COVID-19 and climate change concerns: Matters arising.

Until the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, developing countries, especially countries in the African continent, battled with the impact of climate change on the food value-chain systems and general livelihood. In this study, we discuss climate change concerns post-COVID-19 and argue that the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the vulnerabilities of most developing and emerging economies. This has heightened political tensions and unrest among such developing nations. We suggest enhancement and intensification of efficient and effective locally engineered adaptation strategies in the post-COVID-19 era for countries that have been susceptible to the impact of climate change and other recent shocks.

Mismedication as COVID-19 pandemic response of rural folks: Implications for national COVID-19 response policy of Lesotho.

COVID-19's super-spread nature, its adverse impacts, and the associated public fear and panic have resulted in the use of "dangerous" substances and medicinal herbs (mismedication), particularly in rural parts of Africa. Exploring the phenomenon of mismedication is crucial for promoting effective public health policies. This study adopted a qualitative study design and purposively selected and interviewed 50 rural folks cutting across the 10 districts of Lesotho in Southern Africa. The study's findings show that rural folks perceive a high vulnerability to the COVID-19 virus. They also consider COVID-19 a dangerous virus and have high fear arousal of contracting the virus. It was realized that rural folks resort to unreliable sources of information on COVID-19 pandemic, such as friends and family members, social media, village members, and grandchildren. These untrustworthy sources spread a lot of misinformation about COVID-19, causing fear and panic among rural residents. To remedy the spread of the pandemic, its impact, and the underlying public fear and panic, rural dwellers have resorted to the use of unapproved medicinal plants. Trust in unapproved medicinal plants influences rural dwellers' compliance to the standard protocols implemented to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic. The study recommends the urgent need to intensify scientific investigation into the various medicinal plants for their efficacy, side effects, preparation, and approved dosage. Again, effective public education on the efficacy and dangers associated with the use of unapproved medications must be strengthened, particularly in rural communities through the active participation of opinion, traditional, and religious leaders.

Facilitators of tertiary students' entrepreneurial intentions: Insights for Lesotho's national entrepreneurship policy.

This study provides insightful information to guide the Lesotho government's drive to address rising youth unemployment. Through quota sampling technique, this study selected 930 students from 31 departments at National University of Lesotho. Grounded in the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), the study examined the facilitators of students' entrepreneurial intentions using mean, standard deviation, mean rank, correlation, and Mann-Whitney U test. Structural equation modelling was used to determine the relationship between the three components of TPB (attitudes, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norm), and students' entrepreneurial intention. The findings show that attitudes and perceived behavioural control were positive predictors of entrepreneurial intention while subjective norm was a negative predictor. The major findings indicate that students from Business and Management Development, Business Administration, Economics, Nutrition, and Pharmacy departments had higher entrepreneurial intentions, with postgraduate students (at master level) having higher entrepreneurial decisions than undergraduate students. Policy, practice, and research implications are teased out from the findings to improve entrepreneurial education.

Climate variability, subsistence agriculture and household food security in rural Ghana.

This study investigates smallholder farmers' perceived impact of climate variability on subsistence agriculture. The study further explores household food security from access perspective and the factors that influence food accessibility in the rural Adansi North District of Ghana. The study randomly selected 378 smallholder farm households while 41 key informants were purposively selected. Questionnaire survey and semi-structured interview were employed to collect primary data. Descriptive and inferential analysis were computed for quantitative data while qualitative data was analyzed thematically. Results show that climate variability greatly affects subsistence agriculture, as a result of the reduction in agriculture yields, thereby leading to household food insecurity. It also emerged that the majority of households (58%) experienced food anxiety while 62% were unable to access their preferred quantity and quality food. Household food security is significantly influenced by gender, household size, years of farming experience, access to forest and adaptation. The implications of the study have been teased out alongside the recommendations.

Understanding climate variability and change: analysis of temperature and rainfall across agroecological zones in Ghana.

In an agrarian economy like Ghana, the need to understand climate change is as paramount as finding solutions to address the challenges of climate change. While a large body of literature has focused on exploring the impact of climate change, very few studies in Ghana have attempted to expand our knowledge on the extent of climate change across ecological zones in Ghana. This study used Ghana Meteorological Agency's climate data from 1989 to 2015, to assess the characteristics and trends of rainfall and temperature across the six ecological zones in Ghana. With the aid of descriptive statistics, Mann-Kendall test, linear regression, analysis of variance and post-hoc comparison using Tukey HSD test, the study found increasing trend of temperature and decreasing rainfall across ecological zones and provided policy recommendations essential to offset the adverse impact of climate change particularly on agriculture.

Comparing smallholder farmers' climate change perception with climate data: the case of Adansi North District of Ghana.

This study adopted mixed methods design and employed questionnaire and interview to investigate climate trends and smallholder farmers' perception of climate change as well as the relationship between climate data and farmers' perception, and the determinants of perception in Adansi North District of Ghana. The study randomly and purposively selected 378 respondents and 41 key informants, respectively. Descriptive, inferential, trend and thematic analysis were employed. Results showed that the majority of smallholder farmers have observed increase in intensity (96.8%) and duration (94.7%) of temperature, and delay onset (82.8%) and early cessation (89.2%) of rainfall as well as increase in wind intensity (79.4%). Climate data also revealed rising trends of rainfall, wind speed and temperature. Nevertheless, there was no significant relationship between farmers' perception and climate data. Information from family and friends and government, particularly local institutions and extension service significantly influence farmers' perception. In addition, television and radio were significant predictors of farmers' perception. The study recommends intensification of climate education, mass awareness and capacity development programmes.