Irrigated Agriculture and Poverty Reduction in Kassena Nankana District in the Upper-East Region, Ghana

In northern Ghana, where the climatic conditions do not allow for an all-year-around rain-fed agriculture, irrigation is a necessary complement to enhance livelihoods security and poverty reduction. The knowledge gap regarding the contribution of existing irrigation facilities to poverty reduction occasioned the case study of the Tono irrigation scheme located in the Kassena Nankana District in the Upper East Region of Ghana. A treatment and control experimental approach was adopted in the investigation. The treatment group comprised a sample of 93 out of the 1,328 Tono irrigation tomato farmers and the control group sampled 86 out of 614 irrigation tomato farmers operating outside the Tono irrigation scheme. The Tono irrigated scheme has, to a considerable extent, created a platform for employment and high agricultural output. However, the high agricultural output has not been translated into increased income and improved livelihoods for the farmers and as such limits the impact of the efforts exerted towards poverty reduction amongst the farmers in the area. The challenges that led to this outcome include high cost of hiring farm machinery, inadequate access to credit, poor water supply for irrigation, ineffective technical assistance, lack of entrepreneurial skills, inability to store perishable products and inadequate ready market to translate the outputs into improved incomes for the farmers. Actors in the irrigated agriculture industry should pay equal attention to both the production and marketing aspects of their enterprises. The actors should ensure that the necessary inputs are available and affordable to farmersKeywords: Agriculture, Ghana Irrigation, Poverty, Tono Irrigation Scheme, Ghan

Economies of private sector participation in solid waste management in Takoradi - a Ghanaian city

Without going into the complex intricacies of the controversial privatisation debate that have since the 1980s ensued, this paper evaluates the economic feasibility of private sector participation in solid waste management in a Ghanaian city context. The criteria for identifying viable economic opportunities for investment are contingent to the prevailing market conditions. The primary consideration, inevitably, is the potential profit that can be derived. On the supply side, the weight of the premium placed on borrowed capital is a fundamental determining factor. On the demand side, the business prospects of private sector participation in solid waste management depends on the nature and the scale of cost recovery consequent upon the payment regime negotiated and accepted by the residents. It has been established through a case study of Takoradi that private sector participation in solid waste management in the city is a viable business venture within certain contextual conditions. An important consideration is the ability and willingness to pay by the residents. The designated payment regime is such that the returns are adequate to finance the service provision and leave a modest outlay to the investor as profit. On the part of the investor, the ease of access to investment capital and a congenial macro-economic environment are important determinants of successful business. Keywords: solid waste management, private sector, participation Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 26(1) 2006: 60-7