Department of Geography and Resource Development
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Item Women and men at the traffic lights: Changing face of street water vending in a developing country city, Accra(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Amankwaa, E.F.Poverty and unemployment are critical challenges that confront Ghana's economy, and thus contribute to the burgeoning informal economy. Although more men are employed informally, women tend to dominate certain activities like water vending. Focusing on the experiences of female and male sachet water vendors along the traffic lights of the arterial road connecting Adenta to the central business district (CBD) of Accra, this article argues that exploring the activities of water vendors provide a lens into the gendered division of labour and informal (self) employment in Ghana. The findings indicate that water vending dominated by females is flourishing, and has attracted some male entrants and several other trade along the traffic lights. Averagely, men sell 20 bags daily less than what women sell (30 bags), equal to 900 pieces of sachet water, indicating their contribution to the booming sachet water business in Accra. The findings also show that, while men earn about Gh¢ 25 daily, many women are the sole providers with an average daily earnings of Gh¢ 35, which is almost 6 times higher than the daily minimum wage (DMW). The study concludes that, male vendors are, thus, provided with opportunities to refashion gender relations and values in a way that may both impede but may also promote a more egalitarian gender order. This nuanced analysis of Accra's street vendors increases our understanding of how men and women respond differently to occupational crossovers and their activities may contribute to informed renegotiations and reconceptualisation of informality, poverty, and gender.Item Gender analyses of community water resources management in Ga East municipal assembly(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Owusu, G.Much research has been done on the involvement of communities in water resources management, but little can be said about community water management through gender lenses. The study seeks to analyze the relationship between gender and portable water resources management in the Ga East District Assembly, Ghana. The Gender Ana lysis Matrix (GAM) was employed to determine the role of women in water management as well as the different impact that water development projects and intervention have on women and men. A semi-structured interview guide was employed to interview key water management informants such as board members, assemblymen/ women, and workers of Municipal Assembly. the community representatives had mostly males to be their chairman and secretary, while the females were organizers and hygiene educators. In water economics, the board raises two main sources of income for the management of the scheme: from stand pipes vendors and from water tariffs from households. About90% of the stand pipes are managed by women. On socio-cultural factors, the women on board had meetings with the community women to clean all the standpipes, reservoirs, and other parts of the towns every month. In conclusion, community water resources management in the study area is not gender blind but there should be involvement of middle income women residents and also sensitization of the communities to be gender sensitive when electing board members for water management.Item Utilisation of health services in the Obuasi municipauty(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Darkwah, E.O.This study examined the utilisation of health services in the Obuasi Municipality. Drawing on Kroeger's (1983) health behavioural model, it specifically examined the incidence of major diseases and people's perception about disease causation. The study also assessed the kinds of health facilities often utilised by different socio-economic groups and factors influencing the use of these health facilities in the Obuasi Municipality. Lastly, the modes through which people in the study area finance their health care were also examined. A multi-stage cluster sampling method was used in selecting 210 respondents for a household survey whiles a purposive sampling technique was used to select interviewees. The study reports that malaria is the most prevalent disease among diseases reported by the respondents. Respondents gave much credence to the natural aetiological model and the germ theory of disease causation. The study showed higher utilisation of hospitals and health clinics than health centres and traditional health centres. The proximity of health facilities, quality of health services rendered, adequacy of equipment and personnel, social accessibility were some of the factors that influence utilisation of specific health facilities in the Obuasi Municipality. The study concludes that there is a direct positive link between perceived morbidity, illness response, access to and use of health care services, as reported by Kroeger (1983). The study therefore recommends provision of mobile or outreach clinical services to dispersed rural communities, which do not have the threshold population to merit Community-based Health Planning Services (CHPS)Item Get pregnant and be sacked: Working conditions in export processing zones and implications for women's empowerment in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Adomaa, F.O.Globalization and the spread of Export Processing Zones (EPZs) have resulted in the global drift of women into paid employment in this sector with marked implications on their empowerment. Although Ghana has established EPZs since 1996, the conditions under which women work in this sector and its implications on their empowerment are not well understood. This study was therefore conducted to assess the working conditions in Ghana's EPZ and its influence on women's empowerment. Adopting a sequential exploratory strategy, a qualitative phase of 30 in-depth interviews and 3 focus group discussions was followed by a quantitative phase in which findings from the qualitative phase were extended to a larger group of 184 women from three EPZ factories through a survey. The study found out that although job loss in Ghana's EPZ is rampant due to labour casualisation and forces of globalisation, conditions of work such as remuneration, working hours and occupational health and safety are generally better than the "sweatshop" conditions mostly found in other EPZs across the world. Women are experiencing improvements in their finances and decision-making in their households which has improved their sense self-respect and psychological wellbeing as a result of EPZ employment. However, limitations on union activities in these factories, job insecurities and verbal abuse pose many challenges to the empowerment of the women. [t is therefore important to address certain structural changes on the working conditions in Ghana's EPZs to ensure that women benefit fully from the empowering effects of this employmentItem Outgrower schemes and value chains: Gendered employment in the blue skies agriculture model(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Yaro, J.A.; Teye, J.; Torvikey, G.D.Current debates on agriculture investments in Africa have shifted a little from the Malthusian and Boserupian schools of thought to model interrogation. But, these contemporary narratives also do little linkage between the value chain systems and its livelihood impacts for men and women. Drawing on qualitative interviews, the study explores the gendered segmentation and segregation of work in Ghana's largest fruit processing company, Blue Skies and its outgrower farms. The study found that whilst a significant number of outgrowers were men, the absence of women in the outgrower scheme is compensated for by their dominant presence on the farms and the factory. The study concludes that though the business model practised by Blue Skies is a good one, two significant caveats exist: casualization of labour and the sheer absence of women in the outgrower scheme which have gendered implications for livelihood outcomes and security.Item Assessment of change in vegetative /forest cover of forest-savannah transitional zone in Ghana between 1990 - 2013 using remote sensing and GIS.(University of Ghana, 2015-04-17) Essandoh-Yeddu, F.Forest ecosystems in West Africa including Ghana has a lot of endowments, for instance wood and non-wood forest products, with regulating services like climate, for economic development and sustainable livelihoods. Ghana's forest and woodland resources provide diverse economic products and environmental services. However, anthropogenic activities such as agriculture, mining, deforestation and construction and other modification of the landscape have had an intense effect on the natural environment. Since land-use practices can dramatically affect soil condition as well as water quality and supply, Ghana faces difficult choices if it is to support rational and optimal use of the remaining forest resource. The study hopes therefore to drum home the major changes in the forest cover of the forest savannah transitional zone of Ghana over the past two decades (1990-2013), its causes and impact and propose approaches to address the seated/ or root cause of the problems using multitemporal Remote Sensing (RS) data and Geographic Information System (GIS) based techniques. The key findings include a big decline in forest and moreover, there has been a big change in the state of forest between 20 years ago and now. And over 80% of respondents believe that the main cause of the deterioration of the forest is anthropogenic in nature. It is proposed that effective forest and sustainable environmental friendly policies should be in place through inclusive participatory stakeholders' planning.