ABSTRACT Semi-arid peri-urban environment holds great potential for dairy development to meet the high demand for milk and become a livelihood support strategy. In support for dairy production, forage technologies were promoted among dairy farmers in order to improve the performance of the sector and contribute to poverty reduction. However, the level and determinants of adoption of selected forage technologies in relation to dairy production is still unknown. To address this, 150 dairy farme...
ABSTRACT best +practices in sisal cultivation.it was also revealed that there was a relationship between age and awareness of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity (p-value=0.809>p=0.05). xiv Further, 30.65% of factors identified to be contributing to the low sisal propagation in the area related to lack of knowledge and 0.77% related to financial constraints. This showed that there was an association between the awareness of sisal cultivation as a commercial activity and a highest level...
ABSTRACT Sustainable agricultural production in Kenya requires improvement of yields per unit of land while still conserving soil resources. Besides poor soil nutrient status, water is a limiting factor to crop production in the rain-fed farming systems of central highlands of Kenya. Hence, there is need to address soil water scarcity challenges in order to increase crop production. The objective of the study was to determine the effects of tillage and mulching on maize (Zea Mays. L) yield, s...
ABSTRACT The influence of soil fertility management technologies on crop production has widely been researched in Tharaka-Nithi County. However, data on their contribution towards national greenhouse gas budget is scanty. This study aimed at characterising smallholder farming systems and simulating greenhouse gas emissions, maize yields, yield scaled nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions and N2O emission factors from different soil fertility management technologies in Tharaka-Nithi County. Three hund...
ABSTRACT Current demand for soybean in Kenya is higher than production. The deficit which is over 95% is filled through importation from neighboring countries. Despite the high demand, adoption and production is low (0.56 to 1.1 t ha-1) against potential yield of 3.0 – 3.6 t ha-1. The low production is associated with low use of fertilizers. Farmers are using mineral fertilizers below recommended rates and they are not using organic fertilizers despite them being readily available. The obje...
ABSTRACT Smallholder farmers play a vital role in food production especially through subsistence farming. However, their households are major casualties of food insecurity despite their efforts in food production. This study seek to assess the food security status, factors influencing household food security status and coping strategies used among smallholder farm households in West Mamprusi (WMD) and Mamprugu Moaduguri (MMD) Districts in the Northern region of Ghana. The study used the COC...
ABSTRACT Climate Smart Agriculture has been introduced as a viable solution to tackling the climate change challenge across the world. It is believed to have the potential of increasing resilience to the impacts of climate change while simultaneously increasing crop yield and incomes of farmers and reducing the emission of Greenhouse Gases. The aim of this study was to determine the factors contributing to the adoption of CSA practices in the East Gonja district of the Northern region of Gh...
ABSTRACT The role of productivity in general and agricultural productivity in particular in hastening the pace of economic growth cannot be underestimated. There is an ever rising need for increases in food supply, given the incessant increases in population and a dwindling supply of farmland that can only emanate from growth in productivity rather than increases in input usage. The study examined the total factor productivity measure and the factors influencing it in Ghanaian agriculture by...
ABSTRACT This study assesses the socio economic factors influencing tomato supply and consumption in the Tamale Metropolis. Specifically, the study sought to determine the factors influencing the adoption of dry season tomato production, estimate the gross margins at each stage of the tomato value chain and analyze the perceptions and factors influencing consumers’ choice of the type of tomato, among others. A cross sectional data was collected from three hundred and fifty major actors dur...
ABSTRACT The demand for rice continues to outstrip supply in Ghana, making the country a net importer of the commodity. Low productivity due to poor technology dissemination and adoption by rice farmers is said to be the major reason for the supply deficit. The main objective of this study was therefore, to draw the link between agricultural technology transfer mechanisms, adoption and technical efficiency of rice farmers in northern Ghana. Specifically, the study assessed various agricultu...
ABSTRACT The main objective of this study is to identify the innovative agricultural finance practices of maize farmers in the Northern region and how they affect economic efficiency (EE) of production. Credit markets in rural Ghana are woefully inadequate or missing, and some smallholder farmers have been observed to desist from participating in same even when they are available. These phenomena necessitate a shift in the focus of agricultural financing studies towards assessing how farmer...
ABSTRACT Environmentally friendly farming technologies play key roles in ensuring food safety and security, human health and in restoring and conserving the environment to safeguard the well-being of humans and animals. Therefore, future food security and economic independence of developing countries like Ghana would depend on ecosystems sustainability and agricultural productivity. This study explored the importance of farming practices on ecosystems sustainability for improved rural liveli...
ABSTRACT Despite the importance of credit to agricultural growth, economic development and poverty reduction, it is reported that access to credit is very low among farmers in Ghana. To overcome this challenge, the government of Ghana and NGOs has made attempt to empower outgrower schemes. Based on this argument, the current study attempts to examine smallholder farmers’ participation in outgrower schemes and quantify its effect on credit access and utilization. Multi-stage sampling techniq...
ABSTRACT Agricultural wastewater irrigation practices increasingly reached problematic levels, thereby raising concerns for higher risks and costs of water-related diseases for farm households. After reviewing the empirical literature, it appears, however, that both micro and macro level studies have not provided clear evidence to show the linkage between wastewater irrigation and incidence and costs of illness. The main objective of this study is to analyze how wastewater use for irrigation...
ABSTRACT A survey of 300 consumers was conducted in Tamale in northern Ghana to determine consumers’ awareness, perceptions and willingness to pay (WTP) for GM foods. Both the double-bounded contingent valuation method (CVM) and choice experiment (CE) were used to elicit WTP. Also, ordered probit model was used to analyze factors influencing WTP. Descriptive results indicate that GM foods do not exist in Tamale. Most consumers have heard or read about GM foods; however, the knowledge leve...