Assessing the effects of training on rice farmers’ yield. The case of JICA training on sustainable rain-fed lowland rice production technology in the Northern, Savanna and North-east Regions in Ghana

Abstract

The consumption of rice has increased at an increasing rate globally with greater number of consumers deriving high calories through rice, hence the need for training of rice farmers to help increase its production to meet such high demand. This notion informed Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to collaborate with Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) and Government of Ghana (GoG) to train rice farmers in Ghana specifically in the Northern, Savana and North-east Regions. The ‘rain-fed lowland rice production technology training’, which was intended to increase rice production and profitability of rice farmers in the selected regions was carried out successfully within the project time frame. This study sought to evaluate the success of the training along two key objectives - ascertaining the extent to which the training has contributed to increase in rice yield (per hectare) of farmers in the selected areas and assessing the correlation between the components (land development and rice cultivation) of the training project on rice yield in the selected areas. The findings revealed the there was increase in rice farmers yield per hectare after the training and there was also a positive correlation between land development as a component of the training and rice cultivation in the selected area. The research recommend that MoFA should endeavour to replicate the JICA training on rain-fed lowland rice production technology across all rice production areas in Ghana.