This paper reports the first stage of work being undertaken to understand the factors that have i... more This paper reports the first stage of work being undertaken to understand the factors that have impacted on the current state of food safety in the UK food manufacturing sector. The paper first explores developments in international food safety regulation in general and in particular, the UK. Using a survey and case study methodology, the paper examines the response of food manufacturing enterprises to food safety regulation, and uses statistical techniques to investigate the effects of enterprise size on the drivers for, benefits of, and challenges to compliance. Further, the factors that influence the successful implementation of an integrated food safety management system are also examined. The results show a great deal of both statutory and private regulation that has incentivised enterprises. In response, enterprises have implemented integrated food safety management systems to proactively deal with the risks associated with food safety, however, enterprises claim that statutory regulations are biased towards consumers, without adequate impact assessments on all stakeholders within the chain, and hence causing industry to incur significant costs that could otherwise be avoided. Even though compliance with food safety regulation is burdensome, the cost of non-compliance will also be significant to enterprises. The findings also show that there is no significant effect of size of enterprise on the drivers, benefits and challenges to compliance with food safety regulation.
African Journal of Microbiology Research, Jul 24, 2015
Contamination of maize by aflatoxins is of major concern to governments and the international com... more Contamination of maize by aflatoxins is of major concern to governments and the international community because high degrees of aflatoxin in food render the food unsafe for human consumption. The disposal of such foods also constitutes an economic loss in food production. This paper reports the findings of a study conducted during the 2013 minor maize farming season in Ejura-Sekyeredumase Municipality in the Ashanti region, and in Agbobloshie market in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The study was to investigate management practices employed at the market level and on farms by maize traders and smallholder farmers, respectively, and their impact on aflatoxin contamination. Purposive sampling was used to select 150 farmers from maize farming communities across 10 cluster zones based on geographical location of farms within the municipality. Maize traders were also selected from a market close to maize farms and a market close to consumers for the study. In all, 30 traders were randomly selected from each market. Maize samples were collected from both markets and selected farms to determine the presence and level of aflatoxins using the Vicam Aflatest immunoaffinity column method. The study revealed that, farmers and traders adopt practices that expose maize grains to aflatoxin contamination. These include: use of farmer-saved seed stock as planting material; delayed harvesting, heaping harvested maize cobs on the field; planting by broadcasting method, use of hand dipping and teeth cracking method to determine dryness of maize, use of wooden stalls with no proper ventilation for maize storage at market centres and temporal storage in the open using tarpaulin resulting in heat build-up and moisture re-absorption. Types of aflatoxin determined from sampled maize grains were G2, G1, B2 and B1. Grains from the farms showed below detection limit at 1 ppb of aflatoxins. However total values of 50.234, 70.102 and 30.943 ng/g were, respectively obtained from three composite samples taken from Ejura market. A similar occurrence was observed at Agbobloshie market, where higher levels of 677.480, 101.748 and 4831.942 ng/g were detected in composite samples analysed. All respondents had no knowledge of aflatoxin contamination and it causes. Moreover, 63% of traders from both markets believed that, consuming contaminated maize have no health implications for consumers as food products from maize are normally cooked before consumption. In conclusion, the study reveals that, practices of farmers and traders has direct effect on maize quality. It was noted that, aflatoxin contamination of maize is likely to increase from the farm through markets and ultimately compromise the health of consumers. Farmers and traders need to be encouraged to adopt best practices in maize production and marketing to ensure food safety of the final consumer. Education on aflatoxin and its health implications must also be given the necessary attention.
Demonstrating compliance with food safety requirements of the global economy is a prerequisite fo... more Demonstrating compliance with food safety requirements of the global economy is a prerequisite for access. As tariff barriers diminish, developing countries are exposed to greater opportunities for repositioning their food manufacturing sectors in global value chains (GVCs). At the same time, the measures for the protection of public health and safety are becoming more stringent because of the series of food safety crises that characterised the global food value chain in the 1980s and 1990s, and that still linger on. The new demands arising from the need to protect consumer safety, coupled with the structure of the global economy have introduced new challenges for developing countries in terms of accessing the global food manufacturing value chain(GFMVC) with manufactured products. This is the case for the Ghanaian food manufacturing sector. Therefore, this study aims to understand the practice of developing food safety capability to enhance access to the GFMVC using high value added products, to identify performance gaps in the Ghanaian context and propose an appropriate framework (legal, institutional and policy) to address the major gaps, while meeting the basic requirements of food safety. A multiple case study methodology was adopted, using the UK food and drinks sector as a benchmark for the Ghanaian food manufacturing sector. The main techniques employed for data collection were surveys, interviews and content analysis. Based on the findings and insights gathered from the investigation, a technical regulation based on Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) is proposed as a means to enhance the compliance of enterprises in Ghana with the basic requirements of food safety. Because of the current lack of capability at the national and enterprise level, a four-phase implementation plan is recommended to progressively ease enterprises into mandatory compliance with integrated food safety management systems. The study also recommends that the current multiple agency structure is maintained, however, mandates, roles and responsibilities, and jurisdictions need to be clarified, and values reformed. Various kinds of support (e.g. funds, training) also have to be provided to enterprises to facilitate their compliance and enhance their access to the GFMVC.
Journal of Applied Engineering and Technological Science (JAETS)
Demand forecasting is a challenging subject of interest to many organizations whose main focus is... more Demand forecasting is a challenging subject of interest to many organizations whose main focus is to improve their steady growing customer request/demand, and help in increasing their revenue generation. The story is no different in the power industry. It is quite difficult for power or electrical producers to store high quantum of the energy produced, hence this poses a challenge in estimating precisely the quantum of electrical energy in order to equate demand and supply of powers as well as reducing or eliminating the rising transmission losses. This study explores potential time series models in electricity demand prediction or forecasting for the Western Regions of Ghana. Secondary data was sourced formally from the regional headquarters of ECG to aid in research design to be able to estimate the quantum of electricity needed by consumers in the region. This was done using time series data analysis toolpak software. Results show that the models formulated are viable for future ...
Paper aims: The purpose is to decide on the technology for the implementation of an FMS in a manu... more Paper aims: The purpose is to decide on the technology for the implementation of an FMS in a manufacturing cell that produces the coil for starting engines in a company of the Brazilian automotive industry. Originality: The mixed use of structured methods to support a semi-structured decision-making problem. Research method: The qualitative-quantitative modeling, relying on four competitive priorities of the manufacturing, cost, quality, flexibility, and delivery. The method considered three technological alternatives A1, a ladder-type layout, conveyor and pneumatic devices, A2, an open field layout and automatic guided vehicles, and A3, a robot-centered layout and robotic arms. Main findings: Two different methods arrived at the same conclusion. The best alternative is A3, which is also better than doing nothing. Implications for theory and practice: The complete description of a real-world case, embracing the decision-making process and the final choice and the difficulties faced by a decision analyst in supporting practitioners in solving a complex problem.
International journal of energy and environmental science, 2020
The population growth in the Ghanaian urban areas and the high energy consumption per unit area c... more The population growth in the Ghanaian urban areas and the high energy consumption per unit area compared to the low solar energy capture by Photovoltaic (PV) systems makes solar PV energy systems investment an unattractive venture for most urban settlers. Because building architectures mostly do not incorporate solar PV systems in facility planning, most building roofs pose challenges for solar PV array installation leading to lower PV energy output. The effects of tilt angle on the output of Solar Photovoltaic Systems were analyzed in this study using RETScreen 4. The optimum tilt angle and the corresponding PV output were estimated annually for three different PV systems. It was found that, the optimum tilt angle for all the systems that would give better yield and allow self-cleaning is 10°. The information presented in this study can serve as inputs for the development of grid-tied PV system without battery storage, grid-tied PV system with battery storage and standalone systems in Kumasi, Ghana.
To provide clean energy at a lower cost to their citizens, all nations of the world are striving ... more To provide clean energy at a lower cost to their citizens, all nations of the world are striving to increase their energy production in an environmentally friendly way. Benin has also joined this dynamic by considerably increasing its green energy production efforts in recent years. The country has a huge undeveloped renewable-energy (RE) potential that can contribute considerably to its national energy production capacity. This paper summarizes the current RE situation in Benin and examines its future prospects. The current energy situation of the country is discussed, followed by an examination of its electricity demand-and-supply situation. The country has been found to depend heavily on natural gas and petroleum products from neighbouring countries and has ~41% of national electricity access. However, the government is taking considerable steps to implement RE projects in the country. The study analyzes government targets in the energy sector with existing policies and instituti...
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Reducing ambient air pollution could potentially prevent 1790 deaths a year in Accra alone. Vehic... more Reducing ambient air pollution could potentially prevent 1790 deaths a year in Accra alone. Vehicular emissions are a major source of air pollution, especially (PM)2.5, and a transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is considered a solution to this. This paper estimates the cost per mile of electric vehicles compared with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) based on the retail price, fuel/energy, depreciation, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and charging infrastructure in Ghana for 10 years. The 10-year costs per mile of the BEV are less than those of the ICEV by 9.4%–24%. The advantage is only after the seventh year, while before this the BEVs were more expensive to own. Total import tax contributes up to 20% of the BEV cost per mile. It costs 83% less to charge a BEV for a mile compared to fueling an ICEV. A significant rise in electricity tariffs is very likely to negatively affect the transition to e-mobility. We found the electricity tariff to be the most sensitive...
Improving solar photovoltaic installation energy yield using bifacial modules and tracking systems: An analytical approach
Advances in Mechanical Engineering
In this paper, we present the results of a simulation of a 3 MWp photovoltaic plant in Nigeria us... more In this paper, we present the results of a simulation of a 3 MWp photovoltaic plant in Nigeria using four case study scenarios: ground-mounted fixed inclined monofacial, and bifacial photovoltaic installation, as well as monofacial and bifacial photovoltaic installations with trackers. The bifacial gains, tracker gains, and bifacial-tracker gains were calculated for each configuration. The fixed ground-mounted inclined bifacial PV system gained 12% annual average bifacial gain over a fixed ground-mounted monofacial system, while the bifacial system with a solar tracker gained 8.9% over a monofacial system with a solar tracker. A monofacial PV system with a tracker over a fixed inclined monofacial system has a tracker gain of 16%, while a bifacial PV system with a tracker over a fixed inclined bifacial system has a tracker gain of 13.2%. The monofacial system with a solar tracker outperforms a fixed inclined bifacial system by about 4%. The sensitivity analysis performed to determine...
Comparing the Cost per Mile of Electric Vehicles and Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles in Ghana
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
Reducing ambient air pollution could potentially prevent 1790 deaths a year in Accra alone. Vehic... more Reducing ambient air pollution could potentially prevent 1790 deaths a year in Accra alone. Vehicular emissions are a major source of air pollution, especially (PM)2.5, and a transition to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) is considered a solution to this. This paper estimates the cost per mile of electric vehicles compared with internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs) based on the retail price, fuel/energy, depreciation, maintenance, insurance, taxes, and charging infrastructure in Ghana for 10 years. The 10-year costs per mile of the BEV are less than those of the ICEV by 9.4%–24%. The advantage is only after the seventh year, while before this the BEVs were more expensive to own. Total import tax contributes up to 20% of the BEV cost per mile. It costs 83% less to charge a BEV for a mile compared to fueling an ICEV. A significant rise in electricity tariffs is very likely to negatively affect the transition to e-mobility. We found the electricity tariff to be the most sensitive...
Experimental Analysis Of Three Common Tree Species In Ghana
Biomass, in the form of firewood and charcoal, continue to dominate energy supply sources in Ghan... more Biomass, in the form of firewood and charcoal, continue to dominate energy supply sources in Ghana. Global energy demand projections, and indeed projections in Ghana, have shown that biomass will continue to serve as a principal energy source to many developing countries for the foreseeable future. While several woody crop species may hold potential as sources for firewood and charcoal production, there is limited data on these woody crops in Ghana. This study therefore analysed the energy characteristics and other properties of wood and charcoals produced from three wood species grown in Ghana: Neem (<em>Senna siamea</em>)<em>, </em>Cassia (<em>Azadirachta indica</em>)<em>, </em>and Teak (<em>Tectona grandis</em>)<em>, </em>which have been identified as potential woody biomass species by the Forestry Commission of Ghana. The calorific value, ranged from 4.62 to 4.82 kCal/g for woods and 7.20 to 7.38 kCal/g for ...
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