UDSspace

Shea nut meal is an agro-industrial by-product obta ined from the processing of the nuts of the shea tree ( Vitellaria paradoxa , Gaertn.) for fat. It is available for use by the poultry feed industry. There is a dearth of information on its n utritive value for poultry. The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical and nutritive va lue of six samples of Ghanaian shea nut meal, which were produced by either expeller or tradition al method i...

The use of a relatively large and straight-edged voxel to acquire spectra from rather small and curved brain structures leads to data contamination in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), known as partial volume effect (PVE). PVE arises due to the inclusion of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) in the voxel, leading to underestimation of metabolite concentrations in quantitative MRS. Among the PVE correction techniques available, voxel segmentation to remove the CSF fraction appears to be the most r...

Between November and February of each year about 45-60% of the northern region (29% Ghana) of Ghana gets burned. The fires are associated with plant nutrient transfers of which local losses of P is of major concern given that it is relatively unavailable to crops in the prevailing Fe rich soils. Bush fires, however, provide essential cultural and socio-economic goods and services (as in hunting and land preparation for agriculture) at relatively cheap cost to the local populations: making it ...

In climate change adaptation, contract farming can facilitate the adoption of coping and adaptation strategies, but such dynamics are less understood in the literature. This study uses primary data collected from a cross section of crop farmers in northern Ghana and a simultaneous equation systems approach to examine the links between contract farming and adoption of climate change coping and adaptation strategies. The major coping and adaptation strategies used by farmers include spraying of...

The paper seeks to establish the implication of occupational distribution on income inequality. Data was collected from five independent sub-groups, two from the formal and the other two from the informal sectors with a fifth sample generated from these four samples. Lorenz curves and Gini coefficients were used to measure income inequality. The results show that though formal sector income sub-groups generated higher incomes they produced lower inequalities than the informal sector income su...

This study evaluated the effects of three dietary oils — palm kernel (PKO), palm (PO) and soyabean (SBO) — and two protein levels —high (HP) and low (LP) in a 3 x 2 factorial design involving 60 pigs on growth performance, muscle fatty acid composition and content, carcass, meat and eating qualities. Oil type did not have a significant effect on growth and carcass quality. PKO significantly reduced the polyunsaturated (PUFA) to saturated (SFA) fatty acid (P:S)_ratio in longissimus muscle (P <...

One of the most outstanding initiatives that the African Union (AU) has taken that distinguishes it from its predecessor (the Organization of African Unity) is the adoption of the African diaspora as its sixth region. This article has two principal sections. First, by establishing the reasons for adopting the African diaspora as its sixth region from development perspectives, it explores how the African diaspora can engineer development processes in Africa and the challenges that the AU must ...

Background Intimate partner violence (IPV) during pregnancy and postpartum is a serious global health problem affecting millions of women worldwide. This study sought to determine the prevalence of different forms of IPV during pregnancy and postpartum and associated factors among women in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study among 500 women at one to nine months postpartum in three health facilities in the three districts of Dar es Salaam: Temeke, Kinondoni ...

This study seeks to explore stakeholders’ perceptions, causes, and effects of extreme climatic events, such as droughts and floods, in the Wa West District of Ghana’s Upper West Region. A multi-stage sampling procedure is used to select 184 respondents. Data collection methods include individual questionnaire administration,focusgroupdiscussions,andastakeholders’ forum in the Wa West District Assembly. While frequenciesareusedtoshowrespondents’perceptions of the severity of climate change effe...

Vegetable production in urban and peri-urban areas involves use of wastewater for irrigation and agrochemicals, which pose risks to consumers’ health. To some degree, certification assures consumers of food safety. Certification is costly,requiring consumers to,at least partially,bear the cost.Consumer willingness to pay for certified vegetables was examined in Tamale, Ghana, based on a survey of 300 consumers using the contingent valuation method. Young, well-educated, and affluent consumers...

For smallholder households, yam production constitutes an important source of food and income and also plays a vital role in their socio-cultural lives. This paper sought to evaluate the marketing efficiency of key players of the value chain as well as investigate their challenges. The study used cross-sectional data of 400 key players sampled through a multi-stage technique. Gross margin and marketing efficiency analyses were employed for the computation, while the Kendall Coefficient of Con...

This study assesses consumers’ preferred purchasing outlet of safer vegetables in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso using Multinomial Logit. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered on 350 consumers of vegetables (cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes) selected through a multistage random sampling procedure from 10 districts of the capital city, Ouagadougou. Descriptive statistics was used in describing consumers’ socio-economic characteristics. Multinomial logit was used to estimate how consumers’ s...

The Dagbon succession conflict has been intermittent since the colonial era. What appears to be the most trumpeted thesis in the scholarly works that the conflict has attracted is the overpoliticization of the conflict. While the over-politicization of the conflict is indisputable, this study uncovers the constitutional crisis, which is beneath and motivates the over-politicization of the conflict. Through a critical content analysis of archival and historical documents (commission reports, letter...

This research was conducted in Ghana to identify the strategies and practices used in managing shea trees. A multi-stage sampling design was used to select 540 farmers for the study. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the relationships between socio-demographic factors and willingness to continue managing shea trees. Even though almost all the respondents expressed willingness to continue managing the shea trees, the most willing included the following: natives; those who purchased t...

Improved rice production techniques are being promoted in Ghana as a way of enhancing sustainable productivity among farmers. Despite the important role that the adoption of improved rice production technologies plays in improving output, very few studies, especially in the context of Northern Ghana, have been conducted to analyse the factors influencing their intensive adoption. In this study, we compared the results of negative binomial, Poisson and zero inflated Poisson (ZIP) models to ana...

This study primarily examines prospects and constraints of pepper production and marketing in the Upper Manya Krobo District of the Eastern Region of Ghana. Data were collected from fifty (50) farmers and thirty (30) marketers through interviews using structured questionnaires. Data were evaluated using mainly descriptive statistics such as means, frequencies and percentages. Results reveal the pepper farming serves as a powerful source of food and nutrition security, as well as inc...

Adequatematernalnutritionisakey factorforachievinggoodpregnancyoutcomes.Moreover, inadequatedietaryintakeduringpregnancyisconsideredanimportantcontributorto maternalmalnutritionindeveloping countries.Althoughsomestudieshave examinedthe effectoftheentiredietonbirthoutcome,moststudieshave beenverynarrowbecausethey consideredtheeffectofsinglenutrient.Thesinglenutrientapproachisamajorsetback becauseusuallyseveral nutrientdeficienciesaremorelikelytooccurthansingledeficienciesespeciallyinlow-income...

This study was conducted in March 2003 to calculate the rate of siltation of the proposed Chabchab Reservoir in the Northern Region of Ghana. This project concept was developed under Village Infrastructure Project of MoFA in 2001 to serve the needs of some of the communities in the Savelugu-Nanton District. The aim of the work was to suggest the management practices far reduction of high levels of silt carried into reservoirs, which is a common problem with this type of developments in Northe...