ABSTRACT There have been investments in the infant food sector in Ghana in recent times. This is as a result of the introduction of cereal foods fortified appropriately for children aged five and below aimed at eradicating or reducing malnutrition. However, competition from transnational and multinational companies with branded and certified products is hindering progress of local companies in the sector. This study seeks to assess local processors’ willingness to pay (WTP) for product qual...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to analyse production risk and technical efficiency of lowland rice farms in Ashanti region using adjusted stochastic production frontier. Cross sectional data for 2014 cropping season was collected from 200 sampled rice farms using multistage sampling technique. The results of the study revealed very low utilization of improved seed (42.8 kg/ha) by famers as against the standard quantity of 100kg/ha. Among the farm inputs used, fertilizer and improved seed we...
ABSTRACT The negative effect of Climate Change (CC) on agriculture across Africa has been well established. This underscores its global policy interest. In Nigeria, crop farming is climate dependent and farmholders often employ measures that are sub-optimal against climate risk. This raises the vulnerability of farming to CC uncertainty. For a long time, knowledge of CC perception by farmholders dominated the existing literature. However, information on economic estimates of damages and resp...
ABSTRACT Nigeria ranks fifth in world plantain production but has low export volume. The low export may be a result of activities along its value chain. However there is little information on the number of employment generated, comparative advantage, competitiveness and effects of policies on plantain. Therefore, the competitiveness of plantain along the value chain in southwestern Nigeria was investigated. A three stage sampling procedure was used. The ten high plantain producing Local Gov...
ABSTRACT This study assessed rice farmers’ perception of climate change and adaptation strategies towards tackling the challenges climate change poses to the rice farmers in Ketu North District, Volta Region of Ghana. The multistage sampling technique was used to obtain a sample size of 340 rice farmers from six (6) farming sections and a structured questionnaire was used to elicit data from the respondents. The data collected from the rice farmers were analyzed using descriptive statistic...
ABSTRACT The study was conducted to analyse production risk and technical efficiency of lowland rice farms in Ashanti region using adjusted stochastic production frontier. Cross sectional data for 2014 cropping season was collected from 200 sampled rice farms using multistage sampling technique. The results of the study revealed very low utilization of improved seed (42.8 kg/ha) by famers as against the standard quantity of 100kg/ha. Among the farm inputs used, fertilizer and improved ...
ABSTRACT Inequality is an important factor in understanding the welfare of rural households. Most discussions on inequality have focused primarily on income to the exclusion of non-income dimensions such as skills, education, political participation, health and life expectancy. Knowledge of non-income inequality will enhance the understanding of the key welfare attributes of Rural Households (RHs). The extent of and factors affecting non-income inequality among households in rural Nigeria we...
ABSTRACT The effectiveness of health insurance and women’s autonomy in removing barriers to the utilisation of maternal healthcare in order to curb maternal mortality especially in developing countries is gaining ground. However, in assessing the effects of health insurance on choice of delivery facilities, studies either put all facility-based delivery services together and compare with home care or fail to address endogeneity problem. Moreover, the connections among health insurance, auto...
ABSTRACT The study sets out to find out on one hand, the present structure of resources in agricultural production and secondly, to delve deeper into the controversy surrounding the comparative efficiency in resource use by sharecroppers and owner farmers in agricultural production. The approaches used to assess the structure of the resources are frequency distributions, descriptive analyses and estimation of cost composition of individual resources. In assessing the comparative effic...
Abstract This study analyzed the value chain in rice production systems in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Purposive and random sampling techniques were used in the selection of respondents for the study. The Rice value chain actors comprised rice farmers, processors and traders. Data for the study were obtained from primary sources using questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Functional analysis, Value Chain Map, Costs and Returns analysis, Linear Programming tec...
ABSTRACT This study analyzes the profitability of maize products in Nigeria. It determines the socio-economic characteristics and processing activities of the processors; it identifies the various processed products from maize and then estimates costs and associated returns to maize processing. It also identifies constraints to maize processing; analyzed the factors that influence profit and investigate the specific effects of identified constraints on the processor’s growth potential of...
ABSTRACT The study examined the economic analysis of cassava production among smallholder farmers in Ondo State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were: to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the cassava producers, determine the factors influencing the level of profitability accruable to the cassava producers, determine the cost and returns of cassava production, also to identify the...
ABSTRACT The research was undertaken with the broad objective of carrying out an analysis on the comparative economic analysis of semi-automated and automated methods of garri processing, in Oyo State. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents in the study area, estimate the profit of the two categories of the methods of garri processing in the study area and identify the factors that influenced the profitability of the garri processors. A ...
ABSTRACT The study examined Productivity and Efficiency of Maize-based Cropping System Farmers in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; identify the various maize-based cropping systems in the area; determine the profitability of maize-based cropping systems in the area; estimate the technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of the famers; determine the optimal p...
Abstract: Mobile phone supports farmers to have access to lucrative beef cattle markets by increasing access to timely market information. This study focuses on use of mobile phone in beef cattle marketing among smallholder farmers in Girar Jarso district, Oromia region, Ethiopia. Specifically the study were designed to assess the contributions of mobile phone in beef cattle marketing, to identify factors affecting use of mobile phone in beef cattle marketing and to identify the constraints...