Willingness of marine artisanal fishermen to integrate aquaculture in enterprise mix: Evidence from Ghana

Marine resources are depleting, making the dependence of economies on fish from such sources no longer the best option. Aquaculture has been suggested as an alternative livelihood. This study assesses the willingness of marine artisanal fishermen in the coastal region of Ghana to adopt aquaculture. The Effutu municipality in the central region of Ghana was purposely selected for the study. A multi stage cluster sampling procedure was used to randomly select150 artisanal fishermen from two communities in the coastal area of the district. Data was collected using semi structured questionnaire. The study employed the Binary Logit model to assess the influence of technical, socioeconomic and institutional factors on the decision to integrate the aquaculture enterprise into household enterprises of fishermen. The results of the study showed that about62 percent of the marine fishermen were willing to adopt and integrate aquaculture into their enterprise mix. The Logit estimation results reveal that fishermen who lacked savings, had difficulty in accessing credit, did not belong to fishermen's association, and were new in marine fishing were more likely to be convinced about integrating aquaculture. There is potential for marine fishers to explore and use aquaculture to enhance their wealth. The study recommends that targeting marine fishers who are youthful and inexperienced for training and capacity building is the best policy option for stakeholders who are interested in aquaculture development. Key Words: Marine artisanal fishermen, aquaculture, enterprise mix, Binary Logit Model, Ghan

Does Scale Matter in Profitability of Small Scale Broiler Agribusiness Production in Ghana? A Translog Profit Function Model

This paper examined whether scale matter in profitability of small-scale commercial broiler agribusinessproduction in Ghana, using the translog profit function model. Structured questionnaire was used to collectprimary data on input and output prices and quantities from four hundred and forty-one (441) small-scalecommercial broiler agribusinesses for the 2010 production year through a multiple-stage random samplingtechnique. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data collected for thestudy. Findings of the study show that by incurring an average variable cost of GH¢8.48 per broiler and sellingeach at GH¢14.80, small-scale broiler agribusinesses make a profit of GH¢5.59 per bird. Results of the translogprofit function model indicate that feed and day-old chick prices are the two main factors that negatively andsignificantly affect profit in small-scale commercial broiler agribusiness production. Stock size of small-scalebroiler agribusinesses was also found to positively and significantly affect profit in broiler production. Thisimplies that profit of small-scale broiler agribusinesses increases with scale, hence scale matters in profitabilityof broiler production. Policy actions directed towards broiler producers to increase their production scale in orderto reduce cost and increase profit should be encouraged.Keywords: Scale, Profitability, Broiler, Agribusiness, Production, Translog, Ghan

Access and Intensity of Mechanization: Empirical Evidence of Rice Farmers in Southern Ghana

ABSTRACT The medium term development plan of Ghana proposed modernization of agriculture to lead the way in transforming the economy. Providing irrigation infrastructure and enhancing farmer access to farm machinery were major interventions proposed. In line with this, the government has been investing in irrigation infrastructure as well as importing farm machinery under various programmes in recent years. This study analyzed access and intensity of mechanization by rice farmers in southern Ghana. The Shai-Osudoku and Ketu North Districts were purposively selected and a total of 360 farmers were randomly sampled from 16 rice growing communities. In general, the results of the descriptive statistics revealed that about 74 % of farmers were still cultivating rice with considerably low level of mechanization. The double hurdle model was employed to estimate the determinants of access to mechanization and the intensity of mechanization. The empirical results of tier one of the double huddle model revealed that size of land, access to credit, availability of farm machinery, expenditure on labour, agrochemical expenditure, the square of age, and gender positively influenced access to mechanization. Seed expenditure, age and district locations negatively influenced access to mechanization. The empirical results of the tier two of the double hurdle model revealed that distance from farm to nearest mechanization centre, rice income, non-farm income and experience were significant variables that positively influenced intensity of mechanization. Land ownership and household size negatively influenced intensity of mechanization. These results have implications for capacity building and government support for rice farmers in southern Ghana

Effect of mechanisation use intensity on the productivity of rice farms in southern Ghana

<p>This study analysed the effect of farm mechanisation on productivity of rice farms in southern Ghana. The empirical results of the stochastic frontier model of primary data solicited from 360 rice farmers in southern Ghana revealed that land size cultivated, agrochemical expenditure, tillage intensity, threshing intensity, education and transportation intensity were significant factors that positively influenced partial factor productivity with respect to mechanisation. On the other hand, reaping intensity, over use of fertilizers, and age of farmers negatively influenced partial factor productivity with respect to mechanisation. These results have implications for capacity building and government support to increase productivity on rice farms.</p