Grain Distribution in Ghana under Imperfectly Competitive Market Conditions

Interspatial and intertemporal grain distribution in Ghana is a private sector activity carried out mainly by traders. These traders sometimes collude to maximize their joint profits. By so doing they influence the conduct of the grains market. To examine the effect of their actions on the informal maize market in Ghana, a spatial equilibrium model was estimated under three scenarios: (1) Perfect competition, (2) Cournot-Narsh conjectures, and (3) Collusion. The results indicate that imperfect competition distorts grain flows, reduces consumer welfare and depresses traders’ sales revenue. Collusive behavior of traders, on the other hand, causes the greatest distortion of grain flows as well as trader and consumer welfare. These results draw attention to policy makers and development agents to educate traders against using their associations to foster collusion.Spatial equilibrium, monopoly, imperfect competition, interspatial, Cournot- Narsh conjectures, Crop Production/Industries, D4, L1,

Grain price adjustment asymmetry: the case of cowpea in Ghana

Patterns in price adjustment in response to information are important to market practitioners. This study looks at cowpea real wholesale price adjustment patterns in Bolgatanga, Wa, Makola and Techiman markets in Ghana. Using Techiman as the central market, a threshold autoregressive test for asymmetric price adjustment rejected the null hypothesis of symmetric adjustment for only the Bolgatanga-Techiman price series. An autoregressive conditional heteroskedastic regression indicates that wholesalers in Bolgatanga market respond differentially to price signals from Techiman than those in the other two markets. This suggests that policies targeting cowpea traders must recognize the differential responses by wholesalers to information.Africa, Ghana, wholesalers, market information, autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity, threshold autoregressive, Crop Production/Industries, D82, D43,

Accounting for Neighborhood Influence in Estimating Factors Determining the Adoption of Improved Agricultural Technologies

Researchers have traditionally applied censored regression models to estimate factors influencing farmers' decisions to adopt improved technologies for the design of appropriate intervention strategies. The standard Tobit model, commonly used, assumes spatial homogeneity implicitly but the potential for the presence of spatial heterogeneity (spatial autocorrelation or dependence) is high due to neighborhood influence among farmers. Ignoring spatial autocorrelation (if it exists) would result in biased estimates and all inferences based on the model will be incorrect. On the other hand, if spatial dependence is ignored the regression estimates would be inefficient and inferences based on t and F statistics misleading. To account for neighborhood influence, this study applied a spatial Tobit model to assess the factors determining the adoption of improved maize varieties in southern Africa using data collected from 300 randomly selected farm households in the Manica, Sussundenga and Chokwe districts of Mozambique during the 2003/04 crop season. Model diagnosis confirmed the spatial Tobit model as a better fit than the standard Tobit model. The estimated results suggest that farm size, access to credit, yield and cost of seed significantly influence maize variety adoption at less than 1% error probability while age of household head and distance to market influence adoption decisions at 5% error probability. The marginal effect analysis showed that convincing farmers that a given improved maize variety would give a unit more yield than the local one would increase adoption rate by 18% and intensity of use by 10%. Given that improved maize seeds are relatively more expensive than local ones, making credit accessible to farmers would increase adoption and intensity of use of improved maize varieties by 24% (15% being the probability of adoption and 8% the intensity of 2 use of the varieties). On the other hand, increasing seed price by a unit over the local variety would decrease the adoption rate by 12% and area under the improved variety by 6%. Targeting younger farmers with extension messages or making markets accessible to farmers would marginally increase the adoption and use intensity of improved maize varieties by only 0.4%. These results suggest that increasing field demonstrations to show farmers the yield advantage of improved varieties over local ones in Mozambique are essential in improving the uptake of improved varieties, which may be enhanced by making credit available to farmers to address the high improved seed costs. Alternatively, assuring farmers of competitive output markets through marketing innovations would enhance improved maize variety adoptions decisions. It may be concluded that the significance of the paper is its demonstration of the need to include spatial dependency in technology adoption models where neighborhood influences are suspected. Such an approach would give more credence to the results and limit the errors in suggesting areas to emphasize in individual or group targeting. The results thus have implications beyond the study area. Furthermore, the paper contributes to the scanty literature on the application of spatial econometrics in agricultural technology adoption modeling.Farm Management,

Assessment of the effectiveness of maize seed assistance to vulnerable farm households in Zimbabwe

The publication describes outcomes of a study to assess the effectiveness of a large-scale crop seed relief effort in Zimbabwe during 2003-07. Aims of the effort, which was supported by the British Department for International Development (DfID) and coordinated by the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) regional office in Harare, included broader diffusion of open-pollinated maize varieties (OPVs), as opposed to hybrids. Based on the findings of the study, the authors recommend that, to increase benefits to vulnerable groups, participants in such efforts should effectively disseminate information on selecting and recycling seed, supported by training and field demonstrations, and should target relatively well-endowed farmers initially. Recommendations also included promotion of OPVs by commercial seed companies and developing a simple, farmer-friendly system for naming varieties.Agricultural development, Technical aid, Farm income, Food production, Maize, Open pollination, Hybrids, Zimbabwe, Crop Production/Industries, International Development,

Adoption of Conservation Agriculture Technologies by Smallholder Farmers in the Shamva District of Zimbabwe: A Tobit application

Conventional agricultural practices such as the use of the moldboard plough are no longer sustainable due to their extensive soil degradation effects. As a panacea, several Conservation Agriculture (CA) technologies have been promoted to improve soil structure and water conservation. However, adoption of these technologies has been resisted by smallholder farmers and identifying causes of the low adoption rates to facilitate intervention strategies remains a challenge to development practitioners. Using data from 100 farmers, this paper uses a Tobit application to assess the underlying factors important in determining farmers’ adoption of zero-tillage, crop rotation and contour ridging technologies. Empirical results suggest that adoption and use intensity of each of these technologies is affected by a set of distinct household factors. There is also evidence to show complementarities in adoption and use of these technologies, suggesting the need to tailor awareness and promotional strategies depending on the technology in question and socio-economic background of target farmers.Conservation Agriculture (CA), Conventional Farming (CF) technology, Tobit Model, Adoption, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Farm Management,

A Unified Approach to the Estimation of Demand for Improved Seed in Developing Agriculture

This paper proposes a new approach for estimating the demand for seed within a developing country context where only improved seeds are sold but adoption rates for improved varieties low. A farmer views an improved seed firstly as a derived input embodying production attributes and secondly, as a technology embodying consumption characteristics. He therefore jointly decides on its adoption and the quantity of seed required to plant a predetermined area. Drawing on the theory of demand for consumption goods characteristics and production input attributes, this paper specified and estimated non-separable household demand and consumption models using data collected from 300 farm households in Zambia during the 2003/04 crop season. The estimated results suggest that adoption rate, distance to market, level of household grain self-sufficiency, seed hand-outs and household wealth are significant in determining farmers' seed purchase decisions. Appropriate intervention strategies for increased over-all improved seed demand are recommended. It is concluded that apart from contributing to the literature on modelling farm level seed demand, the model provides a holistic approach for the joint estimation of determinants of improved variety adoption and seed demand relevant for better targeting to increase the impacts of maize breeding research in developing countries.agricultural household model, consumer goods characteristics, production inputs, technology attributes, non-separability, censored equations, Zambia, Crop Production/Industries, C21, D1, O3, Q12, Q16,

Improving the competitiveness and marketability of locally-produced rice in Ghana

Irrigated rice has been grown over a number of decades in Ghana on state-sponsored government irrigation projects. Over the years these projects have received extensive state support, as the government has attempted, through various initiatives, to achieve food self-sufficiency. The emphasis on promoting domestic rice production was enhanced by the growing importance of rice in the diet of the urban population, combined with technical assistance provided by donors, such as the Chinese. In addition, the promotion of state-sponsored, input-intensive agriculture reflected the Ghanaian government's past adherence to socialist development models

Driving an Agenda of Evidence - Based Policy Analysis and Advocacy in Africa

Author's institution: Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)Leveraging multi-institutional strengths and competencies in a coherent way for effective evidence-based policy advocacy is critical to ensure positive policy change. The presentation advocates for better support of agriculture and improved agricultural practices in African countries. It provides information regarding agricultural subsidies and policy action groups and institutions (Policy Action Nodes or PAN) that could ensure national ownership and legitimacy, multi-stakeholder buy-in and enhanced collaboration, home grown policy analysis and advocacy, and local capacity building and sustainability

Potential Regional Trade Implications of Adopting Bt Cowpea in West and Central Africa

This paper used a spatial and temporal price equilibrium model to assess the potential impacts of farmers in West and Central Africa adopting Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp). The results showed that regional cowpea prices would decrease, leading to increased regional demand and increased supply only in adopting countries. Total cowpea traded and regional welfare would increase, but producers in nonadopting countries would lose. The results thus emphasize regional adoption of any Bt cowpea and suggest that policy makers devise ways of ensuring equitable distribution of benefits.This publication was supported by grants to the Bean/Cowpea CRSP by the Office of Agriculture and Food Security, Economic Growth Center, Global Bureau, United States Agency for International Development, under the terms of Grant No. DAN-G-SS-86-00008-00.Includes bibliographical reference

Cowpea trade in West and Central Africa: A spatial and temporal analysis

Member countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are determined to form a West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) by 2004 whereby a single currency and a common monetary policy would be adopted as an attempt to promote regional trade. A West and Central Africa Cowpea Spatial and Temporal Equilibrium Model, formulated with Mixed Complementary Programming, was used to analyze the potential impacts of changes in (a) real interest rate, (b) levels of trade barriers, and (c) levels of demand and supply on price, volume and direction of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp) trade in Nigeria, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d\u27Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Togo in ECOWAS and Cameroon, Chad, and Gabon in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CAEMC). If WAMZ results in reduced real interest rate within ECOWAS, this would substantially decrease storage financing costs affording consumers in the relatively larger coastal economies and benefit producers in the smaller Sahelian economies through the sale of larger volumes of cowpea at relatively cheaper prices while all others lose. In contrast, a relatively lower real interest rate in CAEMC may have negligible impact on regional welfare. Removing trade barriers among countries in ECOWAS may strongly alter the pattern of cowpea flows but increase the total trade volume and net social welfare. However, only consumers in net-importing countries and producers in net-exporting countries stand to benefit from sales of a larger volume. A supply shock through yield increasing technologies or improved storage would increase effective supply thus decreasing prices especially when the shock affects all producing countries compared with when only selected countries are affected. A demand shock would increase prices and volume of trade but decreased consumers\u27 welfare. The results emphasize the importance of specialization based on regional competitive advantage, but also draw attention to the need to devise ways to ensure acceptable welfare distribution among producers and consumers in line with policy objectives of the individual countries within the proposed WAMZ