The completion of this thesis marks the end of a journey. The journey was long and zig zag with all its ups and downs. However, it also means a task accomplished and a job duly done, as it were "the sailor home from sea and the hunter home from the forest" This gives a deep sense of gratification along with gratitude for those who offered cooperation and assistance. My greatest gratitude goes to the almighty God who in diverse ways has shown his loving kindness to me throughout my life. I gratefully acknowledge my advisor, Prof. Bradley G. Greiman for giving me the opportunity to work under him and also the rest of my Committee: Prof. James Brown; Prof. Alex J. Lubet; and Prof. James Leising; their mentorship, cultivation, commitments and endurance are highly appreciated. I also wish to acknowledge the enormous contribution of Prof Alexandre 'Sasha' Ardichvili to my successful completion of the PhD program as a mentor. The successful use of mixed method research approach in this dissertation, in a large part, can be attributed to Prof. Joseph Gaugler in his guidance and critique of my research proposal. I will always be indebted to my late father who even in death continues to be my best teacher and inspirer and my dear mother, who reared and nurtured me throughout the years of growing to be who I am today. Their vision, wisdom, encouragement and unfaltering support were essential in the success of my academic life as well as many things in my life. I am also proud of my sisters and brothers; their emotional support and care are irreplaceable. I also wish to leave on record, my deepest appreciation to Mrs. Ivy Yawson nee Johnson-Kanda, my love, for giving me the drive to achieve my dearest and her tireless effort in transcribing all my interviews; Mr. Duncan Okello, always being there for me and my family in times of all kinds of emergencies; Ms. Sherry Oleson for her friendship and affection to my family; Prof. Alex Lubet and his family for being constant pillar of support and making Minnesota feel like home; ii Mr. Felix Amenumey and family for their friendship and advice; and Mr. Daniel Ofori-Som and his family for their moral and material support, I am most grateful, may God bless them all. I wish to sincerely acknowledge my profound appreciation to the entire Headwaters/ Partners for Change team, especially Ms. Gayle Peterson and Mr. John Sherman for their support and keen interest in the wellbeing of myself and family throughout the doctoral program. This work could not have been completed if not by the constant encouragement from my colleagues especially, Daniel Woldeab, Orkideh Anderson, Sanam Ghandehari, and all those wonderful colleagues of mine too numerous to mention. Finally, it is a great pleasure to acknowledge my gratitude to Mrs. Victoria Lily Kanda, my mother-in-law, her prayers and fasting for me and the wellbeing of her daughter and grandchildren and her plain and sincere enthusiasm was essential and gave me the impetus for the completion of the thesis and so many things in life.