This thesis examines internal revenue mobilisation by the Wa Municipal Assembly. The major research objective of the study was to assess the internally generated funds mobilisation by the Wa Municipality Assembly. A case study design was deployed in the study. Sixty-two respondents were selected using purposive sampling. The study collected primary data using interview and focus group discussions, while secondary data was obtained from reports of the Assembly. The analysis of data involved th...
The need for practising modern techniques in rice production has become increasingly important in Ghana as the per capita cultivable land continues to shrink. This study employed a multivariate probit model to estimate the determinants of adoption of improved agricultural technologies using household data collected from 543 rice farmers in the Upper East and Northern region of Ghana. There was complementarity among all the improved rice production technologies (i.e. nursery establishment, har...
Improving access to safe water, adequate sanitation and proper hygiene are on the frontline of eforts to combat related diseases and their accompanying efects. Using a household survey, focus group discussion and key informant interviews, the authors explored how rural livelihoods could be improved through water and sanitation interventions. The study revealed a complex web of configuration between water and sanitation interventions and rural livelihoods. The study found that the provision of...
This paper interrogates the question of using micro-enterprise development for meeting women's strategic interests. Using conceptual analysis and specific case studies, it examines paradigm shifts in development and their implications for gender equity and social justice questions. In the process, it reveals shifts in paradigms; namely, development for versus development with the people, efficiency versus equity, and welfarism versus empowerment. It then examines the implications of the shift...
Economic development has been advocated as vital to Africa's integration in the world economy. Using a Labour and Employment Relations perspective as well as institutional and cooperative theories, I propose a conceptual model that links institutional alliance for skill development (ASD) proximally to labour market systems, and distally to economic development of African countries. The nature, outcomes of ASD, and contributions to economic development are discussed. Finally, I offer propositi...
Policy dialogues have become topical in the development arena in recent time. This arose, in part, from the concern for issues on rights and marginalisation. Methodologies for dealing with such dialogues are however rare. In this paper, we make an effort to contribute to this 'grey area' by presenting one experience as a case study. We start the paper by making an entry through endogenous development as a paradigm shift for development intervention. We highlight the need for co-evolution of k...
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...
The study investigates how perceived rice quality characteristics influence household preference for local and imported rice and its effect on prices. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 400 rice consuming households from Tamale, Yendi and Savelugu in the northern region. A structured questionnaire was used to interview one consumer (the woman in charge of purchasing and cooking of food) in each household on the quality characteristics that influence their demand for either lo...
Social cash transfers as a strategy for poverty reduction acquired prominence in Latin America but spread later to the rest of the developing world because earlier poverty reduction strategies did not make many gains. Most studies on cash transfer schemes seem tilted towards evaluating their impacts while neglecting the arguments surrounding their design and operations. As such, this paper reviews some of the debates that engulf social cash transfers as a form of social assistance. The review...
Maternal mortality has global impurtance. It has assumed both local and interna- tional dimensions, in spite of assessment challenges. This is supported by the fact that in some parts of the world, vital registration systems are either inadequate or totally absent, thereby making the scanty available information unreliable. Avail- able statistics reveal that there are at least twelve causes of maternal mortality with Abortion, Hemorrhage, Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy and Tetanus record...
The desire of my students in the University for Development Studies - Ghana, for knowledge and information, and some practical guide to practitioner conduct motivated me to do this paper. 1 start by giving a theoretical exposition to the concept of endogenous develop- ment and link it up with current issues of globalisation and poverty. I briefly dis- cuss ongoing work on among European institutions and professors that suggest shifts in Europe from exogenous to endogenous development. Encoura...
This paper utilizes household level data to ascertain the capacity-building role of District Assemblies (DAs) in the Northern Region of Ghana with emphasis on indigenous sheanut producers. One hundred and three (103) respondents were interviewed in three Districts of the Northern Region of Ghana during the 200112002 farming season. The study reveals that women constitute the primary producers and sellers of sheanut products in the Region. Poor access to finance (credit) is the most severe con...
This study used the stochastic frontier model to examine the technical, allocative and economic efficiency of maize production in northern Ghana using cross-sectional data for the 2011/2012 cropping season. Conventional inputs such as farm size, seed, fertilizer, labour and weedicides were statistically significant and had positive effects on maize output in northern Ghana using the Cobb-Douglas functional form. The mean estimates were 85.1%, 87.8% and 74.7% for technical, allocative and econ...
Global debates on social protection have raised concerns about the appropriateness of the targeting approach for better inclusion. This study contributes to these debates by exploring the specific challenges associated with the targeting mechanism adopted by the Ghana Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) program within the Upper West Regional program district of Wa Municipality of Ghana. Qualitative data on beneficiaries’ perceptions and experiences with the LEAP programme were col...
The study examined the contributions of food aid provided by the World Food programme (WFP) towards ensuring girl-child enrolment and retention at the basic level in the Savelugu-Nanton Municipality. The study resorted to qualitative and quantitative approaches in data collection, analysis and presentation. Qualitatively, observation, focus group discussions and key informant interviews were the main techniques used. Quantitatively, the study employed face to face interviews for questionnaire...