Samuel Kwesi Ndzebah Dadzie, Emmanuel W. Inkoom, Selorm Akaba, Festus Annor-Frempong and James Afful
The consequences of extreme climatic events that threaten food security have created the urgent need to properly adopt climate-smart adaptation techniques to improve productivity…
Abstract
Purpose
The consequences of extreme climatic events that threaten food security have created the urgent need to properly adopt climate-smart adaptation techniques to improve productivity. The study examined the sustainability responses to climate-smart adaptation and the implication it has for explaining the food security situations among farm households in the Central Region of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
We estimated Heckit treatment effect model to analyse cross-sectional data collected from randomly selected farmers in the Central Region.
Findings
Analysis of farm sustainability index suggests that farmers' agricultural practices in response to climate change are lowly or moderately sustainable. We further found that while majority of the farm households are severely food insecure or food insecure with hunger, only about one-third are food insecure without hunger and the remaining few being food secure. The sustainability of farm practices is being impacted by the farmers’ choice of climate smart adaptation measures at the farm level. Consequently, the farm households' food security situation is found to be improved when sustainable farming practices are employed in the face of managing climate change effects.
Practical implications
Conclusions drawn from the study findings give rooms for policy implications that suggest responsibilities for policymakers, farmers and other stakeholders to promote CSA practices in food crop production in Ghana. These policy implications will contribute to improve crop productivity, increase incomes and thus enhance food security among farm families. Awareness campaign about benefits of CSA practices and technologies need to be strengthened among farmers in Ghana by government and NGOs that matter in promoting farm resilience to climate change. Given the important impacts of sustainable farm practices on household food security situation, policies that seek to build the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate vulnerability impacts should take into consideration the sustainability dimensions of the adaptation and mitigation measures to be advocated for use at farm levels.
Originality/value
Our paper contributes to literature knowledge on climate-smart adaptation practices effect on food security as evidenced in some recent literature. The paper makes a unique contribution by highlighting the food security implication of the sustainability impact of CSA practices, thereby exploring sustainability as an impact pathway between climate smart adaptations practices and food security in a developing country like Ghana. We approached our study aiming at making new contribution by introducing in the study implementation a quasi-experimental research design which future studies on impacts of climate smart adaptation practices can replicate.
Details
Keywords
Kwame Oduro Amoako, Isaac Oduro Amoako, James Tuffour and Emmanuel Opoku Marfo
Using a subsidiary of a multinational mining company in Ghana as a case, the purpose of this study is to examine the formal and informal forms and channels of sustainability…
Abstract
Purpose
Using a subsidiary of a multinational mining company in Ghana as a case, the purpose of this study is to examine the formal and informal forms and channels of sustainability reporting in the emerging economy’s context.
Design/methodology/approach
Semi-structured interviews were conducted amongst managers and employees of the mining company and members of their host community. Based on the interview themes, archival data were extracted from the 2020 Integrated Annual Report of the case company to corroborate the results from the interviews.
Findings
The authors found that most of the stakeholders from the host community interviewed were not aware and, to an extent, not interested in formal sustainability reports. In place of that, the management of the mining subsidiary uses informal channels of communication, including meetings and durbars, to verbally engage the local community and their representatives on sustainability matters. Whilst the formal sustainability reports met the internal requirements set by the parent company, the informal engagements were critical for gaining external legitimacy from the host community and other interest groups. Hence, the authors argue that mining companies and their subsidiaries, particularly in developing economies, need to consider informal forms of sustainability reporting alongside the formal channels to engage local communities to address sustainability issues and avert disruptions to their operations.
Originality/value
Sustainability reporting studies have focussed mainly on annual reports published in print or corporate websites, ignoring informal forms of sustainability reporting. This study sheds light on the informal forms of sustainability reporting. This is important as formal forms of sustainability reporting may be less useful for engaging local mining communities in developing economy contexts.
Details
Keywords
Richard Kwasi Boso, Enoch Adusei and Emmanuel Demah
Industrialization has contributed to global environmental problems, especially in developed countries, but increasingly so in developing ones as well. Leveraging on the natural…
Abstract
Purpose
Industrialization has contributed to global environmental problems, especially in developed countries, but increasingly so in developing ones as well. Leveraging on the natural resource-based view theory, this study aims to examine the mediating role of environmental consciousness (EC) on the relationship between green intellectual capital (IC) and environmental performance among manufacturing firms in Ghana against a backdrop of increasing national drive towards greater industrialization.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a cross-sectional survey design to obtain data from 245 manufacturing firms using purposive sampling technique. Structural equation modelling was used to test for the hypothesized relationships among variables.
Findings
Evidence suggests that green IC has a significantly positive effect on environmental performance. Furthermore, it was found that green IC has a positive and significant effect on EC, but EC only mediated the relationship between green IC and environmental performance.
Practical implications
Manufacturing firms within emerging economies like Ghana can improve on their green practices by incorporating these findings in their business models, while research could be guided to focus their inquiries on this and related genre of scholarly work.
Originality/value
This study is an early-stage study to identify EC as a variable which mediates the relationship between green IC and environmental performance among manufacturing firms in an emerging economy like Ghana.
Details
Keywords
Enoch Adusei, Emmanuel Demah and Richard K. Boso
The novel COVID-19 supply chain disruption has globally altered the environmental needs of society. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine how top managers are…
Abstract
Purpose
The novel COVID-19 supply chain disruption has globally altered the environmental needs of society. Against this backdrop, this paper aims to examine how top managers are environmentally committed to integrating green supply chain management (GSCM) practices in the operational performance of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in Ghana, within the post-pandemic economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a cross-sectional survey to obtain data from 270 SMEs in Ghana, using partial least squares (PLS) structural equation modelling to test seven hypothesized relationships.
Findings
The outcome of the analysis revealed that top management environmental commitment has a significantly positive effect on supply chain operational performance. The structural model also revealed that top management environmental commitment has a positive and significant effect on both internal and external GSCM practices. The results further revealed that both internal and external GSCM practices have positive and significant effects on supply chain operational performance. Finally, both internal and external GSCM practices mediate the path between top management environmental commitment and supply chain operational performance.
Research limitations/implications
The study provides a novel framework which contributes to both theoretical studies and managerial decisions on COVID-19 related supply chain management issues. However, the study was limited to the Ghanaian context, thus, further related studies are required in other contexts.
Originality/value
This study provides a novel framework by elucidating the intervening role of GSCM practices in the path between top management environmental commitment and supply chain operations in an emerging post-pandemic world context.