There are a number of ways by which access to ICT can help boost economic activities of communities in a country with the mobile phone being the most common ICT tool especially in Sub Saharan Africa. To examine the impact of digital technology on rural livelihoods in the Pru district of the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana, a survey of 212 peasant farmers was conducted. The probit regression results indicate that, digital technology adoption is significantly influenced by age, cost and availability of the technology. Furthermore, digital technologies contribute to the improvement of rural livelihoods by expanding and strengthening social capital, increase people's ability to deal with emergencies and enhanced efficiency.
In recent times, Ghana has been lauded as a bastion of press freedom in Africa. However, drawing on the work of Johan Galtung that locates the media in a vortex of the State, Capital and Civil Society, this study problematizes the phenomenon whereby civil society elements in the Northern Region of the West African nation attenuate media freedoms through violence and intimidation of media workers. Adopting the point of departure that freedom of the press is necessary for the proper functioning of Ghana's burgeoning democracy, this study, through interviews with radio station management and staff, confirms that radio stations in the Tamale metropolis of the region adhere to a self-censorship regime as a result of this phenomenon, with inimical consequences for the health and integrity of the public sphere. This study therefore expands the discussion of media censorship beyond the more popular paradigms of State or Capital dominance over the media. While this study confirms the existence of the phenomenon of Civil Society censorship of media, it suggests a failure of the State to guarantee the safety of broadcasters in the Tamale metropolis. It also suggests a weakness of the journalists' association at the national level to advocate on behalf of members who face violence and intimidation in the course of their duties at the regional level in Tamale.
There are interesting debates on the influence of foreign aid to agriculture on economic growth in Africa. Some scholars have argued that, despite the inflows, majority of rural smallholder farmers in the continent are extremely poor. The precise channels through which foreign aid is to promote sectoral growth has been inadequately understood from the literature. This paper is a systematic literature review on the empirical evidence of the relationship between agricultural aid and growth in Sub Saharan African countries. The Generalized Methods of Moments and the Granger causality test are the main methodological approaches of papers reviewed and the relationship between agricultural aid and productivity growth is positive and quite significant. However, the results demonstrate a weak synergy between the various forms of agricultural aid and growth. The main recommendation is to have a broader conceptual, theoretical or analytical frameworks that clearly define how agricultural aid influences productivity when measured against other influencing factors. Aid is only a catalyst to growth so, governments must invest and provide the necessary infrastructure and a conducive policy environment for increased productivity and growth.
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