This study examined sociocultural and economic factors determining open defecation in the Wa Municipality, Ghana. The study employed a mixed method approach involving questionnaire administration to 367 households systematically selected from 21 communities, observation, and eight key informant interviews. The mixed logit model was used to determine the factors that significantly influence open defecation. The findings revealed that 49.8% of households had no form of toilet facility at home and were either using communal/public toilets or practicing open defecation. Several sociocultural and economic reasons account for this. But for these households, having a toilet facility at home does not seem to be a priority. Six factors (education, household size, occupation, income, traditional norms, and beliefs and ownership of a toilet facility) were positively significant in determining open defecation. Fundamental to many of the significant factors is households’ capacity to finance construction of home toilets. In addition to finding new and innovative approaches to public education, the principle of credit financing, that incorporates community-led initiatives, may be considered in assisting households to construct home toilets.

Wa, a fast growing municipality in Ghana, is at the first stage of the urban environmental transition where most of the environmental problems tend to occur within or close to the home, including the management of human faecal matter. This study examined the state of faecal matter management in Wa. A stratified sample of residential areas and a systematic sampling of households were employed for the selection of respondents and data was collected using questionnaire survey and key informant interviews. The results indicate that 52% of households in the municipality do not have their own toilet facilities and open defecation appears to be an acceptable practice for them. Surprisingly, public perception about faecal matter handling generally indicates that there are no dangers posed by exposure to humans. The finding suggests a considerable demand for improvements in the management of faecal matter but efforts to improve the situation might be thwarted by misconceptions of the risks posed by exposure to humans. Local government authorities need to re-engineer their efforts of providing a liveable environment by developing a regulatory framework that incorporates subsidies for the construction of household toilets and enforcement of sanitation bye-laws.

Intra- and inter-regional migration is widely described. Prior studies have attribute varied reasons for this development including the quest for greener pastures and unequal development in northern Ghana. What has escaped critical scrutiny is some migrants’ ability to escape extreme rural poverty, albeit in harsh urban environment. Such a missing gap can potentiate high policy failures, hence the need for academic attention. Using a mixed method, we focus on two informal daily livelihoods as exemplars – exceptionalism – in Accra. We see their embedded organisational vitality and dynamic networks as illuminating for good livelihood practices, proper city governance and fostering economic empowerment. We call on city authorities to take cognisance of such complexities and heterogeneity of production–labour relations, failure of which can spell doom for policies ostensibly initiated to curb migration, as they are likely to be underpinned by factual inaccuracies and may result in ill-fated interventions.

Even though development is about change, conservative rurality associated with the refusal of rural societies to submit to technological, livelihood and socio-cultural changes has not received adequate focus in development studies and practice. Using the case of selected rural communities in Ghana and their response to the mass cocoa spraying intervention of government, the paper discusses the determining factors that influence innovation adoption decisions of rural farmers. The study followed mixed methodology with the application of Relative Importance Index to establish the order of importance of major factors that influence farmers' innovation adoption decisions in the study area. We argue that, innovation adoption decisions of rural societies are rooted in their awareness, cost and benefit factors and applicability of introduced technology rather than the myth of adherence to socio-cultural heritage.

Despite the key roles of women in agroforestry systems, their contributions usually go unnoticed in male -dominated societies. This study was conducted in the Jaman South Municipality of Ghana to examine the forms and levels of women's participation in agroforestry systems. The study used a concurrent mixed method design to collect data from 204 women farmers. It employed Agarwal's typology of participation to describe the forms of women's participation. The findings revealed that majority (85.3%) of the women farmers were active in the practice of agroforestry. Scattered trees on farmlands, alley cropping, taungya, and home-gardens were the main forms of agroforestry being practiced by the women farmers. Their participation was high in all farm management activities, except in the application of agro-chemicals and spraying of crops. The forms of women participation in agroforestry were found to conform to all the stages of Agarwal's typology of participation. Lack of extension programmes and multiple domestic responsibilities were the main constraints to their participation in agroforestry practices. The study recommends training of women to volunteer as extension officers to enhance extension services delivery.