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- Title
- EVALUATION OF ALTERNATIVE WATER RESOURCES FOR CAPE COAST AND ITS ENVIRONS IN GHANA.
- Creator
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Kumah, Alex, Nnadi, Ola, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Cape Coast once a national capital of Ghana and its environs in recent years have constantly suffered perennial acute water shortage. The Brimsu dam which takes its supplies from the Kakum River with current production capacity of 1.4 × 104 m3/day cannot meet the water needs of the study area. The operating levels of the dam during crisis have reduced from 7.3 meters to 4.7 meters over the years with subsequent reduction in water production by 35%. Recently, the operating level has...
Show moreCape Coast once a national capital of Ghana and its environs in recent years have constantly suffered perennial acute water shortage. The Brimsu dam which takes its supplies from the Kakum River with current production capacity of 1.4 × 104 m3/day cannot meet the water needs of the study area. The operating levels of the dam during crisis have reduced from 7.3 meters to 4.7 meters over the years with subsequent reduction in water production by 35%. Recently, the operating level has reduced further to about 3.5 meters with 60% reduction in water supply. This study evaluated alternative water resources to augment water supply and mitigate the impact of perennial water shortage. Among the alternatives considered are surface water from Twifo Prasso on the Pra River, groundwater supplies, and the desalination technology. Mean annual streamflow of Pra River at Twifo Prasso was used to evaluate the continuous availability and reliance on surface water. Hydrogeological assessment of geology underlying the study area vis-à-vis the existing borehole and their yields was used to evaluate groundwater potential. Desalination technology which is not currently in existence in the study area was considered based on available literature. Since the implementation of projects of this magnitude are the responsibilities of the central government through grants and loans, the study focuses on the cost implications of water from these alternatives to the final consumer in terms of affordability. In considering the cost of water from the various alternatives to per capita per day consumption in rural and urban settlements within the study area for a household of five, the cost of surface water remains the most affordable means of water supply, followed by groundwater. Borehole yields indicate that intensive exploitation of groundwater even though more expensive than surface water sources could minimize the effect of perennial water shortage and over dependence on surface water. The cost comparison analyses have shown that the cost of desalination using reverse osmosis is still expensive and could not compare favorably with the existing water supply alternatives. The analyses have thus confirmed the long held perception that "desalination is expensive and cannot be used in study area".
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001300, ucf:47018
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001300
- Title
- Livelihoods support programs, conservation attitudes, and tropical biodiversity: an evaluation of biocomplexity in southeastern Ghana.
- Creator
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Ekpe, Edem, Hinkle, Charles, Quigley, Martin, VonHolle, Mary, Weishampel, John, Uddin, Nizam, Owusu, Erasmus, Milon, Joseph, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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Human activities are a major driver of biodiversity degradation and loss, especially in tropical forest areas, where forest-fringe towns and villages depend on the forests for their livelihoods. In order to reduce threats that human activities pose to biodiversity, livelihoods support programs are employed as economic incentives for biodiversity conservation. These programs support the livelihoods activities of local communities, with the aim of triggering favorable attitudes and behaviors...
Show moreHuman activities are a major driver of biodiversity degradation and loss, especially in tropical forest areas, where forest-fringe towns and villages depend on the forests for their livelihoods. In order to reduce threats that human activities pose to biodiversity, livelihoods support programs are employed as economic incentives for biodiversity conservation. These programs support the livelihoods activities of local communities, with the aim of triggering favorable attitudes and behaviors towards conservation, and ultimately reduce biodiversity degradation. Their effectiveness as conservation tools has not been evaluated. I investigated the effects of livelihoods programs on conservation attitudes and the consequent effects on biodiversity in the Afadjato-Agumatsa and Atewa forest areas in southeastern Ghana.The study areas are coupled human and natural systems, which are excellent for research in the theoretical framework of biocomplexity in the environment. Using literature reviews and field visits, I documented the specific livelihoods support activities (LSAs) used for biodiversity conservation, their historical trend and geographical distribution in Ghana. I used ex-post cost-benefit analysis to determine socio-economic estimates of the LSAs in the two forest areas. Since communities were not randomly assigned to the interventions, I employed quasi-experimental design to evaluate the effects of LSAs on environmental attitudes. I evaluated the effect of conservation attitudes on biodiversity at two levels. These levels included 1) functional biodiversity at the landscape level represented by mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) of forest; and 2) compositional biodiversity at the species level represented by species diversity of fruit bats. The earliest record of LSAs used for biodiversity conservation in Ghana was in 1993. I identified 71 different activities belonging to eight categories. Some of these activities are beekeeping, animal husbandry, crop farming, and snail rearing. Most LSA programs have been in northern Ghana. There was an increasing tendency to make LSAs part of every conservation program in Ghana and this satisfies the current policy of collaborative conservation.The socio-economic estimates of LSAs included: 1) capital investment; 2) net socio-economic benefits; and 3) the benefit-cost ratio. The per-community values of the three estimates were not different between the two study areas. The per capita values of capital investment and net economic benefit were not significantly different between the two study areas. However, benefit-cost ratio per capita was higher in Afadjato-Agumatsa than in Atewa. Estimates of economic returns from LSAs were marginal but the perceptions of success were relatively high.Environmental attitudes in LSA communities and non-LSA communities were not significantly different, and this was confirmed by an estimate of infinitesimal effects of LSAs on forest conservation attitudes. Among LSA communities, benefit-cost ratio of LSAs predicted favorable forest conservation attitudes; and change in pro-conservation attitudes were significantly higher in communities that had active LSAs than in communities which had no active LSA.Mean NDVI of the forests decreased from 1991 to 2000 and decreased further but at a slower rate to 2010. Higher forest conservation attitudes predicted higher mean NDVI in 2010. Higher change in mean NDVI from 1991 to 2000 predicted higher change in mean NDVI from 2000 to 2010. Eleven of the 13 fruit bat species in Ghana were recorded in the study areas. Longer distances between a local community and its forest predicted higher species diversity of forest-specialist fruit bats.The results indicate that LSAs have become a major contribution to Ghana's current collaborative forest policy. The fact that perceptions of LSA success were moderate even though the economic returns from them were marginal suggest that other factors such as provision of employment, training in new skills and community cohesion played a part in how communities viewed the success as LSAs. Evaluations of conservation attitudes suggest that just participating in LSAs did not improve attitudes; but higher benefit-cost ratio predicted favorable conservation attitudes, and conservation attitudes were higher in communities that sustained their LSAs. Therefore, it may serve biodiversity conservation to invest in LSAs that can be sustained and involve the least costs to local communities. Primary production of the forests, a proxy for a functional habitat, continued to decrease. Preventing communities from locating closer to forests could improve fruit bat diversity, which contributes to natural forest regeneration. Improving conservation attitudes should be an objective of conservation at the landscape scale.On the basis of the results, I developed a conceptual model for forest biodiversity conservation in a biocomplexity framework. This model could be useful for evaluating conservation in tropical forest areas. Lessons from this study can be applied in other incentive-based conservation programs such as payments for ecosystem services systems and carbon market schemes. I suggest that this study be repeated after a decade and that other socio-political and biogeochemical variables be integrated into future studies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2012
- Identifier
- CFE0004246, ucf:49511
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004246
- Title
- CURES TO STALLED DEVELOPMENT: CAUSES AND SOLUTIONS TO ECONOMIC CRISIS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA.
- Creator
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Thiboutot, Monika, Jungblut, Bernadette, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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The purpose of this thesis is to investigate some of the contending issues associated with economic underdevelopment in sub-Saharan African states. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the combined effects of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic austerity programs, the increased spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the continuous democratic deficit on the sluggish economic performance within four sub-Saharan African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and the...
Show moreThe purpose of this thesis is to investigate some of the contending issues associated with economic underdevelopment in sub-Saharan African states. Specifically, this thesis focuses on the combined effects of World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic austerity programs, the increased spread of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and the continuous democratic deficit on the sluggish economic performance within four sub-Saharan African countries – Ghana, Kenya, Botswana and the Democratic Republic of Congo. The research questions are: are there any unique political, cultural, and economic issues that underscore and determine the path of sub-Saharan African development? What are the potentials for sub-Saharan Africa going beyond its present state of socioeconomic and political underdevelopment? Can sub-Saharan African nation-states truly claim the 21st century? It is hoped that what is learned from examining the situation in these four countries may be generalizeable to other sub-Saharan African states. This thesis has been written with the conviction that sub-Saharan Africa, although it has missed opportunities over the past thirty years, has not completely closed the door on economic development. Although sub-Saharan African conditions have not favored development and there is no simple solution for sub-Saharan Africa's economic and social ills, there are a number of 'common sense' approaches toward sustainable economic and social development. This thesis examines why sub-Saharan Africa's economic crisis has persevered for three decades, and why efforts to establish and uphold more effective economic policies and functioning public institutions have been so much more difficult in sub-Saharan Africa than elsewhere. My account concentrates on political and institutional factors: I explore how the predicament has progressed over the last thirty years, and the repercussions of the long-term nature of this predicament. The focal purpose is to identify and explain the causes which have kept sub-Saharan Africa for several decades mired in an ostensibly permanent crisis. The general theme of the thesis emphasizes that politics and economics are interconnected in sub-Saharan Africa. Moreover, the thesis focuses on the changing role of politics and markets in the process of economic development since the 1970s – and prospects for the future of this region.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2006
- Identifier
- CFE0001476, ucf:47086
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0001476
