Welfare impacts of adoption of improved soybean varieties in Northern Ghana

Soybean is an integral part of Ghana's smallholder cropping systems and show significant promise for combating declining soil fertility, improving household food security and welfare. Many yield-enhancing and improved soybean varieties (ISVs) have been bred and distributed in Ghana. However, little is known about the predictors of ISVs’ adoption and the magnitude of their effects on productivity and household welfare. This paper explores the welfare effects of adopting ISVs using data collected from 330 soybean farmers in Northern and Savannah regions of Ghana. The results indicated that about 47% of the sampled farming households have adopted the ISVs. Adoption of ISVs was influenced by factors such as farm size, engagement in non-farm economic activities, membership of farmer group and household asset. Using both Instrumental Variable two-stage least square (IV-2sls) and Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimators to correct for both observed and unobserved differences in household characteristics, the adoption of ISVs led to significant gains in productivity/yields and food consumption expenditure per capita (welfare indicators). Overall, the findings suggest that ISVs need to be scaled up in order to have a strong influence on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana

Technical Efficiency in Ghana’s Cocoa Bean Industry: Evidence from Western Region of Ghana

This study analyses the determinants of output and technical efficiency of cocoa production using cross-sectional data collected from 160 cocoa farmers in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality, Ghana. The study employed the stochastic frontier analysis to achieve its objectives. The analysis suggests that output of cocoa respond positively to land size and fertilizer applications. However, output of cocoa responds negatively to fungicides application. Cocoa farmers in the study area were described as exhibiting increasing return to scale. The average technical efficiency of cocoa farmers in the study area was about 76% indicating that cocoa farmers on the average produce 24% less than their potential output. Exogenous factors such as age of cocoa farmers, sex, household size, educational attainment, and membership of farmer-base-organization and the mean age of cocoa trees were found to significantly affect technical efficiency of cocoa farmers. The study therefore recommends that farm level policies oriented towards improving managerial skills with respect to the use of inputs such as fertilizer, insecticides and fungicides according to Ghana COCOBOD recommendations will be very imperative. Farmers should also be encourage to join farmer-based-organizations as this will help them have access to certain support services to improve on their efficiency level. Keywords: Stochastic frontier analysis, technical efficiency, cocoa, Sefwi-Wiawso, Ghan

Sorghum production in Nigeria: Opportunities, constraints, and recommendations

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench) production has considerable socio-economic values in sub-Saharan Africa for food security and to serve the increased industrial demands due to high population pressure and climate change. However, the production and productivity of the crop are yet to be expounded in Nigeria for economic gains. Therefore, the objective of this study was to present the current opportunities and constraints to sorghum production in Nigeria. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was conducted in three selected sorghum growing zones in northern Nigeria involving 250 farmers. Socio-economic data were collected through surveys and focus group discussions. Sorghum was cultivated mainly by males (80%) who had grade 6-12 level of education (31.3%), with the productive age of 21-45 years (75.7%) and a household family size of below five members (52.3%). Low yielding landrace varieties such as Kaura (37.4%) and Fara-fara (29.3%) were the most widely cultivated types across the study zones due to their good grain quality. The major farmers' preferred traits from a sorghum variety were high yield, drought tolerance and Striga resistance. The study recommends integrated sorghum technology development incorporating the described preferences of the farmers for sustainable production and economic gains of the crop

Do farm-level technical efficiency and welfare complement each other? Insight from Ghana's cocoa industry

Technical inefficiency persists in Ghana's cocoa farms. Farm-level guidelines from empirical studies are essential to inform programmes dealing with this challenge and subsequently improves farmers' welfare. This study evaluates the two-way effects of technical efficiency and welfare using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Conditional Mixed-process (CMP). The study reveals that, with no additional inputs, farmers have the potential of increasing their output by an average of 56% (overall technical efficiency) with mean pure technical and scale efficiencies estimated at 76% and 58%, respectively. Observed inefficiency in the Ghanaian cocoa farms is due to both inefficient utilization of inputs and farmers' inability to operate at the most productive scale size. Furthermore, findings from the study indicated that improved technical efficiency and welfare of smallholder cocoa farmers are crucial for the sustainable growth of Ghana's cocoa sector as farmers' efficiency and welfare significantly complement each other. In other words, improved welfare enhances technical efficiency, and higher technical efficiency score translates into better welfare. Hence, farm-level policies such as inputs subsidy programmes, training farmers on the proper application of agrochemicals, among others to enhance farm efficiency should be strengthened since efficiency is tied to household welfare. Moreover, investment in education targeted at farmers to improve their managerial and technical capacities will enhance their ability to optimize the operational size of the cocoa production system, and subsequently improve their welfare

International Journal of Economics, Commerce and Management GROWTH AND CONSTRAINT ANALYSIS OF MICRO AND SMALL SCALE AGRO ENTERPRISES IN ACCRA, GHANA

Abstract Micro small enterprises make up a significant portion of the private investments in the agr

Adoption of Zai technology for soil fertility management: Evidence from Upper East region, Ghana

Zai is a conventional soil rehabilitation management practice where organic matter is buried in a small pit to help restore fertility and conserve water in the soil. However, adoption of this environmentally-friendly technology is low. This study makes two key contributions. First, it identifies the determinants of adoption and intensity of adoption of Zai technology for soil fertility management. Second, it performs diagnostic tests to show that Cragg's double-hurdle as compared to the Heckman and the standard Tobit regression models is the best econometric approach to identify factors influencing farmers' decision to adopt and the extent of adoption of the Zai in the Upper East region, Ghana. Results from the Cragg's double-hurdle model revealed that different set of variables affect the probability and the intensity of adoption of Zai technology. The paper concludes that farm households should be encouraged to engage in non-farm economic activities to complement their farm income and enhance the purchase of productive farm inputs. Moreover, farm-level policies oriented towards increasing access to agricultural extension services, credit facilities, and the facilitation of farmer groups are essential to improving the adoption of farm innovations such as the Zai technology

Awareness of Health Implications of Agrochemical Use: Effects on Maize Production in Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality, Ghana

This study assessed factors that affect awareness of health implications of agrochemical use and its effects on maize production in Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality of Ashanti Region, Ghana. One hundred and fifty-four (154) maize farmers were randomly sampled from the municipality. The study used awareness indicators to estimate an index representing farmers’ awareness levels of health implications of agrochemical use. An ordered logit compliment with multivariate linear regression model was used to identify the drivers of farmers’ awareness level of health implications of agrochemical use. Also, a multivariate linear regression model was used to analyze the effects of health implications of agrochemical use on maize output. On average, the respondents have the moderate awareness level of health implications of agrochemical use (0.578). The awareness level was significantly explained by education, the number of children in school, ownership of TV/radio, experience in agrochemicals use, and farm size. The multivariate linear regression results showed that awareness levels of health implications of agrochemical use increase maize output. It is therefore recommended that interventions aimed at increasing farmers’ awareness levels of health implications of agrochemicals use should focus on educating farmers through interactive radio discussion and training sessions on the field and incorporate safety use of agrochemical in our educational curriculum

Estimating Profit Efficiency of Artisanal Fishing in the Pru District of the Brong-Ahafo Region, Ghana

This study evaluated the profit efficiency of artisanal fishing in the Pru District of Ghana by explicitly computing profit efficiency level, identifying the sources of profit inefficiency, and examining the constraints of artisanal fisheries. Cross-sectional data was obtained from 120 small-scale fishing households using semistructured questionnaire. The stochastic profit frontier model was used to compute profit efficiency level and identify the determinants of profit inefficiency while Garrett ranking technique was used to rank the constraints. The average profit efficiency level was 81.66% which implies that about 82% of the prospective maximum profit was gained due to production efficiency. That is, only 18% of the potential profit was lost due to the fishers’ inefficiency. Also, the age of the household head and household size increase the inefficiency level while experience in artisanal fishing tends to decrease the inefficiency level. From the Garrett ranking, access to credit facility to fully operate the small-scale fishing business was ranked as the most pressing issue followed by unstable prices while perishability was ranked last among the constraints. The study, therefore, recommends that group formation should be encouraged to enable easy access to loans and contract sales to boost profitability