Author:
Egyir Irene S.,Owusu‐Benoah E.,Anno‐Nyako F.O.,Banful B.
Abstract
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to identify and assess the key factors that influence the adoption of agrochemicals on plantain farms in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe paper employs probit estimation using data from a stratified random sample of 249 farmers in four districts in Ghana.FindingsThe results show that adoption of agrochemicals is positively associated with: being literate, older than 40 years of age, having higher income from sales, living in villages distant to Accra (capital of Ghana), having access to hi‐tech machinery, being migrant, and being linked to extension services and financial institutions. Contrary to expectation, a farmer's gender and association with farmer‐based organizations (FBO) and non‐governmental organizations (NGO) did not make a difference.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that there are no exclusions to innovation systems such as agrochemical adoption based on gender or living in rural areas; women are just as technologically empowered as men, while rural farmers have an option to retain their indigenous management practices or adopt new and improved practices such as using agrochemicals. Major efforts to improve access to agrochemical adoption lie with government extension officers, as the functions of FBO and NGO have yet to make a significant difference. More needs to be done to bring young, illiterate, low income and indigene farmers into inclusive plantain science techniques and applications in Ghana.Originality/valueThe paper reveals how vulnerable groups such as rural populations and women plantain farmers are being included in systems that support agrochemical adoption.
Subject
Strategy and Management,Economics and Econometrics,Business and International Management
Reference23 articles.
1. Abdulai, A.C. and Binder, C. (2006), “Slash and burn cultivation practice and agricultural input demand and output supply”, Journal of Environment & Development Economics, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 201‐20.
2. Adesina, A.A., Mbila, C., Nkamleu, G.B. and Endamana, D. (2000), “Analysis of the determinants of adoption of alley farming by farmers in the forest zone of Southwest Cameroon”, Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, Vol. 80, pp. 255‐65.
3. Akinsanmi, A. and Doppler, W. (2005), “Socio‐economics and food security of farming families in South East Nigeria”, working paper presented at the Conference on International Agricultural Research for Development, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, 11‐13 October.
4. Amsalu, A. and de Graaff, J. (2006), “Determinants of adoption and continued use of stone terraces for soil and water conservation in an Ethiopian highland watershed”, Journal of Ecological Economics, Vol. 61 Nos 2‐3, pp. 294‐300.
5. Baidu‐Forson, J. (1999), “Factors influencing adoption of land‐enhancing technology in the Sahel: lessons from a case study in Niger”, Journal of Agricultural Economics, Vol. 20, pp. 231‐9.
Cited by
9 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献