Rainfall shocks pose a threat to farmers in rural West Africa especially in the wake of the recur... more Rainfall shocks pose a threat to farmers in rural West Africa especially in the wake of the recurrent climate variability and its impacts on agricultural production. Despite the harm they pose, limited empirical studies exist on the welfare implications of rainfall shocks on farmers' welfare in West Africa. In addition, the potential impacts of rainfall induced commodity and labor market failures have not been given much attention in the empirical literature.Our study aimed to analyze the impact of negative rainfall shocks and commodity and labor market failures on farm households' welfare in northern Ghana. Examining the impact of commodity and labor market failures amidst the experience of a negative rainfall shock helps to identify the possible entry points through which the adverse impacts of rainfall deficits may be reduced. The study is based on a household survey data from the Africa Rising program, historical daily climate data from the CCAFS-Climate data portal and random rainfall distributions from Monte Carlo simulation. A total of 1168 households were considered in the analysis. We analyze the impact of rainfall shocks and the above-mentioned entitlement failures using a static optimization model that incorporates a crop yield response function. We found that an increase in the frequency of negative rainfall shocks under a dry future with and without entitlement failures would impact negatively on the total income and consumption levels of both the asset non-poor and asset poor households in the study area. The asset poor households would however bear the brunt of the impact, and the anticipated impact would mostly be yielded through changes in agricultural incomes and expenditure on food purchases. With increasing risk of dry rainfall conditions, total incomes of farmers could decrease by 7.3% to 45.5%. It was found that ignoring potential failures in commodity and labor markets lead to over/underestimation of the impacts of major rainfall deficits on the different types of farmers. The impact of rainfall shocks on the welfare of farmers is scenario and cluster dependent.
Purpose-This study analyses income inequality and distribution patterns among key actors in the c... more Purpose-This study analyses income inequality and distribution patterns among key actors in the cassava value chain. The study also identifies factors that influence profit of key actors in the cassava value chain. Design/methodology/approach-The study was conducted in Oyo State, Nigeria, using primary data from 620 actors, consisting of 400 farmers, 120 processors and 100 traders in the cassava value chain. The Gini coefficient was used to estimate income inequalities within and between actors. Multiple linear regression was applied to identify factors that influence the profit of the actors in the cassava value chain. Findings-The result shows a gender pattern in the participation in the cassava value chain: men dominate in the production, whereas women mostly engage in processing and marketing of processed cassava products. We also find that incomes are unequally distributed among actors, favouring traders and processors more than farmers in the value chain. Women are better off in processing and trading of value-added products than in the raw cassava production. Spatial differences also contribute to income inequality among farmers in the cassava value chain. An increase in farmers and processors' incomes reduces inequality in the value chain while an increase in traders' income widens inequality. Age is significantly negatively correlated with actors' profit at 1%, while educational level significantly increases their profit at 5%. Processors and traders with large households have a higher profit. We also find that farm size, experience and labour input have significant positive effects on farmers' profit only at 5%. Membership in an association increases farmers and processors' profit at 1 and 10%, respectively. Practical implications-The study recommends that agricultural policies that promote agrifood value chains should aim at minimizing income inequality by targeting vulnerable groups, particularly female farmers to achieve sustainable development in rural communities.
Enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to reliable, ready, and direct marketing channels is a prer... more Enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to reliable, ready, and direct marketing channels is a prerequisite for sustainable food supply and poverty reduction in the developing countries including Ghana. However, it is a great challenge for smallholder farmers to access direct marketing channels in Ghana. This paper analyzes the factors that influence smallholder rice farmers’ participation, and the intensity of participation, in direct marketing channels using primary data from 199 farmers in three rice-growing districts in the Northern Region of Ghana. A double hurdle model was used in the empirical analysis. The study findings show that a lower percentage of farmers sold their rice output to processors (direct marketing). Farm size, the price of rice output per 85 kg bag, access to market information, and access to credit increased farmers’ participation in direct marketing channels, whereas payment period and ownership of a bicycle reduced their participation. The study concludes t...
Achieving a sustainable food supply is crucial to meet the ever-increasing demand emanating from ... more Achieving a sustainable food supply is crucial to meet the ever-increasing demand emanating from high population growth, rising consumer incomes, and high rates of urbanisation in developing countries including Ghana. The adoption of farm innovations in these countries has proven to be quintessential to the attainment of self-sufficiency in supply food including rice. Nonetheless, the adoption of farm innovations has been challenging. This paper, therefore, analyses the factors that influence the number of farm innovations adopted by rice farmers in two districts of the Upper East Region of Ghana using the Poisson model. The result indicated that the adoption of individual farm innovations was low. The study showed that farm size, labour input, experience in rice farming, access to extension services, and access to credit exerted significant positive effects on the number of farm innovations adopted, whereas farmer age and distance to market tended to decrease the number of farm inn...
The promotion of farm innovations, such as mineral fertiliser, is one of the strategies for attai... more The promotion of farm innovations, such as mineral fertiliser, is one of the strategies for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of zero hunger and poverty alleviation in developing countries. However, the adoption of mineral fertilisers has been low in Africa, particularly in Ghana. The present study not only analyses the impact of mineral fertiliser on the land productivity of rice farmers in northern Ghana but also determines factors that are associated with the adoption of mineral fertilisers using a primary dataset from 470 rice farmers. The study employs endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching approaches in the empirical analysis. The result shows that the adoption of mineral fertiliser tends to significantly increase the land productivity of rice farmers by improving soil fertility and making nutrients readily available to rice crops. The empirical finding further indicates that the adoption of mineral fertiliser is positively influenced by...
The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed ... more The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed leafy vegetables in Ghana. The results show that consumers perceived freshly consumed leafy vegetables as not safe coupled with high risk of consumption. Consumers are concerned with the excessive use of chemicals by farmers and mishandling of vegetables in the retail markets. The empirical results revealed that consumers’ socioeconomic characteristics such as education, marital status, household size, and level of income significantly influence consumers’ knowledge on leafy vegetables safety. We recommend that government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders should formulate policies that would boost and promote the safe use of chemicals in vegetable production, marketing and consumption. Government should set high standards that would offer a clear distinction on the safe production practices and ensure safety of products. Other policy measures should include creating awareness on the implications of unsafe production and consumption.
This paper employed the endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods to ... more This paper employed the endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods to analyse the impact of row-planting technology on rice productivity using 470 rice farms in Northern Ghana. The empirical findings showed that the adoption of row-planting technology exerted greater positive impact on rice yields of smallholder farmers. In addition, rice yields of adopters and non-adopters are driven by farm inputs, socioeconomic, institutional and technological factors. We suggest that achieving self-sufficiency in rice and rural economic transformation in sub-Saharan Africa requires promotion of agricultural technologies including row-planting. Different specific policy interventions are also required to promote rice yields for adopters and non-adopters.
This paper investigates the economic impacts of climate change on cereal crop production in North... more This paper investigates the economic impacts of climate change on cereal crop production in Northern Ghana using 240 households comprising maize and sorghum farmers. The Ricardian regression approach was used to examine the economic impacts of climate change based on data generated from a survey conducted in the 2013/2014 farming seasons. Forty-year time-series data of rainfall and temperature from 1974 to 2013, together with cross-sectional data, were used for the empirical analysis. The Ricardian regression estimates for both maize and sorghum showed varying degrees of climate change impacts on net revenues. The results indicated that early season precipitation was beneficial for sorghum, but harmful for maize. However, mid-season precipitation tended to promote maize production. Temperature levels for all seasons impacted negatively on net revenue for both crops, except during the mid-season, when temperature exerted a positive effect on net revenue for sorghum. Our findings suggest that appropriate adaptation strategies should be promoted to reduce the negative impacts of prevailing climate change on cereal crop production.
The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly ... more The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed leafy vegetables in Ghana. The results show that consumers perceived freshly consumed leafy vegetables as not safe coupled with high risk of consumption. Consumers are concerned with the excessive use of chemicals by farmers and mishandling of vegetables in the retail markets. The empirical results revealed that consumers’ socioeconomic characteristics such as education, marital status, household size, and level of income significantly influence consumers’ knowledge on leafy vegetables safety. We recommend that government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders should formulate policies that would boost and promote the safe use of chemicals in vegetable production, marketing and consumption. Government should set high standards that would offer a clear distinction on the safe production practices and ensure safety of products. Other policy measures should include creating awareness on the implications of unsafe production and consumption.
The study explores the adoption of improved cassava varieties among smallholder farmers in Ghana.... more The study explores the adoption of improved cassava varieties among smallholder farmers in Ghana. The improved cassava varieties introduced to farmers in the study area (Sekyere South district, Ghana) are Bankye hemaa and Bankye afisiafi. The effects of the determinants of the extent of adoption are analysed with the Tobit model. The empirical results indicate that age and education of the farmer, household size, membership of farmer-based organisation, access to credit tend to have positive influence on the extent of adoption of improved cassava varieties by farmers. The age of the farmer and location -level specific effects tend to be negatively related to the extent of adoption of the improved cassava varieties. It is recommended that policy makers create an enabling environment for farmers to join farmer-based organisations. farmers must be provided frequent education and training on technology adoption
The study examined the socioeconomic determinants of rice farmer’s choice of land tenure in
the ... more The study examined the socioeconomic determinants of rice farmer’s choice of land tenure in the Upper East region of Ghana. The study employed 470 sample size extracted from Ghana Agricultural Production Survey. The study revealed that 76%, 21% and 3% of the rice farmers were land owners, rented title and share title respectively. Land owners obtained their farmlands through family, marriage, inheritance and gift. The study employed the multinomial probit model to examine the factors that influence the rice producer’s choice of land tenure system. The multinomial probit estimates showed that socioeconomic characteristics such as marital status, age, household head, extension contact and credit access influenced the rice farmer’s choice of land tenure system. We recommend that these socioeconomic characteristics of the rice producers should be critically considered when formulating any land policy in the Ghana
Rainfall shocks pose a threat to farmers in rural West Africa especially in the wake of the recur... more Rainfall shocks pose a threat to farmers in rural West Africa especially in the wake of the recurrent climate variability and its impacts on agricultural production. Despite the harm they pose, limited empirical studies exist on the welfare implications of rainfall shocks on farmers' welfare in West Africa. In addition, the potential impacts of rainfall induced commodity and labor market failures have not been given much attention in the empirical literature.Our study aimed to analyze the impact of negative rainfall shocks and commodity and labor market failures on farm households' welfare in northern Ghana. Examining the impact of commodity and labor market failures amidst the experience of a negative rainfall shock helps to identify the possible entry points through which the adverse impacts of rainfall deficits may be reduced. The study is based on a household survey data from the Africa Rising program, historical daily climate data from the CCAFS-Climate data portal and random rainfall distributions from Monte Carlo simulation. A total of 1168 households were considered in the analysis. We analyze the impact of rainfall shocks and the above-mentioned entitlement failures using a static optimization model that incorporates a crop yield response function. We found that an increase in the frequency of negative rainfall shocks under a dry future with and without entitlement failures would impact negatively on the total income and consumption levels of both the asset non-poor and asset poor households in the study area. The asset poor households would however bear the brunt of the impact, and the anticipated impact would mostly be yielded through changes in agricultural incomes and expenditure on food purchases. With increasing risk of dry rainfall conditions, total incomes of farmers could decrease by 7.3% to 45.5%. It was found that ignoring potential failures in commodity and labor markets lead to over/underestimation of the impacts of major rainfall deficits on the different types of farmers. The impact of rainfall shocks on the welfare of farmers is scenario and cluster dependent.
Purpose-This study analyses income inequality and distribution patterns among key actors in the c... more Purpose-This study analyses income inequality and distribution patterns among key actors in the cassava value chain. The study also identifies factors that influence profit of key actors in the cassava value chain. Design/methodology/approach-The study was conducted in Oyo State, Nigeria, using primary data from 620 actors, consisting of 400 farmers, 120 processors and 100 traders in the cassava value chain. The Gini coefficient was used to estimate income inequalities within and between actors. Multiple linear regression was applied to identify factors that influence the profit of the actors in the cassava value chain. Findings-The result shows a gender pattern in the participation in the cassava value chain: men dominate in the production, whereas women mostly engage in processing and marketing of processed cassava products. We also find that incomes are unequally distributed among actors, favouring traders and processors more than farmers in the value chain. Women are better off in processing and trading of value-added products than in the raw cassava production. Spatial differences also contribute to income inequality among farmers in the cassava value chain. An increase in farmers and processors' incomes reduces inequality in the value chain while an increase in traders' income widens inequality. Age is significantly negatively correlated with actors' profit at 1%, while educational level significantly increases their profit at 5%. Processors and traders with large households have a higher profit. We also find that farm size, experience and labour input have significant positive effects on farmers' profit only at 5%. Membership in an association increases farmers and processors' profit at 1 and 10%, respectively. Practical implications-The study recommends that agricultural policies that promote agrifood value chains should aim at minimizing income inequality by targeting vulnerable groups, particularly female farmers to achieve sustainable development in rural communities.
Enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to reliable, ready, and direct marketing channels is a prer... more Enhancing smallholder farmers’ access to reliable, ready, and direct marketing channels is a prerequisite for sustainable food supply and poverty reduction in the developing countries including Ghana. However, it is a great challenge for smallholder farmers to access direct marketing channels in Ghana. This paper analyzes the factors that influence smallholder rice farmers’ participation, and the intensity of participation, in direct marketing channels using primary data from 199 farmers in three rice-growing districts in the Northern Region of Ghana. A double hurdle model was used in the empirical analysis. The study findings show that a lower percentage of farmers sold their rice output to processors (direct marketing). Farm size, the price of rice output per 85 kg bag, access to market information, and access to credit increased farmers’ participation in direct marketing channels, whereas payment period and ownership of a bicycle reduced their participation. The study concludes t...
Achieving a sustainable food supply is crucial to meet the ever-increasing demand emanating from ... more Achieving a sustainable food supply is crucial to meet the ever-increasing demand emanating from high population growth, rising consumer incomes, and high rates of urbanisation in developing countries including Ghana. The adoption of farm innovations in these countries has proven to be quintessential to the attainment of self-sufficiency in supply food including rice. Nonetheless, the adoption of farm innovations has been challenging. This paper, therefore, analyses the factors that influence the number of farm innovations adopted by rice farmers in two districts of the Upper East Region of Ghana using the Poisson model. The result indicated that the adoption of individual farm innovations was low. The study showed that farm size, labour input, experience in rice farming, access to extension services, and access to credit exerted significant positive effects on the number of farm innovations adopted, whereas farmer age and distance to market tended to decrease the number of farm inn...
The promotion of farm innovations, such as mineral fertiliser, is one of the strategies for attai... more The promotion of farm innovations, such as mineral fertiliser, is one of the strategies for attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of zero hunger and poverty alleviation in developing countries. However, the adoption of mineral fertilisers has been low in Africa, particularly in Ghana. The present study not only analyses the impact of mineral fertiliser on the land productivity of rice farmers in northern Ghana but also determines factors that are associated with the adoption of mineral fertilisers using a primary dataset from 470 rice farmers. The study employs endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching approaches in the empirical analysis. The result shows that the adoption of mineral fertiliser tends to significantly increase the land productivity of rice farmers by improving soil fertility and making nutrients readily available to rice crops. The empirical finding further indicates that the adoption of mineral fertiliser is positively influenced by...
The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed ... more The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed leafy vegetables in Ghana. The results show that consumers perceived freshly consumed leafy vegetables as not safe coupled with high risk of consumption. Consumers are concerned with the excessive use of chemicals by farmers and mishandling of vegetables in the retail markets. The empirical results revealed that consumers’ socioeconomic characteristics such as education, marital status, household size, and level of income significantly influence consumers’ knowledge on leafy vegetables safety. We recommend that government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders should formulate policies that would boost and promote the safe use of chemicals in vegetable production, marketing and consumption. Government should set high standards that would offer a clear distinction on the safe production practices and ensure safety of products. Other policy measures should include creating awareness on the implications of unsafe production and consumption.
This paper employed the endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods to ... more This paper employed the endogenous switching regression and propensity score matching methods to analyse the impact of row-planting technology on rice productivity using 470 rice farms in Northern Ghana. The empirical findings showed that the adoption of row-planting technology exerted greater positive impact on rice yields of smallholder farmers. In addition, rice yields of adopters and non-adopters are driven by farm inputs, socioeconomic, institutional and technological factors. We suggest that achieving self-sufficiency in rice and rural economic transformation in sub-Saharan Africa requires promotion of agricultural technologies including row-planting. Different specific policy interventions are also required to promote rice yields for adopters and non-adopters.
This paper investigates the economic impacts of climate change on cereal crop production in North... more This paper investigates the economic impacts of climate change on cereal crop production in Northern Ghana using 240 households comprising maize and sorghum farmers. The Ricardian regression approach was used to examine the economic impacts of climate change based on data generated from a survey conducted in the 2013/2014 farming seasons. Forty-year time-series data of rainfall and temperature from 1974 to 2013, together with cross-sectional data, were used for the empirical analysis. The Ricardian regression estimates for both maize and sorghum showed varying degrees of climate change impacts on net revenues. The results indicated that early season precipitation was beneficial for sorghum, but harmful for maize. However, mid-season precipitation tended to promote maize production. Temperature levels for all seasons impacted negatively on net revenue for both crops, except during the mid-season, when temperature exerted a positive effect on net revenue for sorghum. Our findings suggest that appropriate adaptation strategies should be promoted to reduce the negative impacts of prevailing climate change on cereal crop production.
The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly ... more The present paper examines consumers’ perception and knowledge on the safety of freshly consumed leafy vegetables in Ghana. The results show that consumers perceived freshly consumed leafy vegetables as not safe coupled with high risk of consumption. Consumers are concerned with the excessive use of chemicals by farmers and mishandling of vegetables in the retail markets. The empirical results revealed that consumers’ socioeconomic characteristics such as education, marital status, household size, and level of income significantly influence consumers’ knowledge on leafy vegetables safety. We recommend that government, non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders should formulate policies that would boost and promote the safe use of chemicals in vegetable production, marketing and consumption. Government should set high standards that would offer a clear distinction on the safe production practices and ensure safety of products. Other policy measures should include creating awareness on the implications of unsafe production and consumption.
The study explores the adoption of improved cassava varieties among smallholder farmers in Ghana.... more The study explores the adoption of improved cassava varieties among smallholder farmers in Ghana. The improved cassava varieties introduced to farmers in the study area (Sekyere South district, Ghana) are Bankye hemaa and Bankye afisiafi. The effects of the determinants of the extent of adoption are analysed with the Tobit model. The empirical results indicate that age and education of the farmer, household size, membership of farmer-based organisation, access to credit tend to have positive influence on the extent of adoption of improved cassava varieties by farmers. The age of the farmer and location -level specific effects tend to be negatively related to the extent of adoption of the improved cassava varieties. It is recommended that policy makers create an enabling environment for farmers to join farmer-based organisations. farmers must be provided frequent education and training on technology adoption
The study examined the socioeconomic determinants of rice farmer’s choice of land tenure in
the ... more The study examined the socioeconomic determinants of rice farmer’s choice of land tenure in the Upper East region of Ghana. The study employed 470 sample size extracted from Ghana Agricultural Production Survey. The study revealed that 76%, 21% and 3% of the rice farmers were land owners, rented title and share title respectively. Land owners obtained their farmlands through family, marriage, inheritance and gift. The study employed the multinomial probit model to examine the factors that influence the rice producer’s choice of land tenure system. The multinomial probit estimates showed that socioeconomic characteristics such as marital status, age, household head, extension contact and credit access influenced the rice farmer’s choice of land tenure system. We recommend that these socioeconomic characteristics of the rice producers should be critically considered when formulating any land policy in the Ghana
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Papers by Emmanuel Kwame Donkor
studies exist on the welfare implications of rainfall shocks on farmers' welfare in West Africa. In addition, the potential impacts of rainfall induced commodity and labor market failures have not been given much attention in the empirical literature.Our study aimed to analyze the impact of negative rainfall shocks and commodity and labor market failures on farm households' welfare in northern Ghana. Examining the impact of commodity and labor market failures amidst the experience of a negative rainfall shock helps to identify the possible entry points through which the adverse impacts of rainfall deficits may be reduced. The study is based on a household survey data from the Africa Rising program, historical daily
climate data from the CCAFS-Climate data portal and random rainfall distributions from Monte Carlo simulation. A total of 1168 households were considered in the analysis. We analyze the impact of rainfall shocks and the above-mentioned entitlement failures using a static optimization model that incorporates a crop yield response function. We found that an increase in the frequency of negative rainfall shocks under a dry
future with and without entitlement failures would impact negatively on the total income and consumption levels of both the asset non-poor and asset poor households in the study area. The asset poor households would however bear the brunt of the impact, and the anticipated impact would mostly be yielded through changes in agricultural incomes and expenditure on food purchases. With increasing risk of dry rainfall conditions, total incomes of farmers could decrease by 7.3% to 45.5%. It was found that ignoring potential failures in commodity and labor markets lead to over/underestimation of the impacts of major rainfall deficits on the different types of farmers. The impact of rainfall shocks on the welfare of farmers is scenario and cluster dependent.
the Upper East region of Ghana. The study employed 470 sample size extracted from Ghana
Agricultural Production Survey. The study revealed that 76%, 21% and 3% of the rice farmers
were land owners, rented title and share title respectively. Land owners obtained their
farmlands through family, marriage, inheritance and gift. The study employed the multinomial
probit model to examine the factors that influence the rice producer’s choice of land tenure
system. The multinomial probit estimates showed that socioeconomic characteristics such as
marital status, age, household head, extension contact and credit access influenced the rice
farmer’s choice of land tenure system. We recommend that these socioeconomic characteristics
of the rice producers should be critically considered when formulating any land policy in the
Ghana
studies exist on the welfare implications of rainfall shocks on farmers' welfare in West Africa. In addition, the potential impacts of rainfall induced commodity and labor market failures have not been given much attention in the empirical literature.Our study aimed to analyze the impact of negative rainfall shocks and commodity and labor market failures on farm households' welfare in northern Ghana. Examining the impact of commodity and labor market failures amidst the experience of a negative rainfall shock helps to identify the possible entry points through which the adverse impacts of rainfall deficits may be reduced. The study is based on a household survey data from the Africa Rising program, historical daily
climate data from the CCAFS-Climate data portal and random rainfall distributions from Monte Carlo simulation. A total of 1168 households were considered in the analysis. We analyze the impact of rainfall shocks and the above-mentioned entitlement failures using a static optimization model that incorporates a crop yield response function. We found that an increase in the frequency of negative rainfall shocks under a dry
future with and without entitlement failures would impact negatively on the total income and consumption levels of both the asset non-poor and asset poor households in the study area. The asset poor households would however bear the brunt of the impact, and the anticipated impact would mostly be yielded through changes in agricultural incomes and expenditure on food purchases. With increasing risk of dry rainfall conditions, total incomes of farmers could decrease by 7.3% to 45.5%. It was found that ignoring potential failures in commodity and labor markets lead to over/underestimation of the impacts of major rainfall deficits on the different types of farmers. The impact of rainfall shocks on the welfare of farmers is scenario and cluster dependent.
the Upper East region of Ghana. The study employed 470 sample size extracted from Ghana
Agricultural Production Survey. The study revealed that 76%, 21% and 3% of the rice farmers
were land owners, rented title and share title respectively. Land owners obtained their
farmlands through family, marriage, inheritance and gift. The study employed the multinomial
probit model to examine the factors that influence the rice producer’s choice of land tenure
system. The multinomial probit estimates showed that socioeconomic characteristics such as
marital status, age, household head, extension contact and credit access influenced the rice
farmer’s choice of land tenure system. We recommend that these socioeconomic characteristics
of the rice producers should be critically considered when formulating any land policy in the
Ghana