Sustainable charcoal production drive in rural communities in Ghana, West Africa

Asare, Francis; Owusu, Francis Wilson; Gazo, Rado

doi:10.1016/j.esd.2022.04.013

Cited by 9 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 17 publications

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“…Since they represent a significant source of income and jobs, SMEs have been recognized as the driving force behind the nation's economic growth and development. In Ghana SMEs provide about 85 percent of manufacturing employment and contributes 70 percent to the national GDP (Asare, 2014). This is in line with the suggestions made by OECD (1997) that SMEs play a vital role on the economic growth and development, employment and income of a country.…”

Section: Study Contextsupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Nevertheless, the intent was met with several problems, especially during the era of the first president of Ghana in the early 60's who saw the rise of the private sector as a political threat, and therefore formulated policies to discourage such in order to promote the public sector. However, a major setback in the 1980's in a large-scale manufacturing firm forced the formal sector workers to seek a secondary source, hence the springing up of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Asare, 2014). Subsequently, the Government of Ghana had to enact some policies in order to give confidence to the setting up of SME's SMEs represent an important backbone of developing economies.…”

Section: Study Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Customer Employee Exchange and Firm Innovative Behavior Among SMEs in Ghana

Adam,

Husseini

2023

RBS

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The study sought to examine the relationship between customer-employee exchange and firm innovative behaviour (FIB). The mediation effect of customer knowledge management in the relationship between customer-employee exchange and FIB was determined. Quantitative data was collected using a structured questionnaire. We sampled 247 respondents from Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana using the simple random sampling technique. The partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was assessed using the Smart-PLS. The findings of the study suggest that the variables representing customer-employee exchange (solidarity, harmonization, and information exchange) have had an important effect on FIB. Moreover, customer knowledge management is found to mediate relationships between customer-employee exchange and firm innovative behaviour. The study recommends that due to their limited resources compared to larger companies’ new ways of interactions between SMEs and customers should be introduced and enhanced as that will help the firms to improve their innovative behaviour.

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Section: Study Contextsupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Study Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Customer Employee Exchange and Firm Innovative Behavior Among SMEs in Ghana

Adam,

Husseini

2023

RBS

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“…Another threat to shea trees is cutting for production of charcoal, firewood and other purposes as is locally practised in Ghana, affecting both density and size of the trees (Asare et al 2022;Cronkleton et al 2021;Dapilah et al 2019). However, cutting of shea trees is uncommon and considered unacceptable in the Nakpalli area, as also reported among other rural farmers and community members in Northern Ghana (Hansen et al 2012).…”

Section: Protection Of Shea Trees Towards Other Threatsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) agroforestry systems in Northern Ghana: population structure, management of trees and impact of below canopy microclimate

Jepsen,

Stopponi,

Jørgensen

2024

Agroforest Syst

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The shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) is an important tree species in agroforestry systems in West Africa and shea nuts constitute a fundamental resource for rural livelihoods in this area. This study investigated the sustainability and interactions in agroforestry systems of shea trees around the village Nakpalli in Northern Ghana. The focus of the study was the population structures and densities of shea trees on different land types, below-canopy microclimate and co-cultivation of yams (Dioscorea rotundata (Poir.) J. Miége) under shea tree canopies, and water stress of the trees in the driest season. Shea tree populations are overall well-conserved in this area, but Weibull-distributions of the tree populations and quantification of seedlings showed a lower tree density in both cultivated and fallowed lands, as compared to undisturbed bushlands. Although farmers may deliberately manage the density of larger trees, the low densities of seedlings and saplings indicate that intensified management practices, including shortened fallow periods and intentional clearing of land by fire before sowing, might negatively affect the long-term regeneration of the shea trees. Co-cultivation of yams below shea tree canopies allowed production of 11.5 t/ha as compared to 20.8 t/ha at open field conditions. The lower yields may have been caused by an almost 74% reduction of photosynthetically active radiation below canopies, relative to outside the canopies. Shea trees in the fields, fallows and bushlands had close-to-zero predawn leaf water potentials, indicating low water stress, even in the middle of the dry season. Thus, shea trees are both well-adapted and highly valued in this area, which underlines the importance of conserving this indigenous tree species in the agroforestry systems of northern Ghana.

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“…In tropical countries, where wood-to-charcoal conversion rates are estimated to be about 20%, the production of charcoal is highlighted as a major cause of deforestation. For example, in these regions, Nigeria is highlighted as one of the world's highly deforested and leading charcoal production country [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Activities of Soil C and N Enzymes during Charcoal Production in Derived Savannah of Nigeria

Adeyemo,

Adejoro,

Adegbile

et al. 2024

Preprint

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In recent years, anthropogenic activities, particularly charcoal production and the utilization of large fuelwoods have significantly compromised the deforestation of savannah forest soils in southwest Nigeria. This has had a notable impact on soil enzymes and nutrient cycles. Despite the growing acknowledgment of charcoal’s significant impact on soil properties, there is a notable gap in the literature regarding its specific effects on soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) enzymes. To address this, our study therefore aims to examine the effects of charcoal production on the C and N enzymes activities, under different locations and soil depths in the derived savannah of southwestern Nigeria. Soil samples were systematically collected and analyzed at depths 0–15, 15–30, and 30–45 cm under different locations of charcoal production and non-production sites, CPS and NPS respectively. The result showed a significantly higher activity level for amylase (0.54 µg/ml/min) and cellulase (0.90 µg /ml/min) at the NPS compared with CPS. In contrast, the protease and urease activity tended to be higher at CPS (0.54 and 16.66 mg/ml/min respectively) than at NPS, suggesting distinct protein degradation patterns at both sites. In terms of enzyme ratios, amylase/cellulase activity levels is greater at CPS than NPS with no significant difference with values of 1.44 and 0.79 µg/ml/min respectively. Similarly, protease/urease activity ratio levels are identical at both sites (0.04 mg/ml/min). Yet, this ratio decreases with depth due to heightened protease and urease activities, catalyzing the mineralization of organic nitrogen, and resulting in increased nitrogen content and the release of ammonia-N in soils. Overall, our findings suggest that the charcoal production process may influence and alter soil enzyme activities, potentially impacting the breakdown of carbohydrates, cellulose, proteins, and urea in the soil. These variations in enzyme activities could have broader implications for nutrient cycling, microbial processes, and overall soil health in areas with charcoal production areas compared to non-production sites.

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Sustainable charcoal production drive in rural communities in Ghana, West Africa

Cited by 9 publications

References 17 publications

Customer Employee Exchange and Firm Innovative Behavior Among SMEs in Ghana

Customer Employee Exchange and Firm Innovative Behavior Among SMEs in Ghana

Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa C.F. Gaertn.) agroforestry systems in Northern Ghana: population structure, management of trees and impact of below canopy microclimate

Activities of Soil C and N Enzymes during Charcoal Production in Derived Savannah of Nigeria

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