No abstract

National aggregate data to analyze food security status at the national level has often been used in many countries including Ghana to determine food security status. This has been a reason that many interventions that have had minimum or no impact on households’ food security status due to variation within region in the design of such interventions. This study used household level-data data from 2260 rural households to determine rural household food insecurity status, and also identify and analyze the socioeconomic factors that significantly influence rural household level food insecurity. The study used the Food Consumption Score (FCS) as the index for household food security status. An ordinal logit model was used to predict household food security status with respect to twelve explanatory variables. The results showed that 70% of the sampled rural households were food insecure, and in particular, food insecurity was found to be more pronounced among female-headed households. The results further showed that improved education, increased household income, improved access to agricultural credit and large farm size increase the probability of households to attain high food security status. On the other hand, high food prices and large household size were found to reduce the probability of households to attain high food security status. For policy implication, these micro-level factors need to be considered in the implementation of food insecurity interventions programs in order to achieve desired outcomes.

Physical properties are major characteristics that validate biomaterials' adaptability to commercial utilization. The moisture content, density, swelling, and shrinkage within male and female Borassus aethiopum were assessed. Green and dry moisture content, and density were tested with the oven-dry method while swelling and shrinkage were evaluated using the water-saturation test and oven-dry methods respectively. Unlike moisture content, density decreased towards the crowns and radially from the peripheries to their cores. Directional swelling decreased as: Radial > Tangential > Longitudinal. Volumetric swelling was greatest at the core of the base (6,99 %) but at least at the periphery within the middle of the male (2,89 %). However, the female recorded much swelling at the core of its mid-portion (6,23 %) and least (4,01 %) at the crown periphery. Directional shrinkage decreased identically as the male variety while the volumetric shrinkage for both varieties was not consistent. The peripheries had less moisture content, better dimensional stability and density (which influences wood strength) at the butt than those of the core indicating the peripheries would maintain its original dimension and strength when subjected to environmental changes and be more viable for structural works than the core.

Bamboo can be used to produce solid, gaseous, and liquid fuels, as well as to generate heat and biofuels for transport and electricity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the physical and fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris in three ecological zones for their utilization potential for the production of biofuels. Thirty-six samples of Bambusa vulgaris culms from 3 ecological zones in Ghana were milled to powder to assess the physical and fuel properties. The physical properties; moisture content, high heating values, bulk density, density, and ash content were investigated. The fuel properties were based on ultimate analysis, carbon, hydrogen nitrogen, and oxygen. The mean moisture content (MC) for the green bamboo ranged from 68.8% (dead culm) to 148% (mature culm) and 168% (juvenile culm). The MC for dried samples ranged from 9.09 to 13.06%. The results showed that the % MC of the samples increased with decreasing values of high heating and ash content. The mean density of the matured bamboo culms varied from 616.84 to 641.68 kg·m–3 and dead bamboo culms from 609.01 to 632.72 kg·m–3. Marginal reduction in density was observed in dead bamboo culms across the three ecological zones as compared to the mature bamboo culms. This implies that when B. vulgaris overgrows, its density decreases. High heating values ranged from 16.12 to 18.14 MJ·kg–1. Bulk density determines the transportation and storage of biomass; it ranged from 0.12 to 0.52 g·m–3. The ash contents were within the threshold (≥3%) of European standard. The mean values for the ultimate analysis of carbon (48.46 to 53.31%), hydrogen (5.60 to 6.56%), nitrogen (0.58 to 0.61%), and oxygen (39.73 to 41.35) were higher. Fuel properties of Bambusa vulgaris are comparable to some wood types, lower to denser wood types, but higher than most of the herbaceous energy crops and agricultural residues. This means that Bambusa vulgaris may be a good feedstock for the production of bioenergy in terms of heat, charcoal, biogas, bio-power, and transportation fuel.

This review aims to analyze and synthesize the existing body of literature on biomass resources and their potential for biofuel production. By employing bibliometric methods, this study seeks to identify the key research trends, gaps, and emerging areas of interest in this field. A total of 194 documents deemed appropriate for the study on biomass resources and biofuel potential over the past four decades, i.e., 1980 and 2022 were reviewed. The analysis was done with the VOSviewer software (version 1.6.13). The analysis focused on the bibliographic coupling of countries, sources, co-authorship of authors, citation of documents, and co-occurrence of keywords, which were presented as network visualization maps. The findings revealed that research on biomass resources and biofuel potential is multidisciplinary in character and developing quickly, encompassing nations from around the world. It is evident that Africa lags in this area of research. Therefore, it is recommended that researchers on the continent focus more on this research domain to help address the gap in this research area. This will help researchers and other stakeholders in the energy sector to become familiar with the current and cutting-edge technologies that could promote effective and efficient biomass resources and biofuel potential. Keywords: biomass; biofuel; agricultural waste; network visualization maps; VOSviewer.   Tendências de pesquisa em recursos de biomassa e potencial de biocombustíveis: uma análise bibliométrica   RESUMO: Esta revisão visa analisar e sintetizar o corpo de literatura existente sobre recursos de biomassa e seu potencial para a produção de biocombustíveis. Ao empregar métodos bibliométricos, este estudo procura identificar as principais tendências de pesquisa, lacunas e áreas emergentes de interesse neste campo. Foram revisados 194 documentos considerados adequados para o estudo dos recursos de biomassa e do potencial de biocombustíveis nas últimas quatro décadas, ou seja, 1980 e 2022. A análise foi feita com o software VOSviewer (versão 1.6.13). A análise centrou-se no acoplamento bibliográfico de países, fontes, coautoria de autores, citação de documentos e coocorrência de palavras-chave, que foram apresentados como mapas de visualização em rede. Os resultados revelaram que a pesquisa sobre recursos de biomassa e potencial de biocombustíveis é de caráter multidisciplinar e está se desenvolvendo rapidamente, abrangendo nações de todo o mundo. É evidente que a África está atrasada nesta área de pesquisa. Portanto, recomenda-se que os pesquisadores do continente se concentrem mais neste domínio de pesquisa para ajudar a preencher a lacuna nesta área de pesquisa. Isso ajudará os pesquisadores e outras partes interessadas no setor de energia a se familiarizarem com as tecnologias atuais e de ponta que podem promover recursos de biomassa eficazes e eficientes e o potencial de biocombustíveis. Palavras-chaves: biomassa; biocombustível; resíduos agrícolas; mapas de visualização de rede; VOSviewer.