Boserupian pressure and agricultural mechanization in modern Ghana

The adoption of machinery in agricultural production in Africa south of the Sahara has been far behind the level of mechanization found in Asia and Latin America. However, recent survey data have revealed high levels of machinery use in localized areas of cereal production in northern Ghana. A survey conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, in partnership with the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute, found that in some areas more than 80 percent of farmers were using machinery for at least one operation. This paper considers the theoretical drivers of agricultural intensification, as outlined by Boserup, Pingali, and Binswanger, and the extent to which they are able to explain the spatial variation in machinery use found in northern Ghana. Population pressure, market access, and agroecological conditions are considered key drivers that cause farmers to find ways to increase productivity and adopt new technologies. Combining survey data with geospatial datasets, the empirical analysis finds that population growth and travel time to the local urban center explain a significant and large proportion of the variation in machinery use by farmers.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; D Transforming Agriculture; D.3 Structural transformation, employment and rural urban linkages; GSSPDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Impact of mechanization on smallholder agricultural production: evidence from Ghana

Mechanization is accompanied by changes in the quantity and type of labour required for an activity. Agricultural mechanization is often touted by policy makers as reducing the drudgery associated with agricultural work and as increasing the productivity of the farming system, especially in contexts where traditional technologies appear to be stagnant. For good or for ill, mechanization is expected to replace labour in agriculture. This can either create unemployment, in a pessimistic scenario, or release labour for more productive work outside of the agriculture sector. However, little rigorous analysis has examined the impacts of agricultural mechanization on labour use in agriculture. This is partly due to the challenge of measuring these impacts in a well-identified setting. It can be difficult to attribute changes in production systems and household welfare to the use of mechanized technology, rather than to more general changes in agricultural conditions and associated infrastructures. This paper considers these claims and provides evidence of a more complex set of impacts. By reducing labour use in some activities and at certain points in the growing season, agricultural mechanization can actually increase demand for labour in other activities and at other seasons. In northern Ghana, tractor use allows for shortening the length of time required for land preparation, making it possible for farmers to grow maize in locations where the crop would otherwise be marginal at best. Because maize cultivation is relatively labour-using, compared to other agricultural activities, mechanization of land preparation leads to an increase in the overall demand for agricultural labour. In this context in Ghana, small- and medium-scale farmers access mechanized plowing technology via a service market, rather than through individual ownership of machines. This paper bases its causal identification on a government scheme that generated plausibly exogenous positive shocks to the supply of machinery services at the district level. Bearing in mind the methodological difficulties and limitations of the approach, evidence is presented of the short-term impact on a range of variables relating to the farming system and household welfare. Findings indicate that for these marginal users of agricultural machinery, mechanized plowing does not significantly reduce the labour used for land preparation, and in fact increases labour use for other operations. The area cultivated increases, with proportionate increases in maize cultivation and an increased proportion of land controlled by women. I propose that these results are consistent with tractor plowing alleviating a time constraint for farmers, which enables cultivation of more timesensitive crops and increases the expected returns to subsequent production activities

Agricultural development, mechanization, and rental markets: theory and empirics from Ghana

The subject of this thesis is the process of agricultural mechanization in the tropical farming systems of Ghana. Three original research papers are presented which explore separate research questions with different methodological approaches. All three papers draw upon detailed empirical analysis of the decisions by farm households over the use of tractor plowing in cereal-producing farming systems of Ghana. This empirical analysis informs our theoretical understandings of mechanization, its use, and its impacts. The questions considered are: (i) to what extent can the patterns of agricultural mechanization be explained by changes in population, urbanization, and agro-ecological conditions? (ii) Given the heterogeneity of conditions and farming systems, is it right to assume that mechanization will reduce the labour requirements for production? What is the impact of mechanization on other farming decisions and productivity? And (iii) what role do informal institutions and social capital play in facilitating access to more productive technologies by farmers of all scales? By revisiting the theories of mechanization developed in the1960s through to the 1980s, the first paper argues that farmersâ technology adoption decisions continue to be linked to system-wide drivers such as population change and urbanization. The second paper argues that farmers are taking up tractor plowing in this production system in large part because of the advantage it confers in shortening the required time for land preparation, even as mechanization has little impact on post-planting farm practices, which remain highly labour intensive. The final paper examines the market for tractor plowing services, which is the primary mode of access to mechanized technology for farmers in Ghana. I argue that the social embeddedness of farmers in rural Ghana is key to the functioning of the market for tractor services, allowing communities to manage spatial externalities and time constraints. </p

Agricultural development, mechanization, and rental markets: theory and empirics from Ghana

The subject of this thesis is the process of agricultural mechanization in the tropical farming systems of Ghana. Three original research papers are presented which explore separate research questions with different methodological approaches. All three papers draw upon detailed empirical analysis of the decisions by farm households over the use of tractor plowing in cereal-producing farming systems of Ghana. This empirical analysis informs our theoretical understandings of mechanization, its use, and its impacts. The questions considered are: (i) to what extent can the patterns of agricultural mechanization be explained by changes in population, urbanization, and agro-ecological conditions? (ii) Given the heterogeneity of conditions and farming systems, is it right to assume that mechanization will reduce the labour requirements for production? What is the impact of mechanization on other farming decisions and productivity? And (iii) what role do informal institutions and social capital play in facilitating access to more productive technologies by farmers of all scales? By revisiting the theories of mechanization developed in the1960s through to the 1980s, the first paper argues that farmers’ technology adoption decisions continue to be linked to system-wide drivers such as population change and urbanization. The second paper argues that farmers are taking up tractor plowing in this production system in large part because of the advantage it confers in shortening the required time for land preparation, even as mechanization has little impact on post-planting farm practices, which remain highly labour intensive. The final paper examines the market for tractor plowing services, which is the primary mode of access to mechanized technology for farmers in Ghana. I argue that the social embeddedness of farmers in rural Ghana is key to the functioning of the market for tractor services, allowing communities to manage spatial externalities and time constraints. </p

A case study of Ejura-Sekyedumase district

This paper characterizes the network of tractor service providers in Ghana. Using the case of Ejura-Sekye-dumase district, this research examines the implications of the adoption of mechanical technology in agriculture for farmers and institutions based on perspectives that go beyond the suppliers and users of mechanization ser-vices alone. The results suggest that, in addition to rising population density and favorable access to local and regional markets, the current pattern of use of tractors by farmers in Ejura district emerged from favorable histori-cal and institutional factors. The current arrangement involving a network of private tractor owners providing trac-tor hire services to a broad set of farmers draws upon the legacy of an earlier institutional intervention and is sus-tained organizationally through kinship and other existing social relationships within and outside the district. More-over, the expansion of tractor use has created a set of new roles and relationships within the network. Participa-tion in the network is affected by various factors, including farmer’s access to capital and knowledge, experience, and contacts. This privately operated network is significantly more efficient and provides small-scale farmers with considerably better access to plowing service than did previous government-managed systems. Further develop-ment of the tractor service sector is likely to improve the quality of mechanization offered to smallholder farmers, enhance bargaining power for farmers seeking such services, and reduce structural weaknesses within the net-work.Non-PRIFPRI1; CRP2; GSSPDSGD; PIMCGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM

Exploring global food system shocks, scenarios and outcomes

Globalised food supply chains are increasingly susceptible to systemic risks, with natural, social and economic shocks in one region potentially leading to price spikes and supply changes experienced at the global scale. Projections commonly extrapolate from recent histories and adopt a ‘business as usual’ approach that risks failing to take account of shocks or unpredictable events that can have dramatic consequences for the status quo, as seen with the global Covid-19 pandemic. This study used an explorative stakeholder process and shock centred narratives to discuss the potential impact of a diversity of shocks, examining system characteristics and trends that may amplify their impact. Through the development of scenarios, stakeholders revealed concerns about the stability of the food system and the social, economic and environmental consequence of food related shocks. Increasing connectivity served as a mechanism to heighten volatility and vulnerability within all scenarios, with reliance on singular crops and technologies (i.e. low diversity) throughout systems highlighted as another potential source of vulnerability. The growing role of social media in shaping attitudes and behaviours towards food, and the increasing role of automation emerged as contemporary areas of concern, which have thus far been little explored within the literature