Browsing by Author "Asubonteng, K.O."
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Item Developing a Community-Based Resilience Assessment Model with reference to Northern Ghana(Journal of Integrated Disaster Risk Management, 2014) Antwi, E.K.; Otsuki, K.; Saito, O.; Obeng, F.K.; Gyekye, K.A.; Boakye-Danquah, J; Boafo, Y.A.; Kusakari, Y.; Yiran, G.A.B.; Owusu, A.B.; Asubonteng, K.O.; Dzivenu, T.; Avornyo, V.K.; Abagale, F.K.; Jasaw, G.S.; Lolig, V.; Ganiyu, S.; Donkoh, S.A.; Yeboah, R.; Kranjac-Berisavljevic, G.; Gyasi, E.A.; Minia, Z.; Ayuk, E.T.; Matsuda, H.; Ishikawa, H.; Ito, O.; Takeuchi, K.Faced with adversarial climatic and physical conditions and an inept socioeconomic development priorities, Northern Ghana remains one of the regions that are most vulnerable to climate-related shocks and disturbances in semi-arid Africa. Because of the effect of frequent floods, droughts, and bushfires, entire livelihoods in Ghana’s predominantly smallholder agricultural population are under threat. In this paper, we present a model for community-based resilience assessment. This model was developed through an experiment conducted in selected rural communities in the Tolon and Wa West Districts in the Northern and Upper West Regions of Ghana. This experiment underpinned an ongoing five-year collaborative research project, Climate and Ecosystem Change Adaptation and Resilience Research in Semi-Arid Africa: An Integrated Approach (CECAR-Africa), and involved researchers and scientists from institutions in Ghana and Japan. Drawing on the findings from extensive literature review, field surveys, focus group discussions, unstructured interviews with various stakeholders, and participatory observations, we developed a matrix for assessing the different categories of community resilience (ecological, engineering, and socioeconomic). The outcome of this resilience matrix, herein called an “integrated” assessment model, offers a mix of factors that could improve societal reorganization when faced with shocks or disturbances. The integrated model provides a workable assessment criteria and key indicators for community level resilience assessments. This experiment proved valuable and highly effective in selecting case study communities for CECAR-Africa. The next step will involve the testing and development of similar criteria and indicators to measure household level resilience.Item Integration versus segregation: Structural dynamics of a smallholder-dominated mosaic landscape under tree-crop expansion in Ghana(Applied Geography, 2020) Asubonteng, K.O.; Pfeffer, K.; Ros-Tonen, M.A.F.; Baud, I.; Benefoh, D.TTree crops like cocoa and oil palm have ecological and socio-economic significance in tropical landscapes. However, their expansion in tropical landscapes leaves footprints on ecosystem-based livelihoods, forests, and land for food. While policy and research have focused on productivity, markets and land-use transitions, the structural effects of expanding tree crops on landscapes have rarely been assessed. This study investigates changes in landscape structural properties associated with tree-crop expansion in a smallholder-dominated mosaic landscape. It quantifies the degree of integration/segregation in the landscape, and the direction in which the landscape evolves on an integration-segregation continuum. Landscape metrics from 1986 to 2015 land-cover maps were used to quantify landscape composition and configuration. Selected metrics were com bined into a new composite landscape structural state index (LSSI), as a measure to determine the degree of integration/segregation. The study found that landscape composition was relatively stable. However, reduced patch numbers and complexity, and increased connectivity and aggregation revealed configurational dynamics: cocoa and oil palm exhibited aggregation tendencies; while food-crop areas became fragmented; and the LSSI indicated a shift towards greater segregation in the landscape between 1986 and 2015. Regarding structure, the smallholder landscape mimics an industrial agrarian landscape with large segregated homogenous cocoa and oil palm areas, and a reserved forest area. The study thus reveals changes in structural properties due to tree-crop led landscape transitions. It suggests considering these aspects when promoting tree crops in mosaic landscapes as they imply adverse effects on food availability and ecosystem services.Item Land Use and Landscape Structural Changes in the Ecoregions of Ghana(Journal of Disaster Research, 2014) Antwi, E.K.; Boakye-Danquah, j; Asabere, S.B.; Yiran, G.A.B.; Loh, S.K.; Awere, K.G.; Abagale, F.K.; Asubonteng, K.O.; Attua, E.M.; Owusu, A.B.In recent years, land use (LU) and landscape structure in ecoregions around the world have been faced with enormous pressures, from rapid population growth to urban sprawl. A preliminary account of changes in land cover (LC) and landscape structure in the ecoregions of Ghana is missing from the academic and research literature. The study therefore provides a preliminary assessment of the changing LU and landscape structure in the ecoregions of Ghana, identifying the causes and assessing their impact on land-based resources, and on urban and agricultural development. LU/LC maps produced from 30 m resolution Landsat TM5 in 1990 and ETM+ in 2000 were classified into dominant land cover types (LCTs) and used to survey the changing landscape of Ghana. LC-changemap preparation was done with change detection extension “Ver¨anderung” (v3) in an ArcGIS 10.1 environment. At the class level, Patch Analyst version 5.1 was used to calculate land use (LU) statistics and to provide landscape metrics for LU maps extracted from the satellite imagery. The results showed that commonly observed LCCs in the ecoregions of Ghana include conversion of natural forest land to various forms of cultivated lands, settlements, and open land, particularly in closed and open forest and savannah woodland. The dominant LU types in the ecoregions of Ghana are arable lands, which increased by 6168.98 km2. Forest and plantation LCTs decreased in area and were replaced by agricultural land, forest garden, and open land. Afforestation rarely occurred except in the rainforests. The mean patch size (MPS), ameasure of fragmentation, was generally reduced consistently from 1990 to 2000 in all the ecoregions. Similar results that indicated increased fragmentation were an increased number of patches (NumP) and the Shannon diversity index (SDI). Habitat shape complexity inferred ecoregions except for rainforest and wet evergreen. The SDI and Shannon evenness index (SEI) showed that habitat diversity was highest in the coastal savannah and the deciduous forest ecoregions. The main drivers of changes in the LUs and landscape structure are demand for land and land-based natural resources to support competing livelihoods and developmental activities in the different ecoregions.