Assessment of Land Cover Dynamics and Drivers of Urban Expansion Using Geospatial and Logistic Regression Approach in Wa Municipality, Ghana

The current trends of land use dynamics have revealed a significant transformation of settlement spaces. In the Wa Municipality of Ghana, the changes in land use and land cover are inspired by a plethora of driving forces. In this study, we assessed the geo-physical drivers of settlement expansion under land use dynamics in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. The study employed geospatial and remote sensing tools to map and analyse the spatio-temporal dynamics of the landscape, using Landsat satellite imageries: thematic mapper (TM), enhanced thematic mapper (ETM) and operational land imager (OLI) from 1990 to 2020. The study employed a binomial logistic regression model to statistically assess the geo-physical drivers of settlement expansion. Random forest (RF)–supervised classification based on spatio-temporal analyses generated relatively higher classification accuracies, with overall accuracy ranging from 89.33% to 93.3%. Urban expansion for the last three decades was prominent, as the period from 1990 to 2001 gained 11.44 km2 landmass of settlement, while there was 11.30 km2 gained from 2001 to 2010, and 29.44 km2 gained from 2010 to 2020. Out of the independent variables assessed, the distance to existing settlements, distance to river, and distance to primary, tertiary and unclassified roads were responsible for urban expansion.

Is quality maternal healthcare all about successful childbirth? Views of mothers in the Wa Municipality, Ghana

Introduction In spite of the countless initiatives of the Ghana government to improve the quality of maternal healthcare, Upper West Region still records poor childbirth outcomes. This study, therefore, explored women’s perception of the quality of maternal healthcare they receive in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West Region of Ghana. Materials and methods This is a qualitative cross-sectional study of 62 women who accessed maternal healthcare in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. We analysed the transcripts using the analytic inductive technique. An inter-coding technique (testing for inter-coding agreement) was employed. The iterative coding process resulted in a coding scheme with four main themes. We used peer-debriefing technique in ensuring credibility and trustworthiness. Results Logistics and equipment; referral service; empathic service delivery; inadequacy of care providers; affordability of service; satisfaction with services received; as well as experience and service delivery were the parameters used by the women in assessing quality maternity care. A number of gaps were reported in the healthcare system including limited healthcare providers, limited beds and inefficient referral system. Conversely, some of them reported that some healthcare providers offered empathetic healthcare. Contrary views were expressed with respect to satisfaction with maternity care. Conclusion Government and all stakeholders seeking to enhance quality of maternal health and accelerate the attainment of the third Sustainable Development Goal need to reconsider the financing of service delivery at health institutions. Indeed, our findings have illustrated that routine workshops on empathetic healthcare are required in efforts to increase the rate of facility-based childbirth, and thereby subside maternal mortality and all adverse pregnancy outcomes.

THE EFFECT OF INADEQUATE ACCESS TO POTABLE WATER ON THE HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY OF GHANA

Accessibility to safe drinking water is regarded as a fundamental human right since it is essential to preserving healthy livelihoods and the basic human dignity of all human beings. The study examined the effect of inadequate potable water supply on the health of the people in the Wa Municipality of Ghana. Findings of the study revealed that water related diseases are very common in the municipality due to the inadequate supply of potable water. About 55% of respondents, mentioned schistosomiasis as the top disease burden in the area. Again, the analysis of data on water provision and accessibility in the study suggested that most of the residents of the Municipality precisely 69.2% covered distances more than the standard distance of 1km stipulated by World Health Organization in search for potable water. The impacts of the time spent and distance traveled to acquire water in the Municipality were largely experienced by children and women, owing to the fact that in Ghana, water collection is considered to be the primary duty of children and women. Based on the findings the study recommends that more boreholes should be provided in the Wa Municipality to enable the residents have easy access to potable water supply. KEYWORDS: Ghana, Wa Municipality, Potable water accessibility.

Comparing Weighting Approaches in Scalogram Analysis in the Wa Municipality in the Upper West Region of Ghana

This study examined and compared the objectively-weighted, expert-based-weighted and stakeholder-based weighted Scalogram approaches based on their centrality indices and factors considered in assigning weights to the functions. A mixed-method approach, comprising both quantitative and qualitative techniques were employed to gather primary and secondary data for the study. All the three Scalograms with different weighting techniques were analyzed in Microsoft Excel, focusing on centrality and weighted centrality indices and simple linear regression models. The study discovered that the grand total centrality index of the objective Scalogram is 4,105.60, the expert-based Scalogram is 10,294.2 while the stakeholder-based one is 10,429.80. The co-efficients of determination for the three are 0.9892, 0.9757 and 0.9812 respectively, giving explanatory powers of 98.92%, 97.57% and 98.12% respectively. It is recommended that due to resource constraints, planners should rely more on the objective-based approach, followed by the stakeholder-based approach and then the expert-based approach, since the latter approach has rather reduced the explanatory power of population by increasing values of the centrality indices. Again, bottlenecks to the development of Area Council headquarters (intermediate settlements between Wa and lower-level settlements) should be tackled for efficient spatial distribution of functions. The contribution of this article to the spatial and development planning literature is its juxtaposition of the three techniques in Scalogram analysis.

Consumption of Honey in Wa Municipality, Upper West Region Ghana

Honey commonly referred to as ‘liquid gold’’ is a sweet, thick liquid natural food produced by honeybees through secretions of living plants that transform and combine with specific substances of their own, and leave it in the honey comb to ripen and mature. Honey is spoken of by all religious books, and accepted by all generations, traditions and civilizations, both ancient and modern as very medicinal and nutritious food. The paper explored the source, brand and packaging of honey sold, the quality features of honey consumers look out for during purchase, average consumption (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly) of honey, health and nutritional benefits of honey and the concerns consumers have about honey purchased for consumption. A consumer survey in peri-urban and urban communities in Wa Municipality was carried out. A total number of 400 consumers were accidentally sampled and consented for the study after verifying consumer’s eligibility from a check list. The study found out that, consumption of honey was common among urban and peri-urban dwellers thereby creates a business opportunity for producers, processors and vendors, Two major sources of honey were identified, wild and apiary honey. The brands identified were also the local and external honeys. Honey in the Municipality is packaged and sold in plastic/rubber bottle, recycled drinking water bottle and beer bottles for consumers. Honey consumers in the Wa municipality commonly use four quality characteristics (flavor, taste, color and thickness) in buying honey for use. They believe that these physical characteristics are all-inclusive in determining the quality of honey and stretches an upright conclusion of honey quality. The overall daily average quantity of honey consumed per person in Wa Municipality was calculated at 1.7 ml, weekly 11.9ml, monthly 47.6ml and yearly 571.2ml. In terms of access point of honey, consumers buy honey from processors, distributers and vendors. Majority of the consumers bu

Livelihood Diversification Among Indigenous Peri-Urban Women in the Wa Municipality, Ghana

Studies on peri-urban development have not paid enough attention to the strategies and dynamics of diversifying livelihoods among indigenous women in the Global South. This paper explores the dynamics of livelihood diversification strategies among indigenous women in response to peri-urban development in Wa, Ghana. The mixed-methods design guided the study, while the sample consisted 399 respondents selected from a sample frame of 1494 women. Data analyses involved descriptive statistics, non-parametric and thematic analyses. The study found that peri-urban development had led to the loss of access to farmland among indigenous women. In response, women have resorted to switching from farm-based to non-farm-based livelihoods amidst multiple production challenges.There is, therefore, the need to support the sustainability of women’s livelihoods through the Municipal Assembly and, in particular, through policy interventions such as support for skills training and financial support to enable indigenous people to make a sustainable living. Keywords: Diversification, Ghana, Livelihoods, Peri-Urbanization, Women

AWARENESS OF ZOONOTIC DISEASES AMONG PET OWNERS IN WA MUNICIPALITY OF GHANA

Cats and dogs are the most common household pets. Although their importance cannot be over emphasized, their interactions with humans may result in the infection of zoonotic diseases. The awareness of zoonosis is a prerequisite for an efficient disease prevention. The study was conducted to determine the awareness of zoonotic diseases among pet owners in Wa municipality. Interviews were conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, among different groups of respondents within Wa municipality, consisting of two urban and two rural localities. Out of the 100 respondents who were interviewed, about 76 (76%) of the respondents indicated their awareness of zoonoses of dogs and cats. Majority (98.7%) of those who indicated their awareness of zoonoses of dogs and cats, could only mention rabies. Most (93.3%) of the respondents who stated rabies as zoonosis were able to list some of the symptoms of the disease. The overall results suggest that the level of knowledge of zoonoses of cats and dogs in Wa municipality is low. From the results, there is the need for awareness creation on zoonoses of dogs and cats as well as proper management of these pets, with efforts from veterinary, human and public health professionals as the main actors. Keywords: Awareness, Cat, dog, Knowledge, Zoonoses