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.

This study examined the relationship between cattle herding and crime in the Sekyere Afram Plains District of Ghana by analyzing crime patterns over a nine-year period (2015–2023). Using a mixed-methods approach, the study collected primary data from farmers, herders, community members, victims of crime, and key informants across eight communities, complemented by secondary data from the Sekyere Afram Plains District Police Department. Quantitative analyses of crime records and qualitative insights from interviews and focus group discussions enabled a comprehensive understanding of herding-related criminal dynamics. The findings indicate that crop damage, assault, farmer–herder clashes, attempted murder, and robbery constituted the top five herding-related offenses. Seasonal influxes of nomadic herders during the dry season, combined with retaliatory actions by farmers responding to crop damage, were associated with spikes in certain criminal activities. Among the factors influencing aggressive behaviors, protection of cattle emerged as the most significant factor, supporting the theoretical lens of the Culture of Honor, which links herders’ defensive strategies to the perceived vulnerability of their livelihoods. The study also highlights that some Ghanaian media frequently portray both nomadic and sedentary herders as conflict instigators, creating a misconception that herding is inherently linked to crime. Policy recommendations include the need for evidence-based media reporting and strategies that differentiate between nomadic and sedentary herders, promote regulated herder movements, and strengthen local conflict prevention mechanisms. By empirically disentangling perception from practice, the study contributes to the broader discourse on pastoralism, rural security, and farmer–herder relations in Ghana and other African contexts.

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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.

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.

Background In Ghana, energy transition as a research theme is new. It is unclear whether energy transition has occurred or not, and if so, in what form. This study sought to find out whether this transition has occurred in Ghana’s electrical energy sector and how using indicators deduced from literature, such as change in energy source type, change in energy ownership and management, and transition to greener vehicular transportation. Methods Information on Ghana’s electrical energy transition was obtained from thematic content analysis of Ghana’s renewable energy policy documents, energy sector reports, newspaper articles and information on the websites of Ghana’s energy sector institutions such as the Volta River Authority, Ghana Grid Company Limited, Electricity Company of Ghana and the Northern Electricity Distribution Company. Results In this study, it was demonstrated that two structural changes have occurred in Ghana’s electrical energy sector: (1) Transition from an exclusively hydro energy to a hydro-thermal mix, with thermal energy constituting about 69% of the 2020 generation mix; and (2) Transition from an exclusively state supplied energy to a state-private supply mix, with about 56% of the 2020 supply coming from private companies. These changes were motivated by the need to expand the energy supply in response to an increasing demand of 10–15% per year. The study also indicated that renewable energy had attracted attention in policy, with policy targets such as 10% renewable energy in the energy mix by 2030 and provision of renewable energy to 1000 off-grid communities by 2030. However, renewable energy currently constitutes less than 1% of the electrical energy mix. Also, there has been no change in the heavy reliance on fossil energy for vehicular transportation. Conclusions The study concludes that energy transition in its broad sense of structural changes in a country’s electrical energy system has occurred in Ghana, however a sustainable energy transition in the sense of a transition to greener energy has not occurred. It is recommended that further studies should be conducted on why Ghana’s renewable energy agenda has so far only been an agenda in policy with very minimal implementation in practice.

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.

The usefulness of taboos as a distinct type of informal institutions for effective and efficient natural resource management is threatened by their erosion as local communities transform. Some resource management taboos have lost their influence on practice in contemporary local communities. Nevertheless, others have survived societal transformation and continue to influence practice. Based on qualitative study of forest and wildlife taboos, farmland taboos, and water taboos in three Ghanaian communities employing the concept of institutional compliance, the paper explores explanations. The findings indicate that due to the adoption of Christianity and other aspects of modernity such as formal education and exposure to foreign culture through modern media, taboos that rely on myths only to achieve compliance have lost their influence on resource use practice in contemporary local communities. To retain their influence on resource use practice in contemporary local communities, resource management taboos need to have instrumental relevance in addition to their mythical relevance.

In the context of post-colonial countries, formal institutions of forest management often do not perform to expectations when they are introduced into local communities. Against this background, many studies have recommended the use of informal institutions in the pursuit of officially-recognized local forest management. But informal institutions and formal institutions do not operate independently of each other in influencing how people act. Therefore, it is important to understand how formal and informal local forestry institutions interact with each other. This paper provides insights based on qualitative study of community, private and state forest contexts in Ghana. The findings indicate that when formal and informal local forestry institutions have common goals and both are functional, they complement each other to achieve the common goals. When they have common goals but only one institution is functional, the functional institution substitutes the non-functional one. When the goals diverge, the more functional institution outcompetes the other. When both institutions are non-functional, there is an institutional void that creates room for unregulated resource use.

Many studies have recommended more conscious consideration of informal local norms in the pursuit of officially-recognized local forest management. The justification is that management systems grounded in local norms are well suited to local realities and correspond better with the interests and capacities of local forest users than expert-knowledge systems, which generally require a lot of external support to function. In Ghana, as in many other postcolonial countries, informal local norms were effective in regulating forest resource use before they were pushed into the background following the centralization and formalization of forest management by the colonial administrations. It is however unclear if and to what extent the local norms have retained their legitimacy in the face of massive institutional changes and breath-taking land use dynamics. Based on empirical study of five Ghanaian local forest contexts, this paper explores the role of informal local norms in contemporary local forest management, building theoretically on the concept of institutional legitimacy. Two forms of informal local forestry norms were identified: taboo norms and non-taboo norms. While the non-taboo norms had legitimacy in the present day local communities, some of the taboo norms no longer had legitimacy. The findings indicate that due to modernization, including adoption of Christianity, formal education and commercialization, sacred myths alone do not provide legitimacy for the taboo norms any longer. It is inferable from the findings that to have legitimacy and be useful in contemporary local forest management, both the taboo and non-taboo norms require legitimacy from process and output justifications such as their presumed fairness or instrumental relevance for achieving what local people want to do with their forests.