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Despite decades of research, uncertainty remains about what motivates individuals to engage in pro-environmental behavior. The multifaceted and complex nature of energy conservation, like other forms of pro-environmental behavior, still poses a challenge to efforts at accurately explaining or predicting it. This paper examines the extent to which variables in the value-belief-norm framework are able to explain engagement in energy conservation and environmental citizenship behavior in an institutional setting. The results indicate that value-belief-norm constructs, which largely reflect environmental considerations, were more successful at explaining subjects' pro-environmental citizenship behavior than their energy conservation behavior. Individuals' personal norms and self-transcendence values were found to be the most influential precursors of their pro-environmental behavior. Subjects' behavior-specific beliefs also influenced their pro-environmental behavior and were mediated by their personal norms. The implications of our results for the design of pro–energy conservation intervention are discussed.

Researchers, resource managers, and development practitioners increasingly recognize the value of integrating the input and preferences of stakeholders into decision-making processes. Increasing participation of stakeholders in policy decision-making is generally considered favorable since it helps account for public concerns, reduces conflicts, increases public acceptance of and compliance with the resultant program rules, and enhances the overall effectiveness and achievement of program objectives. As part of efforts to improve program planning and foster achievement of program objectives, this dissertation explores the perspectives and preferences of key stakeholders regarding the design of two programs: Ghana's conditional cash transfer (CCT) program known as Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty program (LEAP) and the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) in Michigan. The dissertation is built around three essays. The first essay uses qualitative and quantitative data collected in Ghana to explore the socio-cultural context of CCT program implementation in an African context. It examines perspectives of beneficiaries, program managers, and community leaders regarding Ghana's CCT program. The analysis focuses on participants' sociocultural attitudes towards poverty, perceptions of cash transfer as a poverty reduction strategy, and their experiences with LEAP implementation. The findings suggest that stakeholder groups hold a favorable view of CCT, but there is little support for giving money to the poor as a long-term poverty alleviation strategy. The Ghanaian CCT program is seen as fair and popular, but current payment levels are viewed as inadequate, impractical, and unreliable. The essay also discusses some of the challenges facing LEAP implementation in Ghana and suggests programmatic changes. The second essay reports the findings from a discrete choice model exploring preferences of Ghanaian households in a LEAP community regarding key CCT program elements including conditionality, targeting, and payment method. The results revealed a preference for CCT designs that target beneficiaries with limited or no productive capacity and are conditional on beneficiaries either investing in children's human capital or performing communal service, relative to unconditional programs. In addition, bank deposit was the preferred payment mode relative to direct cash payment and mobile money. The final essay also uses a discrete choice model to examine the decision of agricultural landowners in Michigan's Saginaw Bay Watershed to participate in filter strip program for watershed protection. It specifically examines the key programmatic, socio-psychological, and demographic determinants of landowners' decisions of whether or not to enroll in a CREP filter strip program. The study results indicate that making contract durations shorter with enhanced rental payments, and educating landowners about the efficacy, as well as the on- and off-farm benefits of the conservation practice would enhance participation in CREP.

This thesis is built around two essays based on data collected as part of efforts to promote sustainability at Michigan State University [MSU]. The first essay focuses on survey results concerning communication strategies to help develop an effective recycling program publicity campaign for MSU. It examines the relative attractiveness and perceived efficacy of available communication media as well as the information needs of three stakeholder groups regarding a new recycling initiative. The results suggest that communication efforts for promoting recycling programming should focus more on messages concerning what, how, and where to recycle. Also, that recycling publicity efforts should differentiate the mode and content of communications based on target audience. The second essay seeks to better understand the appropriateness of a dichotomous answer choice format for 'environmental/economic worldview' questions. Data from the campus-wide survey are used to investigate the efficacy of alternative answer choice sets for a worldview question and examine the relationship between participants' stated worldview and their level of support for environmental initiatives. The results suggest that most respondents do not view economic growth and environmental protection as being mutually exclusive. Thus, worldview question formats that force respondents to choose between these two worldview categories appear to misstate individuals' underlying worldviews and may increase item non-response.

Rapidly rising demand for food, fuelled by population and income growth, will provide major opportunities for agri-food systems to accelerate employment creation and transform African economies. Seizing these opportunities will require African agriculture to become more inclusive and profitable. Greater profits in farming will generate greater expenditures by millions of people in rural areas that fuel the transition to a more diversified and robust economy. Higher incomes for millions of households engaged in agriculture will expand the demand for goods and services – and therefore employment – in the non-farm economy, while also opening up new employment opportunities across all stages of agri-food systems. Making agriculture more profitable and inclusive will require public actions to reduce costs in farm production and agri-food systems, and address soil degradation, climate change, land scarcity and concentrated land ownership. The future of work in Africa will, therefore, depend on how well the enabling environment created through policies and programmes can enhance agricultural productivity growth and enable agriculture to contribute to more broad-based employment generation and the overall agenda for economic transformation.

Urinary schistosomiasis has long been associated with bladder cancer, but it is still not clear the mechanisms involved. Schistosoma haematobium causes injury and disruptions in the integrity of the urothelium. The cellular and immunologic responses to the infection lead to the formation of granulomata. The ability to use cellular morphological changes to predict the risk of developing bladder cancer following S . haematobium infection is thus important. This study assessed the cellular changes in the urine associated with schistosomiasis and the potential of routine urine being used as a risk predictor of the development of bladder cancer. Urine samples (160) were screened for the presence of S . haematobium ova. Smears stained with the Papanicolaou method were evaluated using light microscopy to determine the cell populations. A high prevalence (39.9%) of urinary schistosomiasis and haematuria (46.9%) was found among the participants. Polymorphonuclear cells, normal and reactive urothelial cells and lymphocytes were characteristic of S . haematobium infection. Squamous metaplastic cells (SMCs) were found in 48% and 47.1% of participants who have had past or current S. haematobium infection respectively, but were not found in participants who had no exposure to S. haematobium. These squamous metaplastic cells are in transition and are prone to malignant transformation when exposed to a carcinogenic agent. There is still a high burden of schistosomiasis in endemic communities in Ghana. by examining urine, one can find metaplastic cells and? dysplastic cells and thus predict cancer in SH-infested patients. Thus, routine urine cytology as a tool to monitor the risk of bladder cancer development is recommended.

The declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11 2020, by the World Health Organisation prompted the need for a sustained and a rapid international response. In a swift response, the Government of Ghana, in partnership with Zipline company, launched the use of Unmanned Automated Vehicles (UAV) to transport suspected samples from selected districts to two foremost testing centres in the country. Here, we present the experiences of employing this technology and its impact on the transport time to the second largest testing centre, the Kumasi Centre for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine (KCCR) in Kumasi, Ghana. Swab samples collected from suspected COVID-19 patients were transported to the Zipline office by health workers. Information on the samples were sent to laboratory personnel located at KCCR through a WhatsApp platform to get them ready to receive the suspected COVID-19 samples while Zipline repackaged samples and transported them via drone. Time of take-off was reported as well as time of drop-off. A total of 2537 COVID-19 suspected samples were received via drone transport from 10 districts between April 2020 to June 2021 in 440 deliveries. Ejura-Sekyedumase District Health Directorate delivered the highest number of samples (765; 30%). The farthest district to use the drone was Pru East, located 270 km away from KCCR in Kumasi and 173 km to the Zipline office in Mampong. Here, significantly, it took on the average 39 minutes for drones to deliver samples compared to 117 minutes spent in transporting samples by road (p<0.001). The use of drones for sample transport during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced the travel time taken for samples to be transported by road to the testing site. This has enhanced innovative measures to fight the pandemic using technology.

The environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) are currently a major issue globally. There is cause for concern given the rapid loss of forest resources and pollution of water bodies through contamination with heavy metals like cyanide, arsenic, and mercury. The study investigated the livelihood and environmental implications of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Akango, a mining community in the Nzema East Municipality of Ghana. Water and soil samples were collected, and some of their associated physiochemical and heavy metal parameters were analyzed. The study used post-classification change detection to estimate the land-use/land-cover change that occurred between 2008 and 2022 and also assessed the spatiotemporal changes and transition potential modeling of the community. Field observations, interviews, and semi-structured questionnaires were employed to obtain first-hand experience regarding the study. The spatiotemporal land-use analyses found a significant increase in mining areas and subsequent settlement expansion, primarily at the expense of water bodies and vegetation. Waterbodies had a great loss, while vegetation showed little change between the study periods. For instance, the study found a significant increase in the size of the settlement and mining areas by 41.72 and 1279.77% respectively between 2008 and 2015 in the study area. However, there was a substantial decrease in the size of the waterbody by 4.58%. Accounting for the decline in the waterbody, 38.4 and 10.02% of the waterbody were converted into mining and bare areas, respectively. In terms of social impacts, ASGM had no statistically significant impacts on school dropout, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and child labor (p-value > 0.05) but a statistically significant impact on women's abuse, drug abuse, and high rate of in-migration (p-value < 0.05). For the physicochemical properties and the presence of heavy metals in surrounding waterbodies, while the values for drinking water and borehole fell within the acceptable limits of USEPA and WHO, those for stream and river Ankobra fell above the acceptable limits. Economically, ASGM contributed to the expansion of existing businesses, inflation of prices, and loss of livelihoods for farmers. The findings of the study is expected to inform policies related to the regulation of mining activities and address the goal 6 and 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The study, therefore, recommends that a decentralized system of monitoring ASM should be prioritized by the government to ensure that small-scale miners strictly adhere to environmental regulations and policies.

The environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) are currently a major issue globally. There is cause for concern given the rapid loss of forest resources and pollution of water bodies through contamination with heavy metals like cyanide, arsenic, and mercury. The study investigated the livelihood and environmental implications of artisanal and small-scale gold mining in Akango, a mining community in the Nzema East Municipality of Ghana. Water and soil samples were collected, and some of their associated physiochemical and heavy metal parameters were analyzed. The study used post-classification change detection to estimate the land-use/land-cover change that occurred between 2008 and 2022 and also assessed the spatiotemporal changes and transition potential modeling of the community. Field observations, interviews, and semi-structured questionnaires were employed to obtain first-hand experience regarding the study. The spatiotemporal land-use analyses found a significant increase in mining areas and subsequent settlement expansion, primarily at the expense of water bodies and vegetation. Waterbodies had a great loss, while vegetation showed little change between the study periods. For instance, the study found a significant increase in the size of the settlement and mining areas by 41.72 and 1279.77% respectively between 2008 and 2015 in the study area. However, there was a substantial decrease in the size of the waterbody by 4.58%. Accounting for the decline in the waterbody, 38.4 and 10.02% of the waterbody were converted into mining and bare areas, respectively. In terms of social impacts, ASGM had no statistically significant impacts on school dropout, prostitution, teenage pregnancy, and child labor ( p -value > 0.05) but a statistically significant impact on women's abuse, drug abuse, and high rate of in-migration ( p -value < 0.05). For the physicochemical properties and the presence of heavy metals in surrounding waterbodies, while the values for drinking water and borehole fell within the acceptable limits of USEPA and WHO, those for stream and river Ankobra fell above the acceptable limits. Economically, ASGM contributed to the expansion of existing businesses, inflation of prices, and loss of livelihoods for farmers. The findings of the study is expected to inform policies related to the regulation of mining activities and address the goal 6 and 15 of the Sustainable Development Goals. The study, therefore, recommends that a decentralized system of monitoring ASM should be prioritized by the government to ensure that small-scale miners strictly adhere to environmental regulations and policies.

The study assessed the health impact of rock blasting on the inhabitants of a farming community near the Newmont Gold Mining Limited mines in Ghana. The study employed both primary and secondary data sources, including questionnaires, interviews, laboratory water quality analysis, and record data for blasting and air quality. The study found that blast vibration, frequency, and overpressure values were above the EPA reference limits of < 88dB, 20 Hz and 2.0 mm/s respectively. All the dust concentrations of TSP and PM 10 were found to be within the WHO guidelines except for the major dry seasons (December to February). Also, the respondent survey shown that a majority of respondents suffer from various symptoms such as cough (56.51%), sneezing (72.92%), catarrh (88.28%), sore throat (55.21%), shortness of breath (69.53%), headache (55.21%), and asthma (8.59%). There were, however, significant differences between blasting exposure and the occurrence of chronic cough, catarrh, headache and short breath ( p  < 0.05). In addition, all the heavy metal parameters were found to be within the WHO guidelines except manganese (Mn). The results of this study are expected to influence relevant stakeholders toward initiating plans that could mitigate the negative mining impacts and avert the related health implications in the study community.