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The ever-increasing price of fossil diesel oil, its availability and affordability has prompted the search for cheaper sources of diesel fuel especially in rural Ghana where it could be used by small to medium scale processors. The aims of this project were to provide a readily available and renewable fuel that will serve as a diesel substitute: to power diesel engines running equipment in a shea butter extraction unit at Gbimsi, to provide a readily available fuel to serve as a kerosene substitute for lighting local lanterns, to evaluate the economic viability of the use of the bio-fuel as both diesel and kerosene substitutes. in Ghana. A pilot Jatropha plantation was established for the Gbimsi women’s group. A pilot processing unit was also established. The women were taken through series of training which included the extraction and utilization of Jatropha biofuel and soap making using the Jatropha oil. The Jatropha biofuel extracted by the women mixed with various amounts of mineral diesel oil was tested on lister-type diesel engines and in lanterns to ascertain its performance. A combination of 30% mineral diesel oil: 70% Jatropha bio-fuel was found to be appropriate for running the diesel engines. Local lanterns were found to give smokeless light and were found to last four times longer than kerosene when the Jatropha oil was used. In conclusion, the Jatropha biofuel helps in achieving energy security in communities that are otherwise inaccessible and constantly in search of regular supply of mineral fuels like diesel and kerosene. The press cake obtained after the oil extraction could be used as an organic fertilizer for improving soil fertility. Questionnaires were administered to ninety (90) shea butter producers and ten (10) exporters selected at random from the Northern, Upper East, Upper West and Greater Accra regions of Ghana in order to gather information from the producers/users as well as exporters on the Knowledge, Attitude, Beliefs and Practices (KABP) of shea butter production, consumption and export. The outcome of the study suggested that shea butter export has increased tremendously over the past decade as a result of very high demand for the product from both the local and international markets. The existing and potential export maket for shea butter were identified to be Japan, United Kingdom, Netherlands and United States of America. In addition, the shea butter produced were evaluated for the quality characteristics as well as their storability in different storage (packaging) materials. These were conducted using standard analytical methods. The minimum quality requirement of shea butter for export are : Moisture (0.01-1.0%), Free fatty acid (3.5-4.0), acid value (1.0-10.0) and the product should not be dark in colour. The best packaging material used for the export of the product are metal drums and card boxes and the only constraint faced by the exporters is the cost of the packaging materials which is considered to be expensive. The producers in the studied communities treated shea butter as their main farming activity. In an attempt to investigate the changes in chemical and physical properties of shea butter during storage, various chemical and physical quality indices were monitored. A 3 x 4 x 4 factorial experimental design with storage condition [open air (28-34°C), tropical ambient (26-31°C) and refrigeration (4-7°C) conditions], packaging material (metal cans, polyethylene bags, plastic containers and calabash), storage time (0,1,2 and 3 months) as variables was performed. Changes in the chemical and physical properties of the butter were observed during storage of the product under the different storage conditions and packaging materials. Storage caused slight increases in moisture content (0.01-0.07%), free fatty acid (3.29-4.38%), acid value 6.55-8.20%), iodine value (59.86-60.06) and peroxide value (8.24-10.64 mEq/kg) within the three months storage period. Products stored under open air (28-34°C) conditions generally significantly (p<0.05) affected the chemical properties of the butter during storage whilst those stored under ambient (26-31°C) and refrigeration (4-7°C) conditions did not have significant (p<0.05) effect on the chemical properties. No wide variations in physical properties were noted for the products during storage under the different storage conditions and packaging materials. Shea butter can be stored using all the four different packaging materials studied. However, it is highly recommended that the products are kept under tropical ambient (26-31°C) and refrigeration conditions (4-7°C) during storage. The best condition for the storage of shea butter is refrigeration which maintains the quality of the product during prolonged stored periods. Storage of the shea butter under open air (28-34°C) conditions allows for oxidative and hydrolytic rancidity rendering the products unsuitable for consumption after long storage periods.
Over the last decade or so, there has been an increasing need to acknowledge the role played by local resource users in environmental decision making and to incorporate their perceptions in the management of natural resources. This has led to the development of various methods of assessing environmental attitudes and of natural resource valuation. Most of these studies have been conducted in developed countries and have utilised economic methods of valuation. This study highlights the environmental attitudes and values of a very important group of stakeholders - women - and the significance of taking these into consideration in the management of local coastal natural resources. Using respondents from two Ghanaian coastal communities, Bortianor and Moree, the study also investigated poverty-coastal natural resource linkages and how this knowledge can be used to improve Natural Resource Management in Ghana. In proposing specific policy options for managing the coastal environment an examination of formal, informal institutional and legal framework was also done. Primary data was collected by means of focus group discussions, personal interviews and participant observations. A total of 304 women (151 from Bortianor and 153 from Moree) took part in the study. The results showed that the study communities had poor access to basic amenities such as potable water, schools, health facilities as well as basic sanitation services. Their livelihood patterns revolve around the availability of coastal natural resources such as fish and fuel wood. The attitudinal scale used to assess environmental attitudes achieved adequate internal consistency with Cronbach’s (1951) Alpha reliability coefficients of 0.729 in Bortianor and 0.735 in Moree. The environmental attitudes of respondents were overwhelmingly positive; this however did not match the state of affairs in the area. The study showed that positive attitudes do not always result in pro-environmental behaviour. In the study areas poverty, low educational levels and other social and cultural practices could also influence the ability of respondents to translate the generally positive environmental attitudes into positive environmental action. The section on environmental values assessed the environmental values of respondents through the relative importance they placed on the different benefits derived from coastal natural resources. It also prioritised environmental issues or concerns in the study areas from the perspectives of the respondents. Rather than use a simple ordinal ranking of all objects, the paired comparison approach was used. The study showed that in both areas respondents placed the greatest importance on the coastal natural resources as sources of wealth creation and food. When it came to environmental concerns, it was not surprising that issues of safe drinking water, available fish and good sanitation were most important to respondents. From the results it was argued that since coastal natural resources as sources of food and income ranked highest, developing activities and policies that add value to the fishery industry, generate income and improve the standard of living of respondents would be most effective. Improving their standard of living could shift their focus from more utilitarian values to that of more pro-natural resource values. After examining existing institutional capacities and respondents’ perceptions of who should manage local coastal natural resources, the study concludes by using the findings to make some practical policy recommendations.