Magister Public Health - MPH / This study sought to explore and describe factors that influence parents’ decisions on childhood immunizations at Kumasi Metropolis in Ghana. Based on the Health Belief Model used as the theoretical framework guiding this study, immunization decision making is influenced by one’s knowledge on immunizations, perception on immunizations and sociodemographic factors. With an exploratory descriptive quantitative cross-sectional survey, a sample of 303 parents was obtained from five district hospitals in Kumasi metropolis. This was done through convenience sampling of participants at immunization sessions. Structured questionnaires were developed in line with the study’s objectives, literature review and theoretical framework. Data obtained from the survey were analysed with the computer-based facility of SPSS version 21 software. This enhanced the application of descriptive and inferential measures to present the results in graphs and tables. Findings from the study showed that most parents were aware of immunization but had limited knowledge on vaccines and immunization schedule. It also revealed that antenatal nurses constituted the most accessible source of information. Furthermore, the study established a high percentage of complete immunization, influenced by parents’ fear of their children contracting vaccine preventable diseases. However, the few parents who could not complete the immunization schedule for their children referred to challenges such as forgetfulness and lack of personnel or vaccine at the centre. Whereas the socio-demographic variables considered did not influence their decision on immunization, it was established that the percentage of complete immunization increased with increasing schooling level of parents. It was higher among Christians than Muslims. The study concluded that knowledge on immunization could not influence immunization decisions. However, the main factors that influence parents’ decision on childhood immunizations in Kumasi metropolis were parents’ fear of vaccine preventable diseases, awareness on the benefits of immunizations and sources of vaccine information

Magister Philosophiae - MPhil / Sub-Saharan African countries in general with particular reference to Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso depend mostly on agriculture which is seen as the main source of income. Agriculture provides income for a large percentage of the rural population, and employs about 70 per cent of its labour force with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about 30 per cent. Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso as well as a large majority of African countries depend on subsistence farming and the cultivation of subsistence crops helps provide food and ensures food security for the people. Although they mostly depend on subsistence crops, they also produce primary export crops such as cocoa for Ghana, coffee for Cameroon, and cotton for Burkina Faso which represent a major source of foreign exchange. Due to the significant importance of agriculture in the above countries Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso, gave great importance to agriculture by part taking in international trade negotiations or agreements on agriculture. These countries were involved more vigorously in the Uruguay Round where agricultural products were fully covered by multilateral trade rules for the first time. Farmers from Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso are faced with so many challenges in exporting their agricultural products to world markets despite their participation in the agricultural trade reforms. They have restricted access to rich countries agricultural markets and they also face unfair competition in their own domestic markets from subsidised imports of food staples from wealthy countries. Other challenges such as: trade barriers, inadequate trade infrastructure (logistics and transportation), and inadequate institution serving farmers and agriculture and lack of technology to transform traditional agriculture are also of great importance. With regard to the above challenges faced by Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso this research is to examine or analyse the impacts that international trade reforms have on the agricultural exports focusing on primary products (cash crops), such as cocoa, coffee and cotton which are a major source of export revenue for these countries and the livelihood basis for millions of rural households who grow these crops. The research will also look at the challenges faced by Ghana, Cameroon and Burkina Faso in exporting their agricultural products to developed countries‘ markets despite their participation in the international trade agreements on agriculture. Taking a look at the international trade reforms it can be seen that while the Uruguay Round will have a significant impact on global trade and economic welfare, its effect on the above countries‘ agricultural exports is expected to be much smaller, and if anything maybe negative. Ghana, Cameroon, Burkina Faso and most African countries are likely to gain slightly from tariff cuts and the elimination of non-tariff barriers on manufactured products. These countries will find themselves slightly worse off as a result of cuts to developed countries' subsidies to their agricultural exports, which tends to increase world food prices.

Conflict in Africa remains one of the continent’s principal development challenges. The human, economic and development costs of conflict are immense. A peaceful and secure environment remains the greatest priority for ordinary Africans across the continent. However, this often remains a mirage for many as violent armed conflicts continue to take its toll on many ordinary citizens, often, displacing them as refugees. Some refugees remain in very a deplorable refugee camps that offer them no prospects of decent livelihood for many years. With fear that they would be persecuted upon return to their countries of origin and often the delays in finding solutions to political violence, refugees remain in a protracted situation. A Protracted refugee situation means that refugees have lived in exile for more than five years with no immediate prospect of finding a durable solution to their plight by means of voluntary repatriation, local integration or resettlement. Thousands of refugees who fled violent conflicts in the West Africa and other parts of Africa have lived for more than a decade in the Krisan and Buduburam refugee camps in Ghana. A situation that can be termed protracted. This paper investigated the perceptions of local Ghanaians, Refugees of Krisan Refugee Camp and Government Official on the integration of refugees in Ghana. Krisan Refugee Camp which was built in 1996, particularly, houses about 1,700 refugees from nine countries: The Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo Brazzaville, Côte d’Ivoire, Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone and The Sudan. The refugees have lived with the indigenous people of Krisan village for more than a decade and thus offered the best case for the investigation. The researcher used qualitative triangulation method to collect data. That is, he observed the refugees, the local people and supervisors of the refugee camp who made up the sample population. The researcher was able to conduct a face to face in-depth interview and studied necessary documents that informed the study immensely. Thematic data analysis revealed economic and employment opportunities, security, cultural and social networking and finally good counselling on the three traditional durable solutions as the themes greatly impacting on the integration of refugees in Ghana. A number of recommendations are made to inform the management and integration of refugees in Ghana and in Africa in general.

Shea butter production in West Africa has been dominated by women and Northern Ghana specifically is a leading global producer. This thesis explores women’s perceptions of power, control and agency in the Ojoba Women’s Fair Trade Co-operative in Upper East Ghana. I add to the literature on women’s experiences with and in fair trade. I examine how the shea industry and the co-operative provide a marketplace for women and a space for women to co-operate and resist power structures. I emphasize how the Western language of empowerment builds substantially from pre-existing women’s networks and labour sharing practices in the agricultural context. The thesis evaluates the factors within Ojoba that contribute to women’s empowerment. To be ‘empowered’ in Ojoba reflects a variety of understandings, experiences and locations. Indeed “women’s empowerment” may misrepresent how the women are capable of building a physical and social space of safety, debate and growth.

The first chapter describes the political and economic development in Ghana and its impact on the creation of the formal educational system since the first european invasion on the african continent and the beginnings of colonialism until the end of 1990's. The second chapter analyses current educational system, especially its newly reformed structure and functioning. The third chapter concentrates on the two main problems of the educational system in Ghana, which are child labour and low quality of education.

This diploma thesis is focused on the business opportunities in Ghana. The thesis is divided into three main chapters. The first chapter describes briefly the main characteristics of the Ghanaian market. The second key chapter is analytical. There is a detailed PEST analysis with explanation and practical advises based on author's experience. It is followed by SWOT analyses from the Czech point of view. Finally there is also more information about actual business cooperation between Ghana and Czech Republic. The last chapter of the thesis points out the business opportunities in Ghana. The goal of this thesis is to name the business opportunities in Ghana and to find the main differences of the Ghanaian market, which are crucial for the investor's decision whether to expand to Ghana or not.

The efficacy of decentralised local governance to transform rural communities into vibrant modern communities has often been highlighted. The Constitution of Ghana lends a strong hand to decentralised local governance as key to achieving rural development and poverty reduction. Achieving the above is however premised on the basis that local authorities would function effectively; promote effective community participation; and are functionally autonomous. However, some conceptual and practical challenges appear to limit the achievement of the stated benefits of local governance in Ghana. This thesis seeks to examine the nature of local governance and how its function translates into rural community development. It responds to pertinent questions central to Ghana’s decentralisation. It questions the local community development initiatives implemented by local government institutions, by exploring perspectives on the usefulness of these initiatives to local communities. Further it explores how the participation of local communities is engaged in executing these initiatives; and thirdly, it investigates institutional capacities to effectively carry out the decentralised community development initiatives. The thesis sought answers by conducting in-depth and semi-structured interviews with 134 participants drawn from 32 local communities within three District Assemblies, and a variety of stakeholders including key local government actors, individuals, and groups from three Districts in Northern Ghana. The thesis argues that political, administrative and systemic deficits challenge effective local government function in Ghana. For instance, recent evidence points to the fact that regimes since December 2000 dwell on political gerrymandering to bolster their political fortunes, which further weaken existing local governments rather than facilitate their effective and efficient function. Further that, local governments are observed to work within a chaotic community development environment where initial development strategies where overly influenced by exogenous forces, which made them unrealistic to rural community development. Again, the findings suggests a history of decentralised local governance full of a continual tinkering and halfhearted implementation of the decentralisation process since colonial times. This is mostly to achieve well orchestrated political goals. This historical legacy stifles local governments’ capacities over time and also leaves mostly ineffective structures replete with opportunities for political favour and rent seeking behaviours. Evidently however, this has tendered to percolate present day systems and processes where local political elites seek to, and prosecute the political agenda of the national government instead of dealing with local needs. On the development strategies implemented by local governments, a penchant tendency to transplant national development plans as local development strategies on central governments’ insistence was discovered. Though a contradiction to the laid down local government development planning and implementation process, local governments follow through with this practice. Further, a historical legacy of powerful external multi-lateral stakeholders’ grips or influence of the local development agenda appears a paramount reason for the above, and this in real terms leads to a de-emphasises of home grown local development strategies. The implication is that unrealistic rural community development strategies perpetuate. This further leads to noted planning incongruence at the local level. Aside this, there is also an overbearing local political and administrative interferences, and manipulations which leads further to a ‘filtering’ of development strategies to meet national politically motivated strategies or interests. This notwithstanding, local communities have strong faith in local governments as viable community development agents. The findings further suggest local governments’ acknowledgement of the critical roles of active community participation in the local community development agenda. Yet again they struggle to apply the national development planning Act 1994, (Act 480), which holds the greatest promise to directly translate to effective participation. In the least, local governments preferred to consult and inform local community members. In the same vain, central governments some times implement community development initiatives within local government jurisdictions without consulting them. A chief factor which appears to work against direct local level influence of the development planning process is the existence of penurious institutions at the local level. Consequently an exercise of tokenism is thus promoted to satisfy requirements for effective local community participation. In most cases ultimate development decisions are taken by the management and political leadership and not in direct consultation with local communities. Notwithstanding the above, it appears that local governments’ institutional capacities to effectively deliver on their mandate appear potentiated when viewed from the extent of supporting legal and institutional frameworks which gives credence to local governance. Local governments possess a powerful list of constitutionally sanctioned guiding frameworks which should necessarily inure to their smooth operation. Ironically there are noted deliberate systemic and political processes which tend to constraint this smooth function. In the least central government deliberately keeps a functionally dependent relationship with local governments. One direct result of the subjection of local government within this perpetual highly dependent functional relationship is a continual blurring of roles. Local governments appear to be perpetually subjugated to functional obscurity by central governments through incomplete decentralisation, strained internal relationships, and unhealthy ‘politicking’ between District Assembly members and administrative staff to say the least. Although most decentralised departments appear to have competent technical staff, their function is limited because of numerical insufficiency as well as limited material and logistical support.

This thesis analyze the democratization process of Mongolia and Ghana by applying a comparative case study. The study use Steven Levitsky and Lucan Ways theory of Western linkage and leverage to analyze the Mongolian and Ghanaian transition process, from being an non-democratic state to an consolidated democracy, through looking at the development of Western linkage and leverage and if there is any correlation between this development and the progress of democracy in respective state.The findings are that Western linkage in Mongolia never has been high but that the levels of Western linkage has developed positive in 1991 and 1995. The levels of Western leverage has been high in Mongolia since 1991. In Ghana the levels of Western linkage has been high and developed positive since at least 1996, but the levels of Western leverage has been low since 1996. Thus, the correlation between high levels of Western linkage and leverage and the democratization progress in respective state is weak, but there is some correlation between a positive development of Western linkage and the progress of democracy.

Dual land administration systems operate in many peri-urban customary areas in subSaharan Africa (Burns, 2007), yet the rationality behind them is different, and possibly conflicting (Watson, 2003). The conflicting rationalities between the dual systems have created binaries in land administration discourse. Some scholars have promoted statutory land administration systems over customary systems (Hardin, 1968). Many pre-21st century land administration systems theories were purely economy-based, and sought to discredit customary land administration and tenure systems (De Soto, 2000; Peters, 2009). The weaknesses of customary land administration and tenure systems have been widely articulated in economy-based land administration literature (Demsetz,1967). However, recent research findings seem to suggest that peri-urban customary land management could improve through hybrid land administration, incorporating both customary and statutory systems (Whittal, 2014). In this study, statutory and customary land administration systems are examined to understand how they can be integrated to improve effective land delivery at the peri-urban interface in Ghana. A case study analysis of hybrid forms of land administration was undertaken, using both primary and secondary data. Relatively successful case studies (from Ghana and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa) were deliberately chosen to learn good ways of managing peri-urban customary land. Land administration practices in such areas were assessed using the good land governance framework. The case study analysis reveals that hybrid land administration systems are appropriate in enhancing livelihood sustainability and tenure security of the local people. To this end, the study proposes some improvements in hybrid land administration practices to reduce conflicting rationalities between customary and statutory land administration systems.

Half a billion school aged children suffer from anemia, with the majority of anemia caused by iron deficiency. Researchers have shown a strong correlation between low hemoglobin levels and presence of intestinal parasites in children with anemia. Childhood anemia has profound negative effects on physical growth, maturation, and cognitive development leading to poorer educational achievement. Using hemoglobin as a measure of anemia, this quasi-experimental study investigated impact of either iron supplementation or an antiparasitic medication on hemoglobin levels in two groups of children in a rural region of Eastern Ghana. Surprisingly, after a 6-month intervention period, hemoglobin levels in both groups significantly decreased. Further research is needed toinvestigate other factors impacting nutrition and incidence of anemia in pediatric populations in developing countries.