Stakeholder collaboration in climate-smart agricultural production innovations: insights from the Cocoa industry in Ghana

Although collaboration is vital in addressing global environmental sustainability challenges, research understanding on stakeholder engagement in climate-smart production innovation adoption and implementation, remains limited. In this paper, we advance knowledge about stakeholder collaboration by examining the roles played by stakeholders in scaling up ecological sustainability innovations. Using the illustrative context and case of green cocoa industry in Ghana, the analysis identified three distinctive phases of stakeholder engagement in ecological sustainability innovations implemented from 1960-2017. We highlight defining periods of ecological challenges encompassing the production recovery sustainability initiative phase solely driven by the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)–a governmental body responsible for production, processing and marketing of cocoa, coffee and sheanut. During the period, major initiatives were driven by non-governmental organisations in collaboration with COCOBOD to implement the Climate-Smart agriculture scheme in the cocoa sector. The findings have implications for cocoa production research and stakeholder collaboration in environmental innovations adoption

An Analysis of Yield Gap and Some Factors of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao) Yields in Ghana

Although cocoa productivity has recently been increasing in Ghana, it is still low compared with that of other countries such as Cote d’Ivoire and Malaysia. This situation has been attributed to the low adoption of cocoa production technologies. The study was aimed at analysing the yield gap as well as some cocoa yield factors. Cross-sectional socio-economic survey was conducted in six (6) cocoa growing districts: Nkawie, Goaso, Enchi, Oda, Twifo Praso/Assin Fosu and Hohoe. A structured questionnaire was employed in the collection of data from 300 respondents who were randomly chosen with multi-stage cluster sampling technique. The yield gaps and their proportion to yield potentials were estimated using data from the survey and on-station trials. The findings indicated an experimental yield gap of 1 553.4 kg ha-1, accounting for 82.1% of the experimental yield potential whereas farmer-based yield gap was 1 537.2 kg ha-1, also accounting for 82.0% of the farmer (survey) yield potential. The Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis indicated that frequency of spraying fungicides against black pod disease, spraying insecticides against capsids, weeding of cocoa farms, cocoa variety planted by farmer, area of cocoa farm and total cocoa production variables had a significant impact on cocoa yield. It is recommended that the Government should encourage cocoa farmers, through pragmatic measures, to adopt improved technologies for enhancing productivity instead of focusing on excessive land expansion which eventually leads to low productivity

Economic efficiency of cocoa production in Ghana

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the economic efficiency of resource utilization in cocoa production among cocoa farmers in Ghana to provide information for effective application and management of farm input on cocoa farms. A random sample of 300 farmers was selected in six cocoa growing districts in Ghana using the multi-stage sampling approach. Individual farmers were interviewed with the help of a standard structured questionnaire. Descriptive and inferential analyses of the survey data were performed. The mean age of the farmers was 51.5 years. The educational status of the farmers was low as the majority (52.0%) had middle school education and 21.5% of them were illiterates. The magnitude of the parameter estimates from the Cobb-Douglass production function of household size, cocoa farm size, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizer were 0.261, 0.514, 0.273, 0.09 and 0.325 respectively. The quantity of fertilizer applied to the cocoa farm had the highest marginal physical product (133.11 kg/bag), followed by cocoa farm size (126.31 kg/ha), the quantity of insecticides was 30.49 kg/litre, household size (22.46 kg/person) and finally, the quantity of fungicides (1.39 kg/sachet). Household size, farm size, insecticide, fungicide and fertilizer used were found to have statistically significant (p< 0.05) impact on cocoa production. The allocative efficiency analysis of the cross-sectional data on farm resources indicated that there was inefficiency in the management of resources in cocoacultivation by cocoa farmers since household size, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizer were underutilized and farm size over utilized. Farmers are advised to increase the use of household labour by spending more hours on the farm or increasing the number of adult family members helping on the farm, insecticides, fungicides, and fertilizer while reducing the use of land through intensive farming to ensure resource use efficiency in cocoa production.Key words: cocoa, production function, efficiency, Ghana

A socio-economic survey among cocoa farmers on fertilizer utilization in Ghanaian cocoa farms

A socio-economic survey was conducted in some districts of the six cocoa growing regions of Ghana to provide information for adjustment of government’s fertilizer use policy on cocoa farms. The study’s objectives were to determine the proportion of farmers applying fertilizer to their farms, investigate the fertilizer application practices of the farmers, and analyze the determinants of the fertilizer adoption decisions of the farmers. A sample of 300 farmers was selected using multi-stage sampling technique and interviewed with a questionnaire. About 33.0 % of the sampled farmers applied fertilizer to their farms while 66.7 % did not. They on average actually applied 4.25 bags per hectare (1.7 bags per acre) instead of 7.5 bags per hectare (3 bags per acre), indicating under-dosage application. Statistically significant associations were found between fertilizer application and farm size and age of farm. Fertilized farms out-yielded the unfertilized. The binary logistic regression analysis demonstrated that number of farms owned by the farmer, credit availability, region and the Cocoa High Technology (Hi-tech) programme influenced the fertilizer adoption decisions of the farmers

Exploring Opportunities for Enhancing Innovation in Agriculture: The Case of Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) Production in Ghana

An exploratory study was conducted to identify opportunities to enhance innovation in the cocoa sector in Ghana. The specific objectives were to identify the key stakeholders in the cocoa industry, and elicit farmers and other stakeholders‟ perceptions on cocoa production and marketing practices, as well as the inherent constraints and opportunities. The study involved literature review of published information and the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) tools such as focus group discussion, problem tree analysis, seasonal calendar, and ranking techniques to elicit information from the respondents and purchasing clerks in the Eastern and Western Regions of Ghana. The problem tree analysis indicated that low cocoa incomes were due to low cocoa yields which were in turn caused by high incidence of pest and diseases such as capsids/black pod/cocoa swollen shoot virus disease (CSSVD), declining soil fertility and use of unapproved planting materials. The seasonal calendar analysis indicated that most cocoa farmers were financially constrained, experience high labour availability and cost from May to July during which farm activities are high. Based on the study, researchers recommend that the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) intensifies its efforts in implementing the opportunities such as crop/livelihood diversification, provision of crop insurance against risk, etc. identified to enhance farmers‟ welfare and the development of the entire cocoa industry. Addressing these constraints requires collaboration among the various stakeholders in the sector, including the government, research and extension as well as smallholder farmers

Analysis Of Economic Efficiency In Cocoa Production In Ghana

The main purpose of this study was to analyze the economic efficiency of resource utilization in cocoa production of the cocoa farmers in Ghana to provide information for effective application and management of farm inputs on cocoa farms and policy recommendation. A random sample of 300 farmers in the Eastern, Ashanti, Brong-Ahafo, Central, Volta and Western regions of Ghana were selected, using the multistage sampling approach. Individual farmers were interviewed by using questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential analyses of the survey data were performed. Regression analysis was employed to estimate the Cobb-Douglas production function from the farm data for the measurement of technical efficiency of the cocoa farmers. The estimated elasticity from the production function and prices of input and output were subsequently used to calculate the measures of allotment efficiency of resource use by the farmers. The coefficients for household size, cocoa farm size, quantity of insecticides, quantity of fungicides, and quantity of fertilizer were 0.261, 0.514, 0.273, 0.090 and 0.325, respectively. The quantity of fertilizer applied to the cocoa farm had the highest marginal physical product (133.11 kg/ bag), and that of quantity of fungicides variable (1.39 kg/satchet) was lowest. Household size, farm size, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizer were found to have statistically significant impact on cocoa output. The sum of elasticities of the factors included in the Cobb-Douglas production function was 1.463, which was more than one, implying that the cocoa farmers were operating in the increasing returns to scale. There were incidences of inefficiencies in the management of resources in cocoa cultivation by cocoa farmers since some resources were underutilized and others over-utilized. Farmers are advised to increase the use of household members, insecticides, fungicides and fertilizer while reducing the use of forest land through increased land productivity instead of land expansion to ensure efficient use of resource in cocoa production. However, the environmental impacts of these farm activities should be assessed to ensure sustainable cocoa production