The study sought to find out why Ghana’s renewable electrical energy agenda has only been an agenda in policy with very minimal implementation in practice. It employed qualitative social research design, with the Multi-Level Perspective on transitions framework as its analytical lens. Energy policy documents such as the Ghana Renewable Energy Act (2011) and the Ghana Renewable Energy Master Plan (2019) were reviewed for data on Ghana’s policy position on renewable electrical energy. Sector reports and information on the websites of Ghana’s energy sector institutions such as the Energy Commission, Volta River Authority and the Electricity Company of Ghana were also reviewed for data on the status of renewable electrical energy in Ghana. Key informant interviews were held with the Ghana Ministry of Energy, Energy Commission, Volta River Authority, Electricity Company of Ghana, USAID Ghana (sector development partner), Institute for Energy Security (sector NGO), and Nyankonton Solar Energy Products Ltd (sector private company). The pieces of qualitative data were subjected to thematic content analysis. The study found that though the sociotechnical landscape is generally favourable for renewable electrical energy in Ghana, the identified niche renewable energy innovations of solar and wind pose very little threat to the current electrical energy regime of large scale hydro and thermal mix. The identified barriers facing transition towards greener renewable electrical energy include generation overcapacity, high initial cost; intermittency of renewable electrical energy, low quality of solar products on the open market, and inadequate commitment to implement the country’s renewable electrical energy policies.

Climate change does not only impact farmers, but the perception and adaptive capacities of local stakeholders have not been well studied. Consequently, this study evaluated the views of local stakeholders regarding climate change impacts and their perceived adaptive capacities in cocoa-growing communities in Ghana. The study employed a phenomenological design and incorporated concepts from the adaptation process model, drawing on information from 24 stakeholders in the Ashanti, Western, and Western North regions of Ghana. The stakeholders identified several phenomena, like increased prevalence of pests and diseases, erratic rainfall patterns and declining soil fertility, as the current impacts of climate change. They also identified unemployment, urban migration, and water scarcity as some challenges facing their communities due to climate change. The local stakeholders perceived livelihood and crop diversification, training in sustainable farming practices, institutional support for irrigation infrastructure and climate-resilient farming techniques as important adaptation measures. The perceived adaptive capacities differed among stakeholder groups, and these differing perceptions of adaptive capacity could promote successful adaptation. We recommend the establishment of community-based adaptation committees to integrate local stakeholders' insights and knowledge into climate action plans. This approach will enhance their adaptive capacities and bolster community resilience against the adverse impacts of climate change.

Given the growing impact of climate variability on agricultural output, it is essential to understand how adaptation strategies can sustain the livelihoods of smallholder cocoa farmers. This study identifies the adaptation strategies employed by cocoa farmers and determines the impact of adoption intensity of the strategies on their income and food security using cross-sectional data from 600 respondents in the Ashanti, Western, and Western North regions of Ghana. A doubly robust multivalued inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (MIPWRA) procedure was employed on food security (food consumption score) and income. From the estimation procedure, we observe that cocoa farmers who adopted a moderate or high number of adaptation strategies experienced statistically significant improvements in income per hectare (about 5–12

Shifting from a coercive to a collaborative approach that engenders equity in processes and outcomes from forest management remains an aspiration in forest governance in many countries. Whereas several studies have analyzed how national policy changes and international developments collectively influence this change, the nature of the subjects created by the transition remains an open question. Drawing on the literature on governmentality and environmentality, we develop a framework along a compliant-resistance axis to analyze the different subjects created by two collaborative forest management innovations in Ghana: the modified taungya system and community forest monitoring. Analyzing data from 37 key informant interviews and three focus groups in a priority biodiversity hotspot of the country, the Krokosua Hills Forest Reserve, we identified four main types of subjects emerging from both initiatives: participatory, transformative, opportunistic and passive. Opportunistic subjects embrace both initiatives as a legitimate cover to encroach upon and convert various forest reserve areas to farmlands. Transformative subjects, such as environpreneurs, leverage both initiatives to establish "green businesses" that support forest rehabilitation and provide non-forest products, reducing people's dependency on the protected area. However, the subjects we identified neither adequately question the power of the state or non-governmental organizations over forest management nor challenge the inequalities these actors create when they restrict forest-fringe communities' access to their local environment while simultaneously opening these spaces to timber contractors and foreign investors under various schemes. Understanding the conditions that enable forest-fringe communities to overcome this challenge is an area for further study. Such insights are essential for promoting equity in ways that repair relationships between power-differentiated actors and their local environment, ultimately enabling nature recovery.

Although gender norms prevent females from accessing specific forest resources in some sub-Saharan African countries, some women defy the norms to engage in activities traditionally reserved for males. However, few studies have examined the factors that motivate females to defy gender norms. We investigated factors motivating some women in the Sekyere Afram Plains District of Ghana to produce charcoal as their male counterparts and the challenges they face in the production process. We collected data through surveys in 61 charcoal-producing households, focus group discussions, and field observations in three communities in the district. Desire to be financially independent of husbands, provide food for families in the slack season when new crops are not matured for household consumption, and attend critical social events like funerals and weddings motivate the women to produce charcoal. The women circumvent gender norms through collective labor arrangements, support from male family members, and deliberate efforts to resist social stigma. However, they face significant constraints, including the declining number of trees in their operational areas, forcing them to travel long distances in search of trees, health risks, and price volatility in the charcoal market. The study contributes to emerging literature on gender and natural resource governance by showing how women's adaptive strategies reshape normative boundaries in forest-based livelihoods, and underscores the complex interplay between gender, economic necessity, and environmental change.

Emerging agro-pastoral policy initiatives aim to mediate farmer-herder conflicts by implementing a ranching policy. The government of Ghana constructed a 272 ha ranch at Wawase. Initially, there was little local opposition, allowing the ranch to be established and to experience a large growth in cattle population. However, the ranch began to experience difficulties. This paper explores why the government's ranching intervention has not worked, by focusing on how it is being implemented in practice, and the nature of the conflict it generates. The article shows how the development of the ranch manifested as part of the political regime of the New Patriotic Party; the process enhanced the party's political legitimacy but did not provide pastoralists with enough forage and security. Practices on the ranch have created a new layer of conflicts between cattle owners and ranch management. The article illuminates the practical issues surrounding the establishment of cattle ranches. Les initiatives & eacute;mergentes de politique agropastorale visent & agrave; att & eacute;nuer les conflits entre agriculteurs et & eacute;leveurs par la mise en oe uvre d'une politique d'& eacute;levage en ranch. Le gouvernement du Ghana a construit un ranch de 272 hectares & agrave; Wawase. Au d & eacute;but, l'opposition locale & eacute;tait faible, permettant au ranch de s'& eacute;tablir et de conna & icirc;tre une forte croissance du cheptel bovin. Cependant, le ranch a commenc & eacute; & agrave; rencontrer des difficult & eacute;s. Cet article explore les raisons pour lesquelles l'intervention du gouvernement dans l'& eacute;levage n'a pas fonctionn & eacute;, en se concentrant sur la mani & egrave;re dont elle est mise en oe uvre en pratique, et sur la nature du conflit qu'elle g & eacute;n & egrave;re. L'article montre comment le d & eacute;veloppement du ranch s'est inscrit dans le cadre du r & eacute;gime politique du New Patriotic Party ; le processus a renforc & eacute; la l & eacute;gitimit & eacute; politique du parti mais n'a pas fourni aux & eacute;leveurs suffisamment de fourrage et de s & eacute;curit & eacute;. Les pratiques en vigueur dans le ranch ont cr & eacute;& eacute; une nouvelle s & eacute;rie de conflits entre les propri & eacute;taires de b & eacute;tail et la direction du ranch. L'article met en lumi & egrave;re les questions pratiques entourant la cr & eacute;ation de ranchs de b & eacute;tail.

Understanding the informal institutions arising from cultural norms, taboos, and beliefs can improve conservation efforts and resource management in Africa. However, little is known of their potential for governing the management of artisanal gillnet fisheries, as well as, the practices and activities of fishers in Ghana. Here, we explore the practices of artisanal gillnet fishers landing shark and ray as their major components and the informal institutions governing the management of these fisheries. We interviewed 33 active and retired fishers in five fishing communities in Western Ghana, complemented with participant observations to collect data for the study. While fishing effort and the financing of fishing trips vary between fishers using drift gillnets and bottomset gillnets, the sharing systems and payment of crew members are relatively uniform in both fisheries and across the study communities. Despite the absence of state regulation, the species-specific taboos recorded offer protection for Whale Shark (Rhincodon typus) and whales (Cetacea), which are considered threatened by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The role of modern religions (like Christianity and Islam) and the influx of different people with different values, beliefs, and cultures explain the erosion of some resource management taboos and beliefs. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of officially recognizing these informal institutions as legitimate institutions for the effective management of imperiled marine species targeted by gillnet fishers at the local level.

In many sub-Saharan African countries, numerous studies ascribe biases and inconsistencies in agropastoral policies to the perennial farmer–herder conflicts. However, insights into the assumptions underlying agropastoral policies and the strategies that actors involved in the conflict use to influence these policies are limited in countries with high incidence of such conflicts. We engaged the ‘act of governmentality’ (ways of governing) to examine how agropastoral policies in Ghana from colonial to contemporary times have influenced farmer–herder conflicts, and examined the strategies used by key conflict actors to influence the agropastoral policy process. Data were collected through documentary review, interviews, focus group discussions and facilitated workshops with a range of conflict actors such as farmers, pastoralists, chiefs, farmer and herder associations, and public officials. Our analyses indicated that whereas the colonial administration facilitated cattle ranching among natives of the Gold Coast, the postcolonial administration changed the approach by adopting a seemingly hostile strategy that largely neglected pastoralism for almost five decades. The state now favours sedentarisation, an approach that has been rebuffed by many farmers, farming communities, and some pastoralists. Policy inconsistencies have created tensions and a dynamic struggle across spatial scales, with each actor coalition employing diverse strategies to influence agropastoral policies to accommodate their preferences and expectations. The outcome of each policy cycle became an input for further contestation in a resource-depleting process that failed to produce equitable outcomes. Achieving a sustainable negotiated solution requires moving beyond the current segmentation towards well-structured and inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogue that allows for proper consideration of all actors’ concerns.

We investigated the awareness of occupational hazards, and attitudes and practices towards the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among informal woodworkers of the Sokoban Wood Village in Ghana. Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from 355 woodworkers and analysed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. The results showed that the workers are aware of PPE and knew about injuries they are exposed to. Most woodworkers had a positive attitude in terms of their perception on the necessity to use PPE but had a low frequency of PPE usage. Educational level, job type, length of service and marital status are the socio-demographic characteristics that significantly influence woodworkers' compliance with health and safety regulations. We recommend that institutions charged with enforcement of occupational health and safety regulations should extend their monitoring roles to informal workers and liaise with local companies to supply PPE to informal woodworkers at subsidized costs.

Unregulated harvest of tree bark for medicinal purposes has led to overexploitation and extinction of some valuable tree species. The study assessed bark recovery rates of four medicinal tree species and determined their regenerative abilities, stress shoot production and susceptibility to wood borers. A total of 192 trees of Bombax buonopozense, Mangifera indica, Azadirachta indica and Blighia sapida were randomly selected outside protected forests in the Moist Semi-deciduous (MSD) and Guinea Savannah (GS) ecological zones of Ghana. The trees were harvested using three harvesting intensities, 25%, 50%, and 75% bark removal. Edge and sheet re-growth, stress shoot production and wood borer attack were recorded for each tree in twelfth months. Our results show that the bark of B. buonopozense (29.4% at MSD and 21.4% at GS), M. indica (22.3% at MSD and 16.1% at GS) and A. indica (13.5% at MSD and 12.8% at GS) showed higher regeneration percentage compared to B. sapida (3.8% at MSD and 3.7% at GS), while stress shoot growth percentage was limited to only B. buonopozense (4.7% at MSD and 25% at GS). Though no tree died during the study period, borer attack was recorded for all the species except A. indica. We recommend that forest managers should allow minimum harvesting of B. sapida as they showed slow recovery, while rotation period for repeated harvest can also be prescribed for B. buonopozense and M. indica. Moreover, the coppicing ability of B. buonopozense needs to be examined since it produced a higher number of stress shoots.

Since the emergence of collaborative resource governance in the 1990s,many scientists, governments, and development practitioners are working to improve forest-fringe communities (FFCs) involvement in forest management for better outcomes. However, how such efforts affect inequalities within communities in resource frontiers is underexplored, even more so in forest monitoring. This study attempts to overcome this challenge through a qualitative analysis of intersectionality of the actors engaged in community forest monitoring (CFM) and its effects on inequality among FFCs in Ghana. Data were collected through focus group discussions and interviews with community forest monitors, forestry officials and NGOs in eight forest districts and content analyis applied to the transcripts. The findings revealed that CFM has introduced new forms of agency in the study localities, stirred gender norms and practices, leading to the further exclusion of some of the most marginalised actors. For example, by constructing CFM as a physically demanding and confrontational activity, and females as nurturers, men wrestle control over monitoring roles, confining women to clerical and household duties. Furthermore, by painting migrants as 'illegal farmers' that destroy protected forests, indigenes exclude migrants from participating in community forest monitoring. Meanwhile, indigenes are equal culprits of illicit farming as their way of resisting the state's appropriation of their ancestral lands. The findings suggest that development agencies need to pay more attention to how they constitute CFM groups, given keen attention to local political dynamics and intersectionality among community actors if equitable inclusion is to be achieved.

Rhino rays, such as guitarfishes, are increasingly targeted or retained as incidental catch and have become an economically important component in fisheries worldwide. Despite their importance, information about the catch and socioeconomics of these fisheries are virtually non-existent in West Africa. We address a significant knowledge gap about the characteristics and drivers of guitarfish fisheries in four key ray-fishing communities in the Western and Central Regions in Ghana. We conducted landing and market surveys of guitarfishes over 80 days from November 2020 to August 2021. We also interviewed 51 fishers actively involved in the guitarfish fishery across the four communities during this period using semi-structured interviews. The findings confirm the likely disappearance of sawfishes Pristis spp., as most fishers have not captured any in their lifetime. We also confirm no known catches of the African wedgefish Rhynchobatus luebberti. Our surveys documented 537 individuals from four guitarfish species across the various landing and market sites. The spineback guitarfish (Rhinobatos irvinei) was the most frequently landed species comprising 71 % (n = 383) of all guitarfishes, with 57 % of the specimens not yet sexually mature. Most fishers (71 %) stated that catches of the two larger guitarfishes (blackchin guitarfish Glaucostegus cemiculus and common guitarfish Rhinobatos rhinobatos) have declined by 80-90 % based on their recollection. At the same time, over half (59 %) of the fishers indicated that the catches of the smaller guitarfishes (spineback guitarfish and whitespotted guitarfish Rhinobatos albomaculatus) have declined by 40-60 %. The main drivers for the catch or retention of guitarfishes were for both international trade of their fins, and meat which are both traded locally (45 % of 51 fishers) and used as a source of food for local consumption (37 %). While we know high economic value drives the catch and trade of giant guitarfishes and wedgefishes, we show that this trade extends to the other guitarfish species. The interviews and contemporary pattern of catches are consistent with a serial depletion of rhino rays from the largest, most valuable species to the remaining smaller-bodied, less valuable guitarfishes. We recommend the development of national regulations for their protection complemented by education programs to ensure that fishers are aware of the threatened status of guitarfishes.

Small-scale shark fisheries support the livelihoods of a large number of coastal communities in developing countries. Shark meat comprises a cheap source of protein and is traded locally in many parts in developing countries, while the skins, oil, and fins are exported to the international market. This study addresses a gap in literature regarding the importance of elasmobranchs to key shark-fishing communities and the degree to which trade in shark products (meat and fins) vary in time and among fishing communities in Ghana. We interviewed 85 fishers and traders involved in shark fisheries in Axim, Dixcove, and Shama communities using semi-structured questionnaires. Fishing was the primary source of income and accounted for 58.5% of the total household income of respondents. Other important economic activities were fish processing (16.0%), fish retailing (13.3%), and small businesses (2.5%). One-third and often two-thirds of respondents generated between 80% and 100% of their income from shark fisheries: Axim (65%), Dixcove (68%), and Shama (35%). Shark meat consumption was common among fishers and traders and represents a substantial source of protein in the diet of the study communities. Hammerhead sharks (Sphyrna spp) and Bull Shark (Carcharhinus leucas) have the most valuable fins and meat. Further, 75% and 95% of fishers and traders, respectively, see fishing and trading of shark meat as their last safety-net and, therefore, tend to be satisfied with their jobs. Non-fishing related livelihood streams including small businesses and transportation were the major fallback activities both fishers and traders preferred to rely on if there is a ban on the exploitation of sharks in Ghana. Overexploitation of these species will compromise food ecosystem functionality and security. Thus, any shark management strategy needs to urgently restraint mortality to sustainable levels, which, in the short-term, must take into consideration the preferred livelihood fallback options outlined by fishers and traders, and implement them to ensure the long-term benefits of the intervention.

We relied on local knowledge of fishers in five coastal communities in Ghana to investigate ecological factors that affect fishing for elasmobranchs (sharks and rays) and the changes in the abundance of sharks and rays from 1980 to 2020. We gathered data using participant observation, interviews, focus group discussions, and participatory rural appraisal techniques. The results revealed fisher’s understanding of six main ecological conditions, which have been applied over the years to improve fishing and maximize fisher catch: season and weather conditions, lunar phase, bait type, presence of seabirds and fish movement, the color of seawater, and sea current. Most elasmobranch species were abundant in 1980 but became severely depleted as of 2020, except Blue Shark (Prionace glauca) and Devil rays (Mobula spp.), shared by the fishers. We found fishers’ local ecological knowledge consistent with scholarly knowledge and call for its inclusion in research, decision-making, and management interventions by biologists and policymakers.

Despite the fact that elasmobranchs are now targeted in artisanal fisheries in the wake of continuous declines of teleosts in Ghana, data on any aspects of these fisheries are poor. This study aims to document the spatial and temporal variation, and biological composition of elasmobranchs in five key elasmobranch-dominated fishing communities in Western Ghana, which include Adjoa, Axim, Busua, Dixcove and Shama. A total of 2157 elasmobranchs comprising 1414 sharks and 743 rays, belonging to 34 species in 15 families, were recorded over the course of 9 months. Prionace glauca (81.2%) and Raja parva (29.3%) were the dominant shark and ray species, respectively. Shama had the highest mean shark catch (33.3 ± S.D 29.7), followed by Dixcove (19.1 ± 14.7) and Axim (18.2 ± 12.4). However, Axim exhibited the greatest mean ray catch (25.8 ± 10.6), followed by Adjoa (10.9 ± 3.8) and Busua (9.6 ± 5.4). The greatest relative catch and species richness for all the sites was documented in the minor rainy season (August to November). Sexual segregation was typical among most of the common elasmobranch species landed. This study serves as a baseline for monitoring future changes in the artisanal shark and ray fisheries in Western Ghana.

The role of customary authorities in decentralized natural resource management is a subject of debate among conservation scientists and practitioners. This review article provides aggregate insights into what literature says. More of published articles on the subject matter are supportive of customary authorities playing roles in decentralized natural resource management for reasons such as their local legitimacy, effectiveness and efficiency in regulating resource use. The articles that are not supportive justified their stance with the assertion that customary authorities are not democratic and not accountable local governance institutions. Considering that customary authorities have comparative resource regulation advantages, the call to involve them in the ongoing decentralization of natural resource management is reasonable. However, tailored arrangements need to be put in place to ensure that customary authorities are locally accountable in their exercise of decentralized resource management powers.

The high prevalence of illicit forest activities has adverse effects on biodiversity and the environment and setbacks to sustainable forest management and economies. This paper analyzed official reports on forest offenses and linked tree offenses' types to their ecological importance over a ten-year period (2008 to 2017) in the Bibiani Forest District. It sought insights from forestry officials and forest fringe communities' motives and means of managing forest offenses in Ghana. The reviewed official records revealed seven offenses types, with the most frequently recorded offense being illegal farming (n = 67). It was followed by illegal logging (n = 51), illicit mining (n = 33), and chainsaw lumbering (n = 13). The lowest recorded offenses (n = 3) were human-induced wildfire, charcoal production, and canoe carving. From the tree species related offenses, a total of 31 timber species were reportedly felled illegally, with Celtis mildbreadi being the most felled, followed by Triplochiton scleroxylon and Pterygopta macrocarpa. It was also revealed that most of the trees were under imminent threat of extinction (Scarlet-star rated species). The study found lack of farmlands, limited access to NTFPs and trees, logistical challenges (e.g., vehicle, motorbikes, staff and modern technology like drones), weak law enforcement and interferences from some key stakeholders to be factors that motivate culprits to commit illicit forest activities. It is recommended that the Forestry Commission should invest more in technological and human resources to strengthen its surveillance in partnership with forest fringe communities to enhance the ecological, economic and social benefits of forest resources to all segments of society.

The study sought to unearth the immediate causes and underlying factors that fuel cocoa-driven deforestation in Ghana through four pathways: interviews, participatory rural appraisal techniques, facilitated community workshops and field observations in five forest-fringe and two admitted communities of Ghana's Ashanti and Western North Regions. The study found agricultural expansion and infrastructure extension to be the proximate causes of deforestation. These are driven by population growth, low cocoa productivity, inadequate cultivable land for cash and subsistence farming, abrupt shifts in government policies, droughts, wildfires, pests and diseases, land insecurity, limited alternative livelihoods in rural areas and lack of maintenance of admitted farm boundaries. The magnitude of the surge in cocoa encroachment in protected forests requires collaboration among diverse stakeholders and interlocutory action to stem the challenge while more holistic solutions are sought.

An analysis of the dynamics of access to resources is important for a fuller understanding of rural livelihoods especially with changing times and technology. This paper uses benefits from charcoal production and trade in the forest savanna transition zone of Ghana as a case to explore the dynamics of access in time and space and the mechanisms various social actors apply in order to benefit. The study applies an analytical framework combining the revised property rights framework with “A Theory of Access”. Participatory rural appraisal methods, stakeholder meetings, document reviews and interviews were conducted with social actors along the charcoal commodity chain in Ghana. The paper shows that the ability to benefit from charcoal is more dependent on property than other mechanisms of access, and both customary and statutory institutions are involved in mediating access to charcoal in the area. The realization of economic benefits of charcoal led to a contestation between chiefs and family heads over rights to trees on family lands in some communities and changes in the mode of payment for trees used in producing charcoal. Scarcity and concern over sustainability of trees have also driven the dynamics of the access mechanisms. Chiefs have strengthened their authority in charcoal-producing communities and the low presence of statutory institutions with de jure mandate to regulate the charcoal sector in those communities has implication on plans by the state to formalize and regularize charcoal production and trade in the country. We envisage four adverse effects from the government’s attempt to formalize the charcoal sector – elite capture, exclusion of vulnerable and marginalized people, criminalization of livelihoods and loss of rights. We recommend that the planned formalization should be devoid of directives that would make charcoal production and trade prohibitive for low-income households.