Browsing by Author "Ayamga, J."
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Item Analysis and Integrated Modelling of Biophysical and Socioeconomic Determinants of Cropping Systems Productivity in the Volta Delta(University of Ghana, 2019-07) Ayamga, J.Cropping systems productivity in the Volta Delta is dependent on complex interconnecting biophysical and socioeconomic determinants. The study analysed the determinants of cropping systems yield and developed an integrated model for managing desired sustainable crop production scenarios. The analysis was conducted on change in yield over time, rainfall, temperature, Land use/land cover (LULC) and soil characteristics. District level crop yield was regressed on the biophysical variables. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine the socioeconomic factors that determine different household crop yield levels. Biophysical and socioeconomic determinants were integrated into the Bayesian Network (BN) model for yield predictions to support management and policy decisions. A statistically significant positive trend of the major wet season and the mean annual rainfall were observed for Ada and Akatsi while a statistically highly significant decreasing trend in rainfall was observed for Adidome. Minimum, maximum and mean temperatures showed increasing trends over time. The LULCC showed a 2.82% net gain for active croplands for the period 2002-2017 and a high net loss was experienced by grass savannah, mangrove, and shrub savannah and thicket: - 2.59%, -1.68% and -1.24%, respectively. The soils were mainly sandy, moderately acidic, and had low total nitrogen and potassium; however, the organic matter content and phosphorus were medium and high, respectively. Almost all the biophysical determinants significantly predicted crop yield. For the socioeconomic factors, male-headed households and households that ever-hired labour, were more likely to produce more than 200kg/acre of maise. Femaleheaded households that used fertiliser and farmed on a minimum of 6.01acres of land were more likely to produce at least 200kg/acre of vegetables. The BN model results showed that the likelihood of high cropping systems productivity is more sensitive to input use, averaged cropped area and soil health. Under the climate change scenario, a combination of high GDP, good government policies and improved soil organic matter estimated the likelihood of high cropping systems productivity at 61.2%. Government, relevant institutions and agencies should strengthen the adaptive capacity of farmers by providing an accurate forecast of rainfall information, small-scale irrigation and encourage adoption of drought-resistant crop varieties and crop diversification. This will minimise the effects of the observed rainfall and temperature trends and variabilities in the Delta. The study also recommends the development of a dynamic version of the BN model and improving empirical data generation for enhanced model forecasting capacity, widening of its applicability and performance.Item Relating land use and land cover to surface water quality in the Densu River basin, Ghana(International Journal of River Basin Management, 2014-02) Attua, E.M.; Ayamga, J.; Pabi, O.The Densu River basin is one of Ghana's most reliable freshwater sources, though greatly stressed through pervasive land-use activities. This warrants that water quality variability be understood in relation to land use and land cover (LULC) processes in the basin. In this paper, water quality variables and LULC attributes were evaluated using multivariate techniques such as Pearson's correlation and linear regression to decipher the relationship between them. The study found water quality variability to be influenced by both seasonality and geographical location. While water quality variables such as pH, turbidity, DO, total suspended solids, Ca2+, K+ and [Inline formula]-N relatively were increasing during the rains, T, electrical conductivity, TDS, Cl− and [Inline formula]-P were conversely higher in the dry season. Consistent with other studies, spatial differences observed for water quality variables probably reflect local variability in land use, geology, lithology and soil properties across the basin. Adequately vegetated sub-basins experienced minimal load of nutrients compared with other land cover types. Temperature, pH, turbidity, dissolved oxygen, phosphate-phosphorus and nitrate-nitrogen in surface water could be estimated from multiple regression analyses, using land cover information. We recommend that riparian vegetation of the basin is conserved while urban effluent discharges into running water are minimized, under an integrated water management programme.Item Serial Verb Constructions in Gurene(University of Ghana, 2018-07) Ayamga, J.This thesis investigates “serial verb constructions” in Gurene, a Gur language spoken in the nortern part of Ghana. It examines the defining properties of SVCs, the semantic and the syntactic classification of SVCs in Gurene, using the prototype theory framework. The fundamental principles of the theory which include “prototypicality,” “resemblance” or “similarity to the prototype,” “gradation” and “cognitive economy” are applied in classifying the various types of SVCs in the language. The primary data used in the analysis include interactions between native speakers through informal interviews, recorded public speeches, sermons, local radio discussions in Gurene and a questionnaire based on translations in Gurene. The corpus data used for the analysis are derived from some reading materials written or translated in Gurene and some existing literature on SVCs in some serializing languages across the world. The study presents analysis of “tense, aspect, modality and polarity” (TAMP) marking in serial verb constructions and the types of semantic and syntactic SVCs that exist in Gurene. The semantic types include clause chaining SVCs, intergrated SVCs, benefactive SVCs, locative SVC, instrumental SVCs, comitative SVCs, escort/accompaniment SVCs, capabilitative SVCs, concomitant SVCs, concurrent SVCs, refusal SVCs, purpose SVCs, motion SVCs, manner SVCs, comparative SVCs and the cause-effect SVCs. The syntactic types also include mono-subject SVCs, multiple subjects SVCs, mono object SVCs, multiple objects SVCs, non-object SVCs, unexpressed object SVCs, and multiple serial verbs constructions. The study shows some similarities and diferences between the defining properties of SVCs in Gurene and those of some other serializing languages; hence, it is beneficial to both speakers and non speakers.