Input Credit Scheme Effects On The Adoption Of Cocoa Production Technologies And Productivity Of Smallholder Cocoa Farmers In Ghana

ABSTRACT The study sought to assess the effects of input credit scheme on the adoption of cocoa production technologies and productivity of smallholder cocoa farmers in the Eastern and Western Regions of Ghana. The thesis specifically studied the nature and value of the input provided under the input credit scheme, by Cocoa Abrabopa. Also, the extent of adoption of cocoa technologies by Cocoa Abrabopa (CAA) farmers, the effects of adoption of these cocoa technologies on productivity of cocoa farmers in the two regions and the constraints faced by cocoa farmers in accessing the inputs credit scheme were analyzed. The nature and value of input technologies offered under the scheme was achieved with descriptive statistics. The Z-test was used to determine the differences in proportions of cocoa farmers’ that adopted the recommended cocoa production technologies within the two regions. The augmented Cobb Douglas production function was used to analyze the factors influencing productivity of Cocoa Abrabopa farmers in the two regions. Farmer constraints were analyzed using the Garrett ranking model. Analyses of the data indicate that there are slight variations in the value of input technologies used by farmers under the scheme in the two regions. Input cost were GHS 1030.80/year and GHS 884.4/ year for farmers in Western and Eastern region, respectively, in that farmers in the Western Region receive all the inputs given out to members of the scheme, whilst the Cocoa members in the Eastern Region do not collect the contact fungicides for controlling Black pod disease of cocoa. The augmented Cobb-Douglas regression shows that productivity of scheme farmers is influenced by fungicide usage, household size, experience as well as regional location of the farm. Productivity per unit area was found to be higher in Western region than the Eastern region for all the Cocoa Abrabopa farmers. Finance and access to inputs were identified as the most pressing and least constraints respectively to production in both regions. The study recommends, among others that prices of inputs could be subsidized to enable more farmers join the Cocoa Abrabopa scheme, and that the current inputs given for two acres farm size should be extended to cover a bigger land size.