http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/1015 Tue, 14 Apr 2026 23:13:08 GMT 2026-04-14T23:13:08Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/12101 Socio-Economic Benefits and Challenges of Oil Palm Production Among Indigenous Rural Farmers in Karonga District, Malawi Mweta, Noel Oil palm production (Elaeis guineensis) presents significant opportunities for the rural population to alleviate poverty through agriculture. This study investigated the socio-economic benefits and challenges of oil palm production among indigenous rural farmers in the Karonga District, Malawi. A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating data collected through questionnaire, interview, and focus group discussion guides. The questionnaire was administered to 477 households engaged in oil palm production. Further, 10 key informants were interviewed, and 4 focus group discussions were formed. Guided by the Theory of Access, examining oil palm production’s importance for sustaining indigenous rural farmers’ livelihoods revealed a multifaceted role in addressing food through cooking oil production, creating employment opportunities, and meeting other basic needs. Despite these benefits, challenges such as access to market, farm equipment, information and extension services, and credit persist, hindering production and socio-economic progress. Again, the Spearman rho correlation analysis between acres of land cultivated and benefits from oil palm production revealed -.140 with a sig value of 0.000, signifying that as more acres of land farmers cultivate, benefits tend to reduce moderately. The researcher, therefore, recommends that the MoA collaborate with other stakeholders in the agriculture sector, including financial institutions and the manufacturing industry, in the provision of extension services as a means of information access, creating the market, and providing credits to indigenous rural farmers so that they can invest and buy equipment necessary for this agricultural activity. xxiii, 251p:, ill. Fri, 01 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/12101 2024-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11423 Livelihood strategies of the aged in ghana Ansah, Kobina Abaka The study analysed the livelihood strategies of the aged in Ghana between 2016 -2019. A mixed-method research design was adopted for the study. Secondary data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey seven (GLSS7) and primary data from the Ashanti Region were used for the study. Purposive and simple random sampling procedures were used to sample participants for the primary data collection. A total of 73 participants were engaged in the primary data collection. Interview and focus group discussion guides were used as research instruments. Data from the GLSS7 were processed with Statistical Product for Service Solutions version 21, while the primary data were processed with NVrVO. The quantitative data were analysed using both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (independent sample t-test and regression) statistics, while narrative analysis was used for the qualitative data. The study found that most of the aged were still economically engaged. The aged had adopted multiple livelihood strategies, including pension benefits, remittances, agricultural activities, and incomes from businesses, to enhance their livelihood outcomes. This study is different from other studies because, it analyses the livelihood strategies from a rural-urban perspective. The study recommends that the government of Ghana should revise the retirement age to reflect the sturdy improvement in life expectancy to provide legal backing to the continuous economic engagement of the aged. Ghana should develop a policy to include various informal sectors into pension schemes to enable them to meet their basic needs to improve their livelihood outcomes. xi, 234p:, ill Fri, 01 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11423 2021-01-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11124 “Dipo” Womanhood Rites: A Control Mechanism of Young Girls in Yilo-Krobo, Ghana Asubonteng-Manu, Edward Pre-marital sex is popularly considered to be a forbidden or a deviant act in the Ghanaian socio-cultural context. Violators are punished in some societies to serve as a deterrent since the act has both religious and social implications. The Krobo ethnic group of the Eastern Region of Ghana, is a conservative and patrilineal society where virginity is valued. They coduct Dipo womanhood rites for young girls who have reached the marriageable age into womanhood. The young girl undergoing the Dipo rites is known as Dipo-yoo (Dipo girl) and is expected to be a virgin. Accordingly, Dipo womanhood rites was instituted to mainly ensure that young girls in Krobo protect their chastity until marriage. Contemporarily, while a school of thought argued that the rites has lost its value due to modifications, another school of thought also claim that the rites is relevant in controlling the sexual conduct of young girls. Given these divergent views, the current study adopted Hirschi’s (1969) social control theory to deepen the understanding of the relevance or otherwise of Dipo womanhood rites in controlling early pre-marital sexual debut of young girls. To achieve this, the mixed methods (ie. quantitative and qualitative) was employed to gather data from respondents made up of 286 and 66 young girls and boys respectively aged 15-24 years and 16 key informants from communities in Yilo-Krobo Municipality. Findings indicate that commitment and involvement in the rites significantly reduce the likelihood of young girls to engage in early pre-marital sex. On the other hand, attachments to parents/guardians and beliefs in the principle of the rites were not statistically significant in explaining the likelihood of young girls’ engagement in early pre-marital sex. The study recommends that the community should engage the social control factors more critically to help the effective use of Dipo as a cultural mechanism to control the sexual behaviour of young girls until they are married or matured enough to negotiate safe sex. Keywords: Dipo, Womanhood rites, Control Mechanism, Young girls, Yilo-Krobo i, xvii; 264p Wed, 01 Nov 2023 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/11124 2023-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/10824 A Comparative Study of Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices of Employed Mothers in Accra Metropolis and Wa Municipality of Ghana Sika-Bright, Solomon Maternal employment has been widely cited as one of the major barriers to exclusive breastfeeding. The present study examined how maternal employment in the formal sector is associated with the maintenance of exclusive breastfeeding among women with diverse employment characteristics in Accra Metropolis and Wa Municipality of Ghana. Socialist feminism and symbolic interactionist perspectives served as theoretical guides for the study. Data for the study was obtained from 32 interviews and 721 surveys with employed mothers who had infants not older than six months selected from the study areas. The findings showed that, type of mothers' employment, mothers' marital status and infants' age were significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding practices. Exclusive breastfeeding was also high among part-time workers and private sector workers. Unlike the case of Wa Municipality, employment was found to be significantly associated with exclusive breastfeeding in Accra Metropolis. Lack of breastfeeding-friendly facilities at the workplace posed as a challenge for most of the mothers in this study. Mothers who were breastfeeding exclusively in both study areas were able to do so because they had family and workplace support. It is therefore recommended that employers provide breastfeeding-friendly facilities at the workplace to facilitate breastfeeding. In addition, the family, coworkers and supervisors should support breastfeeding mothers. Lastly, Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations should extend the duration of the maternity leave for successful and less stressful exclusive breast feeding by employed mothers who are breast feeding. ii, ill:275 Sat, 01 Jul 2017 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/10824 2017-07-01T00:00:00Z