Development Studies
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Item Households’ Willingness-To-Pay and Participate In Source Separation of Solid Waste in the Accra and Tamale Metropolises, Ghana(University of Ghana, 2017-07) Alhassan, H.Solid Waste Management (SWM) has become a major problem in most cities of the world. However, many developed countries have managed to overcome this challenge by instituting the Integrated and Sustainable (Solid) Waste Management (ISWM) system. This practice reduces the cost of SWM, environmental pollution and increase lifespan of landfill. On the other hand, in most developing countries including Ghana where solid waste management financing remains an unsettling problem, most tenets of ISWM has received little attention both in terms of policy and practice. On this premise, the study examine the factors that influence households’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) and participation in source separation of solid waste in Accra and Tamale Metropolises in Ghana. The study employed the mixed methods in its data collection and analysis process and applied ordered probit and tobit regression models to estimate the determinants of households’ source separation behaviour and WTP for improved SWM services respectively. The results reveal that the current SWM practices in the study locations stand in sharp contrast to the tenets of ISWM. The findings further reveal that policy and practice focus mainly on solid waste collection and disposal at the expense of minimizing activities that are critical to sustainable management outcomes. On the factors influencing households’ WTP for improved services, as well as their participation in future source separation, socio-economic, socio-psychological and situational factors were identified as being most prominent. The study recommends the adoption and implementation of the tenets of the ISWM system that place equal importance on all the segments of the management cycle. It further calls for efficient governance structure involving all stakeholders in the SWM processes. Acknowledging the fact that the success of any SWM policy is dependent on making economic sense to service providers and beneficiaries, the study cautions against adopting one-size fit all policies.Item Socioeconomic Inequalities and Material Health Outcomes in Ghana(University Of Ghana, 2013-12) Adamba, C.Item Trends and Determinants of Household Use of Financial Services in Ghana(University Of Ghana, 2017-07) Asiamah, T.A.Access to and use of formal financial services, namely savings, credit and insurance products, have far-reaching benefits for households and the economy at large. However, there is limited use of formal financial services and rather, a dependence on informal institutions of saving, borrowing and insurance in developing countries. In order to increase demand for formal financial services by households and micro enterprises, financial sector reforms were carried out extensively in the late 1980s and early 1990s in Ghana. Using the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) data and the Global Findex data, the study examined the trends in saving and borrowing by individuals from 1991 to 2014. Furthermore, using the Finscope Ghana 2010 data, the study employed Multinomial Logit regression in examining the factors that influence individuals' decision on saving, borrowing and insuring using formal versus informal institutions. Finally, the third, fourth, fifth and sixth rounds of the GLSS data were combined to examine the factors that influence the incidence of credit constraints among household heads, and also to assess changes in the incidence of credit constraints among female household heads over time. A Heckman Probit regression model was employed in the analysis. The results show a relatively stable trend in the proportion of individuals that saved from 1991 to 2006. However, from 2006 to 2013, there was a large increase in the proportion that saved. There was an oscillating trend in the pattern of borrowing from 1991 to 2014. Over the years, there was a general decline in the proportion of individuals that borrowed from informal institutions, and an increase in the proportion that borrowed from formal institution. Over the years, a lower proportion of females and rural residents saved when compared to the proportion of males and urban residents that saved. Similarly, a lower proportion of the poor saved and borrowed from all kinds of institutions than the non- poor. Furthermore, the poor, particularly in rural areas were more likely to face credit constraints than the non-poor. The study provides support for the life-cycle hypothesis both cross-sectionally and over time. Financial literacy increases the probability of using financial services from formal institutions. Education and wage or salaried employment also increases the probability of saving and insuring in formal institutions, while non-salaried employment increases the probability of saving and insuring in informal institutions. Rural residents were generally more likely to save with informal institutions. In urban areas, females and individuals with low education were more likely to save with informal institutions, whilst in rural areas, those who were previously married, such as the divorced, separated or widowed were more likely to use informal saving institutions. In both urban and rural areas, recipients of local remittances were more likely to save in informal institutions. When it comes to the use of credit, the aged in urban areas were less likely to borrow from all kinds of institutions. Individuals who had negative experiences with financial institutions were more likely to borrow from informal institutions. For insurance, the lack of understanding of insurance increased the probability of insuring with informal institutions. The study also showed that having tertiary education as a household head reduces the incidence of credit constraints. Furthermore, the poor, widows and those who had separated or divorced in rural areas were more likely to face credit constraints. The aged in urban areas also had higher probability of facing credit constraints. In the general population, females were generally less likely to face credit constraints than males. However, the incidence of credit constraints among females increased in 2012 relative to 1991. The study recommends the promotion of financial education and formal education to enhance the use of formal financial services. The study also recommends the design of credit products to suit the needs of the poor, widows, the divorced or separated in rural areas, as well as the aged in urban areas. Finally, the study recommends the intensification of programs that support rural financial institutions in order to increase access to formal saving products by rural residents.Item Institutions, Politics and Land Administration in the Ga State in Ghana(University of Ghana, 2015-07) Clottey, E.A.; Aryeetey, E.; Amanor, K.S.; University of Ghana, College of Humanities Development StudiesDecades of rapidly growing urban population, the growth of a business and middle class with money to invest, and an expanding private sector with large investment capital and the ability and willingness to pay high prices for property have resulted in rapid commoditisation of land in the Ga State. Concomitant with these are highly insecure land ownership, land litigation and conflict, poor land use planning and enforcement of land laws. Investigating the processes by which communal and statutory lands become difficult to access and tenure insecurity are necessary to determine the potential outcomes of contemporary and future land administration reforms. Specifically, the study investigates the politics of property rights institutions creation and change from 1876 to 2010 in the Ga State in Ghana. The study‟s methodology was philosophically grounded within the pragmatism paradigm which used a convergent parallel mixed methods research approach. Qualitative and quantitative data collection was concurrently done. Selection criteria for in-depth interviews (30) and FGDs (8) of chiefs, family heads and bureaucrats (30 in all) were based on purposive sampling and „snowballing‟ technique. Quantitative data collection involved a household survey of 323 households in 52 localities in 4 purposively selected traditional areas namely Nungua, Tema, Kpone and Gbawe in the Ga State. Archival data from PRAAD, Ghana Law Finder Database and Government of Ghana reports complemented primary data. The Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) a multi-tier conceptual framework was used to do a systematic analysis of evolving power relations in decision making concerning land administration between the Ghanaian State and the Ga State actors from 1870s to 2010. Generally, results indicate that in a path-dependent manner, all governments (colonial and post-colonial) used state hegemony to impose land rules on Ga land owners and society. A general lack of cooperation and inadequate information characterized the relationships between governments‟ actors and the Ga chiefs and people. Such interactions and high levels of distrust among Ga chiefs, family land owners and individuals resulted in declining trusteeship ideals of Ga land tenure. Speculation in land, wanton land sales, land conflicts and chieftaincy disputes, landlessness, demolition of property and loss of life due to land litigation therefore remain still prevalent in the Ga State. Hence, despite comprehensive interventions such as LAP I, access to land and tenure security remains an acute challenge within the Ga State as some communities and social classes face dire situations of land tenure insecurity. LAP I was poorly conceived and implemented. Set targets for LAP I were hardly achieved- high transaction cost in resource allocation, customary boundary demarcation fiasco and only 8000 out of 50,000 land title certificates were issued in Accra and Kumasi. Self-interested politicians and bureaucrats maximized LAP I budgets and protected their parochial interests for top positions in the new Lands Commission. With regards to customary land administration, empirical evidence suggest that with the exception of Gbawe which has invested in establishing a functional, accountable and self-sustaining customary land secretariat, chiefs and family landowners in Tema, Nungua and Kpone lacked the capacity to manage land well. One key implication of these findings suggests the need for property rights institutions in Ghana to be more inclusive rather than extractive. Inclusive institutions allow different people with different objectives to collectively decide and enforce sanctions on land administration. The study recommends among others more research on Ga land tenure for adaptation into national land policies and the active involvement of Ga chiefs, wulomei, family heads and people in both statutory and customary land administration.