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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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Now showing 1 - 5 of 14
  • 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.

Recent Submissions

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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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.