AFRICAN JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH

Solid Waste Management Practices in the Food Service Industry: Focus in Ghana's Culinary Landscape

C. Gyeduaah — 2025-03-31

Purpose: This study investigates waste management practices in restaurants in the Sunyani Municipality in Ghana. The objectives of the study are to classify the types of solid waste generated by restaurants and assess the readiness of restaurants to adopt waste reduction, reuse, and recycling practices.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional approach with a sample of 331 restaurants. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample size. Structured questionnaires and observations were used. Descriptive statistics were employed in the review of the data to address the research questions formulated to direct the study. Specifically, percentages, frequencies, means, and standard deviations were used to analyse the questionnaire items.

Findings: The findings reveal diverse waste types: liquid, solid, and gaseous generated by restaurants. The study's findings reveal that waste management in the food service industry within the Sunyani Municipality is highly influenced by restaurant size and operational capacity. Larger restaurants tend to adopt more sustainable practices, such as portion control and waste minimisation, due to the financial and operational incentives available to them. However, many restaurants have yet to adopt paperless technologies for waste reduction. The readiness of smaller restaurants to engage in waste reduction and recycling efforts is still constrained by limited resources and logistical challenges.

Research Limitation: The study’s reliance on self-reported data from restaurant managers and staff through questionnaires.

Practical Implication: The study's findings offer actionable strategies for improving waste management within the restaurant industry.

Social Implication: The study emphasises how efficient waste management in the restaurant business may have a positive impact on public health.

Originality/Value: This study addresses knowledge gaps in current waste management by exploring the factors that both promote and hinder sustainability in Ghana's food service industry, specifically focusing on waste management practices in Sunyani restaurants. It offers new insights into the readiness to reduce, reuse and recycle solid waste, an area that has not been extensively researched.

A Climate-Responsive Green Building Framework for Ghana: Integrating Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies

E. N. Ontoyin — 2025-04-01

Purpose: This research aims to develop a comprehensive framework for implementing climate-responsive green building practices in Ghana that effectively integrates mitigation and adaptation strategies. The objectives are: to develop a multi-level implementation framework that bridges policy intentions with practical applications, providing clear pathways for adopting green building practices across different building types and scales in Ghana; and to validate the proposed framework through stakeholder engagement and expert evaluation.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The research design was based on qualitative and non-probability techniques used to gather information for the study, and the sample size was 17. The interviews were conducted face-to-face or online. This study also used a narrative style to analyse the data.

Findings: The study found that despite the country's efforts, there was limited or no coordination between the various players in the Built environment and other sectors of the economy, resulting in the non-existence of a long-term national strategy for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The paper thus focuses on the need for Ghana to incorporate the Green Building concept as one of its climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Research Limitation: This study is limited to how policy interventions toward climate change mitigation and adaptation can significantly help to improve energy and material use efficiency, conservation drive, and end-use wastage.

Practical Implication: Thus, developing a national strategy for green building construction has the potential benefit of helping to mitigate climate change challenges.

Social Implication: Educating policymakers on the potential benefits of adopting the Green Building Concept and developing an effective cross-cutting communication strategy to educate the citizenry on the benefits derived from the Green Building Concept as a low-hanging fruit towards GHG mitigation.

Originality/Value: This study innovatively explores how traditional Ghanaian building techniques and materials can be incorporated into modern green building practices.

Integrated Assessment of Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems: A Pathway to Sustainable and Resilient Industrial Electrification in Ghana

M. A. Nyasapoh — 2025-03-31

Purpose: Achieving sustainable and cost-effective industrial electrification in Africa necessitates an integrated energy approach that optimally combines Small Modular Reactor (SMR) and renewables, mainly solar and wind energy, as two clean energy sources.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Using HOMER Pro software, system performance was simulated to assess energy generation, economic viability, and environmental benefits. The analysis examined annual energy output, levelised cost of energy (LCOE), and carbon emission reductions to determine system sustainability.

Findings: Due to the integrated energy system, a net energy surplus of 206,079,408 kWh is achieved, enabling grid exports and the potential production of green hydrogen if effectively harnessed. Economic assessments indicate an LCOE of $0.185/kWh, 34% lower than Ghana’s industrial 2024 grid tariff. Additionally, CO₂ emissions are reduced by 15,824,965 kg annually, supporting Ghana’s National Energy Transition Agenda.

Research Limitation: Further research is needed to optimise hybrid energy systems, particularly in waste management, policy frameworks, and national grid stability.

Practical Implication: SMRs and renewables can enhance energy reliability and affordability, ensure sustainable industrial development, and drastically lower energy sector emissions.

Social Implications: Integrating nuclear and renewable energy as a hybrid system can reduce energy poverty, drive industrial growth, support sustainable development, and lower environmental impact.

Originality/Value: This study underscores the potential of nuclear-renewable hybrid energy systems to enhance energy security, reduce emissions, and stabilise industrial electricity supply.

Soil Microbiomes from defunct battery manufacturing dump site as influenced by heavy metals

E. O. Briki-Okolosi — 2025-04-03

Purpose: Polluted soils have a negative impact on agricultural crop yield and food safety; hence, they are a global concern. A wet battery waste disposal area has been encroached due to farmers' attempts to increase productivity in the research area. The farmers' desire to expand productivity inspired this study, which assessed the impact of battery waste deposits at different spatial scales on the evenness and richness of beneficial microorganisms.

Design/Methodology/Approach: Twenty (20) points were randomly sampled from the non-contaminated site, the main battery dumpsite (MDS), and 20 and 40 m away from the MDS. The study adopted a factorial arrangement on a completely randomised design that was replicated three times. Analysis of variance was used to analyse the data, and microbiological analyses were conducted within the experiment. Where means were significant, Duncan’s multiple range test separated them.

Findings: Glomus had the highest count of 144.3-fold in 20 MA, while Acaulospora and Funneliformis were significantly and predominantly abundant in 40 MA by 282.0 and 55-fold, respectively.MDS had significantly the lowest or least numerical values in most AMF species across all the spatial distances

Research Limitation: The work focused on an abandoned dumpsite by a defunct battery manufacturing company.

Practical Implication: For marginally contaminated areas, the findings can guide the selection of appropriate crops and associated beneficial microbes that minimise heavy metal uptake, enabling safer productive use of remediated lands.

Social Implication: This research can help identify whether harmful metals are becoming more bioavailable over time or being naturally immobilised, directly impacting health risk assessments for vulnerable populations.

Originality / Value: This research significantly advances our understanding of how complex microbial communities respond to and potentially mitigate the extreme environmental conditions created by battery waste.

Phytochemical Profile, In Vitro Antimicrobial and Anthelmintic Properties of Dichrostachys Cinerea Root Extracts

S. B. Bayaa Martin Saana — 2025-03-31

Purpose: This study sought to assess the active constituents, anthelmintic properties, and antibacterial capabilities of Dichrostachys cinerea.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The research utilises agar well diffusion and microbroth dilution techniques to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of D. cinerea's ethanolic root extract. Chemical and GC-MS analyses were employed to identify the phytochemical components. Additionally, an in vitro anthelmintic assessment was performed using Posthuma pheretema.

Findings: Ethanolic extracts of D. cinerea root bark (EDC) were screened against Pheretima posthuma worms, eight (8) bacterial strains, and one (1) fungal strain in vitro. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extract and GC-MS analysis were also conducted. In this study, the in vitro data demonstrated that EDC exerted both bactericidal and bacteriostatic effects, inhibiting the growth of all tested bacteria and Candida albicans. Combining EDC with Ciprofloxacin inhibited all microbial isolates, including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).

Research Limitation: This study focused on only one plant part, and all experiments were in vitro, which does not represent the complex in vivo environment. Even though GC-MS identified some compounds, the specific bioactive compounds conferring the bioactivities have not been isolated.

Practical implication: The results of this investigation indicate that the ethanolic root extract of D. cinerea demonstrates potential for development into therapeutic interventions for bacterial, fungal, and helminthic infections.

Social Implication: Data from this research could be utilised to mitigate antimicrobial resistance, thereby improving health outcomes.

Originality/ Value: This study demonstrates, for the first time, the anthelmintic efficacy of the root extract. Furthermore, this research establishes a scientific foundation for subsequent investigations into D. cinerea as a potential source of therapeutic drug candidates.