Dr. Mrs. Monica Addison is a highly motivated Research Fellow at the Bureau of Integrated Rural Development (BIRD) of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, Ghana. Prior to joining KNUST in August, 2013, she had worked with public and private organizations for more than fifteen years. Monica completed her Ph.D. programme in Agricultural Economics in July, 2018. Since she obtained her undergraduate degree in June, 1997, at KNUST, her areas of interest have always been gender and development, food security and poverty reduction. Throughout Monica's career development, she has focused on championing the course of women – the poor and the vulnerable – to reduce poverty in rural areas. Monica's goals and prospects about her future career are to lead and manage research projects that target gender issues and food security to contribute to the research strategies of her Department and the College of Agriculture and Renewable Resources, KNUST, and to be able to provide academic leadership to students working in their own research areas and contribute to their development through mentorship and coaching. Dr. Mrs. Monica Addison has been working on different research projects. Specifically, she conducts applied economics research (both qualitaive and quantitative), embarks on community engagement activities and teaches/ or mentors students at KNUST. She has published ten (10) papers in peer-reviewed journals, published one (1) paper in conference proceedings, published one (1) book chapter and participated in several international conferences.https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3553-8703https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=SehQqO0AAAAJ
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies
PurposeVarious models and approaches are implemented to provide technical assistance and support ... more PurposeVarious models and approaches are implemented to provide technical assistance and support to improve cocoa farmers' welfare in Ghana. The Farmer Business School (FBS), which is analogous to Farmer Field School (FFS), is one of the few initiatives of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). The main aim of the initiative is to train smallholder cocoa farmers to perceive cocoa production as a business. However, there is limited or conflicting evidence as to the effect of FBS on productivity and food security, especially in Ghana. This study assessed FBS participation and the participation's impact on productivity and food security of cocoa farmers.Design/methodology/approachThe study used primary data collected from 542 cocoa farmers in Central and Western North regions of Ghana and employed descriptive statistics, perception index and Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) as analytical tools.FindingsThe results, whi...
This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in in... more This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in income is a key objective of societies. The study utilizes a primary dataset generated from nine hundred and seventeen (917) rice farming households in Ghana and employs a two-stage Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model in the empirical analysis. An analysis shows that gender is associated with intra-household income. The result suggests that farm size positively and significantly affects rice farmers' net returns, whereas child care negatively affects net returns. The result further shows that, on the average, the male rice farmers' registered a higher net return than their female counterparts. The study recommends that, in order to ensure equity at farm household level, the government should not only invest in the development and promotion of appropriate improved rice technologies but also ensure equal access to land and participation in domestic work.
The importance of Cassava in the food systems of Ghanaians cannot be underestimated. As a main st... more The importance of Cassava in the food systems of Ghanaians cannot be underestimated. As a main staple crop, Cassava contributes about 22% and 30% to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) and daily calories intake respectively. Per capita consumption of 152 kg makes it the highest among all food crops. Due to Cassava’s importance, there have been lots of attention paid to it by the Government and Donor agencies towards its improvement. This has yielded substantial results in terms of the development of cassava varieties and good agronomic practices. This chapter reviewed cassava technologies development in Ghana, adoption of these technologies by smallholder farmers, and livelihood implications. Results generated showed that Research and Development since 1993 has developed, released, and disseminated 25 new cassava varieties to smallholder farmers. Average cassava yields have increased from about 14 t/ha in 2009 to 21 t/ha in 2018. Partial budget analysis showed that smallh...
This paper examined gender role, input use and technical efficiency between male and female rice ... more This paper examined gender role, input use and technical efficiency between male and female rice farmers. Similar studies have been conducted, however, the relationships between gender role, input use and farmer efficiency remains neglected and under researched. The question addressed in this study is ‘Does gender role influence input use and farmer efficiency? Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from one hundred (100) households, and stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the technical efficiency levels among male and female rice farmers. Our study finds labour, land and fertilizer significant contributors to higher output and yield, and that male labour input tends to promote higher rice output than that of their female counterparts. We also show that males are more efficient in rice production than their female counterparts. Furthermore, farm labour, extension contacts and land size tend to reduce inefficiency in rice production in the study area. ...
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2021
Purpose A key strategy in the policy of saw millers and artisanal millers supplying the domestic ... more Purpose A key strategy in the policy of saw millers and artisanal millers supplying the domestic market with legal and sustainable lumber is the transformation of chainsaw operators into legal artisanal millers to stop the production of illegal timber and supply only authorized wood to local trade points. The challenge, however, is how to develop the concept of its viability and acceptability to the chainsaw operators. Specifically, existing and potential investors’ knowledge about the possible costs and revenue is non-existent. This study aims to examine the financial and economic viability of the artisanal timber milling (ATM) business in rural Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Using data from three operational artisanal milling companies in Ghana, net present value, internal rate of return, profitability index and payback period were used in analyzing the viability of artisanal timber milling. Findings The results showed that the ATM business is financially and economically viab...
The study sought to test the hypothesis that gender influences adoption of innovations in the ric... more The study sought to test the hypothesis that gender influences adoption of innovations in the rice sector of Ghana. There is an existence of gender gap in adoption of farm innovations in Ghana. After desk review, it was found that the existing literature has not provided a clear linkage between gender and adoption of agricultural technologies. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine how the interaction between gender and other socio-economic factors influence the incidence of adoption of improved rice variety and fertilizer. Drawing on 917 face-to-face interviews with rice producers, the results show that child care and limited access to land inhibit female incidence of adoption. It is recommended that the innovation system should take cognizance of female reproductive role and develop, as much as possible, technology options that rely less on intensive use of labour. Furthermore, government should facilitate the development of land markets to improve female access to lan...
ABSTRACT The article investigates the linkages between gender, development and utilisation of tec... more ABSTRACT The article investigates the linkages between gender, development and utilisation of technological innovations in Ghana. The study adopted an exploratory design and used thematic content analysis for the qualitative data derived from in-depth interviews with rice scientists and farmers. The findings revealed that research institutions lack the requisite mandate, capacity and resources to mainstream gender issues in research activities. The findings also showed that the varietal preference of male rice farmers is marketability, whereas that of their female counterparts is early maturity, suggesting differences in gender needs and concerns. Broader investment in rice research for gender-inclusiveness and equity is recommended.
... Monica Addison is Assistant Project Officer, Self-Help Foundation, PO Box 7231, Kumasi, Ghana... more ... Monica Addison is Assistant Project Officer, Self-Help Foundation, PO Box 7231, Kumasi, Ghana. ... 1979; Le Moigne, 1979; Panin, 1988) partly because the recommended packages did not adequately address key adopter issues and problems (Crawford and Lassiter, 1985; Lele ...
Background Government of Ghana’s effort to reduce income inequality consistently poses a major ch... more Background Government of Ghana’s effort to reduce income inequality consistently poses a major challenge to public policy formulation. The promotion and dissemination of agricultural technologies as a pathway out of income inequality in rural Ghana have received widespread support. Yet, knowledge about the impact of agricultural technologies on rural income inequality remains low. The objective of the study is to evaluate the link between the uptake of improved rice technologies and income distribution in the study area. Methods This paper uses a survey data from 917 smallholder rice producers in selected communities in Ghana. The study employs the Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model, a two-stage model, to empirically analyse the role of agricultural technologies in rural income distribution. Results The empirical result shows that education, farm size, land ownership, participation in relevant extension training programmes enhance adoption, but ...
This study examined the constraints and differences in varietal preferences for male and female r... more This study examined the constraints and differences in varietal preferences for male and female rice farmers in lowland rice ecosystem in Ashanti Region of Ghana. Successful development interventions such as dissemination of improved rice varieties are, by their nature, transformative but paying attention to gender constraints and varietal preferences will always make them more effective. Yet, these issues are not adequately documented and analyzed in adoption studies. A total sample size of seventy (70) rice farmers was randomly selected for an in-depth individual interview, using structured questionnaires. Analytical tools used were mainly descriptive and statistical methods. The results indicate that gender constraints are influenced by gender roles. The male constraints are lack of credit to expand cultivation, land preparation, bird scaring, land availability and weeding, whilst their female counterparts are credited to expand cultivation, bird scaring, weeding, labour availabi...
This paper sought to contribute to the on-going discussion on improving rice production in Ghana.... more This paper sought to contribute to the on-going discussion on improving rice production in Ghana. The objective of the study was to analyse the effect of rice value chain development initiative on domestic rice production in the Ahafo Ano North district of Ghana. Primary data for the study gathered through focus group discussions and key informant interviews was complemented by desk studies. The main finding was that the rice value chain was not formalized in the district, although informal types existed. The study also showed that domestic rice producers had achieved regular annual increases due to informal rice value chains. Nevertheless, there was lack of competitiveness of domestic rice vis-à-vis imported rice due to the poor quality of milling. Therefore, the study recommended: (i) adopting sectorwide value chain strategies that would enhance development of formal rice value chain and competitiveness of local rice industry; and (ii) investing in post-harvest product-quality infrastructure to ensure product quality.
The use of improved agricultural technologies that lead to improved productivity, income and food... more The use of improved agricultural technologies that lead to improved productivity, income and food security, could also destabilize intra-household time allocation. Using primary data from 917 rice farmers in Ashanti and Upper East Regions of Ghana, this paper employs a two-stage Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model to quantify the impact of improved rice production technologies on intra-household time allocation. The empirical results indicate that farmers who take up improved rice technologies (fertilizer and improved rice seed) tend to increase labour input in farm work by 13.93 h per week. This has implications for the amount of time available for domestic work and leisure, especially for women in typical rice farming household. The design and development of technological innovations in the agricultural sector should take serious account of the domestic workload of women in farming communities to improve intensity and sustainability of use for ...
Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging Economies
PurposeVarious models and approaches are implemented to provide technical assistance and support ... more PurposeVarious models and approaches are implemented to provide technical assistance and support to improve cocoa farmers' welfare in Ghana. The Farmer Business School (FBS), which is analogous to Farmer Field School (FFS), is one of the few initiatives of GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit) and Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD). The main aim of the initiative is to train smallholder cocoa farmers to perceive cocoa production as a business. However, there is limited or conflicting evidence as to the effect of FBS on productivity and food security, especially in Ghana. This study assessed FBS participation and the participation's impact on productivity and food security of cocoa farmers.Design/methodology/approachThe study used primary data collected from 542 cocoa farmers in Central and Western North regions of Ghana and employed descriptive statistics, perception index and Endogenous Switching Regression (ESR) as analytical tools.FindingsThe results, whi...
This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in in... more This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in income is a key objective of societies. The study utilizes a primary dataset generated from nine hundred and seventeen (917) rice farming households in Ghana and employs a two-stage Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model in the empirical analysis. An analysis shows that gender is associated with intra-household income. The result suggests that farm size positively and significantly affects rice farmers' net returns, whereas child care negatively affects net returns. The result further shows that, on the average, the male rice farmers' registered a higher net return than their female counterparts. The study recommends that, in order to ensure equity at farm household level, the government should not only invest in the development and promotion of appropriate improved rice technologies but also ensure equal access to land and participation in domestic work.
The importance of Cassava in the food systems of Ghanaians cannot be underestimated. As a main st... more The importance of Cassava in the food systems of Ghanaians cannot be underestimated. As a main staple crop, Cassava contributes about 22% and 30% to the Agricultural Gross Domestic Product (AGDP) and daily calories intake respectively. Per capita consumption of 152 kg makes it the highest among all food crops. Due to Cassava’s importance, there have been lots of attention paid to it by the Government and Donor agencies towards its improvement. This has yielded substantial results in terms of the development of cassava varieties and good agronomic practices. This chapter reviewed cassava technologies development in Ghana, adoption of these technologies by smallholder farmers, and livelihood implications. Results generated showed that Research and Development since 1993 has developed, released, and disseminated 25 new cassava varieties to smallholder farmers. Average cassava yields have increased from about 14 t/ha in 2009 to 21 t/ha in 2018. Partial budget analysis showed that smallh...
This paper examined gender role, input use and technical efficiency between male and female rice ... more This paper examined gender role, input use and technical efficiency between male and female rice farmers. Similar studies have been conducted, however, the relationships between gender role, input use and farmer efficiency remains neglected and under researched. The question addressed in this study is ‘Does gender role influence input use and farmer efficiency? Structured questionnaires were used to collect primary data from one hundred (100) households, and stochastic frontier model was used to estimate the technical efficiency levels among male and female rice farmers. Our study finds labour, land and fertilizer significant contributors to higher output and yield, and that male labour input tends to promote higher rice output than that of their female counterparts. We also show that males are more efficient in rice production than their female counterparts. Furthermore, farm labour, extension contacts and land size tend to reduce inefficiency in rice production in the study area. ...
Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, 2021
Purpose A key strategy in the policy of saw millers and artisanal millers supplying the domestic ... more Purpose A key strategy in the policy of saw millers and artisanal millers supplying the domestic market with legal and sustainable lumber is the transformation of chainsaw operators into legal artisanal millers to stop the production of illegal timber and supply only authorized wood to local trade points. The challenge, however, is how to develop the concept of its viability and acceptability to the chainsaw operators. Specifically, existing and potential investors’ knowledge about the possible costs and revenue is non-existent. This study aims to examine the financial and economic viability of the artisanal timber milling (ATM) business in rural Ghana. Design/methodology/approach Using data from three operational artisanal milling companies in Ghana, net present value, internal rate of return, profitability index and payback period were used in analyzing the viability of artisanal timber milling. Findings The results showed that the ATM business is financially and economically viab...
The study sought to test the hypothesis that gender influences adoption of innovations in the ric... more The study sought to test the hypothesis that gender influences adoption of innovations in the rice sector of Ghana. There is an existence of gender gap in adoption of farm innovations in Ghana. After desk review, it was found that the existing literature has not provided a clear linkage between gender and adoption of agricultural technologies. Thus, the objective of this study was to determine how the interaction between gender and other socio-economic factors influence the incidence of adoption of improved rice variety and fertilizer. Drawing on 917 face-to-face interviews with rice producers, the results show that child care and limited access to land inhibit female incidence of adoption. It is recommended that the innovation system should take cognizance of female reproductive role and develop, as much as possible, technology options that rely less on intensive use of labour. Furthermore, government should facilitate the development of land markets to improve female access to lan...
ABSTRACT The article investigates the linkages between gender, development and utilisation of tec... more ABSTRACT The article investigates the linkages between gender, development and utilisation of technological innovations in Ghana. The study adopted an exploratory design and used thematic content analysis for the qualitative data derived from in-depth interviews with rice scientists and farmers. The findings revealed that research institutions lack the requisite mandate, capacity and resources to mainstream gender issues in research activities. The findings also showed that the varietal preference of male rice farmers is marketability, whereas that of their female counterparts is early maturity, suggesting differences in gender needs and concerns. Broader investment in rice research for gender-inclusiveness and equity is recommended.
... Monica Addison is Assistant Project Officer, Self-Help Foundation, PO Box 7231, Kumasi, Ghana... more ... Monica Addison is Assistant Project Officer, Self-Help Foundation, PO Box 7231, Kumasi, Ghana. ... 1979; Le Moigne, 1979; Panin, 1988) partly because the recommended packages did not adequately address key adopter issues and problems (Crawford and Lassiter, 1985; Lele ...
Background Government of Ghana’s effort to reduce income inequality consistently poses a major ch... more Background Government of Ghana’s effort to reduce income inequality consistently poses a major challenge to public policy formulation. The promotion and dissemination of agricultural technologies as a pathway out of income inequality in rural Ghana have received widespread support. Yet, knowledge about the impact of agricultural technologies on rural income inequality remains low. The objective of the study is to evaluate the link between the uptake of improved rice technologies and income distribution in the study area. Methods This paper uses a survey data from 917 smallholder rice producers in selected communities in Ghana. The study employs the Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model, a two-stage model, to empirically analyse the role of agricultural technologies in rural income distribution. Results The empirical result shows that education, farm size, land ownership, participation in relevant extension training programmes enhance adoption, but ...
This study examined the constraints and differences in varietal preferences for male and female r... more This study examined the constraints and differences in varietal preferences for male and female rice farmers in lowland rice ecosystem in Ashanti Region of Ghana. Successful development interventions such as dissemination of improved rice varieties are, by their nature, transformative but paying attention to gender constraints and varietal preferences will always make them more effective. Yet, these issues are not adequately documented and analyzed in adoption studies. A total sample size of seventy (70) rice farmers was randomly selected for an in-depth individual interview, using structured questionnaires. Analytical tools used were mainly descriptive and statistical methods. The results indicate that gender constraints are influenced by gender roles. The male constraints are lack of credit to expand cultivation, land preparation, bird scaring, land availability and weeding, whilst their female counterparts are credited to expand cultivation, bird scaring, weeding, labour availabi...
This paper sought to contribute to the on-going discussion on improving rice production in Ghana.... more This paper sought to contribute to the on-going discussion on improving rice production in Ghana. The objective of the study was to analyse the effect of rice value chain development initiative on domestic rice production in the Ahafo Ano North district of Ghana. Primary data for the study gathered through focus group discussions and key informant interviews was complemented by desk studies. The main finding was that the rice value chain was not formalized in the district, although informal types existed. The study also showed that domestic rice producers had achieved regular annual increases due to informal rice value chains. Nevertheless, there was lack of competitiveness of domestic rice vis-à-vis imported rice due to the poor quality of milling. Therefore, the study recommended: (i) adopting sectorwide value chain strategies that would enhance development of formal rice value chain and competitiveness of local rice industry; and (ii) investing in post-harvest product-quality infrastructure to ensure product quality.
The use of improved agricultural technologies that lead to improved productivity, income and food... more The use of improved agricultural technologies that lead to improved productivity, income and food security, could also destabilize intra-household time allocation. Using primary data from 917 rice farmers in Ashanti and Upper East Regions of Ghana, this paper employs a two-stage Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model to quantify the impact of improved rice production technologies on intra-household time allocation. The empirical results indicate that farmers who take up improved rice technologies (fertilizer and improved rice seed) tend to increase labour input in farm work by 13.93 h per week. This has implications for the amount of time available for domestic work and leisure, especially for women in typical rice farming household. The design and development of technological innovations in the agricultural sector should take serious account of the domestic workload of women in farming communities to improve intensity and sustainability of use for ...
This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in in... more This paper assesses the role of gender in intra-household income in Ghana. Household equity in income is a key objective of societies. The study utilizes a primary dataset generated from nine hundred and seventeen (917) rice farming households in Ghana and employs a two-stage Bourguignon, Fournier, and Gurgand (BFG) selection bias correction model in the empirical analysis. An analysis shows that gender is associated with intra-household income. The result suggests that farm size positively and significantly affects rice farmers' net returns, whereas child care negatively affects net returns. The result further shows that, on the average, the male rice farmers' registered a higher net return than their female counterparts. The study recommends that, in order to ensure equity at farm household level, the government should not only invest in the development and promotion of appropriate improved rice technologies but also ensure equal access to land and participation in domestic work.
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competitiveness of local rice industry; and (ii) investing in post-harvest product-quality infrastructure to ensure product quality.
competitiveness of local rice industry; and (ii) investing in post-harvest product-quality infrastructure to ensure product quality.