The aim of the study was to relate small-scale irrigation farming and farmers’ livelihood outcomes using the poorest District in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The livelihood implications of rural farmers remain inconclusive across the literature. Mixed methods and primary data consisting of key informant interviews, household questionnaires and personal observation were used for the study. Data were obtained from 120 farmers drawn from 173 farming households living in four (4) small-scale irrigation dams’ communities. The results revealed a significant source of supplementary income and household food is provided by smallholder irrigation farming. The results further revealed that farmers employ a plethora of technologies including the use of mulch to stem soil moisture loss, livestock manure and chemical fertilizers to remedy soil productivity decline as well as hand-dug wells to supplement the reduction in irrigation water. However, the results revealed that irrigable land is not accessible to non-land owning ethnic groups. Access to irrigable land should be the number one consideration in siting irrigation facilities in Ghana.
This article retrospectively examines the factors which caused Guinea Worm Disease (Dracunculiasis) to spread to epidemic levels, so as to serve as the basis for formulating a national preventive agenda to reinforce the preventive measures which have been put in place to prevent the disease from re-emerging. The hybrid conceptual framework of disease diffusion and disease ecology was used. The mixed method research design was used to collect data from a total of 11 administrative districts. Primary data was obtained from a total of 860 respondents. To achieve a representative distribution of respondents, they were proportionately selected with respect to the populations of their respective districts. A key Informant interview was conducted. It was found that the major cause of the disease was attributed to poor access to potable water. Others were difficulty in getting ground water, populations preferring surface sources of drinking water, all year round contact with perennial surface sources of drinking water, and the " knee deep level" culture of fetching clean water from surface sources. It was concluded that cultural practices, environmental conditions, climatic influences, and real/imagined perceptions on the quality of water influenced the spread of the disease. It was recommended that government health institutions should make efforts at determining the factors that make populations vulnerable to diseases. The policy implication is that government will have to commit resources to provide people with the information and equipment they need to interact with their biophysical environment.
This article examines the role dracunculiasis (Guinea Worm Disease – GWD) and the Guinea Worm Eradication Programme (GWEP) played in changing community members’ behaviour towards the disease and their bio-physical environment. The research design that was used to collect data was the mixed method approach, in which questionnaire was administered, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was held, and key informant interviews conducted. Krejcie and Morgan’s formula for determining sample population for research was used to determine the sample population of the study area, which was 860. It was found that bedrock lithology made community members to resort to unsafe sources of drinking water which exposed them to GWD. It was also realized that the educational programmes which the GWEP brought along with it changed community members’ behaviour towards their bio-physical environment, which ultimately resulted in eradicating the disease in the study area. It was therefore recommended that in carrying out disease eradication or control programmes, the environmental protection agency should be involved in the process of educating community members on methods of improving on the integrity of their natural and built environment to enhance the overall health status of the community.
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