Institute of Environmental Management and Quality Control

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://dspace.njala.edu.sl/handle/20.500.144402/148

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Start date: 2025Has files: No

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Now showing 1 - 9 of 9
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    The impact of advanced technologies on healthcare supply chain performance in Sierra Leone: a structural equation modelling approach
    (Taylor & Francis, 2025-10-18) Kargbo, Sallieu
    This study systematically examines the role of advanced technologies in enhancing healthcare logistics within Sierra Leone's dynamic landscape, focusing on operational efficiency, supply chain resilience, product integrity, and timely delivery of pharmaceuticals and medical equipment. Analyzing data from 16 district hospitals, including 625 validated responses from healthcare professionals (a 78% response rate), we employed a mixed-methods approach (surveys and interviews) to triangulate findings, paired with Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) for quantitative analysis. Key findings reveal distinct technology-performance relationships: specifically, AI-driven inventory management systems reduced stockouts by 42% (β = 0.38, p < 0.01) in high-adoption facilities such as Connaught Hospital. These results highlight how targeted technological integration addresses critical logistics challenges in resource-constrained settings, while offering actionable insights to optimize healthcare delivery through enhanced operational efficiency and service reliability.
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    MICROPLASTICS AND CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA
    (World Scientific, 2025-04-26) KAMANDA, JOHN KOWA
    This review examines the dual threats of microplastic pollution and climate change on African marine ecosystems, synthesizing current knowledge to assess their sources, impacts, and synergistic effects. Microplastics, pervasive due to inadequate waste management and rapid urbanization, infiltrate marine environments, adsorbing toxins and disrupting biodiversity, while climate change exacerbates their distribution and toxicity through rising temperatures and extreme weather. The study revealed that despite Africa contributing 7.8% of the global riverine plastics, research remains fragmented, with only 22.9% of African countries studied, and inconsistent methodologies and policy frameworks often lack the integration of climate adaptation and pollution mitigation. Case studies from Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa highlight successful mitigation strategies, including regulatory frameworks, recycling initiatives, and bioremediation. Key recommendations include advancing research on microplastics–climate interactions, hybrid policies, AI-enhanced monitoring, strengthening waste management infrastructure, fostering regional collaboration, and prioritizing innovative circular economy approaches to safeguard marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. Addressing these challenges requires urgent, coordinated action to mitigate compounding risks and ensure sustainable marine conservation in Africa.
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    Investigating disater risk management and climate change adaptation effectiveness in freetown, Sierra Leone
    (AOSIS, 2025-08-26) Sam-Mbomah, Edwin
    Freetown, Sierra Leone, faces increasing risks from hazards such as floods, landslides, mudslides, fires and coastal erosion, threats that are increasingly intensified by climate change. Although disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) policies are in place, concerns persist regarding their effectiveness. This study investigates the extent to which these policies have transitioned from good intentions to effective interventions in Freetown. Employing a case study approach, the research critically examines the disaster context, reviews relevant policy frameworks and implementation processes, and identifies both enablers and barriers to effective policy execution across five informal settlements, Kroo Bay, Susans Bay, Kulvert, Kolleh Town and Dwarzack. The findings reveal systemic deficiencies in DRM and CCA, including weak legal and institutional structures, poor inter-agency coordination, inadequate enforcement, limited access to data, and ineffective risk communication. Further obstacles include insufficient community engagement, the absence of legal mechanisms for resolving DRM and CCA related disputes, corruption, political instability, underinvestment in research and technology, and inadequate urban planning. The study recommends strengthening policy and institutional frameworks, promoting integrated collaborative planning processes, and supporting community-led resilience initiatives. Key priorities include enhancing risk assessments, developing robust early warning systems (EWS), improving urban planning, and fostering innovation through research and technology. Contribution: The study identifies key measures for effective DRM and CCA in Freetown, including community inclusion, capacity building, financial mechanisms, data management, risk communication, and resilient infrastructure development, especially for "at-risk" communities.
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    Insider-outsider reflections: researching disaster risk management and climate change adaptation in Freetown, Sierra Leone
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2025-10-10) Sam-Mbomah, Edwin
    Purpose In this paper, I critically reflect on my research positionality in conducting disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation (CCA) research in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Positioned both as an insider, due to my cultural and contextual familiarity, and as an outsider, due to my academic and professional affiliations, I explore the complexities of navigating this dual identity. This reflection examines how my positionality influences the research process: access to data, interactions with stakeholders, trust-building and the interpretation of findings. Design/methodology/approach The design is rooted on a critical reflexive examination of how my positionality influences the research processes, stakeholder engagement, data interpretation and overall knowledge production. Findings My dual insider-outsider status brought both advantages and challenges. As an insider, cultural familiarity, local knowledge and shared identity facilitated trust, access to key stakeholders and deeper contextual understanding, while my outsider positionality, influenced by academic affiliations ensured research rigor but sometimes led to power imbalances and scepticism among local participants. Navigating this required reflexivity to balance engagement, minimise bias and uphold ethical knowledge production. The findings underscore that researcher positionality is dynamic and context-dependent, shaping data collection, stakeholder interactions and research interpretation. Originality/value This paper acknowledges power dynamics, ethics and biases in research, promoting methodological transparency. It contributes to discussions on positionality and reflexivity in disaster risk and climate change adaptation studies, with a focus on urban African contexts.
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    Estimating Baseflow Dynamics and Influencing Factors Using WHAT in the Wei River Basin, China
    (Wiley, 2026-09-01) Kallon, Hadji Dauda Smaila
    Baseflow is critical for sustaining streamflow and managing groundwater resources. The Wei River Basin (WRB) is a semi‐humid region with high water demand that requires robust baseflow analysis, which is essential for stream restoration. Annual baseflow in the WRB was estimated using the Web‐based Hydrograph Analysis Tool (WHAT) in this study, which utilised streamflow data from five gauged watershed stations. Groundwater‐level monitoring data from 2010 to 2015 were also utilised to understand the interaction between baseflow and groundwater levels. The two‐parameter recursive digital filter method within the WHAT programme was employed to estimate baseflow from daily streamflow records. By leveraging this standardised, peer‐validated tool, our analysis maintained consistency in baseflow and direct runoff calculations across all monitoring stations, reducing subjectivity in manual separation methods and enhancing comparability of results. Based on the results, the total annual baseflow measured between 2010 and 2019 ranged from 29574.74 to 910078.73 m 3 /s, while the baseflow index (BFI) varied from 0.56 to 0.67. During the study period, the average BFI was calculated to be 0.63, indicating that baseflow contributed approximately 64% of the long‐term runoff in the examined watersheds. The results also revealed a progressive rise in the BFI along the Wei River, increasing from 0.56 in the upstream sections to 0.67 downstream. Baseflow and BFI spatial patterns indicate groundwater abundance, driven by climate and human factors, with climate more influencing baseflow variability from west to east. Between 2010 and 2019, the basin experienced significant LULC changes. These changes serve as a critical contributing factor modulating decadal baseflow variation, while climate variability remains a dominant driver. Cropland declined, forest and water‐type areas increased, grassland and unused land decreased, and the impervious area expanded. These LULC changes led to a significant increase in annual baseflow despite the climate zone remaining the same.
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    E-Waste Quantification and Machine Learning Forecasting in a Data-Scarce Context
    (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2026-01-27) Mansaray, Abubakarr Sidique
    Quantifying e-waste in Sub-Saharan Africa remains constrained by scarce data, weak institutional reporting, and the dominance of informal sector activity. We present the first nationwide assessment of e-waste generation and Random Forest-based national forecasting in Sierra Leone. A mixed-methods survey administered 6000 questionnaires across all 16 districts, targeting households, institutions, enterprises, and informal actors. The study documented devices in use, storage, and disposal across the following six categories: ICT, appliances, lighting, batteries, medical, and other electronics. Population growth and device adoption simulations were combined with lifespan distributions and a Random Forest model trained on survey and simulated historical data to construct e-waste flows and forecast quantities through to 2050, including disposal fate probabilities for repurposing versus discarding. The results showed sharp spatial disparities, with Western Urban (Freetown) averaging about 10 kg per capita compared to 1.8 kg per capita in rural areas. Long-term district patterns were highly concentrated: 50-year annual averages indicated that Western Area Urban contributes 15.3% of national totals, followed by Bo (12.7%) and Western Area Rural (12.1%), with the top five districts contributing 59.1%. By 2050, total national e-waste entering reuse and disposal pathways was projected to reach 23.4 kilo tons per year (kt yr−1) with a 95% uncertainty interval (UI) of 11–42 kt yr−1 (and a 99% interval extending to 50 kt yr−1), corresponding to 0.9–3.4 kg/capita/year. Household appliances dominated total mass, ICT devices exhibited high reuse rates, and batteries showed minimal reuse despite high hazard potential. These findings provide critical evidence for e-waste policy, regulation, and infrastructure planning in data-scarce regions.
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    Decadal Spatiotemporal Trends in Stable Isotopes and Hydrochemistry of Surface Water and Groundwater in Guanzhong Basin, China
    (Wiley, 2026-08-27) Kallon, Hadji Dauda Smaila
    In arid regions, water scarcity poses a critical challenge to sustainable development, underscoring the need to comprehensively assess hydrological processes, hydrochemical dynamics, and their drivers under changing climatic conditions. This study aims to reveal the decadal spatiotemporal evolution of water isotopes and hydrochemical characteristics in the Guanzhong Basin, quantify long‐term variations in surface water–groundwater recharge patterns under climate change and anthropogenic water regulation, and clarify the natural and anthropogenic mechanisms governing water geochemical evolution. Results show consistent hydrochemical patterns across both surface water and groundwater, with dominant cations in the order Na + > Ca 2+ > Mg 2+ > K + and dominant anions in the order HCO 3 − > SO 4 2− > Cl − . The prevalence of HCO 3 − , SO 4 2− , Na + , and Ca 2+ reflects combined controls of rock weathering and evaporation–crystallization processes, with Gibbs diagrams confirming mineral weathering as the primary mechanism governing water chemistry. Groundwater samples were predominantly of the HCO 3 –Ca Mg type, whereas surface water showed more diverse hydrochemical facies, including SO 4 Cl–Ca Mg and HCO 3 –Na types. A shift from Cl − dominance in 2014 to HCO 3 − dominance in 2024 indicates enhanced weathering processes. Stable isotope analyses (δ 18 O, δ 2 H) reveal a transition from arid conditions toward increased humidity in 2024, whereas rising d‐excess values suggest expanded recharge sources and recycled moisture contributions. Isotopic evidence indicates a marked reversal in recharge dynamics: Surface water predominantly recharged groundwater in 2014 (56.76%), whereas groundwater became the dominant contributor to surface water in 2024 (90.87%), particularly in the midstream basin. Although carbonate and silicate weathering remain the principal hydrochemical controls, increasing anthropogenic activities and climatic pressures are reshaping groundwater geochemistry. These findings highlight the necessity of integrated water resource management and provide valuable insights for semiarid basins facing similar hydrological transitions.