Siting of fuel stations within residential areas in Ghanaian cities: Perceptions of residents in Wa on fire disaster risks.

This paper responds to the limited literature on perceptions of fire disaster risks associated with the siting of fuel stations in dense residential areas in African cities. We address three interrelated research objectives regarding fire disaster risk and safety behaviours. First, we explore residents' perception of the reasons for the siting of fuel stations in residential areas. Second, we examine their sociodemographic characteristics and perception of fire disaster risks associated with fuel stations; and third, we examine residents' fire safety behaviours around fuel stations. We address these objectives by engaging with risk perception theory and protection motivation theory as well as an empirical review of literature worldwide. We also draw evidence from Wa in Ghana using a mixed research approach involving 182 participants. Through a questionnaire, observation checklist, a camera, and an in-depth interview guide, we elicited data from residents and relevant stakeholders to address our research questions. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and a chi-square test, while thematic analysis was used to analyse the responses obtained from the interviews. We found that ease of access and competition motivated the siting of fuel stations in residential areas. Although residents knew the risk of living near fuel stations, measures were not implemented to reduce their vulnerability to fire disasters. People living near fuel stations should be encouraged to invest in equipment and take measures to reduce their vulnerability to fire disasters.

Farmers' choice for indigenous practices and implications for climate-smart agriculture in northern Ghana.

Smallholder agriculture in Northwestern Ghana continues to suffer the increasing threats of climate change and variability. The extant literature has argued that climate-smart agriculture is the way forward for smallholder farmers to reduce the threats of climate change and variability in agriculture production. However, smallholder farmers continue to rely on indigenous knowledge and practices in their day-to-day agricultural activities. Few studies have explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers choice of local agriculture practices. This study explored the rationale and factors that explain smallholder farmers' choice of indigenous knowledge and agriculture practices. The mixed research method approach involving both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed for data collection and analysis. A survey, involving 305 household heads, 31 in-depth interviews and 18 focus group discussions were held with key participants for the data. The results showed that smallholder farmers' decisions to adopt indigenous practices for climate change adaptation were influenced by socio-demographic characteristics, access to farm capital, landscape and distance to farms, accessibility and reliability of practices, accessibility and cost of inputs, land tenure, access to extension services, and socio-cultural beliefs. These variables were statistically significant at 5 %. The paper concludes that these factors will continue to limit farmers' ability to adopt climate-smart and other improved agricultural practices. This will aggravate smallholder households' vulnerability to food insecurity and poverty. It is, therefore, recommended that climate-smart agriculture practices should be framed within the context of the aforementioned factors influencing farmers choice of indigenous farming practices in mainstreaming them into climate-smart agriculture.