Assessing drivers of post-harvest losses: tangible and intangible resources’ perspective

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Many stakeholders in agro-food industry are concerned about sustainability, especially in addressing post-harvest loss (PHL). However, resources...     

Human exposure to PCBs, PBDEs and HBCDs in Ghana: Temporal variation, sources of exposure and estimation of daily intakes by infants

Human exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and hexabromocyclododecanes (HBCDs) was evaluated in Ghana using breast milk samples collected in 2004 and 2009. Mean levels and ranges of PBDEs (4.5; 0.86-18 ng/g lw) and PCBs (62; 15-160 ng/g lw) observed in the present study were unexpectedly high, in spite of the fact that Ghana is a non-industrialized country when compared with many of the Asian and European countries. Significant increases were found in the concentrations of PCBs and PBDEs over the years, while no significant increase was observed for HBCDs. Estimated hazard quotient (HQ) showed that all the mothers had HQ values exceeding the threshold of 1 for PCBs, indicating potential health risk for their children. PCBs in dirty oils and obsolete equipment should be of concern as potential sources in Ghana, and e-waste recycling with little or no experience in safe handling could be a threat to this sub-region noted for unregulated disposal of e-waste. The results may point towards an increase in trends in human milk in Ghana, especially in the larger cities but further analysis would be required to confirm this upward trend in levels. This is the first study to report BFRs in human breast milk from Africa, and undoubtedly from Ghana.     

Modelling the connection between energy consumption and carbon emissions in North Africa: Evidence from panel models robust to cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity

Environment, Development and Sustainability - This paper explored the link between energy consumption and carbon emissions in North Africa through an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework....     

Comparative analysis on financial viability of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana

This study employs an ex-ante analytical approach to explore the financial viability of cocoa agroforestry systems in Ghana using cross-sectional data on smallholder cocoa farmers in the Western Region of Ghana. The empirical results generally show that cocoa agroforestry systems are profitable, but the medium shade tends to be more profitable. The no-shade cocoa agroforestry has the highest yield compared with other cocoa agroforestry systems. Sensitivity analysis revealed that increasing the market price by 12.2 % tends to increase the profitability of cocoa agroforestry systems. Also increasing fertilizer price does not lead to any significant change in the profitability. The study recommends the medium-shade cocoa agroforestry system as the most profitable agroforestry system for optimizing ecological and economic outcomes of smallholder cocoa farmers in sub-Saharan Africa.     

Soil contamination by halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from open burning of e-waste in Agbogbloshie (Accra,Ghana)

Detailed composition of chlorinated and brominated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs) generated during informal recycling of e-waste and their toxic relevance are still poorly understood. This study investigated the occurrence of Cl-PAHs and Br-PAHs in surface soil samples from the Agbogbloshie e-waste recycling site (Accra, Ghana) using quantitative gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and comprehensive two-dimensional GC–time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC × GC–ToFMS) profiling. The results of GC–MS analysis showed elevated concentrations in open e-waste burning areas (160–220 and 19–46 ng/g dry weight for Cl- and Br-PAHs, respectively) with substantial contribution from unidentified compounds (respectively, more than 36 and 70%, based on the total areas of potential peaks). Cl- and Br-PAHs from e-waste burning had a distinctive composition dominated by ring–ring compounds. Several homologue groups not monitored with GC–MS were found using GC × GC–ToFMS: PAHs with up to 5Cl or 3Br, mixed halogenated PAHs and chlorinated methylPAHs. The dioxin-like toxic equivalents of the identified Cl-/Br-PAHs in soils, estimated from their in vitro AhR agonist potencies relative to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, were much lower than the range reported for chlorinated and brominated dioxins. However, the toxicity of the unidentified halogenated PAHs remained unclear.     

Perception on untreated wastewater irrigation for vegetable production in Ghana

Using household-level survey data, this study investigates farmers’ perceptions on untreated wastewater use for irrigation of vegetable farms in urban and peri-urban Kumasi of Ghana. Empirical results from an ordered probit model show that there is some relationship between personal characteristics of farmers such as age, education and gender, and perceptions of farmers on health-related risks of untreated wastewater use for irrigation. Policy efforts should be geared toward updating the knowledge, skills and attitudes of producers through frequent training and workshops so that wastewater irrigation farmers in Ghana would better appreciate health-related risks of waster irrigation and how to adopt risk mitigating strategies. Further research for a more in-depth analysis on those relationships in the short-term with immediate emphasis on improving adoption of safer irrigation technologies among wastewater irrigation farmers is recommended.     

Municipal Solid Waste Management in the Accra Metropolitan Area, Ghana

Municipal solid waste management in Accra, Ghana, is at present delivered in an unsustainable manner. Due to uncontrolled urbanisation, large quantities of waste are generated daily in Accra, and this exerts much pressure on an over strained solid waste management system. Coupled with weak institutional capacity, and lack of resources, both human and capital, the city authorities face difficulties in ensuring that all the waste generated in the city is collected for disposal. Home collection of waste is limited to high and, some middle income areas while the poor are left to contend with the problem on their own. This leads to indiscriminate disposal of waste in surface drains, canals and streams, creating unsanitary, and unsightly environments in many parts of the city.     

Women farmers’ perceived indices of occurrence and severity of observed climate extremes in rural Savannah,Ghana

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Climate extremes over the years have been a major concern for the globalized world. The hardest hit from these climate extremes are women farmers with...