a few CETAs. These outcomes were largely shaped by challenges in the governance of the programme. To this end, the module largely provides short term relief to CETAs. In the long term, it does not provide a sustainable means of livelihood for most CETAs, except the few beneficiaries of the UTDBE programme. The paper therefore, recommends institutional reforms for improving governance and enhancing financial sustainability of the module at the district level.
Food as a conduit for poverty reduction in Cape Coast Metropolitan Area
The concept of the School Feeding Programme as instituted by the Government ofGhana was to provide caterers in deprived communities with money, who in turn will purchase locally grown foodstuff, prepare it and feed them to kindergarten and primary school children in the community. A major requirement was for the caterers to spend 80% of the monies given them in the communities that accommodated the schools. The primary goal was to reduce hunger and malnutrition in the children, increase school enrolment and increase food production in the communities. This paper investigates and discusses the extent to which these objectives are being carried out by the caterers employed to do so with respect to the use of locally produced food and labour and the reasons behind their choices. Using a qualitative approach, an in-depth interview was conducted for eight caterers out of the eleven engaged in the school feeding programme in the Cape Coast Metropolitan Area. The results from the study revealed that, even though all the caterers were aware of the 80% clause, a bulk of the purchases and labour was acquired outside the communities that housed the schools. Availability and affordability were some of the reasons given for this pattern.
Stretching to informal workers: The Ghana Trades Union Congress’s hand and social protection
Trade unions have adopted various ingenious strategies to reach out to groups of informal workers who were once considered beyond organisation. The unions claim this move is meant to offer protection to the unregulated workers. Drawing largely on secondary data (i.e. through the review of relevant documents) this paper shows that organisational coverage of unions to date lacks the substance of meaningful and genuine representation of their fluid affiliated informal workers. The voices and interests of affiliated informal workers are excluded from the mainstream activities of the formal traditional unions due to structural rigidities. It requires unions to temper its narrow focus on collective bargaining and embrace a much wider conceptualisation of their functions within the domain of social protection. This forms the central position of the paper. The paper also demonstrated that where unions are institutionally responsive, they can achieve some level of social protection for their associate informal worker groups.
Residents’ perceptions on the manifestation of the natural resource curse in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, Ghana
Natural resources have often been found to be a curse to some nations that possess them instead of being a blessing. In several developing economies, civil wars, environmental and health hazards have been associated with the extraction of such natural resources. This paper investigated residents' perceptions on the effects resultingfrom natural resource extraction in some mining communities in Ghana. Underpinned by the interpretivist philosophy, this case study employed in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and observation to collect data from the residents in Odumase and Teberebie communities in the Tarkwa-Nsuaem Municipality, in the Western Region of Ghana. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to select 77 respondents for the study. Data collected was transcribed, coded into themes and categories, and manually analysed. The study found that the'mining communities were confronted with a number of environmental challenges, including pollution (air, water, soil, and noise), deforestation, abandoned mine pits and dumping of rock waste on fertile agricultural lands. Residents have become marginalized as a result of the difficulty to access potable drinking water, fertile agricultural lands and inability to come out of poverty since their livelihoods have become unsustainable. It is recommended that collaborative efforts should be adopted by various stakeholders to sustainably manage the exploitation of mineral resources. Central and local governments' policies and regulations regarding natural resource use, and n particular mining need to be enforced with local residents in mind.
Impact of microcredit on poverty reduction among rural women in Ghana: The case of Upper East Region
The literature on microfinance reveals that microcredit is a powerful tool in reducing poverty. In consonance with this, the main objective of this study was to verify the impact of microcredit on poverty reduction among rural women in the Upper East Region of Ghana, using the Heckman method of estimation. In pursuance of this, data was collected from 500 women engaged in agro-processing of whom 250 were beneficiaries of microcredit and 250 non-beneficiaries. The results showed the existence of spatial differences in the levels of poverty in the Region. Respondents from Builsa, Kasena-Nankana, Bongo and Bawku West Districts had higher levels of weekly consumption expenditures and for that matter are better off than their counterparts from the Talensi/Nabdan District. Also the number of income generating activities and the number of sources of borrowing have a positive impact on poverty. The predicted weekly mean consumption expenditure indicated that respondents who received microcred: > are better off than those who did not receive microcredit as the.beneficiaries spend more per week than the non-beneficiaries. By implication, microcredit has a positive impact on poverty reduction among rural women engaged in agroprocessing in the Upper East Region. In the light of this, microcredit intervention should be strengthened in the Upper East Region since it has a positive impact on poverty reduction.
Community participation and sustainable forest management in the Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira District
Community participation is central to the sustainable management of forest reserves. However, forest reserves in the Twifo-Hemang-Lower Denkyira District are disturbed by rural people even under collaborative forest management, which threatens forest sustainability. The study analysed the socio-economic importance of the reserves to the forest fringe communities, participation levels of the communities in reserve protection, and challenges stakeholders face in ensuring sustainable forest management (SFM). The study adopted a descriptive study design to assess community participation in SFM. Both simple random sampling and purposive sampling techniques were used to select the sample for the study. Questionnaire, interview schedule and focus group discussion guide were employed for the primary data collection. The main findings of the study were that forest fringe communities enjoyed some benefits from the forest but this was not enough. Their participation in SFM was only by upholding the forest by-laws. However, a major challenge was the farm raiding by elephants from the forest reserve. Community participation in SFM was at the 'lowest levels. Some of the challenges encountered by stakeholders in SFM were non-cooperation of community members and access restriction to forest resources. The study recommends that government should not only legally recognise forest ownership rights but also build the capacity of communities to allow higher community participation levels in SFM.
Survival of the Ayensu starch processing company: A technical efficiency evaluation
The cultivation of cassava is vital for the production of industrial starch by the Ayensu Starch Processing Company in Ghana. The main constraint for starch production has been the unreliability of cassava supply to the factory. This paper estimates technical efficiency of out-growers under the Ayensu Starch Processing Company and identifies sources of efficiency using plot-level data. Stochastic frontier production function was used to estimate the efficiency indices while an econometric analysis of factors affecting the efficiency indices is conducted using the parametric two-step point method. We find that farmers producing cassava are inefficient, with a mean efficiency score of 58% across farms ranging from 2% to 99%. On the basis of the OLS estimation of the determinants of Technical Efficiency, plot size, farm distance and club membership were noted to be negatively significantly related to efficiency while years of farming experience, adoption of hybrid cassava and mono-cropping turned out positively significant. The study recommends that management of the company should negotiate lease of laud for the farmers, the road infrastructure should be improved to allow easy access of the farmers to the factory, the out-growers should be encouraged to practise mono-cropping of cassava, the farmers should be given improved varieties of the cassava and the company finds incentives that will attract and retain young and experienced farmers to boost the supply of cassava to the factory.
Public spending, growth and poverty reduction: A Dynamic CGE Analysis for Ghana
The objective of this study was to determine the differential impact of various government expenditures on economic growth and poverty reduction in Ghana using a dynamic computable general equilibrium model based on a social accounting matrix (SAM) for Ghana for the year 1999. Even though there is evidence to show that higher fiscal deficits resulting from the increase in public investment outlays 'crowd out' some private investment by raising interest rates, the overall impact points to increased real GDP on a net basis by removing physical bottlenecks of infrastructure and thereby raising the factor productivity of private investment. Two main lessons can be drawn from this study. First, various types of government spending have differential impacts on economic growth and poverty reduction, implying greater potential to improve efficiency of government spending by reallocation among sectors. Second, governments should reduce their spending on unproductive sectors and rather give priority to increasing its spending on production-enhancing investments such as education, health and infrastructure.
The metro mass transportation scheme in Ghana: Issues, challenges and the way forward
For many authorities in Ghana's metropolitan areas, public transport provision is increasingly becoming problematic as daily trips of city dwellers tend to cover numerous suburbs or even satellite settlements, thereby increasing travel costs in terms of time, money and comfort. Rather than reducing travel times, enhancing economic activities and productivity of commuters as well as ensuring the safety and comfort of city dwellers, the public transport systems in developing cities such as Accra, Kumasi and Tamale in Ghana have become uncomfortable, risky and generally inconvenient. This paper focuses on the activities of the Metro Mass Transit Limited in Ghana since its inception in 2003. The paper first reviews the various processes that led to the introduction of yet another version of the defunct Omnibus Services Authority (OSA) Transport Company. This is followed by an outline of major challenges likely to confront the Company's operations. Employing selected features of a management model by Cummings and Worley (1997), the paper then proposes possible strategies to address the challenges. For purposes of clarity some references are made to the defunct OSA Transport Company as well as other private operators such as the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Kingdom Transport and the State Transport Company (STC). The paper ends with suggestions for the training and education of operators of the MMTL designed to enhance their capacities to effectively manage the buses.
Customary land tenure, investments and livelihood adaptation in Northern Ghana
The land tenure practice of any place is important for the economic well-being of its citizenry. This article assesses the investments of farmers on different categories of lands deemed to have less or more security in order to inform the debate on the relationship between tenure security and investments. We also delineate the changing livelihood portfolios of families resulting from changing access forms to land via livelihood adaptation. Quantitative data from a national survey conducted by the Institute of Statistical Social and Economic Research in addition to qualitative information from nine villages is used as evidence for the study. Investments in land tend to be constrained by a host of motivations and factors rather than just security. Poverty was the most important factor which prevented farmers from investing in a wide range of land improvements necessary for increasing productivity. As a result of pressure on land resources and scarcity of farmland in urban and pen-urban areas many, people are diversifying from agriculture to non-farm activities. In the rural areas, this pressure on land has led to migration by the youth to the cities and changes in land relations between land owners and other land users. The economic mix of northern Ghana is becoming complicated and in tune with global trends.' The deagrarianisation trend does not automatically lead to improvement in people's livelihoods but is contingent on social, economic and environmental factors.
The role of traditional authorities in local governance
The role of traditional Authorities in local governance was the subject of the study. The research design consisted of various methods of data collection including in-depth face-to face interviews, document reviews and observations. One technique that was used throughout the research to get information from all traditional role players was the appreciative technique. The population was made up of opinion leaders, settlers, chiefs, fetish priests, identified group leaders, tengdamba (land owners), family heads and local government staff. The instruments were pretested for reliability The analysis consisted of describing qualitative data while quantitative data was analysed using SPSS (statistical package for social sciences). It emerged that traditional institutions have more good to offer the District Assembly in local governance than their limitation of the work of the Assembly. The institutions have remained resilient in the face of modern challenges because of the confidence and trust people have in them and are prepared to defend them. People perceive traditional authorities to present their history, norms, values and belief systems; it is believed society would get much more substantially than if they are excluded.
Sustaining employability in a globalizing world: critical issues on enterprise-based training systems
Demand for skilled labour has been rising steadily as a result of globalization, technological advances and changes in work organization. In recent policy debates to increase employability in a globalizing world economy the crucial role of a high-quality educated and skilled workforce has gained prominence. This growing prominence, however, is based on the assertion that, a better trained labour force can increase competitiveness and better complement physical capital. There is the need to produce a workforce that is flexible enough to meet new challenges. What this means is that training systems are also under pressure to meet the demands of the changing labour market just as firms are underpressure to sustain competitiveness. The extent to which training systems, especially of developing countries like Ghana, are well placed to respond to the changing needs of the labour market is the central theme of this paper. We argue that existing training systems in most developing countries are not well placed to respond to changing labour market needs. We therefore present practical and workable suggestions.
Survey data report: Ghanaians are critical about the 2006 recent hostilities in Lebanon but are optimistic about peace in the middle east
This article examines variation and distribution of opinions in Ghana regarding conflict in the Middle East and was limited to the conflict that erupted along the Southern Lebanon and Israeli border during July and August 2006. The survey research focused on several key areas: United States of America understanding of Middle East issues, country’s right to self-defence, disproportionate use of military force, proxy war, and indifference to the loss of human life. The survey was conducted in the Central Region and 318 (N=318) completed survey instrument were assessed. The results suggest respondents are less likely to give support for the disproportionate use of military force, more likely to give support for a country’s right to self-defence to Lebanese combatants defending their territory against intruders, respondents are of the opinion that Israel, more so than not, is fighting a proxy war, and that Western countries have an indifference to the loss of life.
Incorporation, dispossession and social transformation in rural Ghana: case study of a forest community
This case study examines the social transformation that has occurred in a rural forest community in southern Ghana. It revisits various explanations for societal change or transformation from a Sociological viewpoint and situates change in the community within the context of a radical political economy paradigm. Hence Neo Marxist identification of incorporation of peripheral areas into capitalist production systems through monetization of production systems and alienation of the bases of livelihoods- land and labour have been identified to be crucial in the social transformation that the case community is undergoing. The findings of this study indicate that contrary to beliefs of modernization perspectives, social change is not all progress but can alienate communities further as well as create tensions and cleavages in traditional societies.
External Debt and Economic Growth in Ghana
This study analyses the effect of growth rate of external debt on the growth rate of GDP and finds out whether Ghana suffers from a debt overhang problem. The results from a Johansen multivariate cointegration method employed on our data showed that (i) there exists a stable long run relationship among GDP, labour force, investment, exports and external debt; and (ii) the long run effect of external debt on GDP has been positive and that Ghana is not suffering from any debt overhang problem. This means that importation of capital or reliance on external resources will help promote economic growth in Ghana. It is therefore. ecommended that every effort should be made by authorities to make Ghana much more attractive to external resources. The results of the study also indicate that military coups (political instability) have not been significant in explaining the growth rate of GDP in Ghana.
Residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards urban solid waste management in the Berekum Municipality, Ghana
Solid waste management has become a daunting task for municipal and district authorities who seem to lack the capability and logistics to deal with the escalating waste situation. This paper examined residents’ perceptions and attitudes towards urban solid waste management in the Berekum Municipality in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Using a survey questionnaire and in-depth interview guide, data was gathered from 150 randomly selected household respondents and three purposively selected key institutions. The Theory of Planned Behaviour which provides a framework for studying human behaviour guided the study. The study found that residents recognised solid waste management as a major problem. It was also revealed that residents do not currently pay for waste management services rendered to them. Strategies to address solid waste problem will need to consider adequate supply of containers, intensive public education and introduction of user fees for waste management services.
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