Increased animal-human-wildlife interactions elevate the risk of zoonotic spillovers, as seen in Ghana's Marburg outbreak in 2022 and recent events in 2024. Environmental degradation, such as illegal mining and habitat disturbance, exacerbates this risk. This study applied a systems thinking approach, using the Evolutionary Learning Laboratory (ELLab), to identify key interventions for preventing zoonotic spillovers in Ghana. Participatory workshops were held across the Ashanti, Savannah and Western regions to explore the drivers of zoonotic spillovers. In Ashanti, funding limitations, weak law enforcement and socio-economic pressures were cited. The Savannah Region highlighted population growth, agricultural expansion and habitat destruction, whereas the Western Region identified urbanization and illegal mining as key risks. Leverage points identified include addressing socio-economic disparities, enforcing environmental laws and promoting sustainable land use. This research offers a framework for mitigating zoonotic spillover risks with implications for public health, environmental management and socio-economic development in Ghana.

Africa recorded high economic growth of 6-7% after independence; however, the current socio-economic conditions are characterized by unemployment, weak educational systems, and dependency. This paper adopts a systemic approach to identify factors that setback Africa in its economic development. The combination of historical data, interviews and literature provided an overview of the current structures that affect African development. From the results, the Western world's exploitation through policies and false data, external dependency, brain drain, unfair market rules, poor policies, and high taxation are key factors that take away economic freedom as well as inhibit African socio-economic development. The results illustrated that to gain economic freedom, African countries must embrace unity through inward investment from primary commodities, oil, gas, and mineral resources through integration and implementation of regional free trade to spur economic transformation. Until Africa unites to set forth its development agenda other than Sustainable Development Goals, targeted to eliminate the root cause of domestic challenges to sustainable development they will fail to develop. It is therefore being recommended that trading among African countries will assist them to be immune to agricultural prices in line with the Prebisch-Singer thesis These will unlock significant opportunities for job creation, value addition, and investments in human development making Africa the ‘’Promised Land’’ the Africans seek. Systems thinking to intervention can make Africa realize all unintended consequences of her decisions and help it find new ways to improve efficiency and development.

Modern Concepts & Developments in Agronomy The Economic Value of an Okra Plant Kwamina E Banson1*, Emmanuel K Quartey², Evelyn A Otoo¹, Isaac Baidoo¹, Khalid Alhassan Kusi¹ Eli Jackson Aniabo3, Joe Frederick Cobbinah4, William Kwamladza5, and Samuel Nii Akai Nettey6 1Socio Economic and Commercialisation Center, Ghana 1Nuclear Agriculture Research Centre, Ghana 1Department of Finance, Ghana 1Department of Internal Audit, Ghana 1Soil and Environmental science department, Ghana 1Department of Estate Management, Ghana *Corresponding author:Kwamina E Banson, Socio Economic and Commercialisation Center, Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, Box LG80 Legon Accra Ghana Submission: March 20, 2024;Published: April 05, 2024 DOI: 10.31031/MCDA.2024.14.000830 ISSN 2637-7659Volume14 Issue 1

Many promising research and development initiatives were unable to provide sustainable solutions to global challenges, which have led to the rupture of various other challenges. Policy makers, managers and leaders in organizations, governments and business institutions are under cumulative pressure to make the right management decisions in the face of unstable, dynamic and global complexity and different socio-economic landscapes.There are a multitude of difficult, long-term global challenges ahead, almost all of which are coupled with the most pressing concerns of different countries at the national and local levels. Despite many efforts to deal with these complex issues facing our society the solutions so far have seldom been long lasting, because ‘treating the symptoms’ and ‘quick fixes’, using traditional linear thinking, are the easiest way out, but do not deliver the solutions.This paper describes the processes for unraveling complexity through participatory systems analysis and the interpretation of systems structures to identify leverage points for systemic interventions. It further demonstrates the promotion of effective change and the enhancement of cross-sectoral communication and collaborative learning. This learning focuses on finding solutions to complex issues by applying an iterative systems-based approach, namely with the Evolutionary Learning Laboratory (ELLab).An example of the ELLab application in a city governance context is described in detail, followed by reference to various other ELLab applications in a number of different contexts.

Governance inevitably impacts world economy with high socio-economic costs. In the early days after Africans independence there were regional development plans which helped Africa to record high economic growth of 6–7%. However, Africa has never been left to rest after independence, it has been subjugated by the so call advocators which are in control of it resources which in turn influence its socio-economic development. Any time problems of Africans are diagnosed and antidote is administered, a new wound appears. Therefore this paper adopts systemic approach to intervention to identify the setbacks in African socio-economic development. The combination of historic data obtained from some African countries, interviews in Ghana and the literature review regarding the use of the four levels of thinking model provided an overview of the current structures that affect African developing system riddled with feedback loops. Results indicated that aid in reality is not coming to Africa but from Africa to the western world. Developed rich countries donations of 0.7% of their gross national income to support African socio-economic development has not yielded it intended benefits yet since the 70s. Africans are globalized in the contest of opening their markets, under an unjust trade rules leading to the collapse of domestic industries which in turn keeps Africans dependent on imports. This leads to monies being repatriated out of African economies leaving it poorer. African countries have the highest tax rates in the world in order to generate money to pay their loans making it impossible to build roads, factories, hospitals etc in this countries. The world is bothered by Africa when they want to take resources out of Africa. The time is now to wake up and to begin to find African solutions to African problems. Systems thinking to intervention can Africa realized all unintended consequences of her decisions and help it find new ways to improve efficiency and resource economy.

Every construction project is exclusive and functions in a complex environs which needs its own sets of managerial procedures to complete the project in the predetermined duration, scope, cost, and quality desired. The construction process is viewed by many authors as a complex and risky business to undertake. Traditional project management view the construction process as linear, orderly and predictable which can be planned, organized, and managed top down like any other industry. The regular failures to finish construction projects timely and within estimated budgets assume thinking that the process may not be as orderly and predictable in the manner as perceived. The aim of this paper was to assess the possible application of systems thinking approach in the construction industry using causal loop diagram as an example. The application of systems thinking has the potential to alleviate several deficiencies that perhaps a more traditional project management approach has struggled to deal with. The result of the Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) model indicates that with systemic interventions of establishing funding source and reliable norms, chances of efficiency in the construction industry will increase from 42.6% to 67.6% high. It suggests a paradigm change from the traditional way of doing things by looking at a project from a holistic point of view.

Fall armyworm (FAW) infestation in African countries presents significant threats to maize production. Such infestation has major economic implications in terms of the cost of measures taken at individual and international levels. Today’s problems cannot be solve with the same thinking which created them. Past interventions have generally resulted in policy revision from The MDGs to SDGs with little success. The complex nature of agri-business has necessitated the use of a systemic approach in solving operational problems. The study used a systemic approach to develop systems models that determine the components of current systems and its interaction with policies, social, environmental and economic dimensions of the agriculture industry. Results indicates that only by increasing our appreciation for “systemic approach” that addresses the needs of the present while safeguarding earth’s life-support system, can our social institutions achieve some modicum of effective control and stability. The systems models will help governments and agricultural proponents to anticipate the long-term consequences of their decisions and actions, as well as help to avoid any unintended consequences of policies and strategies such as ‘silo mentality’ and ‘organizational myopia’. As demonstrated in the aforementioned CLD and archetype, agriculture projects will continue to be the engine that develops and empowers the emerging and existing commercial business, and nation building across Africa. This systems thinking approach will provide more clarity in dealing with the complex management challenges and gradually replace the traditional theoretical approach of dealing with agricultural project management.

Construction projects plays an important role in nation’s development. The complexity and dynamic environment of the construction industry characterized it frequent cost, time overruns, low quality, etc. for construction project management. This study therefore uses a systems thinking approach to identify the key variables that are affecting this trend. Casual loop and Systems Archetypes were used to develop systems models to determine the components and interactions between the policy and the social, environmental and economic dimensions of the industry. As demonstrated in the aforementioned CLD and archetypes, construction projects will remain to be the engine that develops and empowers the emerging and existing commercial business, housing sectors and nation building across Africa. This systems thinking approach will also provide more clarity in dealing with the complex management challenges and gradually replace the traditional theoretical approach of dealing with construction project management.

Ghana is predominantly an agricultural country with a clear majority of its population depending partly or fully on agriculture for their livelihoods. Pork consumption in Ghana is on the increase and the livestock industry is a key sector of alternative agri-business for farmers looking for profitable business ventures and household income. The growth of Ghana's domestic piggery industry has been impeded by several constraints such as inadequate information, lack of improved breeding stock, land limitations, rising feed cost and water availability. In this research, systems models provide an understanding of the interconnectedness and relationships present within the piggery industry of Ghana. The Industry's problems were pooled together and key factors identified, whose behavior over time causes problems by developing various individual two-loop system archetypes coupled with a list of sustainable management strategies. Also, the individual variables affecting the industry were consolidated to obtain a causal loop structure and behavior-over-time graph of the piggery industry. The system archetype developed here is generic enough to explain any productivity decline and business rivalry behavior of any agribusiness industry. The proposed archetype can also help farm managers and producers to make various decisions. The system archetypes contribute effectively to understanding the root cause of challenges rather than providing quick fixes 'now' which gives rise to a much bigger problem to fix 'later'. Application of CLDs models and system archetypes can help farmers and policy makers understand the behaviour of the entire complex piggery systems that will aid in more clarity and consistency in decisions and policy objectives. This will close the gap of inadequate information both to farmers and policy makers and governance. Through the archetypes and the CLDs, it has been identified that using a systemic approach in addressing the problems could lead to the provision of adequate data and management strategies for effective decision making for improving the piggery/livestock industry.

Maize is one of the major crops in China and its yield potential has been changedsignificantly by climate change induction during last five decades. The national policy of maizeproduction sufficiency emphasizes the necessity for a more accurate estimation of yieldpotential of maize at a national level. In this paper yield potential of maize was calculated usingthe Global Agro-Ecological Zones (GAEZ) model and key meteorological factors impact onyield potential across China was also analyzed. The results shows that, total yield potential ofmaize increased by 0.15 million tons/year during the past five decades due to an increase incultivated area as a result of climate change impact. The partial correlation analysis betweenmain meteorological factors and yield potential of maize at a county level showed that 47% ofthe counties of China were predominately influenced by changes in solar radiation while 16% ofcounties were predominately affected by temperature changes. In addition, each agriculturalzone showed clear spatial difference in the distribution of key impact factors. These researchfindings will not only provide scientific basis for making good use of meteorological resourcesunder climate change, but also play a vital role for the management of national maizeproduction for food security.

The demand for convenience fruits offers opportunities for farmers, vendors and processors. Currently, processing facilities in Ghana are plagued with expensive supply of raw materials and interrupted electricity supply. As a result, retailers have taken over the fresh-convenience fruit market. This paper report on the status of fresh fruit convenience markets among vendors and hawkers, and identify the challenges that they face. A market survey conducted showed that, vendors are able to generate between 45-90 Ghana Cedis as revenue from fruits sales per-day. However, vendors stock becomes more expensive as a result of fruit perishing, but they have difficulty passing on increased costs to consumers. This study revealed that 65.9% of total fruit production is wasted between farm gate and retail end. The results of this paper will help governments to improve the high ethical standards and reduce business and legal risk associated with industrial vending fruit chains.

Constraints and challenges in the agricultural industry of Ghana limit its productivity. Policy constraints could be a major issue when it comes to agricultural sustainability. Whether policymaking is based on sound principles that take into account the intended and unintended consequences led to exploring the use of a fresh approach towards determining effective interventions (policies) through a systems approach. Capacity building using a systems thinking approach that focuses on the four levels of thinking and using the concepts of an Evolutionary Learning Laboratory during a series of stakeholder workshops in Ghana has shown a remarkable impact on the ability of the agricultural industry to evolve, improve and raise its efficacy. Results from Bayesian belief network (BBN) models indicated that the implementation of systemically determined interventions, policies and strategies could result in chances of agricultural productivity' being good' as high as 92.2% from 57.5%, while the chances of reducing poverty levels from 44.9% to 10.0% are plausible. These would also lead to a significant increase in the yield and profit of the farmers. These BBNs are used for scenario testing to determine the potential outcomes of different systemic interventions by observing what would happen to the system as a whole when a particular intervention/strategy or combination of interventions/strategies are implemented: that is, before any time or money is invested in actual implementation. This approach provides more clarity on dealing with complex sustainability challenges and should gradually replace the reductionist approach (e.g. short-term quick fixes and treating the symptoms) in dealing with challenges and developing policies. Copyright (c) 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Qin-Ba Ecological Functional Zone is a component of China’s ecological security pattern designed to protect the regional ecosystem and maintain biodiversity. However, due to the impact of mining and urban encroachment, the plight of a sustainable ecosystem in the Qin-Ba mountainous area is deteriorating. This paper has used a remote sensing and geographic information system (GIS) to examine the impacts of mining and urban encroachment on the environment in the Qin-Ba mountainous area. The results indicate that the total mined area in 2013 was 22 km2 and is predicted to escalate. Results also show that the ecosystems in Fengxian County, Shaanxi Province and Baokang County, Hubei Province were most severely affected by mining. Urbanization in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has seen an increase of 85.58 km2 in urban land use from 2010 to 2013. In addition, infrastructure development including airport construction, tourism resorts and real estate development in the Qin-Ba mountainous area has intensified environmental and biodiversity disturbances since large areas of forest have been cleared. Our results should provide insight and assistance to city planners and government officials in making informed decisions.

Interactions with smartphones, which have become more than just communication devices, have wide‐reaching consequences on the social harmony of the system in which people, organizations and natural environment co‐exist. This study employs a ‘systems thinking’ approach and uses associated systems tools [causal loop diagrams, systems archetypes and the Bayesian belief network (BBN) modelling] to examine the issue of social dysfunctions resulting from compulsive smartphone use in Singapore. A causal loop diagram was created to map out the interconnected variables within the system, showing many variables relating to the usage of smartphones. Amongst five identified systems archetypes, the ‘eroding goals’ systems archetype was considered to be the most effective leverage point in the system. The results from a BBN model suggested that small changes made within a family unit to improve on the quality of time spent together could afford benefits to the overall system. The proposed management objective of improving quality of time spent as a family can be utilized by individuals who are determined and willing to reduce social dysfunction in the social environment of which they are a part of. This research encourages business managers and decision‐makers to use a systems perspective to look at issues they need to manage, in terms of the issues' relation to other systems components. A shift towards the systems perspective of viewing issues integrates diverse but complementary decision‐making and problem‐solving methods, in order to find sustainable solutions that afford system‐wide benefits. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

In light of numerous corporate scandals, the concepts of 'virtues of kindness', graciousness and considerations have sprung up and are important facets for many nations and the business world. Singapore efforts to improve its social graciousness have had limited success. This research used systems thinking approach and a systems-based evolutionary learning laboratory (ELLab) framework to identify and effectively address complex graciousness issues affecting the socialisation in Singapore. Results identified curriculum planning as a key leverage point in dealing with the social challenges and increasing the social graciousness index in Singapore. Based on the models, family upbringing plays a vital role in early childhood development where a sense of guilt, and the ability to distinguish between good and bad is built. Complexity is often a concept that seems too hard to deal with, but this research has shown that using systems thinking tools to analyse social complexity has considerable merit.

The Singaporean Government has been attempting to control and stabilise hikes in prices among the private and public housing since 2009. This hike in prices is mainly due to high demand of housing properties in Singapore as a result of the influx of foreigners and economic growth. The increasing housing prices render a substantial negative effect on consumption expenditures of citizens which lead to a drop in average propensity to consume (APC). The purpose of this research paper is to identify the leverage points in the causal loop diagrams for housing affordability by the Housing Development Board (HDB) for Singaporeans. This research therefore uses systems thinking tools embedded in the first five steps of the evolutionary learning laboratory (ELLab) framework to identify the root causes and determine the components and interactions related to the problem of HDB affordability. The results of this research show that, land space availability, technology, disposable income and immigration policy are the keys to leverage affordability of housing prices. The research findings and recommendations can complement the current solutions provided by the HDB and the Singaporean Government.

The continuous growth in population and consumption, the intensity of competition for land, water and energy and the overexploitation of the ecosystem have all affected Africa's ability to sustain its food security and natural resources. In recent years, many promising agricultural development initiatives were unable to provide sustainable solutions to agricultural challenges in most parts of Africa, including Ghana, as a result of policy failures. The agricultural sector is a complex system and requires a holistic approach to deal with the root causes of challenges. This research therefore uses systems thinking tools, including causal loop diagrams and Bayesian belief network modelling, to develop new structural systems models whereby stakeholders can determine the components and interactions between the structure, conduct and performance (SCP) of the agricultural sector in Ghana, by using the first five steps of the Evolutionary Learning Laboratory. The results illustrate how the SCP elements interact together to influence the survival and growth of the agricultural sector. The study identifies that stakeholders adopt several strategies to survive and compete, which lead to overexploitation of the ecosystem. The results from the Bayesian belief network models indicate that the implementation of systemically determined interventions, policies and strategies could significantly improve the probability of business survival and growth from 58.8 to 73%. Also, the chances of improving the SCP could be increased from 39, 28.3 and 36.4 to 80.1, 55.9 and 62.4%, respectively, and these may vary based on the conditional probability tables. This paper contributes to the systemic approach to SCP, in that improvements to production and allocative efficiency may usher in a greater potential for improving food security, supporting the ecosystem and further strengthening agricultural sustainability. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Over six decades, agricultural policies attempting to increase the competitiveness of project performance had limited success. This is due to the use of traditional project management methods that do not address the complex challenges encountered in a systemic way. This paper provides an example of how a systemic approach is applied to agricultural development. The findings are based on a series of workshops conducted in Ghana in 2013 and 2014. Findings include an established community development model, the 'greater push' and a new way of measuring, monitoring and evaluating sustainable development with Bayesian belief network modelling that satisfies the 'Bellagio principles' for measuring sustainable development indicators. This research contributes to systemic application in project management and can help policy-makers across the world to identify threats to sustainable economic growth and help them to anticipate unintended consequences of their decisions and actions before it is too late to reverse the trend.

Rapid growth in Ghana's poultry imports revealed the weaknesses of the domestic industry in competing with imported products. Establishment of an intensive poultry system as a benchmark for examining the performance poultry production and marketing in addition to interviews with poultry stakeholders revealed the constraints in the poultry industry in Ghana. Results emphasized that Feed Conversion Rate is a major factor in reducing production cost and improving the broilers growth efficiency. The BNARI feed conversion rate for the broiler is 1.56 Kilogram of feed needed to produce 1 kg live weight compared to 2.12 kg of feed to produce 1 kg live weight by other poultry farmers engaged in the study. Feed costs represent more than 70% of the total cost of broilers production, and feed utilization efficiency, are critical for the growth rate of broilers. A major constraint is the lack of protection on the infant poultry industry by the Ghana government leading to unfair competition with cheap imported poultry products, which is 30-40 percent cheaper and undermines the growth of the local industry. Other constraints are high feed cost, high chick mortality as a result electricity power outage for brooding, feed and water contamination and consumer preference for imported poultry meat. There is still 74% demand market share to be fulfilled. The Ghana poultry industry is insecure because poultry farms are collapsing faster than new farms are being established or old farms are being expanded. There is a need for serious intervention by the government through policies and enforcements to reverse this trend.