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Computer-based test has been administered in e-learning environments as part of ICT integration in education. Recently, online test is gaining attention in both regular and distance education institutions, and students' preference or perception of an online test versus paper-based test is crucial in successful adoption or implementation of either of the test modes by any educational institution. For this reason, this study examined undergraduate students' computer usage experience as a prerequisite for online test completion, and their perception and preference toward online test as opposed to paper-based test. It also examined how students' perception of online test differed across sex, program major, and computer usage experiences. The findings would contribute to knowledge on factors for consideration, especially by faculty and instructional designers, in successful adoption of online test in undergraduate programmes. An online questionnaire was used to collect data from 213 undergraduate students at a university in Ghana, and the data were analyzed using median, standard deviation, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal--Wallis Test, and Spearman correlation. The results indicated that students had high level of experience in computer usage, they had positive perception and preference for online test, there was no significant differences in perception of online test between female and male students, and among students of different majors. However, there was a positive correlation between computer use experience of the students and their perception of online test. It was recommended that universities seeking to implement online assessment ensure their students are equipped with adequate skills and experiences in computer usage.

Background: Application of numerous malaria control interventions has led to reduction in clinical malaria cases and deaths but also the realisation that asymptomatic parasite carriers play a key role in sustaining transmission. This study assessed the effectiveness of using the Ultra-sensitive NxTek eliminate RDT (uRDT) and conventional SD Bioline HRP2 RDT (cRDT) in diagnosing asymptomatic parasitaemia while measuring the impact of mass testing, treatment and tracking (MTTT) on the prevalence of asymptomatic malaria over a 1-year period in Ghana. Methods: A total of 4000 targeted participants from two towns, Obom and Kofi Kwei, with their surrounding villages, were tested for asymptomatic malaria four times over the study period using uRDT (intervention) and the cRDT (control) respectively. Participants carrying malaria parasites were followed by home visit and phone calls for compliance to treatment, and filter paper blood blots collected from participants were used to determine true parasite carriage by PET-PCR. A mathematical model of the study site was developed and used to test the impact of test sensitivity and mass migration on the effect of MTTT. Results: The start and end point sensitivities of the cRDT were 48.8% and 41.7% and those for the uRDT were 52.9% and 59.9% respectively. After a year of MTTTs, asymptomatic parasite prevalence, as determined by PCR, did not differ statistically in the control site (40.6% to 40.1%, P = 0.730) but decreased at the intervention site (55.9% to 46.4%, P < 0.0001). Parasite prevalence by RDT, however, indicated statistical reduction in the control site (25.3% to 22.3%, P = 0.017) and no change in the intervention site (35.1% to 36.0%, P = 0.614). The model predicted a mild effect of both diagnostic sensitivity and human movement in diminishing the impact of MTTT in the study sites. Conclusions: Asymptomatic parasite prevalence at the molecular level reduced significantly in the site where the uRDT was used but not where the cRDT was used. Overall, the uRDT exhibited higher sensitivity relative to the cRDT. Highly sensitive molecular techniques such as PET-PCR should be included in parasite prevalence estimation during MTTT exercises. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Finding sustainable solutions to the increasing waste generation in Ghana has received a lot of attention in recent years. Through several waste-to-energy processes, the energy potential of municipal solid waste has recently witnessed significant technological advancements. The Renewable Energy Master Plan has projected the production of about 122 MWp from waste-to-energy installations by 2030 in Ghana. To help policymakers and engineers achieve national goals, this paper reviews the waste generation in Ghana estimated from 2010 to 2030 and the status of various bioenergy technologies in Ghana. This paper further estimates the energy recovery potential of municipal solid waste in Ghana under incineration, anaerobic digestion, and landfill gas recovery technologies. The review establishes that, by 2030, municipal solid waste generation will increase by 123% of the 2023 quantities and may produce 1484.25 MW of installed electricity capacity and 13,002.03 GWh per year, which would amount to nearly 59% of Ghana's 2030 renewable energy target. Additionally, it was determined that anaerobic digestion, incineration, and landfill gas recovery technologies, when properly developed, will add 105.33 MW, 301.4 MW, and 377.31 MW of installed electrical capacity, respectively, to Ghana's energy mix in 2028. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on our experience requesting access to police organisations in Ghana and Niger, this article explores the organisation and operation of two West African bureaucracies. It focuses on the administrative modes and the state agents' routines in their dealing with civil actors. Exceptional and risk carrying requests such as ours concerning a permission to conduct participant observation in police organisations create insecurity on the part of the bureaucrats concerned. Although rarely expressed in field reports and often discounted as a series of fortunate coincidences, we consider the researcher's access (or refusal) a crucial and illuminating moment of fieldwork. In our case, both technical bureaucratic operations and informal networks played a central role in our own approach as well as in the state agents' work routines and reflections on their daily occupation. Following an emic description, we call these two modes of procedure "ground work" and "paper work". The oscillating between the two reflects an inevitable interlacing of bureaucratic and informal operations, characteristic for bureaucratic organisations worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transmission of pathogens through currency notes has become very relevant in today's world due to COVID-19 pandemic. This study profiled microbial flora and their antibiotic activities from Ghana paper currency (GH¢) notes in circulation in Mampong Municipal of Ashanti Region, Ghana. The study employed a cross-sectional design to assess bacterial contaminants and their antibiotic activities from January to May 2019. A total of 70 GH¢ notes consisting of 15 each of GH¢1, GH¢2, and GH¢5; 10 each of GH¢10 and GH¢20; and 5 of GH¢50 were randomly sampled from persons at different shops, canteens, and commercial drivers. The surfaces of each GH¢ note were gently swabbed, and tenfold serial dilutions made were inoculated on plate count agar (PCA), MacConkey agar, mannitol salt agar, and deoxycholate citrate agar. The study used appropriate laboratory and biochemical tests for bacterial identification. SPSS-IBM version 16.0 was used to analyze the data. Of the 70 GH¢ notes studied, 97.1% were contaminated with one or more bacterial isolates. Mean counts on PCA ranged between 3.2 cfu/ml × 105 and 4.7 cfu/ml × 105 on GH¢ notes. Of 124 bacteria isolated, 34 (27.4%), 30 (24.2%), 22 (17.7%), 17 (13.7%), 13 (10.5%), and 8 (6.5%) were from GH¢1, GH¢2, GH¢10, GH¢5, GH¢20, and GH¢50, respectively (p < 0.05). Bacterial isolates were Escherichia coli (28.23%), Staphylococcus aureus (16.94%), coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (16.13%), Klebsiella species (11.29%), Salmonella species (9.68%), Shigella species (8.87%), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (5.65%), and Proteus species (3.23%). GH¢ notes had 25.81%, 20.16%, 19.35%, 17.74%, and 16.94% from meat shops, commercial drivers, canteens, grocery shops, and vegetable shops, respectively. All bacteria were 100% resistant to erythromycin, 87.5% to tetracycline, chloramphenicol, and cotrimoxazole, 75% to vancomycin, while 87.50% sensitive to amikacin. The GH¢ notes were heavily colonized with potential pathogens, which are resistant to most commonly used antibiotics and could pose a health threat to users during commercial transactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This position paper aims to highlight some progressive steps by successive Ghana governments to patch the leaks in Ghana's educational pipeline for training females for careers in the field of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Documentary analysis techniques were employed to review the literature to follow the line of discussions on the topic. After the review, it was found that at the end of British rule in 1957, Ghana adopted various science and technology policies geared towards pushing it into the class of front-runners in modern science and technology. Adopting policies became necessary after Ghana assessed the pivotal roles that science and technology would play in its economic development agenda. The Gender Parity Index in the primary and secondary school enrollments in Ghana between 2011 to 2020 increased from 0.96 to 1.01, indicating that the differences in the rates at which males and females were admitted to reading STEM programmes closed up. Through the government of Ghana's interventions, the gender gap was reduced, a situation that supported the stands of the authors against that of some social critics who were of the view that Ghana is among the countries that are still struggling to patch 'leaks' in its educational pipeline for promoting gender balance in STEM education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior studies have shown that Onchocerca volvulus DNA can be detected in skin snips and in black flies after polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with primers specific for repeated "O-150" DNA sequences. We have adapted a paper chromatography hybridization assay (PCHA) to detect amplified O-150 DNA and compared this method to two established methods, namely agarose gel electrophoresis (AGE) and hybridization enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The minimum amounts of purified O-150 DNA detected by PCHA, AGE, and ELISA were 5, 10, and 2 ng, respectively. The three methods had similar estimated sensitivities for detecting O. volvulus DNA amplified from skin snips from African subjects with onchocerciasis (88%, 84%, and 91%, respectively). No false positive results were observed with skin snips from uninfected control subjects. The paper chromatography hybridization assay detects PCR products in 30 minutes without electricity or special equipment. This technology brings DNA detection a step closer to widespread use in field settings.

Background: Asymptomatic malaria infections can serve as potential reservoirs for malaria transmission. The density of parasites contained in these infections range from microscopic to submicroscopic densities, making the accurate detection of asymptomatic parasite carriage highly dependent on the sensitivity of the tools used for the diagnosis. This study sought to evaluate the sensitivities of a variety of molecular and serological diagnostic tools at determining the prevalence of asymptomatic Plasmodium falciparum parasite infections in two communities with varying malaria parasite prevalence. Methods: Whole blood was collected from 194 afebrile participants aged between 6 and 70 years old living in a high (Obom) and a low (Asutsuare) malaria transmission setting of Ghana. Thick and thin blood smears, HRP2 based malaria rapid diagnostic test (RDT) and filter paper dried blood spots (DBS) were prepared from each blood sample. Genomic DNA was extracted from the remaining blood and used in Plasmodium specific photo-induced electron transfer polymerase chain reaction (PET-PCR) and Nested PCR, whilst the HRP2 antigen content of the DBS was estimated using a bead immunoassay. A comparison of malaria parasite prevalence as determined by each method was performed. Results: Parasite prevalence in the high transmission site of Obom was estimated at 71.4%, 61.9%, 60%, 37.8% and 19.1% by Nested PCR, the HRP2 bead assay, PET-PCR, HRP2-RDT and microscopy respectively. Parasite prevalence in the low transmission site of Asutsuare was estimated at 50.1%, 11.2%, 5.6%, 0% and 2.2% by Nested PCR, the HRP2 bead assay, PET-PCR, RDT and microscopy, respectively. The diagnostic performance of Nested PCR, PET-PCR and the HRP2 bead assay was similar in Obom but in Asutsuare, Nested PCR had a significantly higher sensitivity than PET-PCR and the HRP2 bead assay, which had similar sensitivity. Conclusions: Nested PCR exhibited the highest sensitivity by identifying the highest prevalence of asymptomatic P. falciparum in both the high and low parasite prevalence settings. However, parasite prevalence estimated by the HRP2 bead assay and PET-PCR had the highest level of inter-rater agreement relative to all the other tools tested and have the advantage of requiring fewer processing steps relative to Nested PCR and producing quantitative results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Monitoring changes in the composition of the Plasmodium species circulating within the population over a period can inform appropriate treatment recommendations. This study monitored variations in the prevalence of four common human Plasmodium species carried by children with asymptomatic malaria infections over a two-year period. Methods. Two cross-sectional studies were conducted in November 2017 and December 2019. A total of 210 children aged between 4 and 13 years were recruited in 2017, and 164 similarly aged children were recruited in 2019. Approximately 150 μl of finger-pricked blood was used to prepare thick and thin blood smears as well as spot Whatman® #3 filter paper. Genomic DNA was extracted from the dried blood spots and used in PCR to amplify the 18S rRNA gene from four different human Plasmodium parasites. Results. Parasite prevalence by microscopy and the prevalence of P. falciparum detected by PCR was relatively similar at the two time points (Pearson chi-square = 0.405, p = 0.525 , and Pearson chi-square = 0.452, p = 0.501 , respectively). However, the prevalence of PCR detectable P. malariae increased by 8.5-fold, whilst P. ovale increased from 0 to 9% in the children sampled in 2019 relative to the children sampled in 2017. The only parasite species identified by microscopy in this study was P. falciparum, and no P. vivax was identified by either microscopy or PCR in the study population during the study period. Conclusion. There is the need to implement molecular diagnostic tools for malaria parasite surveillance in Ghana. This will enable the identification and treatment of all circulating malaria parasites including P. malariae and P. ovale, whose population is expanding in parts of Ghana including Simiw. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines some selected Educational Policies of First and Second Cycle Institutions in Ghana and Burkina Faso, in comparison with that of the UK and US. The purpose of the study is to itemise the commonalities and differences in Educational Policies of both developed (UK and US) and developing countries (Ghana and Burkina Faso) in order to learn from the developed countries where necessary, and to improve upon the Educational Policies and Practices in Africa. Data collection for the study includes documents studies that involve integrated literature review. Content analysis is used as the method for data analysis. The results show that several Educational Policies of the countries under review conform to the UN Educational Policy standards and could be adopted in similar context in Africa.

Background: Half of the world's children experience violence every year, but the meaning of violence is not universally agreed. We may therefore risk failing to measure, and address, the acts that matter most to children and adolescents. In this paper, we describe and synthesise evidence on how children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa conceptualise different behavioural acts which are deemed violence in childhood under WHO and UN CRC definitions. Methods and findings: We conducted a systematic review of qualitative studies. We searched PsychINFO, CINAHL, Embase, Global Health, Medline and ERIC for all publications released prior to March 2023. 30 papers met inclusion criteria. We synthesised primary data from children and adolescents and drew upon theoretical and contextual interpretations of authors of included studies. Only 12 of more than 45 sub-Saharan African countries were represented with relevant research. Of the 30 included papers, 25 came from three countries: South Africa, Uganda and Ghana. Only 10 of 30 papers reported data from young children (pre-adolescence), and 18 of 30 papers primarily focused on sexual violence. 14 studies used child friendly and/or participatory methods. From this limited evidence, we identified six overarching themes in how children and adolescents conceptualised their experiences of acts internationally recognised as violence: 1) adults abusing or neglecting responsibility; 2) sexual violence from peers, family and community members; 3) violence in established intimate relationships; 4) emotional violence surrounding sex from peers and community members; 5) fighting and beating between peers; 6) street and community dangers. No studies meeting our inclusion criteria specifically examined children or adolescents' conceptualisations of homophobic or transphobic violence; violence against children with disabilities; boys' experiences of sexual violence from male perpetrators; trafficking, modern slavery or conflict; child labour; or female genital mutilation. We found that three dimensions were important in how children and adolescents constructed conceptualisations of violence: their age, relationship to the perpetrator, and the physical location of acts they had experienced. These dimensions were interrelated and gendered. Conclusion: The current limited evidence base suggests children and adolescents' conceptualisations of violence overlapped with, but were also distinct from, the WHO and UNCRC definitions of violence. Currently international survey tools focus on measuring types and frequencies of particular acts and neglect to focus on children's understandings of those acts. Relationship to perpetrator, age of child, physical location are all important in how children conceptualise their experiences of acts internationally recognised as violence, and therefore might be important for their health and social outcomes. Those developing measures should account for these dimensions when developing items for testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A robust medical claims review system is crucial for addressing fraud and abuse and ensuring financial viability of health insurance organisations. This paper assesses claims adjustment rate of the paper- and electronic-based claims reviews of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana.Methods: The study was a cross-sectional comparative assessment of paper- and electronic-based claims reviews of the NHIS. Medical claims of subscribers for the year, 2014 were requested from the claims directorate and analysed. Proportions of claims adjusted by the paper- and electronic-based claims reviews were determined for each type of healthcare facility. Bivariate analyses were also conducted to test for differences in claims adjustments between healthcare facility types, and between the two claims reviews.Results: The electronic-based review made overall adjustment of 17.0% from GHS10.09 million (USD2.64 m) claims cost whilst the paper-based review adjusted 4.9% from a total of GHS57.50 million (USD15.09 m) claims cost received, and the difference was significant (p < 0.001). However, there were no significant differences in claims cost adjustment rate between healthcare facility types by the electronic-based (p = 0.0656) and by the paper-based reviews (p = 0.6484).Conclusions: The electronic-based review adjusted significantly higher claims cost than the paper-based claims review. Scaling up the electronic-based review to cover claims from all accredited care providers could reduce spurious claims cost to the scheme and ensure long term financial sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the process of formulating Ghana's Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) Paper from the perspective of reforming the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, the two institutions which launched the PRS Initiative in the context of longstanding criticisms of their structural adjustment programs, and from the perspective of understanding policymaking in highly indebted, aid-dependent African countries.

Context: Faced with deep challenges with access to formal education, many West African countries are increasingly taking steps to reform their informal apprenticeship systems to make them a quality skills development alternative for their teeming youth. A review of the literature shows that although different countries in the region are deploying different reform strategies, what is emerging as a dominant reform model is the "dual training model" (DTM), a collaborative arrangement in which the task of training apprentices is shared between informal trainers (master craftspersons, under their respective trade associations) and formal vocational training institutions (FVTIs). This paper presents an outcome-process evaluation of a DTM-based apprenticeship reform programme piloted in Ghana. Methods: Designed as a case study, the paper adopts an interpretivist approach, relying on diverse sources of data, both secondary and primary. Secondary data includes journal articles, attendance registers of participants, memorandums of understanding, relevant media reports, websites, and official reports by all relevant actors. The primary data originated from in-depth interviews with fourteen (14) key informants, as well as from overt and covert observations of respondents. Results: At the outcome level, the paper shows that the programme has largely failed in transferring new skills or in changing dominant poor practices among trainees, foundational objectives of the programme. At the process level, the paper revealed deep flaws in implementation; these are discussed in detail in an attempt to clarify the programme outcomes. Conclusion: The paper concludes that although the dual training model remains a potentially viable reform model in informal apprenticeships, its success ultimately depends on the quality of implementation, which in turn depends on the strength and quality of interstakeholder collaboration in programme design and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to evaluate Ghana's National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) on healthcare utilisation by exploring its heterogeneous effects based on residential status and wealth. Design/methodology/approach: The study used the Ghana Socioeconomic Panel Survey (GSPS) datasets. An instrumental variable strategy, specifically the two-stage residual inclusion (2SRI), was employed to control endogenous NHIS membership. Findings: Generally, the results show that NHIS improves healthcare utilisation (i.e. visits to a health facility and formal care). Concerning the heterogeneous effects of health insurance on healthcare utilisation, the results revealed that NHIS members are more likely to seek care, irrespective of their residence status. The results further indicate that the probability of visiting a health facility and utilising formal care increases for the poorest NHIS participants. Based on these, the authors conclude that NHIS provides equitable healthcare access and utilisation for its vulnerable populations, who are beneficiaries. Originality/value: To the best of the authors' knowledge, this paper is the first to explore the heterogeneous effects of NHIS on healthcare utilisation across residential and income subpopulations. Splitting the dataset by residential status to examine healthcare utilisation inequality is worthwhile. In addition, analysing utilisation in terms of health care type would show whether Ghana's NHIS may be viewed as welfare-enhancing through increased formal health care utilisation. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-05-2023-0330 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The marginalisation of female entrepreneurs in accessing credit is well documented. Yet, how female entrepreneurs navigate through the marginalisation to gain funding is under-explored. Design/methodology/approach: The authors address this gap using qualitative data from 30 female entrepreneurs in three neighbourhoods with varying socio-economic characteristics in Ghana's capital, Accra. Findings: The authors find a marked aversion to bank loans among respondents. Consequently, they nurtured trust in their social circles in order to facilitate access to informal credit from internal (e.g. family and friends) and external (e.g. trade credit, associations and religious organisations) sources. This aversion to loans from formal financial institutions (FFIs) had a socio-cultural aspect, including cumbersome application procedures, a deep-rooted fear of the social consequences of defaulting and religious prohibition against interest payment for Islamic traders. Social implications: This paper shows that providing formal access to credit is not enough to support women's entrepreneurship if the socio-cultural factors inhibiting women's access to credit from FFIs are not addressed. Originality/value: The findings suggest that trust is an important factor that bridges the gap in female entrepreneurs' access to funding given their heavy reliance on informal sources of funding. Peer review: The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-02-2023-0090 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Due to the rising incidence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) pathogens, especially in Low-Middle-Income Countries (LMIC), post-partum infections represent a significant treatment challenge. Methods: We performed a systematic review of the literature from January 2005 to February 2023 to quantify the frequency of maternal post-partum infections due to MDR pathogens in LMICs, focusing on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and/or extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Enterobacterales. Secondary objectives: description of antimicrobials' prescriptions. Findings: We included 22 studies with 14,804 total bacterial isolates from 12 countries, mostly from WHO African-Region. Twelve papers described wound- and 10 puerperal-infections. Seven were high-quality articles. Seventeen studies reported data on MRSA, and 18 on ESBL-producing Enterobacterales. Among high-quality studies, MRSA ranged from 9.8% in Ghana to 91.2% in Uganda; ESBL-producing Enterobacterales ranged from 22.8% in Ukraine to 95.2% in Uganda. Nine articles, mostly on C-sections, described different protocols for antibiotic prophylaxis and/or post-partum treatment. Interpretation: We described a high burden of post-partum infections caused by MRSA and/or ESBL-producing Enterobacterales in LMICs, but only a few studies met quality standards. There is an urgent need for high-quality studies to better describe the real burden of antimicrobial resistance in low-resource settings and inform policies to contain the spread of multidrug-resistant organisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although, the Renewable Energy Act 2011 (Act, 832) was enacted to facilitate development and investment in the Renewable Energy sources in Ghana as part of the efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goal 7, the actual impacts of the policy are yet to be felt as manifested in the amendment Act 2020 (Act, 1045). There is the need to develop alternative model to enhance investment in the renewable energy sector. Drawing from the Resources Based View (RBV) and Porter's Five Forces this paper is aimed to develop a simplified model to explain Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) investment determinants in the renewable energy sources in Ghana. We argued that the simplified integrated model provides robust predictability and wider generalization. Our paper is anchored on the positivists' epistemology and quantitative methodology. Our hypotheses have been tested using a cross sectional data from the Ghanaian SMEs. Variance Based Partial Least Squares (PLS) method has been used to analyze the survey data. Our results indicate that entrepreneurial competency, financial resource, marketing capability and technological usage significantly relate to investment in renewable energy. Moreover, the results have showed that competitive rivalry, threat of entry and bargaining power of customers significantly relate to investment in renewable energy. These results substantiate the well-known argument that industry forces and resource competitive strategies are significant determinants of firm's competitiveness and behavioural intentions. Overall, these results have theoretical and practical implications to facilitate the capacity of SMEs and create enabling renewable energy local content policy to enhance SME's participation in the sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The treatment of Africans in Guangzhou, China in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic - here referred to as the "Guangzhou episode" - generated strong criticisms and made news headlines within and outside Africa. This paper analyzes the reportage of the episode in four online African newspapers: two each from Nigeria and Ghana. Specifically, it sheds light on how the episode was framed, comparing coverage between both countries. Using a discourse analysis that prioritizes language, source, and focus, the paper demonstrates that while Western media were important influences and sources for the newspapers, the African migrants' experiences in the episode were largely framed within (ahistorical) victimhood. Yet the idea of "African" migrants had a noticeable Nigerian dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of yield gaps has become more complex, prompting the use of varied approaches to measure yields and a wider range of factors to explain these gaps. In the Global North, the focus is on precision farming, whereas in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), a broader perspective is necessary due to pronounced variability in farmland conditions. While biogeophysical and management factors have been traditional focal points in yield gap analyses, socio-economic and institutional factors are increasingly recognized as significant, especially in SSA. This review synthesizes research from the past decade in SSA that integrates biogeophysical, management, farm characteristics, and institutional factors in yield gap discussions. The findings indicate a slow shift in including socio-economic factors, with management, particularly nutrient supply and crop management, remaining predominant. However, there is a growing trend towards methodological diversity, such as the adoption of remote sensing and GIS in recent years. Case studies from Kenya and Ghana, utilizing field surveys, interviews, panel data, and spatial analysis, highlight how a multifaceted approach can enhance our understanding of the various elements influencing maize yield gaps in SSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the defining morphological properties of nouns and adjectives of Dagbani (a Gur/Mabia language of northern Ghana) and related languages is the presence of suffixes that mark number (singular or plural) as well as serve as the basis for noun classification. The typical regular noun or adjective (e.g. bi-a 'a child') consists of a bound root (bi-) providing the lexical meaning, and a suffix (-a) which indicates the singular number of the noun. In plural form, the suffix is replaced by a different one that marks plurality: (bi-hi). In this paper, we show that while this broad description is generally accepted, it is much weaker than assumed in previous studies, with many inconsistencies. As our main goal, we offer a much broader analysis of the morphological and syntactic functions of the nominal suffixes. We show that these suffixes are primarily there to project lexical words as nouns and adjectives and should be referred to as nominal suffixes used to inflect inherent nouns and derive nouns and adjectives from verbs. The nominal suffixes are also crucial to distinguishing between different compound nouns and noun phrases. The paper is largely descriptive, with no specific theoretical approach assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although corporations have been propelled to adapt eco-innovation strategies including decent work practices, responsible consumption and production, and transition from linear economy to circular economy model to integrate natural ecosystems, businesses, and waste management, inversely, the actual impact of the circular economy implementation (CEI) in Ghana is yet to be felt. This paper aims to analyse the implications of corporate green culture (CGC) on CEI behaviour, and to design a model that explains the mediating roles of environmental innovativeness (EI) and green intellectual capital (GIC) on the relation between CGC and CEI behaviour from the perspective of a lower resource economy context. Our paper is positioned on positivists' reasoning and quantitative research approach. A survey-based structured questionnaire has been used to collect data from 300 manufacturing firms in Ghana. Our hypotheses have been tested with the aid of SMART-PLS and structural equation modelling. The indicative results have shown that CGC positively affect CEI behaviour. Moreover, EI and GIC have significant and positive effects on CEI behaviour, Besides, GIC serves as a medium through which CGC indirectly impacts on CEI behaviour. The implications of the study include the emergence of baseline model to encourage CEI behaviour in Ghana and other Sub-Saharan African countries. The paper recommends that the newly developed model be used by practitioners to explain coordinated economic, ecological and social development, and restore ecological environment. Policymakers are encouraged to facilitate the reinforcement of environmental policies and subsequent realization of Sustainable Development Goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-corruption agencies in Ghana have failed over the years to deal with corruption and also take decisive steps in tackling the menace. For this reason inter alia, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government in 2018 established the Office of the Special Prosecutor as an institutional response to deal assertively with the issue of corruption. This action expanded the scope and discourse on the fight against corruption in Ghana. Following from this, the paper conceptualised the new institutional endeavour to control corruption in Ghana, simply as the 'judicialization of corruption'. By judicialization of corruption, the paper meant to portray a phenomenon where there is the use of judiciary and judicial processes in fighting corruption. Coming on the back of a political campaign promise, the paper seemly tested Ghanaian voters' view on this new anti-corruption arrangement by the government and puts forward a broad-spectrum of views by voters regarding the creation of the OSP. The paper used mixed method to triangulate both qualitative and quantitative data. The result showed majority of voters backing government's idea to create the OSP albeit a sizeable number perceiving the OSP as a mere conduit to 'witch-hunt' erstwhile government officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The World Bank-sponsored public financial management reforms attempt to instil fiscal discipline through techno-managerial packages. Taking Ghana's integrated financial management information system (IFMIS) as a case, this paper explores how and why local actors engaged in counter-conduct against these reforms. Design/methodology/approach: Interviews, observations and documentary analyses on the operationalisation of IFMIS constitute this paper's empirical basis. Theoretically, the paper draws on Foucauldian notions of governmentality and counter-conduct. Findings: Empirics demonstrate how and why politicians and bureaucrats enacted ways of escaping, evading and subverting IFMIS's disciplinary regime. Politicians found the new accounting regime too constraining to their electoral and patronage politics and, therefore, enacted counter-conduct around the notion of political exigencies, creating expansionary fiscal conditions which the World Bank tried to mitigate through IFMIS. Perceiving the new regime as subverting their bureaucratic identity and influence, bureaucrats counter-conducted reforms through questioning, critiquing and rhetorical venting. Notably, the patronage politics of appropriating wealth and power underpins both these political and bureaucratic counter-conducts. Originality/value: This study contributes to the critical accounting understanding of global public financial management reform failures by offering new empirical and theoretical insights as to how and why politicians and bureaucrats who are supposed to own and implement them nullify the global governmentality intentions of fiscal disciplining through subdued forms of resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Anthrax is a zoonotic disease that is still regarded as a public health issue in developing nations. This paper aims to discuss the epidemiology of anthrax in Africa, the current outbreaks in Ghana and Nigeria, clinical presentations, diagnosis, and treatment of anthrax, challenges associated with the transmission of the disease to both countries and recommendations to reduce this current outbreak and curb future outbreaks in Africa. Online databases (PubMed, and Google Scholar) and Nigeria Ministry of Agriculture report were used to provide detailed information on the paper. On June 1, 2023, two suspected human cases of anthrax were reported, via a letter sent to all stakeholders in the country, with one death in Binduri District, Upper East region of Ghana. The cases were due to the consumption of dead cattle. Four cattle were reported dead at the time, and eleven suspected human cases were identified through contact tracing. Afterward, on July 17, 2023, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nigeria announced the first case of anthrax disease in Nigeria. The National Veterinary Research Institute confirmed the case from samples collected from a suspected livestock farm in Niger State, Nigeria. No human case has been reported. Short conclusion: Anthrax poses significant challenges to public health and requires cooperation between nations, especially in regions like Ghana and Nigeria, where animal movement and ecological changes can impact disease transmission. Challenges attributed to the spread of anthrax in both countries were discussed, focusing on the role of government and the general public in addressing this public health concern. Given the endemicity of certain transboundary animal diseases such as anthrax in sub-Saharan Africa, the control of animal movement across intra- and international borders in the region needs to be tightened. Regulations governing the transboundary movement of animals should be based on the World Organisation of Animal Health Terrestrial Code and should be strictly enforced to prevent ongoing and future outbreaks in Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines whether tax knowledge, tax fairness and trust affect voluntary tax compliance among small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Given the growing budget deficits and debt levels of developing economies, we contend that an understanding of the factors associated with voluntary tax compliance among SMEs could enhance tax revenue mobilization. Although the majority of businesses are SMEs, questions about their tax compliance have become topical among stakeholders due to perceived low levels of compliance, hence, an investigation into the factors underlying their tax compliance behavior is critical for stakeholders, particularly governments and tax authorities. We used a survey-based approach to sample 341 SMEs operating within Ghana's oil city of Secondi-Takoradi. We employed the structural equation modeling (SEM) technique to analyze the retrieved data. Generally, our empirical results indicate that social factors and behavioral motivations are key determinants of voluntary tax compliance among SMEs in Ghana. Specifically, our results suggest that SMEs' perception of tax fairness, knowledge about the tax system, and trust in government are significant predictors of voluntary tax compliance. Additionally, we find a significant mediating role of tax fairness in the relationship between tax knowledge and voluntary tax compliance. As governments seek to raise tax revenues and manage public debt, our results provide important insights into social and behavioral factors that could aid in enhancing tax compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]