Household Water Coping Behaviour and Costs in the Volta Basin of Ghana

Ghana is abundant in water resources but frequently experiences seasonal and periodic water scarcities. Households therefore adopt coping strategies and various activities to ensure continuous flow of adequate safe water at the household level. These strategies involve opportunity costs and some amount of financial outlay. Using revealed preference data for 20 randomly selected rural communities in the Volta basin of Ghana this paper employs the coping costs approach to derive the costs of coping with water insecurity. Explicit costs in the form of investments in water storage facilities and costs of water treatment are estimated. Implicit costs (opportunity cost of time) associated with water collection, which varies by season and ecological zone, is valued using the average basic hourly wage of rural women engaged in agriculture. The results of the study show that costs of coping with water insecurity are higher in the dry season and for forest ecology households. The often-stated claim that rural households cannot and should not pay for the full cost of water delivery is not supported by this study. The paper concludes that rural consumers are paying at least as much as their urban consumers for unimproved water. Hence, this paper is of the view that rural consumers have the ability to pay for improved water but may not be willing to do so probably due to their perceptions and attitudes concerning the public good nature and benefits of improved water supply.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Has Imported Rice Crowded-out Domestic Rice Production in Ghana? What has Been the Role of Policy?

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country. On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice productionGhana, market integration Policy, Rice, Production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Crop Production/Industries, Environmental Economics and Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Relations/Trade, Marketing, Production Economics, Productivity Analysis, Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

The Effects of Food Price Increaseson UrbanHouseholdFood Commodities Expenditures in Ghana

The paper analyses the elasticities of urban food demand using household survey data. Expenditure endogeneity and truncated expenditures were controlled in the estimation process using the “Augmented Regression Approach” and Heckman two-stage procedure respectively. Household demographic characteristics such as household size, education, sex, and age of household head have significant influences on food expenditures by urban households. The marginal expenditure shares show that cereals and bread,roots and tubers, fish and vegetables will continue to constitute important share of Ghanaian urban food expenditure as they collectively constitute about 78% of future food expenditure.The study finds that urbanisation generally presents market opportunities for Ghana’s local economy, and this potential can fully be exploited if appropriate agricultural policy is focused on increasing food production rather than guaranteed prices. Key words: Ghana, Urban, LAIDS, Demand, Food, Elasticitie

The Influence of Climate Information Services on Climate-Smart Agricultural Investment Decisions among Smallholder Maize Farmers in Northern Ghana

Climate change poses significant threats to agricultural productivity in Africa particularly in regions that are dependent on rainfed agriculture. Despite the critical role of climate Information Services (CIS) in promoting adaptive practices, there is limited understanding of their impact on investment in Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA). This study addresses this knowledge gap by examining how different sources of CIS influence smallholder maize farmers’ decisions to invest in CSA practices. Using a cross-sectional survey of 566 maize-producing households across five districts in Northern Ghana, we employ descriptive statistics, the Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and a binary logit model to identify key determinants of CSA investment. The findings revealed that frequent access to daily and seasonal weather forecasts, as well as indigenous weather predictions significantly influences farmers’ willingness to invest in CSA practices. Critical factors driving these decisions include maize farm size, level of commercialisation, gender, farm income and extension service visits. The results demonstrate that improving the accuracy and accessibility of CIS through traditional media, mobile platforms, and community engagement can significantly enhance investment in CSA. The key policy recommendations include promoting gender inclusivity, integrating indigenous knowledge with scientific forecasts, and expanding access to financial and advisory support. These are critical for promoting resilience and sustainability among maize-producing households in northern Ghana

Measuring sustainability of conservation and conventional practices in maize production in Ghana

Scientists and researchers worldwide have recommended Conservation Agriculture as one that has the potential to promote sustainability in agriculture. This paper attempts to measure and compare the economic, social, and environmental sustainability of both conservation and conventional practices used for maize production in the northern region of Ghana employing the Multi-attribute Value Theory (MAVT) approach.Results of the study reveal minimum tillage and the combined use of minimum tillage and integrated organic-inorganic fertilizer application as sustainable practices scoring a minimum of 0.5 and above for the three pillars (economic, social, and environmental) of sustainability. Despite these scores, the z-test of difference in means of the conservation practices and conventional ones were all insignificant, indicating that the conservation practices in use were not different from the conventional ones in terms of their contribution to sustainable maize production. Technical assistance and training that aids in ensuring the appropriate application of conservation practices should be ensured if the goal of sustainability is to be realized

Effect of gold mining on total factor productivity of farmers: Evidence from Ghana

Gold mining comes with several benefits to developing countries, manifested mainly in the form of employment and revenue, but simultaneously impacts negatively on the immediate environment. It affects the economic structure including agriculture and its productivity. Hence, this study investigated the effect of gold mining on total factor productivity of farmers in Ghana using 110 cocoa farmers from Asutifi North and Asutifi South districts of the Brong Ahafo Region, categorised into mining and non-mining areas respectively. About 83 % of the farmers in the mining areas were affected by gold mining through channels such as land disputes, relocation of farm/residence, high cost of labour, illegal small-scale mining and dust settlement on crops. Also, about 64 % of cocoa farmers in the mining areas lost their farm lands (between 0.4 and 3.64 ha as a result of gold mining. The Tornqvist Total Factor Productivity (TFP) indices for cocoa farmers in the non-mining areas (mean TFP of 1.404) were also statistically higher than those in the mining areas (mean TFP of 0.371). The study concluded that gold mining activities adversely affect productivity of farmers in the catchment areas. The study recommends, among others, that a policy of land-for-land should be in place and effectively implemented to ensure that mining companies in order to enhance and ensure continuity of livelihoods must fully replace lands lost through mining activities

Household Water Coping Behaviour and Costs in the Volta Basin of Ghana

Ghana is abundant in water resources but frequently experiences seasonal and periodic water scarcities. Households therefore adopt coping strategies and various activities to ensure continuous flow of adequate safe water at the household level. These strategies involve opportunity costs and some amount of financial outlay. Using revealed preference data for 20 randomly selected rural communities in the Volta basin of Ghana this paper employs the coping costs approach to derive the costs of coping with water insecurity. Explicit costs in the form of investments in water storage facilities and costs of water treatment are estimated. Implicit costs (opportunity cost of time) associated with water collection, which varies by season and ecological zone, is valued using the average basic hourly wage of rural women engaged in agriculture. The results of the study show that costs of coping with water insecurity are higher in the dry season and for forest ecology households. The often-stated claim that rural households cannot and should not pay for the full cost of water delivery is not supported by this study. The paper concludes that rural consumers are paying at least as much as their urban consumers for unimproved water. Hence, this paper is of the view that rural consumers have the ability to pay for improved water but may not be willing to do so probably due to their perceptions and attitudes concerning the public good nature and benefits of improved water supply

FOOD PRICE INFLATION AND CONSUMER WELFARE IN GHANA

The paper analyses the effects of food price inflation on Ghanaian households using GLSS-5 household data. Expenditure endogeneity and truncated expenditures were controlled in the estimation process using the “Augmented Regression Approach” and Heckman’s two-stage procedure, respectively. Symmetry and homogeneity conditions were rejected in the unconstrained LA/AIDS model. The study reveals that cereals and bread; fish; vegetables; and roots and tubers will continue to constitute important share of Ghanaian food expenditure as they collectively constitute 67% of future food expenditure. Food price inflation between 2005 and 2011 has eroded real household food purchasing power by 47.18%

Has Imported Rice Crowded-out Domestic Rice Production in Ghana? What has Been the Role of Policy?

Commercial rice imports have accounted for approximately 61%, food aid in rice accounted for about 2%, and domestic rice accounted for some 37% per annum of rice consumption in Ghana over the four years between 2000 and 2003. Compared to the 1990s, these figures show a gradual decline in the share of local rice production in the total quantities of rice consumed in the country. On the other hand, the proportion of food aid in rice consumed has remained relatively constant over the period, while the proportion of commercial imports has increased steadily. Using the Engel-Granger residual-based co-integration test, a market integration analysis was explored for imported rice and domestic rice which compared a central market for imported rice and five key rice producing centres in Ghana. In addition, the various policies that affected rice during the period were analysed. The results of the co-integration analysis suggest that there is no spatial market integration between the central market price of imported rice and prices in the local markets. This implies that the prices of imported rice in these local markets do not share common properties or behaviour with prevailing price trends in the central market, suggesting that markets for imported rice in Ghana are segmented, and domestic policies have generally not favoured local rice productio