The search for viable alternatives to illegal chainsaw milling in Ghana requires an understanding... more The search for viable alternatives to illegal chainsaw milling in Ghana requires an understanding of the anthropogenic factors in the rural economy that promotes the practice. This paper investigated the benefits of the practice to the rural economy of Ghana. Data was obtained from survey conducted on 102 chainsaw lumber stakeholders using questionnaire across 8 forest districts in southern Ghana and analyzed descriptively. Results showed that the practice contributes to the provision of employment, community infrastructure among others. More than 50% of chainsaw operators earned up to 97% of their household income from the practice, and thus considered it as the best alternative to agricultural income. Farmers, land owners and traditional authorities received eight categories of informal payments from chainsaw operations. These included payments from sale of trees, commission on trees scouted for logging and compensation for crop damages on farmlands during logging. Also, taxes wer...
The biomass and energy of six (6) tree species use for wood fuel production were studied. The tre... more The biomass and energy of six (6) tree species use for wood fuel production were studied. The tree species are among the most common species employed in wood fuel production in the forest transition zone of Ghana. The wood fuel products, fuel wood and charcoal were characterized for their suitability as fuel based on moisture content, volatile matter, ash content and fixed carbon. Among the species investigated Afzelia africana, Khaya senegalensis, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Azadrachta indica etc have the highest in green moisture content (mc), volatile matter (vm), ash content and fixed carbon content respectively. Pterocarpus erinaceus gave the highest gravimetric yield for charbonization, which correlated very well with green density of the tree species. Of the 6 tree species studied Afzelia africana has the highest calorific value of 5.17 kcal/g for fuel wood and Azadrachta indica the highest value of 6.79 kcal/g for charcoal. The indigenous tree species performed very well comparab...
The study dwelt on the potential of smallholder forests for the dual purpose of providing product... more The study dwelt on the potential of smallholder forests for the dual purpose of providing products for the farm household while contributing to climate change mitigation in Ghana using the Kranka, Baafi and Manso integrated mahogany forests of the Nkoranza South District as case study. It employed the use of both questionnaire sourced primary and literature review sourced secondary data. Both quantitative (use of tables and charts) and qualitative methods (use of SPSS-Statistical Package for Social Scientist and the Microsoft Excel computer application software) were used in the data analysis. The study established that smallholder farmers earn less than GH₵200 a year, perceive climate change as change in rainfall pattern and increase in temperature, and are willing to manage and retain their farms for climate change mitigation longer if enabled with carbon credits. It also established that access to initial capital is main factor that could influence planting of smallholder forests...
International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies (2147-4486), 2020
This research examined bankers’ perceptions of environmental sources of financial risks and its i... more This research examined bankers’ perceptions of environmental sources of financial risks and its impact on commercial banks in Ghana. Primary data was collected from a purposive sample of ninety-six (96) middle–level bank managers using structured questionnaires. Time series secondary data on banking performance (denoted as ROA and ROE) and stability (denoted as CAR and NPLR) and growth of five major industrial businesses (including agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing, and trade) as the environmental sources of financial risks, for a period of 13 years (2006-2018) was further obtained for analysis. Data was analyzed using the sample t-test and the multivariate dynamic panel regression model. The results show that, in bank lending, mining was perceived to be the topmost source of indirect environmental risk (credit and reputational risks), while agriculture was perceived to be the leading source of direct environmental risk (business risk). We found that perceptions of en...
The search for viable alternatives to illegal chainsaw milling in Ghana requires an understanding... more The search for viable alternatives to illegal chainsaw milling in Ghana requires an understanding of the anthropogenic factors in the rural economy that promotes the practice. This paper investigated the benefits of the practice to the rural economy of Ghana. Data was obtained from survey conducted on 102 chainsaw lumber stakeholders using questionnaire across 8 forest districts in southern Ghana and analyzed descriptively. Results showed that the practice contributes to the provision of employment, community infrastructure among others. More than 50% of chainsaw operators earned up to 97% of their household income from the practice, and thus considered it as the best alternative to agricultural income. Farmers, land owners and traditional authorities received eight categories of informal payments from chainsaw operations. These included payments from sale of trees, commission on trees scouted for logging and compensation for crop damages on farmlands during logging. Also, taxes wer...
The biomass and energy of six (6) tree species use for wood fuel production were studied. The tre... more The biomass and energy of six (6) tree species use for wood fuel production were studied. The tree species are among the most common species employed in wood fuel production in the forest transition zone of Ghana. The wood fuel products, fuel wood and charcoal were characterized for their suitability as fuel based on moisture content, volatile matter, ash content and fixed carbon. Among the species investigated Afzelia africana, Khaya senegalensis, Pterocarpus erinaceus, Azadrachta indica etc have the highest in green moisture content (mc), volatile matter (vm), ash content and fixed carbon content respectively. Pterocarpus erinaceus gave the highest gravimetric yield for charbonization, which correlated very well with green density of the tree species. Of the 6 tree species studied Afzelia africana has the highest calorific value of 5.17 kcal/g for fuel wood and Azadrachta indica the highest value of 6.79 kcal/g for charcoal. The indigenous tree species performed very well comparab...
The study dwelt on the potential of smallholder forests for the dual purpose of providing product... more The study dwelt on the potential of smallholder forests for the dual purpose of providing products for the farm household while contributing to climate change mitigation in Ghana using the Kranka, Baafi and Manso integrated mahogany forests of the Nkoranza South District as case study. It employed the use of both questionnaire sourced primary and literature review sourced secondary data. Both quantitative (use of tables and charts) and qualitative methods (use of SPSS-Statistical Package for Social Scientist and the Microsoft Excel computer application software) were used in the data analysis. The study established that smallholder farmers earn less than GH₵200 a year, perceive climate change as change in rainfall pattern and increase in temperature, and are willing to manage and retain their farms for climate change mitigation longer if enabled with carbon credits. It also established that access to initial capital is main factor that could influence planting of smallholder forests...
International Journal of Finance & Banking Studies (2147-4486), 2020
This research examined bankers’ perceptions of environmental sources of financial risks and its i... more This research examined bankers’ perceptions of environmental sources of financial risks and its impact on commercial banks in Ghana. Primary data was collected from a purposive sample of ninety-six (96) middle–level bank managers using structured questionnaires. Time series secondary data on banking performance (denoted as ROA and ROE) and stability (denoted as CAR and NPLR) and growth of five major industrial businesses (including agriculture, mining, construction, manufacturing, and trade) as the environmental sources of financial risks, for a period of 13 years (2006-2018) was further obtained for analysis. Data was analyzed using the sample t-test and the multivariate dynamic panel regression model. The results show that, in bank lending, mining was perceived to be the topmost source of indirect environmental risk (credit and reputational risks), while agriculture was perceived to be the leading source of direct environmental risk (business risk). We found that perceptions of en...
Uploads