Local varieties, planting strategies and early season farming activities in two villages of Central Upper Volta

This is the second in a series of periodic reports presenting preliminary findings of ICRISAT/West Africa socioeconomics village research.1 The objective of these reports is to make available on a timely basis highlights of results emerging from ongoing village studies, thereby stimulating diecussion and early feedback from other scientists..

Technology Evaluation: five case studies from West Africa

On-farm tests of technology are usually distinguished in the literature as either on-farm trials or farmers' tests. In on-farm trials, the researcher manages the trial in an effort to control variation. Examples include multilocational testing of advanced varieties or tests of new and promising intercropping combinations. In farmers' tests, tlie farmers manage all (or most) test operations. Even management may be a test factor, with the researcher simply monitoring how the test is executed by the farmer

The West African Semiarid Tropics

Farming systems in the West African semiarid tropics (WASAT) reflect a long process of adaptation to low and variable rainfall, generally poor and fragile soils, and readily available land. The extensive land-use systems, which have evolved under these conditions, are marked by low productivity per unit area and high yield variability. Soil quality has traditionally been maintained by long bush-fallow rotations, requiring at least a 5:1 ratio of fallow to cultivated land. In rapidly expanding areas of the WASAT, however, growing populations are upsetting this ecological balance by cultivating more marginal soils and by continuous cultivation. Increased cash needs are also inducing farmers in some areas to put greater resources into cash crop production, often employing technologies that accelerate a decline in soil quality. The major areas of possible technological change are considered in turn: irrigation, other forms of land and water management, mechanization, genetic improvement, and the use of chemical inputs. One of the biggest problems is the gap between experimental farm results and farm yields, and this can only be rectified by continued investment in agricultural research, together with important changes in conception and approac

Increasing Food Production in Sub-Saharan Africa: Environmental Problems and Inadequate Technological Solutions

Evaluates the technical and social conditions of agriculture and the technological innovations to increase food production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Environmental constraints to agriculture; Farming system and its technical needs; Problems of irrigation projects; Reason for the limited use of mulches in sorghum and millet production

On the role of information in decision making: the case of sorghum yield in Burkina Faso

This paper investigates the role of temporal uncertainty and information issues in economic decisions. It shows that the nature of the economic environment (e.g., the production technology) can influence the valuation of information, which in turn affects the choice functions. This is illustrated by an empirical application to sorghum yield response analysis in Burkina Faso. The paper stresses the importance of technology and information valuation in risk behaviou

Farmers’ perceptions and adoption of new agricultural technology: Evidence from analysis in Burkina Faso and Guinea, West Africa

Economists investigating consumer demand have accumulated considerable evidence showing that consumers generally have subjective preferences for characteristics of products and that their demand for products is significantly affected by their perceptions of the product's attributes. However, the role of farmers' preferences in adoption decisions have received very limited attention in adoption studies conducted by economists. This paper tests the hypothesis that farmers' perceptions of technology characteristics significantly affect their adoption decisions. The analysis, conducted with Tobit models of modern sorghum and rice varietal technologies in Burkina Faso and Guinea, respectively, strongly supports this hypothesis. Our results provide a strong case for future adoption studies to expand the range of variables used away from the broad socio-economic, demographic and institutional factors to include farmers' subjective perceptions of the characteristics of new agricultural technologie

Modeling Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of application: the case of Brong Ahafo Region

Pesticides are a significant component of the modern agricultural technology that has been widely adopted across the globe to control pests, diseases, weeds and other plant pathogens, in an effort to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality. Although pesticides are said to be toxic and exposes farmers to risk due to the hazardous effects of these chemicals, pesticide use among cocoa farmers in Ghana is still high. Furthermore, cocoa farmers do not apply pesticide on their cocoa farms at the recommended frequency of application. In view of this, the study assessed the factors influencing cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of pesticide application. A total of 240 cocoa farmers from six cocoa growing communities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana were selected for the study using the multi-stage sampling technique. The Probit and Tobit regression models were used to estimate factors influencing farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of pesticide application, respectively. Results of the study revealed that the use of pesticide is still high among farmers in the Region and that cocoa farmers do not follow the Ghana Cocoa Board recommended frequency of pesticide application. In addition, cocoa farmers in the study area were found to be using both Ghana Cocoa Board approved/recommended and unapproved pesticides for cocoa production. Gender, age, educational level, years of farming experience, access to extension service, availability of agrochemical shop and access to credit significantly influenced farmers’ decision to use pesticides. Also, educational level, years of farming experience, membership of farmer based organisation, access to extension service, access to credit and cocoa income significantly influenced frequency of pesticide application. Since access to extension service is one key factor that reduces pesticide use and frequency of application among cocoa farmers, it is recommended that policies by government and non-governmental organisations should be aimed at mobilizing resources towards the expansion of extension education. In addition, extension service should target younger farmers as well as provide information on alternative pest control methods in order to reduce pesticide use among cocoa farmers. Furthermore, extension service/agents should target cocoa farmers with less years of farming experience and encourage cocoa farmers to join farmer based organisations in order to decrease frequency of pesticide application