Theses

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://197.255.125.131:4000/handle/123456789/22146

A long essay or dissertation or thesis involving personal research, written by postgraduates of University of Ghana for a university degree.

Browse

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 456
  • Item
    Farmers’ Preference for Modes of Agricultural Technology Transfer and Its Implication for Inorganic Fertilizer Use and Maize Yield in Guinea Savannah and Transitional Zones of Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2022) Tutu, B.C.
    Technology development and use are crucial for improving crop yields in Ghana. However, yield increases have been sluggish despite the several technologies introduced to farmers over the years. Considering that different transfer modes were adopted, the impacts could vary. Therefore, this study examined maize farmers’ preferences for modes of agricultural technology transfer and the impact of the different modes of transfer on inorganic fertilizer use and maize yield in the Guinea Savannah and Transitional agroecological zones of Ghana. The study was conducted using cross-sectional primary data on a sample of 690 maize farmers. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the modes of agricultural technology transfer identified in the study area and the most preferred mode of transfer by the maize farmers. Farmers’ perceptions on the effectiveness of the modes of agricultural technology transfer were identified using the Likert scale, and their mean scores were calculated to determine the most effective mode of transfer. The multinomial endogenous switching regression (MESR) model was used to examine the impact of the modes of agricultural technology transfer on the quantity of inorganic fertilizer used. Finally, the multinomial endogenous treatment effect (METE) model was used to examine the effect of the modes of agricultural technology transfer on the maize yield of farmers. The study revealed that individual farm visits, technology demonstration fields, household extension, group extension, farmer-to-farmer mode of transfer, and radio programmes were the main modes of agricultural technology transfer in the study area. Individual farm visits was the most preferred and perceived as the most effective mode of transfer by maize farmers in the study area. The farmers perceived the transfer of technology through newspapers as the least effective mode of transfer. From the econometric analysis, the transfer of agricultural technologies through extension only, a combination of extension and mass media, and the combination of all identified modes of transfer have significantly led to an increased inorganic fertilizer application of 165.5%, 114.5%, and 125.2%, respectively. The study also revealed that the transfer of information on agricultural technologies through extension agents only, farmer-to-farmer only, a combination of extension and farmer-to-farmer, and the combination of extension and mass media significantly increased maize yield by 15.1%, 18.8%, 34.6%, and 34.0%, respectively. Based on the findings, it is recommended that extension agents provide extension services to farmers on their fields. To achieve this, more human, financial, and logistical support is required from MoFA and NGOs. Also, the government, through MoFA, should work with NGOs to empower model farmers in FBOs to develop technological demonstration farms. As a result, they may instruct other farmers on improved agricultural practices and technologies.
  • Item
    Telecommuting in a Developing Economy Context: Critical Success Factors and Impact on Organizational Performance
    (University of Ghana, 2022) Seyram, A.D.
    The purpose of this research was to ascertain the discontinuities of the virtual environment in Ghanaian firms, determine the success factors of implementing telecommuting and examine the effect of telecommuting on the performance of organizations. The objectives were thus to ascertain the discontinuities of the virtual environment in Ghanaian firms, to determine the CSFs driving the success of telecommuting in these firms and to examine the relationships between the CSFs and individual, team and managerial performance of the organization. In order to carry out the study, the researcher employed a quantitative research approach using questionnaires in collecting data from 310 respondents. The respondents were knowledge workers from organizations such as Higher Education Institutions, Accounting and Audit firms, Banking and Insurance firms as well as Telecom and IT firms. A PLS-SEM analysis was performed on the collected data to examine the impact of telecommuting on organizational performance. The study relied on the principles of the socio-technical systems theory as the dominant theory among others to test how multiple social and technical factors co-jointly influence organizational performance at multi-levels. This theory was adapted because telecommuting in this study was viewed as socio technical organizational system. Four discontinuities namely geography, culture, work practice and organization, and technology discontinuities were identified from literature and were employed by the researcher to characterize the virtual environment. The findings show that there were no discontinuities in the virtual environment for the studied organizations. Thereafter, the study focused on telecommuting in the context of a developing economy by identifying critical success factors and examined their impact on organizational performance. Telecommuting is a phenomenon that can have a multidimensional impact on an organization hence, organizational performance in this study was measured at the individual employee level, team level and managerial level. Five (5) telecommuting critical success factors (CSF) as identified in literature, were employed in the study. Intra-organizational communication, employee characteristics, learning and knowledge sharing constituted the social factors whereas support and technology and media richness constituted the technical factors. Among the five CSFs explored, intra-organizational communication, learning and knowledge sharing (LKS), employee characteristics (social factors) and technology and media richness (technical factor) emerged from the findings as the CSFs for telecommuting as these factors were found to impact organizational performance at the individual, team or managerial levels. Technology and media richness had a significant positive effect on performance at all the three levels of organization examined whereas intra organizational communication was found to be closely linked with managerial communication. LKS was shown to be significant in positively affecting performance only at the employee level of the organization while employee characteristics was significant in determining the performance of teams. Ultimately, these show that, telecommuting does have multilevel impact on the performance of organizations and this multilevel impact must be considered in order for organizations to harness benefits from their telecommuting implementations.
  • Item
    An Examination of the Role of Diplomacy in Ghana’s Bid to Host the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) Secretariat
    (University of Ghana, 2022) Annoh,A,A,Y.
    While the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA) agenda has attracted much research attention, the role of diplomacy in selecting Ghana to host the Secretariat after beating six other countries is empirically unknown. This research assessed the role of diplomacy in Ghana’s bid to host the AfCFTA Secretariat. To achieve this, it employed the neo-functionalism theory of regional integration and used thematic data analysis to analyse in-depth interview data collected from six key informants to achieve the purpose of the study. The study found that the AfCFTA can broadly enhance economic growth and development in the continent by creating a single African market for inter and intra-regional trade, and creating employment opportunities, given that trade among African countries is currently low. Second, Ghana’s decision to participate in the bid was motivated by the expected diplomatic and socio-economic gains of serving as the Secretariat’s host. Third, Ghana’s success in the bid was significantly influenced by diplomacy. The country adopted a three-prong diplomatic strategy comprising submitting a formal bid, lobbying and campaigning, and providing options for structures to host the Secretariat. Fourth, despite its success, the country’s efforts faced several obstacles, including financial and logistical challenges, language barriers, threats to its diplomatic image, and inadequate training for members of the ad hoc Missions sent out. Consequently, the study recommends that countries create and carefully nurture diplomatic alliances for future diplomatic projects. Secondly, they must adequately articulate the reasons for bidding for any international project. Thirdly, they should set aside funds for such future endeavours, offer adequate diplomatic training for ad hoc diplomats, and employ the services of experienced translators where language differences exist. Also, countries should endeavour to deliver on promises that get them endorsed by their peers, as failure to deliver can dent their diplomatic image.
  • Item
    Ssessing the Influence of Online Customer Experience on Repurchase Intention: The Mediating Role of Shopping Attitude
    (University of Ghana, 2023) Arikor, I.
    The success of every online retailer depends on delivering a distinctive online customer experience which serves as a pivotal determiner in building a viable competitive edge in a market filled with opportunities. Thus, on the tenets of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) and the Belief Attitude-Intention (B-A-I) theory this study aims to assess the influence of online customer experience on Ghanaian customers’ intention to repurchase, considering the mediating role of shopping attitude. Two objectives and eleven hypotheses were formulated by reviewing the literature on online customer experience, shopping attitude, and repurchase intention. The study sought to assess the influence of online customer experience dimensions on Ghana customers’ intention to repurchase. Also, the study assessed the mediating effect of consumers’ attitudes towards shopping on the relationship between a pragmatic experience, visual experience, intellectual experience, social experience, emotional experience, and repurchase intention among Ghanaian customers. The study adopted a purposive and a snowball sampling method to gather data from four hundred and thirty-five online shoppers in the southern part of Ghana. Descriptive and structural equation modelling analytical methods were employed to evaluate the research objectives. However, the results revealed that pragmatic experience, intellectual experience, visual experience, and social experience had an insignificant effect on Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. Nonetheless, emotional experience significantly and positively influenced Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. Also, the study outcome revealed that shopping attitude partially mediates the relationship between emotional experience and repurchase intention among Ghanaian customers. More importantly, consumers' shopping attitudes failed to mediate the relationship between pragmatic experience, visual experience, intellectual experience, social experience, and online repurchase intention. In addition, the findings show that shopping attitude had a favorable and significant effect on Ghanaian customers’ intentions to repurchase. The study, therefore, recommends that to enhance the experience of online shoppers in Ghana, online retailers should improve the functionality of their websites by making the online retail platforms attractive, simplifying the buying procedures, employing assisted selling tools (e.g., dynamic imaging, store locators, body measurement tools, Chatbots, and tracking systems), enhancing the ease to navigate, improve the convenience of shopping online, and engaging customers via social networking platforms.
  • Item
    Records Management and Small and Medium Enterprise in Ghana: A Case Study of Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolitan Area
    (University of Ghana, 2022) Sammor, A.T.
    Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play significant role in the socio-economic growth of both developing and developed countries. Their contribution in terms of employment creation, wealth creation, poverty reduction, and sustenance of socio-economic growth and development has been recognized globally. The development and performance of SMEs, therefore, is of maximum importance in all countries. SMEs need accurate, reliable, and timely information to survive and grow. They also need to create and manage their business records properly because both large and small enterprises can hardly survive without effective and efficient record keeping. Therefore, the study explored the records management practices of SMEs in the Sekondi Takoradi Metropolitan Area. The main objective was to find out the types of records the SMEs generate and maintain, determine the records management training and competences of the SME managers, establish the relationship between records management and performance of SMEs and find out the challenges the SMEs face with records management. The study was guided by the Decision Usefulness Theory, the Records Life Cycle Theory, and the Records Continuum Model. The study adopted the qualitative approach and case study design, with five SMEs purposively selected for the study. Data gathered through semi structured interviews were analysed through thematic analysis. The study found out that the SMEs create and keep financial, administrative, and operational records both in paper and electronic formats; that the SME managers and employees who keep records do not have qualifications, training, and competences in records management; that there is a strong relationship between records management and performance of SMEs; that the SMEs face some challenges with record keeping, notable among them being lack of knowledge and competence in record keeping. The study recommended that Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA), formerly National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) should educate the SMEs on the need to keep records; that regulatory bodies of SMEs should make it mandatory for SMEs to keep records; that arrangements should be made for Public Records and Archives Administration Department (PRAAD) to regularly train SMEs in record keeping; that awards should be given regularly to SMEs for proper record keeping, in order to encourage them to keep records; that SMEs should attach importance to record keeping and employ professionals to manage their records.
  • Item
    Factors Influencing Adherence to Antiretrovirals (ARVS) Among Persons Living With HIV in the Eastern Regional Hospital, Ghana.
    (University of Ghana, 2023) Wordi,A.A.D.
    Background: Sub-Saharan Africa continues to bear the brunt of new and prevailing HIV infections and several countries in this region were unable to meet the UNAIDS 90-90-90 target by 2020. Antiretrovirals are free and readily accessible in Ghana yet adherence levels continue to be suboptimal. There is the need to explore the factors that account for adherence to ARVs in order to capitalize on them and improve adherence levels and ultimately achieve the 95-95-95 agenda by 2030. Objectives: The aim of this study was to determine factors that influence adherence to antiretrovirals among adult PLHIVs in the Eastern Regional Hospital in Ghana. Method: This study was a cross sectional one involving 330 participants who were attendants at the ART clinic of the Eastern Regional Hospital, Koforidua. Questionnaires employed in the study were pretested and participants were selected over a 4-week period using consecutive sampling. Factors influencing adherence were categorized as individual, economic, treatment-related and health system factors. Adherence was determined using the self-report 3-day recall and 7-day recall methods. The most recent viral loads of these participants were also recorded and the association between the viral load measurement and the adherence level was determined using the crude odds ratio and the adjusted odds ratio. Level of significance for the study was set at a value of p < 0.05. Results: With a response rate of 100%, a majority (77%) of the respondents were females and the dominant age group was the 40 – 49 age bracket. A majority of the respondents (84.2%) had some form of formal education. Though most of the respondents denied missing their ARVs, those who missed some of their medications cited forgetfulness as the reason for missing their medications. Using the 7-day recall method, adherence was capped at 85% and 84% of respondents were found to have achieved virological suppression with values professionalism among health workers in the HIV sector and reduced pill burden will improve upon ARV adherence. respondents were on the single pill combination of tenofovir/lamivudine/dolutegravir and side effects attributable to the ARVs were not found to affect the adherence levels. There was a positive association between adherence and virological suppression with an adjusted odds ratio of 2.811. Conclusion: Ghana has made strides when it comes to HIV care. There is however room for improvement and this study has revealed that strong social support, decentralization of HIV care with resultant reduced hospital waiting time, professionalism among health workers in the HIV sector and reduced pill burden will improve upon ARV adherence.
  • Item
    Serological Diagnostic Survey and Farmer Perception of Cucumber Mosaic Virus Disease in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2023) Asem, W.
    Vegetables are important in diets of practically every household in Ghana. Vegetables are essential dietary portion that provide important vitamins and minerals. In addition to providing farmers with a source of income, vegetable cultivation helps the economy of the country to grow by creating jobs and bringing in substantial amount of foreign currency. Viral diseases are one of the largest obstacles to vegetable production, and in Ghana they are regarded to be a significant factor limiting the output of vegetable production. The Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV), one of these viruses, is extremely devastating and infects more plant families than any other plant virus. Unfortunately, since its discovery in 1974, the host range of CMV among important vegetable crops in Ghana has gotten comparatively little research attention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the prevalence, host range, and severity of CMV among the main vegetables grown in Ghana's Greater Accra region, namely in the districts of Tema West, Ga East, and Ayawaso West. A standardized questionnaire was used to conduct a survey involving 120 farmers in these districts to assess the perception of the importance of CMV in vegetable production. It was discovered that the majority of farmers had little to no knowledge about viruses and instead implicated abiotic and biotic factors for their problems. After making extensive visual observations, it was discovered that CMV symptoms were present in every farm that was visited. The presence of CMV in tomato, broccoli, lettuce, spinach, cucumber, radish, and cabbage was confirmed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) on samples taken from symptomatic plants. This is the first account of broccoli, cabbage, lettuce, spinach, and radish in Ghana testing positive for CMV. The disease is spread mechanically through sap inoculation from an infected plant to a healthy plant, according to an ELISA confirmation test. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of efficient control methods that would help manage the disease, particularly given the new host range of CMV discovered in Ghana.
  • Item
    Incidence of Adverse Events Following Immunization (AEFIS) of Covid-19 Vaccines in Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2023) Asare, A.F.
    Introduction: To fight the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines form part of an important public health tool in this quest. In Ghana, five (5) COVID-19 vaccines (COVISHIEDTM (AstraZeneca), SPIKEVAXTM, COMIRNATYTM, Gam-COVID-Vac and Janssen) which were given Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) have been used in the mass vaccination campaign since March 2021. Since early phase trials of the vaccines were mostly not conducted in Africans, assessing safety data during their deployment under real-life conditions in the Ghanaian population is important. Methods: This study was a retrospective study involving secondary safety data analyses of AEFI reports from active (cohort study) and passive surveillance (spontaneous reporting) of the 5 COVID-19 vaccines deployed in the mass vaccination campaign involving adults in Ghana since March 2021. Data obtained from the primary data host institution (FDA) in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and on paper forms, were cleaned and imported into STATA I/C 16 (Stata Corp LLC, Texas, USA) for analyses. Descriptive characteristics of study participants were done using frequency and percentages for categorical variables, and median and interquartile range for continuous variables. Bar- and pie charts were also used to describe characteristics such as chronic medical conditions, the cumulative incidence of adverse events following immunization (AEFIs), the various forms and number of AEFIs experienced, as well as the latency of AEFIs experienced. For the cohort event study, the cumulative incidence, the incidence rate per 100,000 person days, and the incidence rate ratios were estimated using the dose of vaccines as the unit of analysis. The Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the factors associated with the cumulative incidence of AEFIs among study participants. The Cox proportional hazard regression model was used to assess the factors associated with the risk of AEFIs among the study participants. For the analysis of the spontaneous (self-reporting) data, descriptive analysis was performed across the various vaccine types. The Pearson chi-square test was also used to assess the association between the severity of AEFIs experienced and the background characteristics. The binary logistic regression model was also used to assess the factors associated with severe AEFIs and deaths following the occurrence AEFIs among vaccine recipients. Similarly, the outcome of the AEFIs experienced was also described across the background characteristics and the Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the association. All statistical analyses were considered significant with p-values less than 0.05. Approval was obtained on 13th June 2022 from the FDA to use the AEFI data and ethics approval was obtained from the Ghana Health Service Ethics Committee on 18th October 2022. Results: The overall incidence of AEFIs among the 6,100 vaccine recipients in the cohort study was 14.0% (851/6,100). For the spontaneous reports, of the 10,733,719 vaccinated population, 8,498 AEFIs were reported giving an incidence of about 0.049% (49 per 100,000 persons). In the cohort study, most AEFIs (88.7%) occurred by the following day after vaccination and the proportion of females who experienced AEFIs (15.6%) was higher than that of males (12.4%) and this was statistically significant (p<0.001). Also, in both the cohort study and the spontaneous reports, the incidence of AEFIs was higher in the younger age groups compared with those in the 60 years and older age group with the most common AEFIs being headache, body pain, fever and injection site pain. These events were mostly mild and resolved within a few days. The occurrence of AEFIs was found to be dependent on the age, vaccine type, vaccine dose as well as the enrolment site of vaccine recipients in the cohort study. Also, in terms of severity of the AEFIs, age and vaccine type were factors found to be associated with having a severe adverse event in spontaneous reports. Conclusion: There was a low incidence of AEFIs following all 5 COVID-19 vaccines used in Ghana since the mass immunization with the events being generally mild and resolving within a few days. The public should be made aware that the vaccines are safe and encouraged to get vaccinated to increase vaccine coverage across the country.
  • Item
    Water, Sanitation and Hygiene and Diarrhoea Incidence among Children Under Five Years in Ghana
    (University of Ghana, 2023) Nyarko, A.A.
    Inadequate access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) are some of the major risk factors associated with diarrhoea incidence among children under five years. The study explored the relationship between household WASH conditions and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana using data from the 2014 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS). A sample of 5965 children under five years was used in this study. An index was developed to measure households’ drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene conditions. The data were analysed at three levels. Univariate analysis was used to provide descriptive statistics on household WASH conditions and describe the socio-demographic characteristics of the study sample. The bivariate level of analysis examined the association between the independent and dependent variables as well as the controlled variables. Multivariate analysis was carried out using binary logistic regression since the dependent variable (child had diarrhoea) was coded as a dichotomous variable with yes and no response options. The findings revealed that 11.8% of the children experienced episodes of diarrhoea two weeks prior to the survey. Also, there was a significant association between sanitation, wealth quintile, sex of child, age of child, mothers’ educational level, and diarrhoea incidence among children under five years in Ghana. At the multivariate level, the results indicate that having unimproved sanitation significantly increases the likelihood of a child contracting diarrhoea. The study recommends that stakeholders should continue to encourage and promote the building and usage of improved toilet facilities in households to enhance sanitation at the household level.
  • Item
    Trends and Levels of Poaching in Wildlife Protected Areas of Ghana: A Case Study of the Kakum National Park
    (University of Ghana, 2022) Frimpong, A.
    Poaching has been an age-old challenge faced by park managers who are tasked to maintain and improve the ecological health of protected areas. Although poaching is a major challenge facing the Kakum National Park (KNP), a holistic research on how this menace has evolved since the gazette of the park 30 years ago is still lacking. This research therefore, was to investigate the key drivers of poaching as well as the law enforcement efforts and poaching trends of the KNP in the last 10 years (2011 to 2021). Data for the study was obtained from primary sources including key informant interviews with park staff and focus group discussions with 141 persons from 10 fringe communities. In addition to this secondary data from desktop reviews and quarterly reports of the park (2011 to 2021) were obtained to augment data needed. Analysis of data on poaching legislation was done through a comparative analysis of Ghana’s poaching laws and that of Nepal (the country with the least poaching in the world) to ascertain the effectiveness of Ghana’s laws. Socio-Ecological Systems (SES) framework was also adapted to analyze the drivers of poaching whereas semi-log linear regression was used to deduce the trends of poaching activities in the last 10 years. The model for catch per unit effort was used to measure law enforcement performance of the park (using Stata and MS Excel). The results show that laws used in prosecuting poaching cases are less punitive with very low fines and jail terms hence ineffective in controlling poaching. Economic hardship was identified as the main driver of poaching in the KNP. The trend analysis shows a significant reduction in the number of poachers arrested in the park suggesting that the poaching activities are gradually reducing which may be attributed to effective law enforcement or the poachers resorting to other ways of poaching without being noticed