Soybean is an important cash crop especially for farmers in the north of Ghana. However, cultivation of the commodity is dominated by smallholders equipped with traditional tools, coupled with low or no adoption of improved soybean production technologies. Using primary data collected from 300 soybean farmers across northern Ghana, the study employed count data modelling to estimate the determinants of adoption intensity of sustainable soybean production technologies. The study accounted for potential estimation errors due to underdispersion and over-dispersion, by using a model based on the generalized Poisson distribution. On the average, a farmer adopted 50% of the identified sustainable soybean production technologies. Age, education, extension visits, mass media through radio, and the perception of adoption of soybean production technologies being risky are significant with positive influence on the adoption intensity of sustainable soybean production technologies. The study therefore recommends among others, that various extension programmes should intensify education on the benefits of adopting sustainable soybean production practices. There is the need to set up many technology demonstration farms to give farmers hands-on training during field days.
Purpose - Climate smart production is a potential solution to the negative effects of the changing climatic conditions on agricultural production systems in Africa in general, and particularly in Ghana.Design/methodology/approach - In this study, we employed a Multinomial Treatment Effect (MTE) regression model, using primary data collected from 543 rice farmers in Ghana, to examine the drivers of single and joint adoption of selected Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices (i.e., improved rice varieties and irrigation). The study further explored the implications of the adoption of CSA practices on gross income and reduction of risk (skewness of rice yield) faced by rice farmers.Findings - The empirical results show that education, experience, and extension service significantly influenced joint adoption of irrigation and improved rice varieties positively; while livestock ownership, farm size, and social capital significantly influenced joint adoption negatively. In addition, single adoption of improved rice varieties and irrigation as well as joint adoption significantly influenced rice farmers’ income and risk exposure positively. Education, rice commercialization, experience, and social capital also bore significant positive relationships with income and rice farmers’ risk exposure, while quantity of fertilizer applied per acre and farm size significantly influenced income and rice farmers’ risk exposure negatively.Research limitations/implications - There exists a pool of literature on climate smart agriculture technology adoption among rice farmers. However, these studies do not highlight the nexus between the adoption of climate smart technology and its implications on gross income and risk characterization of rice farmers.Practical implications - The adoption of climate smart production mechanisms like the use of improved rice varieties and irrigation should be encouraged among rice farmers since they have the potential to increase gross income while reducing farmers’ exposure to risk in the face of climate change.Social implications - Policymakers and project implementers should give priority to socioeconomic and institutional factors that promote the adoption of CSA practices among rice farmers in programming of development interventions.Originality/value - The study examined the factors that drive rice farmers to adopt improved rice varieties and irrigation, as well as joint adoption of improved rice varieties + irrigation in northern Ghana.
High temperature, erratic rainfall, and drought are the three major physical manifestations of climate change in Ghana. Smallholder farmers in Ghana have shown vulnerability to the impacts of climate change, with some farmers employing migration as an adaptation mechanism. Using primary data collected from 500 maize farmers in seven districts of Ghana, our study draws a link among climate perception, migration and productivity of maize farmers by estimating a two-step Heckman sample selection model and employing inductive coding to analyse the qualitative data. The results show that farmers’ experience, access to farm credit, farm size, location, usage of NPK fertilizer, and local seeds have positive impact on the productivity of maize farmers. Additionally, household size, main occupation, membership in farmer-based organisations, and perception of declined soil fertility have significant effects on migration decisions of smallholder maize farmers. The qualitative reports show that perceived increase in temperature, drought, flooding, and erratic rainfall has led to a decline in the productivity of maize farmers. Among others, we recommend that relevant stakeholders (i.e., policy makers and NGOs in the agricultural space) should focus on promoting the use of improved seeds, and NKP fertilizer, coupled with the provision of farm credit and expansion of farm sizes to enhance the productivity of maize farmers in Ghana. Also, smallholder farmers should be supported to engage in alternative livelihood enterprises, join farmer-based organisations and to adopt techniques that enhance soil fertility in order to reduce climate-induced migration among maize farmers.
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