The cocoa sub-sector is an important pillar of Ghana’s economic stability and growth prospects; the sub-sector contributes to fiscal stability, infrastructure, and employment. In recent times, diversification has become a common observable feature in the industry. This study uses the conditional mixed process approach to examine the interaction between the diversification status and profitability of cocoa farming simultaneously in a single system. Using data from 401 farmers in the Western and Ashanti regions of Ghana in 2022, the study found that more profitable farmers were more likely to diversify. Conversely, diversified farmers were likely to be more profitable than non-diversified farmers. It also found that the farmer's age, experience, farm area, and location of the farm impacted both the profitability and diversification status of farmers. Thus, it is suggested that policymakers should direct policies and programs to support the creation of alternative farm-based livelihoods for farmers.

In the present work, spheroidization of angular vanadium powders using a radio frequency (RF) thermal plasma process is investigated. Initially, angular vanadium powders are spheroidized successfully at an average particle size of 100 μm using the RF-plasma process. It is difficult to avoid oxide layer formation on the surface of vanadium powder during the RF-plasma process. Titanium/vanadium/stainless steel functionally graded materials are manufactured with vanadium as the interlayer. Vanadium intermediate layers are deposited using both angular and spheroidized vanadium powders. Then, 17-4PH stainless steel is successfully deposited on the vanadium interlayer made from the angular powder. However, on the surface of the vanadium interlayer made from the spheroidized powder, delamination of 17-4PH occurs during deposition. The main cause of this phenomenon is presumed to be the high thickness of the vanadium interlayer and the relatively high level of surface oxidation of the interlayer.