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- ItemAccess to finance by small and medium scale enterprises from Savings and Loans Institutions in the Kumasi Metropolis(2008-08-10) Aboagye, RobertIn today's Global Economy, SMEs are the engine of growth and for that matter they must be funded and thereby the state or the government must put policies that will assist their growth by accessing funds from financial institutions or the banks with lower interest rate. The study aimed at finding out the type of credit used by SMEs from Savings and Loans Companies, other sources of credit accessed by SMEs in Kumasi, the major constraints faced by SMEs in accessing credit from savings and loans companies and to investigate to investigate the assessment criteria used by savings and loans companies in SME loan appraisal. There is evidence that savings and loans companies are making credit available to the entrepreneurs of small and medium scale enterprises. « Prior to that inadequate credit was a major problem facing the Sector. There is the need in Ghana for our Universities in collaboration with the banks or financial institutions to educate the public about the importance of savings.
- ItemAcquisition, prospecting and development of mineral properties in Ghana(1996-07-14) Morna, Bryne AnsinAs a result of the favourable investment climate created by the Government of Ghana, investors have recently been attracted to the mineral industry. However, the pace at which mining concessions are successfully developed is very slow. The main cause has been identified as the difficulty of knowing all the rules governing the acquisition, prospecting and development of mineral properties in the country. The purpose of this thesis is to study and analyze the procedures and problems associated with acquisition, prospecting and development of mineral properties in Ghana and provide possible solutions. A collation of documents and information on mineral property acquisition, prospecting and development in the country has been made and a step-by-step guide for investors provided. Some recommendations have also been made to assist would-be investors in the mineral industry of Ghana.
- ItemAdaptive control of alumina concentration in the hall-heroult cell using neural network(1996-09-25) Boadu, Kwaku DebraAluminium smelting the world over has had two major constraints in recent years: environmental protection and energy costs. Since the method and efficiency of alumina feed in the smelting process impacts environmental pollution and production efficiency greatly, much of the industry’s investment money has been spent in researching into better feed control systems - feed delivery systems and feed strategies. The subject matter of this thesis dwells on the latter, and continues the search for an efficient adaptive alumina feed strategy in the Hall-Héroult cell for the reduction of aluminium. Neurocomputing, one of the fastest growing control system theories in contemporary electrical engineering, is applied to the problem of on-line estimation of alumina mass balance in the electrolytic cell. A contribution is proposed to alumina feed control strategies by developing a neural network-based adaptive feed control algorithm, robust against cell resistance variations, and implementable on retrofit state-of-the-art aluminium reduction cell microcomputers. Electrolytic resistance/alumina concentration data from a simulated l4OkA Center-Break cell was used as input vectors to train a single-layer feed forward loop-back NEURAL NETWORK1 constructed with six constraint equations and six degrees of freedom. The identified prediction algorithm was successfully tested on both simulated and real cell resistance data and results presented. The algorithm was also compared with the extended Kalman filter using the same test bed and shown to be a better solution to the problem under research. Finally a NEURAL network-based feed control strategy (NetFeed) is developed and presented in this thesis.
- ItemAdsorptive removal of arsenic and manganese from groundwater(2005-11-14) Addae-Mensah, AfibaGroundwater remains the most important source of water supply for rural communities in Ghana. Currently, over 95% of the domestic water needs of rural communities are obtained from this source. In some localities, the quality of groundwater is affected by the occurrence of Arsenic (As) and Manganese (Mn) in concentrations above tough and 0.1mg/l respectively which are the World Health Organization (WHO) acceptable limits for drinking water. This is a limiting factor in the choice of this resource. Water supply companies are currently seeking to improve the process of As and Mn removal from groundwater. In this study, Adsorption capacity of locally available filter media namely, laterite and Iron Oxide Coated Sand (ICS) were investigated for removal of As and Mn from synthetic water. Batch studies were conducted under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Changes in concentrations of As and Mn were determined using the Atomic Adsorption Spectrometer (AAS) and Graphite furnace AAS. Adsorption isotherms were prepared using different concentrations of Mn. Isotherms were not prepared for As due to constraints of time. The effect of pH on adsorptive trends was also investigated into. The filter media was then used for treatment of real groundwater seeded with different concentrations of Mn and As from Ayeduase Township. Results of the study show that adsorption under conditions of anaerobic and aerobic is comparable prior to the attainment of equilibrium by the anaerobic case. However the aerobic adsorption process continues slowly and consistently probably because the adsorbed Mn2+ gets oxidized to form manganese oxides and manganese oxyhydroxide complexes. These complexes form a new external coating round the media and facilitate further adsorption of Mn2+ ions, The anaerobic adsorption data of both ICS and laterite fined well with the Freundlich’s Isotherm. The results revealed that, iron oxide coated sand has higher adsorption capacity than laterite. This may be due to higher iron and manganese oxide content in the coating of the coated sand as compared to the amount in the laterite. The iron oxide coated sand also had higher adsorption intensity as compared to the laterite. Better adsorption trends were realized at higher pH for both media.
- ItemAgricultural Technical Aid Project Peki(1973-10-20) Bansah, Emmanuel KudzoThe average farmer in Ghana with the help of family labour and relatively little capital works a crop area of 1½ to 4 acres a year; using traditional husbandry methods. The opportunities for a high rate of capital formation and technological advance under this system are limited. Moreover the traditional farmer faces other problems such as long distances to farms, the total dependence on the weather and soil fertility, lack of storage and marketing facilities. Farming in general, until recently in Ghana, was considered a profession for the rural illiterate folks. The young middle School Leavers who should take up farming for their livelihood to leave the rural areas for the urban centres in search for “white collar” jobs. This drift from the rural to urban centers has dual effects. As the towns and cities continue to experience yearly influx of unwanted Middle School Leavers, the villages on the other hand suffer from depopulation. The growth of the average Ghanaian village is therefore at a stand-still. The above mentioned problems are not alien to the Peki District. Between 300 to 400 pupils complete Middle Form Four yearly in the district. Out of this number only few find their way into training Colleges and Commercial Schools. The rest drift to the cities and big towns especially Accra and Kumasi in search of jobs.
- ItemAgroforestry for sustainable fuelwood industry in Ashanti and Brong Ahafo Regions : case study: Kumasi, Atwima and Atebubu Districts(2003-11-29) Castel, DavidFuel wood is the source of energy for households and many industrial activities in Ghana. Fuel wood is widely used in urban areas but mostly in rural areas. Even though Fuel wood is a renewable energy if well managed there are some signs of scarcity in the country. During the thesis research the socio economic background of peop1e involved in the fuel wood industry were investigated. Farmers’ interest and responses to agroforestry interventions were evaluated. Structured as well as unstructured interviews were conducted through questionnaire administration, focal group discussions and individual interviews. The study area can be viewed in two phases: the urban phase and the rural phase. In the urban phase fuel wood production, markets and sources of’ hid wood were identified. Mill residue v as identified as a source of fuel wood. Some of the mills identified included Logs and Lumber Limited (L.L.L.). AG Timbers, Paul Sagoe Sawmill and FABI Timbers. The identified areas of’ charcoal production in Kumasi included Kaase, Ahinsan, Akosombo and Asokwa. The markets identified included Ayigya. Adum. Sepehuokuotu. Krofrom. and Tafo. The rural phase identified communities in Atebubu and Atwima districts. Due to the proximity the of Atwima district and the fact that a lot of hire wood markets identified their sources from the Atwima district led to majority of the research communities being chosen from the district. Some of the communities identified in Atwima district included Koheng. Mpasatia. Apenkro. Mofranfadwene, Kyereyase Amanchia and Toase. Identified communities in Atebubu district were Amantin, Kyato-Zongo and Sulemana. The results obtained indicate that some species used for fuel wood are experiencing shortages and may become extinct in areas here the used to be in abundance. Roadside communities that actively participated in fuel wood production and sale such as Kobeng. Mpasatia and Amanchia lacked the preferred fuel wood species such as Celtis while communities in the interior like Mentukwa. Mmehame. Oforikrom Akentcnsu and Kramokroin still have most of the preferred species. The preferred species that were identified in these communities include Celtis Species. fiscus experata, Amphimas pterocarpiodes, Albilzia zygia, Phylanthus and Terminlia ivorensis. The research also looked at farmer’s knowledge of Agrofurestrv and their responses to its interventions. It was noted that farmers had indigenous knowledge of agroforestrv, the use of shade trees and the practice of taungva using tectona grandis in their farming practices can be cited as examples. In the final analysis it would sum up to the issue that the fuel nod problem is a multifaceted one, which can be addressed nation wide at the policy level through the district assemblies to put in measures that would aim at sustainable management of our forest resource that would curb the ever increasing urban demand for fuel wood. The beneficiary stakeholders such as the fuel wood communities should be encouraged to practice sustainable farming practices such as agroforestry, which apart from its numerous benefits can sustain their livelihood as fuel wood communities.
- ItemAnalysis and interpretation of genotype by environment interaction using additive main effect and multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model(2004-11-14) Owusu-Ansah, FrankOne very important activity in plant breeding is to test a wide range of genotypes in a wide diversity of environments. Environment refers to site, year or a combination of site and year. The objective of the plant breeder is to select superior genotypes. The plant breeder however is usually confronted with the problem of genotype by environment interaction which complicates selection of superior genotypes. Genotype by environment (GE) interaction is a situation in which the performance of genotypes varies across different environments. GE interaction makes it inadequate for the plant breeder to recommend a particular genotype because its mean yield over the environments tested is high; it might have produced outstanding yield in some sites and performed poorly when grown in a particular site. Several statistical methods have been proposed for the analysis of GE interaction. In recent years one of the most popular methodologies is the additive main effect and multiplication interaction (AMMI) model (Gauch, 1988) which was originally proposed by GolIob (1968) and Mandel (1971). This thesis is concerned with the analysis of GE data using the AMMI model. The performance of the AMMI model is investigated by comparing genotypic correlations and their respective sums of squares using real data sets with the objective of highlighting the “optimism” associated with the fitting of the model. Results have shown that the interaction matrix exhibits high correlations between the genotype vectors which when ignored leads to optimism in the fitting sums of squares. This has prompted the development of the complement index vector as an alternative fitting procedure. The performance of the new approach is evaluated using real data sets.
- ItemAnalysis of blasting techniques at Ghana National Manganese Corporation, Nsuta-Wassa, Ghana(1992-09-28) Agbeno, Simon KwesiGhana National Manganese Corporation (GNMC) at Nsuta-Wassa in Ghana produces manganese ores by open—pit technology. The deposits are Pre-Cambrian in age, and are characterised by a series of strong folding and faulting. These rocks are of medium to high strength and have high densities (2.81-3.72 kg/rn3). One of the methods of loosening in situ material for excavation and loading on the mine is by drilling and blasting. Analysis of records from the mine has shown that tonnage produced by blasting constitutes about 38% of total annual production. It has been observed that primary blasts produce coarse fragmentation. The cause of the poor rock fragmentation is improper blasting practice. The poor blast performance explains why unit cost of drilling and blasting constitutes as much as 65% of unit costs of mining. In this research work, the present drilling and blasting practices have been studied. Alternative blast design paramaters have been determined, taking into consideration the geomechanica1 properties of the rocks and the prevailing operational conditions at the mine. These parameters have been field tested. Eventually, an effective blasting technique has been designed to improve the performance of the mine. It has been established that of all the design parameters, including that of the present mine practice, which have been field tested, the technique using a 2.0m by 2.8m drilling pattern produces best results. This technique requires 50-60% less drilling and 30-40% less explosives. When drilling and blasting are considered together as one operation, an overall improvement of 40-50% was achieved over the present mine practice. It is suggested that, to achieve the desired performance from the blasting technique using 2.0m by 2.8m drilling pattern, a stemming length of l.6m is required to provide the necessary explosives confinement. Millisecond delays are also to be used as an integral part of the blasting technique for an improved blast performance.
- ItemAn analysis of the labour turnover situation in First Allied Savings and Loans Limited; its impact and the way forward.(2005-11-03) Asah-Adu, RosemaryThe human resource element of any organization is very essential to its growth. It is very important that no stone is left unturned in ensuring that labour is satisfied to give its maximum contribution so that productivity is increased. Labour turnover occurs when workers leave an organization and need to be replaced by new recruits. This could be through resignations, dismissals and retirement. This study is mainly on voluntary resignations, which are not foreseen by management and can therefore have a particularly disruptive effect. Indeed, a certain degree of labour turnover may be desirable in any organization since it creates opportunities for new ideas, lower labour costs among others. Persistently high levels of labour turnover are however costly to any institution. First Allied Savings And Loans Limited started operating in September 1996 with a staff strength of 14. As at December 2903, the staff strength was 155, a remarkable increase over this period. There again has been a lot of people being appointed and leaving over the yeais. Inspite of this, there is no human resources department to handle only human resource issues. The Finance and Administration department partly performs this duty. The main objective of this study is to assess the impact of labour turnover in FASL. This cannot be complete without ascertaining the rates of labour turnover over the years, determining the reasons for it and identifying the patterns of labour turnover in FASL. The rate of labour turnover has fluctuated over the years, between 5% and 26%. The patterns of resignations in FASL have also been discussed in three main ways. Positions and their levels of resignations, the duration of stay of leavers and, Departments/branches and their levels of resignations. Several reasons for resignations were realized. Both from filed records (resignation letters) and results from the research conducted. Some of the reasons realized from the research included low pay, poor management style, lack of training and development opportunities, delayed promotion, education etc. The impact of the labour turnover on FASL has also been discussed. The impact was both positive and negative. The negative impact however outweighed the positive. The negative impact includes high recruiting costs, high staff training costs, low productivity, overburdening of staff among others. The positive impact include new ideas, lower labour costs and loss of poor performers. Recommendations have been made to help reduce the level of labour turnover in FASL so that the institution would improve in its performance as a micro finance institution. These include payment of competitive salaries, training and development opportunities, induction, equal promotional opportunities, job rotation, etc.
- ItemAnalysis of the preparedness of Ghanaian formal and traditional industries to adopt hazard analysis critical control point (HACCP) and a model for implementing HACCP in traditional pito brewing(2001-12-13) Kwakye, Vivian ObemaA survey of some of the food industries in the Greater Accra and Ashanti regions were carried out to establish the level of implementation of the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) Systems, obtain information of industries’ hazard awareness and to establish the barriers to HACCP as well draw a model for the pito processing industry. The instrument used was a well structured interview with a closed question format. Questionnaire data was also supported by field observation. The processing of pito was carefully monitored and the Critical Control Points identified. Six processing stages were identified in pito brewing as Critical Control Points. There were 30 completed and returned questionnaire and the overall survey response rate of 46.2%. Amongst the companies surveyed, 3 % were in the field of cocoa and food processing, 8% in the beverage industry and 84% belonged to other classes. 16.6% of the food industries implement some level of HACCP. Out of this, 3.3% of survey implements 25-45%, 50-60% and 90 -100% levels, whiles 6.7% of the survey implements levels of 70-80%. Factors influencing pito quality include choice of yeast, condition yeast, amount of yeast and distribution of yeast throughout fermentation. Sorghum used for processing pito is exposed to several hazards and six processing stages identified as Critical Control Points. The different food hazard that is associated with the activities of these food industries were biological, chemical, physical, pathological and others with percentages of 70, 63.3, 85.8, 33.3 and 3.3 respectively. The constraints and barriers of food industries in the implementation of HACCP include lack of commitment by management, lack of understanding and training, lack of resources and mistranslation of HACCP principles.
- ItemApplication of Queuing Systems: a Case Study of the Outpatient . Department of Kwahu Government Hospital, Atibie(2008-08-11) Semordzi, MawuliThis research work was undertaken to investigate the queue situation at the outpatient department of Kwahu Government Hospital, Atibie. Queuing theory is thus applied in the evaluation of queue situations at the four sections of the outpatient department of the hospital namely: records section, health insurance section, history section and consulting rooms. Data was taken on the number of patients entering the system and the service time of patients. The data was then used to measure the performance of the system. The research shows which section of the outpatient department is busies and where Patients spend more time. It concludes with ways by which management of the hospital can reduce waiting time of patients thereby achieving most of its objectives.
- ItemAn Appraisal of the Capacity of the Asante Akim South District Assembly in Managing Plan Implementation(2008-08-18) Kwarteng, Frimpong' 'It is hard enough to design public policies and programmes that look good on paper. It is harder still to formulate them in words and slogans that resonate pleasingly in the ears of political leaders and the constituencies to which they are responsive. And it is excruciatingly hard to implement them in a way that pleases anyone at all, including the supposed beneficiaries or clients" (Eugene Bardach, cited in Goel 2003). The above quotation illustrates and succinctly portrays the intricacies involved in the formulation and implementation of policies and by extension development plans. As Geol (2003) has remarked, it is usually at the implementation level that difficulties creep in resulting into lower output. Ghana's experience with development plans dates back to the Guggisberg's rule in the colonial era when the Ten Year Development Plan was prepared as a blueprint for accelerated national development. Subsequently, development plans have virtually become synonymous with every regime. However, the level of socio-economic transformation attained so far seems incongruous in a nation which has had many development plans. The problem has always been the inability to fully implement the plans at the national level in a centralised administrative structure. The dawn of decentralisation and local government system was thus expected to « enhance the implementation of developments plans because of the relatively smaller nature of the administrative units (districts) and their propinquity to the grassroots. As has emerged, however, plan implementation at the district level is also saddled with a number of challenges as plans are rarely implemented in full. Key among these challenges is the capacity of the District Assemblies (DAs). The foregoing thus spurred this study to appraise the capacity of the Asante Akim South District Assembly (AASDA) in managing the implementation of its Medium Term Development Plans (MTDPs). On the whole, the goal of the study was to identify hindrances to plan implementation pervasive in the AASDA and propose suitable recommendations. The study used the case study approach to appraise the capacity of the AASDA in six main areas, namely: human, logistics and equipment, financial resources, monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity, collaboration with decentralised departments and leadership. Summarised overleaf are some of the major findings from the study: • Inadequate Staff Strength, Competencies and Qualifications • Inadequate Logistics and Equipment, and Poor Maintenance Culture • Inadequacy, Over-dependence on DACF and Instability in Revenue • Poorly Resourced and Non-Functional District Sub-Structures In response to the findings from the study, recommendations were made. Some of the recommendations are, human resource development, re-tooling logistics and equipment capacity of AASDA, improving resources mobilisation capacity, operationalise District Sub-Structures (Town/Area Councils), strengthening DPCU and monitoring and evaluation activities, and enhancing coordination between DA and decentralised departments. It is the hope and expectation that the holistic implementation of the recommendations made would improve the existing capacity of the AASDA to effectively manage the implementation of its MTDPs.
- ItemAppraisal of the visual art programme in the Senior Secondary School (A Case Study of Seven Selected Senior Secondary Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis)(1993-04-03) Ankoma, Emmanuel DankyiThis volume is on the visual art programme in the new senior secondary school system. The research seeks to evaluate the programme in it three years of operation. The study was carried out against the background of criticisms leveled against the programme by the public and some educationist. The research has been conducted to bring out some of the weaknesses in the programme with the view to improving upon them. The report is present in five chapters. The first chapter, which is an introduction, set out the objectives of the work. The procedure adopted in the research is also stated. There is dearth of information since no official evaluation on the present system has come to light. However, a few source of literature related to the preliminary outlines setting out the programme, as well as view on the need for constant reviews of educational activities were made use of. The main findings of the research are found in Chapter Four. The research has been made possible through personal observation, literary materials and interviews with active respondents. Some recommendations have been suggested in the last chapter. It is hoped that materials assembled in this thesis will be useful to policy-makers, educational planners and all those engaged in the educational process.
- ItemAn Appraisal of Vendor Managed Inventory Strategy in Mining Operations, the Case of Gold Fields Ghana Ltd.(2008-11-17) Djan, Joseph DansoGold Fields Limited is one of the world’s largest un-hedged producers of gold, providing investors with maximum leverage to the gold price. In order to achieve it mission of “achieving outstanding returns for investors “Gold Fields must improve the current business processes by establishing long term relationships with their major suppliers. Today, GGL faces a high level of inventory, which has resulted substantial amount of tied up capital and inefficient processes. Therefore, this study will evaluate the effects that a vendor managed inventory (VMI) partnership has had on GGL’s and two chosen suppliers. VMI is a concept within supply chain management, where the supplier is fully responsible for managing the customer’s inventory level. To achieve this, the supplier is given access to sensitive information of the customer’s inventory level and demand and can, thereby, replenish the customer’s stock when needed. Although, some firms have embraced the concept with success, others have retreated forcefully. This study has conducted a broad literature review regarding VMI and performance measurements, as well as, organisational structures and information sharing in collaborative partnerships. In addition to the thorough study of GGL’s processes, field visits were made at the suppliers’ to visualize their material and information flow in order to examine what areas VM have had an impact. The conclusion of this study is that a VMI strategy, in supplement with a consignment stock policy, is very effective for GGL. Further, the study indicates that there are mutual benefits from a VMI implementation for both the customer and the supplier. Specifically, a higher service level from the suppliers has been attained by GGL, while the suppliers have also obtained improvements within the areas of inventory and order processing. However, there is still more room for improvement. It is advised that for efficient operations and maximization of benefits of VMI to all the actors; the following principles should be adhered to: • Communicate expectations of all parties. • Precise information must be shared • Reliable transmission, receipt, and use of information must be ensured • Expect implementation to be a process not a project • Plan to spend sufficient time and money to make it work.
- ItemAsante art and culture: the mainspring of Asante’s greatness and glory(2005-11-14) Asiedu, Nana KwakuThe study makes a general survey of the Art and Culture involved in the greatness and glory of Asanteman; and in accordance with the research objectives, the thesis has mainly given an account of the role which Asante Art and Culture played in Asante’s greatness, and the role that Asante Art and Culture played to make Asante glorious. The thesis comprises five chapters. Chapter One which deals with the statement of the problem and its setting, which are the objectives, importance of the study, reasons for writing the thesis, delimitations, limitations, justification of the objectives, hypothesis, statements of assumptions, methodology, ethnographic background of Asante and the significance of the research. Chapter Two reviews some literature pertinent to the topic, whilst Chapter Three of the thesis concerns itself with the role which Asante art and culture have played in making Asante great. It therefore discusses the political, social, medico-religious, and economic aspects, as well as the arts that helped Asante to become great. Chapter Four investigates and discusses the role which Asante Art and Culture played in making Asante glorious; it therefore examines the various branches of art (the visual, body, performing and verbal ones) that contributed to make Asante glorious. Also, the role that some other cultural aspects, such as religion, traditional politics (that is chieftaincy) played in making Asante glorious has been considered. The last chapter (five) concludes the discussions, with the summary of the thesis and offers some suggestions for the development of the arts to make Asante more glorious. It has pointed out, however, that since art is dynamic, the identification and examination of the various artifacts, connected with Asante culture should be examined more properly, so that the archaic ones are done away with, and the good ones be promoted or retained, for the use of the future generations. The thesis has shown that Asante art and culture made Asante great and glorious. Art played and continues to play an important role in Asante’s greatness and glory as seen in all the chapters in this thesis. It is hoped that it will generate further investigations in order to arouse further interest in this area for future field researchers.
- ItemAssemblies of God Retreat Centre - Afienya(1998-02-19) Idun, Lydia SaahAlthough Ghana cannot be said to be an all Christian country, the Christians dominate with about 6O of her population. This percentage includes all religious orders that preach Jesus Christ as the Messiah and believes in the ideology of the Trinity that is: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Christians are grouped under three major categories by their way of worship. These are: a) The Orthodox Churches b) The Pentecostals c) The Spirituals Under these categories are several churches which have their different beliefs and rules which make up the fundamentals of a church. However, one key factor which all Christians believe in is Prayer - To communicate with the Almighty God, the Divine, Unseen Spirit. The act of Prayer, and the level of importance, in terms of time devoted and composure towards it may differ from church to church or individual to individual. They all have their meaningful interpretations to the verse “The fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” That is to say, no matter how or when you pray, the most important thing is that you prayed fervently. At this point, it should be stated clearly that no judgement is passed on how one went about his/her prayer.
- ItemAssessing the impact of business development service providers on the performance of micro and small enterprises in Mampong municipality(2007-08-19) Osei-Asare, IsaacThe main objective of the study was to assess the impact of the activities of Business Development Service (BDS) Providers on the performance of Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) operating within Mampong Municipality. Data for the study were basically obtained from four categories namely, Private Financial Institutions, Non Governmental Support Organizations, Governmental Support Organizations and Micro and Small Enterprises. They were selected from four communities namely, Mampong Ashanti, Kofiase, Nsuta and Kwamang, comprising of 3 Private Financial Institution, 4 Governmental Support Organization, 5 Non Governmental Support Organization and 138 Micro and Small Enterprises. The data were obtained using questionnaire and interviews. The findings of the research were that, most of the micro and small enterprises has tremendously improved on their Managerial practices ranging from Basic Record Keeping, Credit Management, and Customer Relation among other Managerial practices. Technical support in the form of transferring production techniques, machinery operation, and product quality development has been some of the technical skills training extended to these entrepreneurs. In the light of these findings, it has been recommended that, needs assessment should persistently be conducted to ascertain the challenges confronting Micro and Small Enterprises, Monitoring and Evaluation of activities of Business Development Service Providers should be intensified and Financial Support granted to Entrepreneurs should be increased to meet their current needs.
- ItemAssessing the impact of microfinance on production and income distribution - a case study of Ashanti Region(2009-08-15) Kusi, MaxwellMicrofinance, and its impact, has received considerable attention over the last few decades, several studies confirm a positive impact on the beneficiaries. Nevertheless, these studies only consider the effect of a micro-loan whilst microfinance nowadays incorporates much more than just credit. This study seeks to assess some of the barriers to accessing microfinance, availability, and Affordability of the service, readiness of client to utilize the services as well as readiness of providers to render the service. The main objective is to assess the impact of microfinance on production and income distribution Kumasi Metropolis of Ashanti Region. « A descriptive current cross-sectional study was done from June 2008 to September 2008 in the Kumasi Metropolis with an estimated total population of 1,625,180. Simple Random sampling method was used to select 300 respondents from some microfinance and savings and loans institutions. At the end of the study, it was realized that 120 out of 300 respondents (40%) had accessed the service for more than twice and about 150 out of 300 (50%) had accessed it once. About 260 (87%) out of 300 respondents also confirms improvement in their living standards through the microfinance. But only 40 (13%) of respondents had not seen any improvement in their living In conclusion, the fact that more people are accessing the services shows more people are embraracing the introduction of the service. Thus, there is still room for more to be done in terms of reasonable interest rates, flexible repayment terms, protection of deposits of others savings and proper training and education of staff of the microfinance institutions.
- ItemAssessing the influence of information, education and communication (IEC) strategies in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy in Ejisu-Juaben District of Ghana(2005-11-03) Adjei, Rose OdoteiMore than 30 million pregnant women and children in Africa are particularly vulnerable to the adverse consequences of malaria caused by the most lethal parasite, Plasmodium Falciparum. Malaria Control Programmes in Ghana and elsewhere in the developing world need to give the highest priority to an effective and sustained strategy to bring about behaviour change to reduce the incidence of malarial infection. One way to achieve this is through effective Information, Education and Communication (TEC) strategies. Thus, a full range of activities and approaches from mass media campaigns to the use of interventions aimed at personal protection need to be used. IEC programmes need to be integrated into various components of programmes such as Insecticide Treated Nets’ (ITNs) distribution and re-treatment; and early diagnosis and prompt treatment. A descriptive study with a cross- sectional design using quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess the effectiveness of information, education and communication (IEC) strategies in the prevention of malaria in pregnancy. Four (4) focus group discussions (FGDs) and three (3) key informant interviews (KIls) were conducted for baseline information. 200 women were also interviewed through the use of a structured questionnaire to explore the practices, attitudes, beliefs and behavioral tendencies amongst study women and their relatives, health staff, community leaders and opinion leaders. The study revealed that knowledge about malaria and how it can be prevented was high, yet the malaria in pregnancy and its prevention is a problem in the district due to lack of regular JEC programmes that are needed to reinforce and stimulate women to practice what they know. It is therefore recommended that effective implementation of IEC strategies requires that the District Health Administration provide regular and well focused JEC strategies, that are frequent and focused on encouraging pregnant women to adapt practical and positive attitudes and practices towards the prevention of malaria in pregnancy.
- ItemAssessing the operationality of the sub—district health system a case study of the ho district of the Volta Region(2002-11-29) Tengey, Wisdom NaniThe Alma-Ata Declaration of 1978 ushered in the Health For All by the Year 2000 as the goal of all the member states of the World Health Organization (WHO 1978). Primary Health Care (PHC) was accepted as the means by which to achieve this goal. Ghana was one of the countries that adopted and implemented the PHC right from its inception. Many countries adopted several strategies to maximize the benefits of the PHC. One such strategy was the institution of the district health systems. In Ghana District Health Management Teams (DHMTs) were formed. District Directors of Health Services (DDHS) were appointed in 1979 to head these teams. In 1988, a programme of strengthening the district health system was initiated in Ghana to develop the managerial capacities of the DHMTs. Several managerial capacity building workshops were organized to strengthen the teams. The district health systems was given a further boost when it was singled out at the WHO sponsored Conference on health in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1987 (WHO 1987) as the framework within which the implementation of the PHC could be accelerated. In Ghana however, the Health managers have noticed that despite the investment in the district health systems, the desired impact in the areas of service delivery coverage and improvement in the health indicators were far below expectation. This compelled the Government to search further for more practical country specific strategies to make health services available to the people especially the over 70% that live in the rural areas. At a Regional Directors and Programme Heads, conferences held in Sogakope (1991) and Akosombo (1992) respectively the health managers were unanimous that the weak link in the health delivery system was the sub-district. The decision was to strengthen the sub-districts to act as an effective link between the district health system and the communities. A working group was formed and tasked specifically to come out with the guidelines and recommendations for the implementation of the sub-district health system. In 1993 based on the recommendations of the Working group there was a countrywide Zoning of the sub-districts. Sub-district health teams (SDHTS) were formed and inaugurated. The sub-district health system was to provide basic health care in the areas of clinical services inclusive of maternal and child health services, preventive services and basic laboratory services amongst others. The functions of the sub-district health teams which were to be in charge of the sub-district health system included amongst others, planning and budgeting for sub-district health activities, and provision of supervision and data management at the sub-district level. The teams were also to promote inter-sectoral collaboration and community involvement in the sub-district health care delivery. The categories of staff recommended for the sub-district included medical assistants, midwives, and technical officers/assistants (disease control, leprosy, nutrition, laboratory). They were to be supported by such staff as orderlies/ward assistants, revenue officers, and data managers. To concretize the sub-district health system the government designated the sub-districts as Budget Management Centres (BMCs) and decentralized financial allocations to the sub-districts. Seven years of the implementation of the sub-district health system have not brought the desired improvement in the health services coverage. Most health service indicators are still low and morbidity and mortality figures from preventable diseases supposed to be the focus of the sub-district health system are still high. Hitherto, diseases thought to have been eradicated (yaws) have resurfaced. The need to conduct an objective assessment of the sub-district health system, which was meant to address peripheral health problems, becomes paramount. The focus of such assessment is to identify the gaps in the implementation with special concern for the strengths and weaknesses.. This study was focussed on achieving that. The study adopted a descriptive approach using qualitative and quantitative methods to gather information. The methods included interviews and record reviews at the sub-district level, the DHMT, and at the regional level. The study population comprised of the SDHT of all the six (6) sub-districts of the Ho district, the DHMT, community members as well as other service providers in the district. The general objective of the study was to assess the operationality of the sub-district health system based on five main criteria inclusive of management structures of the sub-district, and management process instituted at the sub- districts. The others were to assess the provision of health and health related activities in the sub-district, funding for sub-district health activities, as well as human and logistical support to the sub-districts, and community involvement in health care delivery at the sub-district. Specifically, the study was aimed at assessing amongst others whether the management structures recommended for the sub-districts have been put in• place and whether the sub- districts have instituted the management processes of planning, budgeting, supervision and management information systems for effective management of the sub-district as required of them. The study assessed whether there has been adequate funding as well as human and material support (supplies, equipment, and logistics) for the sub-district health system. It also assessed whether the sub-districts have been providing all the services expected of them and whether they have promoted community involvement in the health care delivery in the sub-district. The study sought to identify the problems militating against the sub-district health delivery and to provide recommendations to the SDHT, the DHMT and the MOH national office as well as all stakeholders in health. Data collection took place between August 2001 and November 2001. The limitations to the study were mainly time constraint and inadequate funding.