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UGSpace is the institutional repository of the University of Ghana. UGSpace is an open access electronic archive for the collection, preservation and distribution of digital materials.
- facilitate the deposit of digital content of a scholarly or heritage nature
- and ultimately share, preserve and promote the intellectual output of the University in a managed environment.
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- Review books or articles provide a critical and constructive analysis of existing published literature in a field, through summary, analysis, and comparison, often identifying specific gaps or problems and providing recommendations for future research. These are considered as secondary literature since they generally do not present new data from the author's experimental work. Review articles can be of three types, broadly speaking: literature reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses. It also the researcher to stay abreast of new literature in the field.
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Recent Submissions
The Wave of Military Coup D’état in West Africa: Lessons and Its Implications in the Sub-Region.
(University of Ghana, 2023) Aduamoah, N.A.
Military coup was a common phenomenon after decolonization of Africa. Recounting
recent happenings within the political space in West Africa, military coup has become
an all too familiar subject of scholarly scrutiny, and there seems to suggest that there is
a return of military coups in the sub-region. The military in Africa, and particularly in
West Africa have had common reasons for coups, and the destabilizing factors have
predominantly been security crises, poor economic performance, poverty, autocratic
regimes, ethnic politics, detentions and convictions without trial, and corruption among
others. From 2020 to 2022 only, there have been six coup d’états in Africa of which
four were in West Africa, with the most recent happening in Burkina Faso on January
24, 2022. This research therefore examined the political and economic implications of
military coups in the sub-region and interventions that can be put in place to end them.
The study used a qualitative research methodology to collect and examine data. Both
primary and secondary data sources were used, and a purposive sampling technique
was used in the selection of participants. The study found that military coups weaken
ECOWAS and promote unconstitutionalism and tyranny. The study further revealed
that the recent coups have contributed to slow economic growth, rise in prices of
essential commodities, loss of human resources and increase in refugees across the sub
region. The study recommends that political leaders across West Africa should respect
regional, sub-regional and national protocols, should protect human rights of their
citizens and should prioritize their national security.
An Assessment of Tourism in International Relations: A Particular Focus on the Ghana-African Diaspora Relations
(University of Ghana, 2023) Asiedu, N.S.
International tourism has been a key component of relations in the international system, although
this has not been adequately discussed by IR scholars. Existing discussions have highlighted
different issues such as the different types of tourism, the history of international tourism, the
political and socioeconomic conditions that influence international tourism, the link between
tourism, globalization, and development, the positive and negative effects of tourism on states,
the nature of tourism in Africa as compared to other parts of the world, and the programs that tend
to drive international tourism, among other things. This dissertation builds on the idea of Pan
Africanism to investigate the development of international tourism and how the “Year of Return”
initiative has impacted tourism and other dimensions of the Ghanaian state including the relations
between Ghanaians and Africans in the diaspora. The study principally argues that tourism has
significantly evolved in international affairs over time and successive Ghanaian governments have
improved some aspects of tourism through organizing programs and initiatives that have
promoted and strengthened the bond between Ghanaians and Africans in the diaspora.The
analysis triangulates insights from both primary and secondary sources. Fieldwork included semi
structured interviews involving sixteen participants. The study found that the Year of Return
celebration has had significant impact on Ghana’s tourism and international relations as a whole
as it impacted economic growth, improved bilateral and multilateral relations and promoted
development across the country. Based on the key findings, the study recommends that the
Ghanaian and other African states should be more committed to improving tourist sites such as
national parks, slave castles, forts, and other historical sites to increase their patronage and
relations with Africans in the diaspora. African governments also need to invest more in the
requisite infrastructure in the hospitality industry and road networks needed to attract tourists.
The Expanding Membership of the Commonwealth: A Case Study of Gabon and Togo
(University of Ghana, 2022) Agyapong, N.A.A.B.
The Commonwealth of Nations is a unique organization that comprises the former British
colonies in history, however, since 1995, their membership has included non-former British
colonies. The rationale for this study was to investigate the rationale of the two new countries
(Togo and Gabon) for joining the commonwealth; the membership criteria used to adopt them
and the possibility of norm tension due to their membership. This research is qualitative study
and with the help of thematic analysis, it was realized that Togo and Gabon joined the
Commonwealth due to the economic, linguistic, development and access to the pool of other
resources the organization provides. Further, the study uncovered that, the membership criteria
used was commitment to the 16 principles stated in the 1971 Declaration of Commonwealth
Principles of which the two countries had committed to some of the principles and hence
guaranteed their qualification for membership. Regarding norm tension, the study discovered
that, the tensions had already begun in the Commonwealth over leadership, and commitment
to the principles among others, hence, the two countries are not the cause of the tensions but
have merely become additional voices to the tensions. The research concludes with a
recommendation for the commonwealth to take a final decision on the headship so as to
eliminate or rotate the position in other to ensure the continuous relevance of the organization
in contemporary time.
Analysis of Crop Diversification Among Cocoa, Oil Palm and Rubber Farmers in Atiwa West District and Kwaebibirem Municipality.
(University of Ghana, 2022) Sevor, M.K.
Lots of studies have been conducted on arable crop diversification but little work exists on
diversification among tree crop farmers and its effects on farmer welfare. In the study area of
Kwaebibirem Municipality and Atiwa West District in the Eastern region of Ghana, not
much literature exists on tree crop diversification and its effects on household food
insecurity and farm incomes. This study, therefore, sought to ascertain the extent of
diversification practiced by tree crop farmers, the factors that influence diversification and
the effect of diversification on farm income and household food insecurity (access) status.
The study further explored the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of tree crop
production in order to design strategies that can help tree crop farmers to be more food
secure and more resilient to market and climate risks. Structured interviews with 740
farmers, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions were tools used for data collection
for the study. A Crop Diversification Index (CDI) based on the Herfindahl Index, gross profit
analysis, z-tests, Tobit regression and SWOT-TOWS analysis were used to analyse the data.
The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess the access
dimension of household food insecurity. Low crop diversification was observed among tree
crop farmers with an average CDI of 0.23. Majority (96.89) of farm households belong to
the low diversification group with more than 95% of lands allocated for the production of
tree crops. The study identified number of farm plots, distance to farms, frequency of
information access, sex, and dependency ratio as factors that influenced the extent of crop
diversification among tree crop farmers. Low levels of food insecurity was observed among
tree crop farmers with a mean HFIAS score of 3.91. Farmers who produced only one type of
tree crop recorded the highest average gross profit (GHS 6377.60) and also had the highest
HFIAS score (4.31) in the access dimension of food insecurity. Slightly diversified farming
presents a good compromise for food insecurity (2.79) and for gross profit (GHS 5727.50).
The gross profits of highly diversified farmers were significantly different (lower) from that
of lowly diversified farmers. However there was no significant difference in the household
food insecurity status of farmers. Farmers practice temporal diversification during the
immature stage of tree crop farms while mature tree crop farms are maintained as monocrops
due to closed canopies. The study recommends that tree crop farmers should diversify
mature farms by including leguminous cover crops to fix organic nitrogen into the soil in
order to reduce the rate of fertiliser application, labour for weed control and other variable
costs. Research should be conducted on the inclusion of groundnuts, sweet potato and
Aframomum melegueta (fom wisa) in tree crop farms. Further research should be conducted
to modify tree crop density per acreage in order to enable intercropping with other tree or
food crops. Research institutions should establish model farms of diversified tree crop farm
systems in order to conduct research to influence policy. Market-oriented diversication
should be the objective of research since the tree crops in this study area are cash crops. The
OVCF and other funding sources should include crop diversification in the design of funded
portfolios for tree crop production
Assessing the Role of Donor Funded Projects in Enhancing Community Development from the Ghanaian Perspective
(University of Ghana, 2023) Kwayie, M.
Donor funded project (DFP) debacles in many developing economies is extremely high as
compared to its developed counterparts. In their pursuit for sustainable community
development, developing economies like Ghana partake in projects like the construction of
infrastructural facilities among others. Such projects, normally financed by donor agencies do
face myriads of shortcomings like abandonment, cost deviation, schedule deviation, scope
deviation, and stakeholders’ dissatisfaction among others. The academic work set out to
appraise the role of donor funded projects in enhancing community development from the
Ghanaian perspective, with a specific focus on Ghana Highway Authority, Pokuase and
Obetsebi Lamptey Interchange Projects (GPOLIPs) as cases. In consonance with the research
objectives, the study identified the potential role of donor funded projects that enhances
community development, examined the key factors influencing successful donor funded
project implementation, as well as investigated the critical barriers to the effective functioning
and implementation of donor funded projects from the Ghanaian perspective. In conducting
study, the researcher employed quantitative research approach and simple random sampling
technique to choose GPOLIPs respondents for their predilections relating to the study. A
questionnaire was considered as the main survey instrument whiles Relative Importance Index
(RII), Microsoft Excel and Descriptive Statistics (mean scores, etc.) were relied upon as far as
the analysis of data is concerned. Main findings of the study as suggested by GPOLIP
respondents, in relation to the potential role of donor funded projects that enhance community
development from the Ghanaian perspective were as follows: poverty reduction, employment
creation and increased income levels, improvement of community welfare and rights’
awareness, enhanced accessibility and improvement in education, including improved food
security. In allusion to the key factors influencing successful donor funded project
implementation from the Ghanaian perspective, 6 notable constructs were identified, namely:
level of funding, effective risk management systems, efficient monitoring and evaluation
management systems, in addition to strict adherence to stakeholder involvement just to mention
a few. Additionally, in conjunction with critical barriers to the effective functioning and
implementation of donor funded projects from the Ghanaian perspective, 6 notable
determinants were realized, specifically: inadequate project planning regimes, rampant scope
changes, abysmal stakeholder relationship, irregular flow of funding and high transaction costs,
ineffective communication systems, as well as the non-existence of sufficient resources among
others. Having realized the critical barriers to the effective functioning and implementation of
donor funded projects from the Ghanaian perspective, it is recommended that the government
of Ghana and donor agencies would spring up with accountability and transparency policies to
fraud-proof and misappropriation of resources. Besides, officers charged with project
implementation should be made to sign performance contracts to effectuate themselves to
enhance the accountability of the budgeted project funds to name but a few.