Refugees’ expectations of durable solutions to their problems: deliberations from the Buduburam camp in Ghana

From the year 1990 to date, refugees living in Ghana encounter various socio-economic challenges in their toils to survive, leading to tensions over limited resources between them and members of the host communities. Voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement programmes have been introduced as permanent solutions to their plights, but the given packages do not correspond with their expectations; resulting in their indefinite stay in camps. Despite this, not much information is available on their specific expectations about the durable solutions. Employing ‘When Displacement Ends’ framework, this article examines refugees’ expectations about the durable solutions. Questionnaires and interview guide were used to gather data from the refugees living in the Buduburam camp. Regardless of their preferred durable solutions, demand for employment, quality education/scholarships, skills training, and affordable health care services were common expectations. Quest for more financial incentives and security were eminent expectations of voluntary repatriation while they called for nondiscrimination against them, if they integrate into Ghana. However, there were variations in these expectations considering their background characteristics. For instance: those with no formal education mostly hoped-for skills training, the aged were eagerly concerned about health services while those in the assumed ‘school age’ predominantly requested for quality education with scholarships.     

Multivariate Modelling of Geometallurgical Variables by Projection Pursuit

The integration of geological and geometallurgical data can significantly improve decision-making and optimize mining production due to a better understanding of the resources and their metallurgical performances. The primary-response rock property framework is an approach to the modelling of geometallurgy in which quantitative and qualitative primary properties are used as proxies of metallurgical responses. Within this framework, primary variables are used to fit regression models to predict metallurgical responses. Whilst primary rock property data are relatively abundant, metallurgical response property data are not, which makes it difficult to establish predictive response relationships. Relationships between primary input variables and geometallurgical responses are, in general, complex, and the response variables are often non-additive which further complicates the prediction process. Consequently, in many cases, the traditional multivariate linear regression models (MLR) of primary-response relationships perform poorly and a better alternative is required for prediction. Projection pursuit is a powerful exploratory statistical modelling technique in which data from a number of variables are projected onto a set of directions that optimize the fit of the model. The purpose of the projection is to reveal underlying relationships. Projection pursuit regression (PPR) fits standard regression models to the projected data vectors. In this paper, PPR is applied to the modelling of geometallurgical response variables. A case study with six geometallurgical variables is used to demonstrate the modelling approach. The results from the proposed PPR models show a significant improvement over those from MLR models. In addition, the models were bootstrapped to generate distributions of feasible scenarios for the response variables. Our results show that PPR is a robust technique for modelling geometallurgical response variables and for assessing the uncertainty associated with these variables.     

Spatial Pair-Copula Model of Grade for an Anisotropic Gold Deposit

Mathematical Geosciences - Copulas provide a convenient way to express multivariate distribution. In this study, pair-copula modelling is applied to a gold deposit in Western Ghana. The dataset for...     

Forecasting of Horizontal Gas Well Production Decline in Unconventional Reservoirs using Productivity,Soft Computing and Swarm Intelligence Models

Natural Resources Research - The most widely used production decline forecasting tools are numerical reservoir simulation, material balance estimates and advanced methods of production decline...     

Influence of sea level variability on a micro-tidal beach

Global climate change in response to buildup of human-induced greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has already resulted in several visible consequences such as an increase in ocean heat content and melting of glaciers. The relative effect of sea level and wave variability on shoreline changes along the coastline of James Town, Ghana (Gulf of Guinea), was investigated between 2013 and 2014. Data were gathered at James Town, over an 8-month period (2013–2014) from nearshore video installation, Era-Interim hindcast, and satellite altimetry. Data were evaluated over daily and monthly timescale variations. Though beach changes are not directly driven by sea level variability, its action is key in modulating waves influence. The results show that the shoreline responds in decreasing order to sea level variations (86%), waves (9%), and tidal cycles (5%) on daily bases. Wind-induced setup has limited effect on the shoreline. The observed most important component of sea level anomaly at this tropical “storm free” coast is the influence from inverse barometer. Decadal observations from satellite show that sea level anomaly is continuously rising in the Gulf of Guinea subregion with expected strong consequence for this urbanized low lying sandy coast.

     

Dew formation and the drying process within a maize canopy

The amount of dew-fall and dew-rise to a maize canopy during one night, and the drying time during the early morning, were estimated by using the Bowen ratio energy budget technique (BREB) and the soil diffusivity technique (SD).In addition, the distribution of the free liquid water within the plant community was measured at sunrise by using Leick plates and blotting papers. The course of the drying process within the plant canopy was also monitored by the blotting paper technique until the received night-time free liquid water within the canopy was evaporated. The calculated total amount of dew, estimated with the BREB and SD techniques, agreed with the measured amount to within 6%, though the measured drying process lagged about 1 hour behind the calculated one. Possible causes of this difference are the dripping effect and drainage down the stems, which were not included in the calculations. Initially, the drying process was faster in the upper layers of the canopy. Later, when the moisture distribution had become more or less even through the whole canopy, the drying rate became approximately uniform.     

Physical drivers of pelagic sargassum bloom interannual variability in the Central West Atlantic over 2010–2020

Ocean Dynamics - Since 2011, unprecedented pelagic sargassum seaweed blooms have occurred across the tropical North Atlantic, with severe socioeconomic impacts for coastal populations. To...