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The Volta Basin covers most of the major food producingdistricts of Ghana. Thus said, it is considered as the foodbasket of Ghana. This perception underscores the need toprotect the basins bio-physical environment and resource base.This concern has been mirrored by several initiatives both interms of policy and planning that aim at improving themanagement of the basin’s resource base to enable itspeople depend on it in meeting their livelihoods. Like mostcommunities that lie in the lower reaches of the Volta, thepeople of the South Tongu District have been brought under theimpact of the dam. Even though no extensive study has yet beenconducted to establish the extent of the dam’s impact inthe district, it is widely believed by the locals thatlivelihoods have been impacted by environmental changes. Keycomplaints include, amongst others, tree cover depletion,decline in soil fertility, poor agricultural productivity, lowrainfall and bush fires. At the district level some steps havebeen taken in the form of projects and programmes to addresspoverty and resource management issues, while others areunderway. This study seeks to contribute to the on-goinggeneral discussion concerning poverty and environmentalmanagement in the basin by presenting some perspectives fromfour villages, namely, Torsukpo, Agbogbla, Akato and Alesikpein the South Tongu District. From two perspectives, thesecommunities are considered as homogenous: (i) they are allpredominantlyeweswith respect to ethnic composition, and (ii)subsistence farming features as a key occupation in all thecommunities. Among the range of issues identified in thedistrict, the study discusses mainly conservation (with respectto tree planting), bush fires and co-operative management. Ittreats these issues with focuses on key socio-cultural factors.In the examination of these issues institutional matters suchas tenure are seen as central players in resource managementand are thus given attention. While information gathered hereincontributes generally to deepening knowledge on the prevailingproblems, some recommendations are also offered as possiblesteps to improving resource management and livelihoods in theDistrict. <b>Key words:</b>environment; natural resources; lower volta;local people; livelihood

<p>The Volta Basin covers most of the major food producingdistricts of Ghana. Thus said, it is considered as the foodbasket of Ghana. This perception underscores the need toprotect the basins bio-physical environment and resource base.This concern has been mirrored by several initiatives both interms of policy and planning that aim at improving themanagement of the basin’s resource base to enable itspeople depend on it in meeting their livelihoods. Like mostcommunities that lie in the lower reaches of the Volta, thepeople of the South Tongu District have been brought under theimpact of the dam. Even though no extensive study has yet beenconducted to establish the extent of the dam’s impact inthe district, it is widely believed by the locals thatlivelihoods have been impacted by environmental changes. Keycomplaints include, amongst others, tree cover depletion,decline in soil fertility, poor agricultural productivity, lowrainfall and bush fires. At the district level some steps havebeen taken in the form of projects and programmes to addresspoverty and resource management issues, while others areunderway. This study seeks to contribute to the on-goinggeneral discussion concerning poverty and environmentalmanagement in the basin by presenting some perspectives fromfour villages, namely, Torsukpo, Agbogbla, Akato and Alesikpein the South Tongu District. From two perspectives, thesecommunities are considered as homogenous: (i) they are allpredominantly<i>ewes</i>with respect to ethnic composition, and (ii)subsistence farming features as a key occupation in all thecommunities. Among the range of issues identified in thedistrict, the study discusses mainly conservation (with respectto tree planting), bush fires and co-operative management. Ittreats these issues with focuses on key socio-cultural factors.In the examination of these issues institutional matters suchas tenure are seen as central players in resource managementand are thus given attention. While information gathered hereincontributes generally to deepening knowledge on the prevailingproblems, some recommendations are also offered as possiblesteps to improving resource management and livelihoods in theDistrict.</p><p><b>Key words:</b>environment; natural resources; lower volta;local people; livelihood</p>

Texte remanié de: Dissertation--Berlin--Humboldt-Universität, 2004. / Bibliogr. p. [290]-303.

Zugl.: Stuttgart, Univ., Diss., 2008.

The slow rate of development in some of the regions of Ghana, and in fact of the developing countries, is partly-due to the lack of adequate and efficient transportation services. The provision of such services is greatly hindered by the excessive competition between transportation modes and the inexpedient allocation of capital resources for transport development. The utilization of the Volta Lake for the purposes of transportation will probably constitute a source of competition to existing modes of transportation, particularly roads. In order to make possible the use of this economical means of transport, ways must be found to integrate lake transport with existing systems, since water transport cannot function efficiently as a separate system. It is hypothesized that an integrated system of road, rail and lake transport can be used as a means of achieving the economic, physical and social objectives for the balanced regional development of the Volta Basin. In order to evaluate the potential development of transport integration and the possibilities of utilizing integrated transport facilities as a tool for achieving regional development, the concepts of transport integration and transport coordination are defined and reviewed. It is demonstrated that transport integration is concerned with the employment of each mode of transportation in the economic circumstances best suited to its characteristics. The concept of the region and the process of regional planning and development are also reviewed. The regional unit appropriate to planning in the developing countries is the 'uniform region', which is described in terms of its similar problem characteristics. Regional planning and development have evolved as a means of solving these problems and of ordering the natural and human resources in order to ensure balanced growth. The Volta Basin regional planning unit is determined to be viable for the purposes of development; however, for this study, the region is extended to include the Tamale Area in the north and the Accra-Tema Area in the southeast, because of the tremendous flow of traffic between the two areas. In order to investigate how Volta Lake transport could be integrated with road and railway systems, the case study approach is used. The principles of integrated transport development utilized in the U.S.S.R., and in the Tennessee Valley Region and the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area of the U.S.A. are reviewed. It is observed that an efficient transportation system is considered to be a means of achieving economic, physical and social development in these countries. The principles of transport integration in the U.S.S.R. include joint traffic scheduling, distribution of traffic among the various modes of transportation, rate structuring and a centralized system of control. A major limitation is the high-cost of transshipment. In the Tennessee Valley Region and in the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area of the U.S.A., transport integration is based on the principles of joint rate structuring and containership operations respectively. The use of containers eliminates the problem of transshipment; however, the basence of a coordinating body is a major drawback to transport integration in the Tennessee Valley Region. On the basis of these principles, a method for integrating Volta Lake transport with road and railway systems is proposed. The sources of potential traffic for Volta Lake transport are examined and it is concluded that there is a demand for a Volta Lake transportation system. The principles of integrated transport development employed in the U.S.S.R., the Tennessee Valley Region and the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area of the U.S.A. are considered to be relevant for application in the Volta Basin. The establishment of a Lake Transport Authority to implement integrated transport policies is recommended. It is concluded that an integrated transportation system will contribute both directly and indirectly to the regional objectives of economic development, the provision of better employment opportunities, a higher level of living, provision of community facilities and services and the rational distribution of settlements. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

<p> The Volta River Authority (VRA) is responsible for the generation and transmission of power in Ghana. For this purpose, VRA owns and operates two hydroelectric generating stations (at Akosombo and Kpong) with a combined installed capacity of 1060 Kw. The Akosombo plant is served by the Lake Volta Reservoir. Prediction of inflows into the Volta Lake is one of the important functions of the reservoir management group.</p> <p>For this project, some of the more recent methods of mathematical modelling are investigated with a view to building a simple stochastic model which adequately represents and forecasts the Volta river average monthly flow. The Box-Jenkins family of models are employed in this exercise. A parsimonious model in the form of a seasonal autoregressive integrated moving average (SARIMA) model is arrived at which adequately models and forecasts the available data.</p> <p>The selected model is reasonably easy to set up, has few parameters to estimate and therefore making the updating of these parameters a relatively simple task.</p> / Thesis / Master of Engineering (MEngr)

In June 1999, I was a volunteer for a United States non-governmental organization, Crossroads Africa. I joined six other American women traveling to Ghana, West Africa to participate in a collaborative program designed by the Ghana Red Cross Society and Crossroads Africa. Specifically our group was assigned to work on a Women in Development (WID) project with three rural women's collectives, "Mothers Clubs," assisting them with income-generating projects in the Volta Region of Ghana. The projects varied among the villages. hi village one, Anfoeta Tsebi, the women extracted oil from palm fruit and kernels. They sold palm oil at regional markets and used the oil domestically to make stews and soap for washing. In village two, Heffi, Mothers Club members baked bread and processed gari from cassava yarns. In village three, Anyirawase, the women made batiks, tie-dye, beadwork, and woven mats from corn husks. My research objective was to evaluate the role that gender, the WID design, and power played in each project. I also sought to use my observations and the voices of African women to assess the successes and failures of the collaborative program of the Ghana Red Cross and Crossroads Africa. I used participant observation to gather this information. The sample was inclusive of project participants. I found that the womens' collectives provided positive networks of support for members. The women taught our Crossroads volunteers about how they were creating change. The collectives also showed how successful development depends on improving the quality of life for individuals. The women gained skills in leadership and health education, while they improved their economic situation. Women were becoming collectively empowered through their role as active agents for change in their communities. Their hard work, dedication, and widespread recognition of their accomplishments contributed to group empowerment. My findings suggest that the primary obstacles to project success were lack of resources and time and physical exhaustion from an increased workload Poor preparation and training for Crossroads volunteers and their ideological fragmentation prevented effective assistance and collaboration with the Mothers Clubs. One of my recommendations for future improvements is to integrate men into the development process to play a constructive role and minimize their opportunity for unwanted interference. Another recommendation is to encourage Ghana Red Cross leaders to hold seminars for women from different villages to allow for an exchange of knowledge about development projects. Finally, recommend that Crossroads Africa and Ghana Red Cross leaders make a greater effort to collaborate and improve preparation and training for participants. / Graduation date: 2001

Univ., Diss.--Bonn, 2004.

[pt] Diante do acelerado crescimento populacional nas cidades, sobretudo de países subdesenvolvidos e emergentes, como o Brasil, a alternativa economicamente viável encontrada para a destinação final dos resíduos foi a construção de vazadouros a céu aberto, popularmente conhecidos como lixões. A despeito da criação de diversas leis ambientais nos últimos que visam assegurar a correta gestão de resíduos, como a Lei n 12.305/2010, conhecida como a Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos, muitos municípios ainda apresentam dificuldades para se adequar às novas determinações impostas, como o encerramento das operações dos lixões, previsto até o ano de 2014. A disposição inadequada de resíduos em lixões provoca impactos à saúde pública e ao meio ambiente, o que tem despertado a preocupação de órgãos ambientais e públicos competentes que, através da aplicação do Termo de Ajustamento de Conduta (TAC), tem buscado remediar os efeitos das atividades dos lixões no Brasil, como é o caso do Município de Volta Redonda, localizado no interior do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, área de estudo escolhida para esta pesquisa. Neste sentido, este trabalho teve como objetivo avaliar a efetividade da recuperação ambiental da área do vazadouro do Município de Volta Redonda. Para tanto, foram realizadas entrevistas aos gestores do município, órgãos públicos ambientais e levantamento bibliográfico da área estudo. Verificou-se que o Município, assim como a maioria dos municípios brasileiros, possui dificuldades para atender as condicionantes para a recuperação ambiental, pois desde a sua criação em 1987 e até o momento, houve apenas parcial regularização da sua situação. / [en] Due to the accelerated population growth in cities, especially in emerging countries, such as Brazil, the economically viable alternative to the final disposal of waste was the construction of landfills, popularly known as dumpsites. However, this type of disposal is not considered environmentally appropriate because it can cause many impacts on public health and the environment, such as: production of leachate, highly toxic liquid, methane gas emission, animal attraction vectors of diseases, among others. Legal tools, such as TAC, have been applied by public agencies aiming to replace dumpsites, as a matter of priority, to sanitary landfill, in order to achieve the goals of the National Solid Waste Policy (Law n 12.305/2010), which establishes deadline for the end of brazilian s dumpsite operations. The new order of economic, social, ecological, political and economical in ascension presents significant changes of paradigms that need to be broken in the 21st century. Environment, waste treatment, sanitation, air pollution, among others, have ceased to be on clichés and began to receive holistic talks, which before were resolved in a timely and fragmented. As a direct result of all anthropogenic processes, we have been experiencing an increase in the production of solid waste, both in quantity and in diversity, especially in large urban centers. Besides the increase in quantity, the waste produced today passed to have in its composition synthetic elements and dangerous to ecosystems and human health. This fact let the waste treatment more expensive and, sometimes, the waste final disposal could be dumpsite.