Structural equation modelling of perception for sustainable agriculture as climate change mitigation strategy in Ghana

Abstract

Abstract Background Ghana’s agriculture sector has contributed significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past decades even though there has been persistent decline of about 12.8% in the last 7 years. It decreased from 31.8% in 2009 to merely 19% as of September 2015, a period of 7 years. In spite of these trends, sustainable agriculture has been observed to be a game changer in agricultural development and growth globally. Sustainable agriculture is partly dependent on the attitude of the present agriculture students who represent the potential officers to impart sustainable agriculture knowledge to farmers. It is therefore relevant to assess the perception of students toward the concept of sustainable agriculture on climate change to inform policy decisions and interventions. Methods To assess the perception of students’ toward sustainable agriculture, this study sampled 120 final year undergraduate students’ in the School of Agriculture at the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. The study used a well-structured questionnaire to solicit students’ perception for sustainable agriculture, its’ adoption barriers and perceived strategies to address the barriers in Ghana. Results Findings indicated that students’ perception for sustainable agriculture is positive. Majority of the students (78.00%) were of the view that sustainable agricultural practices would help protect the environment and our natural resources, therefore could mitigate adverse effects of climate change on agricultural activities. Conclusions Students ranked perceived barriers to sustainable agriculture adoption as; economic costs, lack of knowledge and land tenure constraints. Strategic ways to address the barriers were identified as farmer-to-farmer education, provision of financial incentives, developing training and partnership programs, and participatory learning.