Determinants of Agricultural Machinery Adoption Intensities in Ghana

Determinants of Agricultural Machinery Adoption Intensities in Ghana PDF Author: Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
Increased capital use in agriculture, including mechanization, is con-sidered an integral process of agricultural transformation. Despite some recent emergence of medium-to-large scale farmers in SSA, as well as labor-movement out of agricultural sector (particularly youths), smallholders without substantial mechanization have re-mained the majority in the agricultural sector in countries like Gha-na. Globally, mechanization has often been associated with large-scale farming given the complementarity between machine and land. The experiences in Asia in the last few decades, however, suggest that mechanization may grow even among smallholders before they transition into larger-scale farmers. These experiences have prompted the need to understand better how mechanization may be adopted by smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity between mechanization and land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise returns to more intensive farm power use, are im-portant drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders at both extensive and intensive margins. We do so using the three rounds of repeated cross-sectional, nationally rep-resentative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys (GLSS) 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana collected by IFPRI and Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (IFPRI-SARI data), and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant-breeding locations.

Determinants of Agricultural Machinery Adoption Intensities in Ghana

Determinants of Agricultural Machinery Adoption Intensities in Ghana PDF Author: Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4

Get Book Here

Book Description
Increased capital use in agriculture, including mechanization, is con-sidered an integral process of agricultural transformation. Despite some recent emergence of medium-to-large scale farmers in SSA, as well as labor-movement out of agricultural sector (particularly youths), smallholders without substantial mechanization have re-mained the majority in the agricultural sector in countries like Gha-na. Globally, mechanization has often been associated with large-scale farming given the complementarity between machine and land. The experiences in Asia in the last few decades, however, suggest that mechanization may grow even among smallholders before they transition into larger-scale farmers. These experiences have prompted the need to understand better how mechanization may be adopted by smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity between mechanization and land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise returns to more intensive farm power use, are im-portant drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders at both extensive and intensive margins. We do so using the three rounds of repeated cross-sectional, nationally rep-resentative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys (GLSS) 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana collected by IFPRI and Savannah Agricultural Research Institute (IFPRI-SARI data), and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant-breeding locations.

Geography of smallholders’ tractor adoptions and R&D–Induced land productivity: Evidence from household survey data in Ghana

Geography of smallholders’ tractor adoptions and R&D–Induced land productivity: Evidence from household survey data in Ghana PDF Author: Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
Despite the urbanization and gradual rise of medium-to-large scale farming sector, smallholders without substantial mechanization remain central to agriculture in countries like Ghana. Significant knowledge gaps exist on the adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity with land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise total factor productivity and also returns to more intensive farm power use, are important drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders. Using the three rounds of repeated crosssectional, nationally representative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana, and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant- reeding locations, this paper shows that the adoption of rented agricultural equipment and tractors in Ghana has been induced by high-yielding production systems that have concentrated in areas that are agroclimatically similar to plant-breeding locations. These effects hold for mechanization adoptions at both extensive margins (whether to adopt or not) and intensive margins (how much to adopt). These linkages have strengthened between 2006 and 2010s, partly due to improved efficiency in supply-side factors of mechanization.

Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana

Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana PDF Author: Nazaire Houssou
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 24

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Book Description
Since 2007, the government of Ghana has been providing subsidized agricultural machines to private enterprises established as Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSEC) to scale up tractor-hire services to smallholder farmers. Although farmer’s demand for mechanization has increased in recent years, most of this demand concentrates on land preparation (plowing) service. Using the firm investment model and recent data, this paper quantitatively assesses whether AMSEC as a private enterprise is a viable business model attractive to private investors. Even though the intention of the government is to promote private sector-led mechanization, findings suggest that the AMSEC model is unlikely to be a profitable business model attractive to private investors even with the current level of subsidy. The low tractor utilization rate as a result of low operational scale is the most important constraint to the intertemporal profitability of tractor-hire services. Our findings further support the argument of Pingali, Bigot, and Binswanger (1987), who indicated that mechanization service centers supported through government’s heavy subsidy are not a policy option anywhere in the world, even in the current situation in Ghana. Although the tractor rental service market is a proper way of mechanizing agriculture in a smallholder-dominated agricultural economy such as Ghana, this paper concludes that the development of such a market depends crucially on a number of factors, including increased tractor use through migration across the two very different rainfall zones (north and south), increased tractor use through multiple tasks, and use of low-cost tractors. The government can play an important role in facilitating the development of a tractor service market; however, the successful development of such a market depends on the incentive and innovation of the private sector, including farmers who want to own tractors as part of their business portfolio, traders who know how to bring in affordable tractors and expand the market, and manufacturers in exporting countries who want to seek a long-term potential market opportunity in Ghana and in other west African countries.

Drivers and Intensity of Adoption of Digital Agricultural Services by Smallholder Farmers in Ghana

Drivers and Intensity of Adoption of Digital Agricultural Services by Smallholder Farmers in Ghana PDF Author: Licarion Kunwedomo Miine
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The penetration of digital technologies to enhance market participation by farmers, and intensify farmers' access to support services such as finance, farm inputs, and agricultural production information is on the rise in developing countries. However, the drivers of adoption and intensity of adoption of these technologies by Ghanaian farmers have received little attention in policy and academic circles. This study analyzed the factors that drive the adoption and intensity of adoption of digital agricultural technologies by smallholder farmers in the Bono East Region of Ghana. The study used a survey questionnaire collected from 1,199 randomly selected smallholder farmers. The multivariate probit model and the Poisson regression model were used to analyze the drivers of different digital agricultural solutions and the intensity of adoption, respectively. The results show that there is a joint demand for technologies that enhance access to extension services and those that accelerate access to inputs. Market-oriented solutions and agricultural extension solutions exhibited a complementary relationship. In addition to selected socio-demographic factors, the study found that membership in farmer-based organizations, access to credit, and participation in agronomic training increased farmers' propensity to adopt different digital agricultural solutions and increased the number of solutions adopted by farmers. Receiving visits from extension officers reduced the likelihood and intensity of adopting digital agricultural solutions. The results suggest that government and development partners should enhance access to credit and promote capacity development programmes among farmers. This will capacitate them to adopt digital agricultural solutions.

Medium and large-scale farmers and agricultural mechanization in Ghana

Medium and large-scale farmers and agricultural mechanization in Ghana PDF Author: Chapoto, Antony
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description
The survey was aimed at characterizing the transition of smallholder farmers who have become medium- and large-scale commercial farmers in Ghana, assessing agricultural machinery ownership, and patterns of demand for agricultural mechanization among farmers in the country. The data generated from the survey will answer some of the critical questions pertaining to agricultural transformation in the country.

Agricultural intensification, technology adoption, and institutions in Ghana

Agricultural intensification, technology adoption, and institutions in Ghana PDF Author: Houssou, Nazaire
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 4

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Book Description
Agricultural intensification has only taken off to a very limited extent in Ghana. Adoption of land productivity-enhancing technology is low, even in areas with proximity to urban markets. Rather, farmers have increasingly been adopting labor-saving technologies such as herbicides and mechanization, for which vibrant private supply channels are emerging. Further efforts to strengthen the private mechanization supply chain would help meet the rising demand for tractor services. Furthermore, mechanization could also help free up agricultural labor to perform other more labor intensive tasks.

Development of agricultural mechanization in Ghana

Development of agricultural mechanization in Ghana PDF Author: Cossar, Frances
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 17

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Book Description
This paper characterizes the network of tractor service providers in Ghana. Using the case of Ejura-Sekye-dumase district, this research examines the implications of the adoption of mechanical technology in agriculture for farmers and institutions based on perspectives that go beyond the suppliers and users of mechanization ser-vices alone. The results suggest that, in addition to rising population density and favorable access to local and regional markets, the current pattern of use of tractors by farmers in Ejura district emerged from favorable histori-cal and institutional factors. The current arrangement involving a network of private tractor owners providing trac-tor hire services to a broad set of farmers draws upon the legacy of an earlier institutional intervention and is sus-tained organizationally through kinship and other existing social relationships within and outside the district. More-over, the expansion of tractor use has created a set of new roles and relationships within the network. Participa-tion in the network is affected by various factors, including farmer’s access to capital and knowledge, experience, and contacts. This privately operated network is significantly more efficient and provides small-scale farmers with considerably better access to plowing service than did previous government-managed systems. Further develop-ment of the tractor service sector is likely to improve the quality of mechanization offered to smallholder farmers, enhance bargaining power for farmers seeking such services, and reduce structural weaknesses within the net-work.

Boserupian pressure and agricultural mechanization in modern Ghana

Boserupian pressure and agricultural mechanization in modern Ghana PDF Author: Cossar, Frances
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
The adoption of machinery in agricultural production in Africa south of the Sahara has been far behind the level of mechanization found in Asia and Latin America. However, recent survey data have revealed high levels of machinery use in localized areas of cereal production in northern Ghana. A survey conducted by the International Food Policy Research Institute, in partnership with the Savannah Agriculture Research Institute, found that in some areas more than 80 percent of farmers were using machinery for at least one operation. This paper considers the theoretical drivers of agricultural intensification, as outlined by Boserup, Pingali, and Binswanger, and the extent to which they are able to explain the spatial variation in machinery use found in northern Ghana. Population pressure, market access, and agroecological conditions are considered key drivers that cause farmers to find ways to increase productivity and adopt new technologies. Combining survey data with geospatial datasets, the empirical analysis finds that population growth and travel time to the local urban center explain a significant and large proportion of the variation in machinery use by farmers.

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Insights from a recent field study

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Insights from a recent field study PDF Author: Diao, Xinshen
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 42

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Book Description
Ghana is one of a few African countries where agricultural mechanization has recently undergone rapid development. Except for places in the forest zone where stumps are still an issue in fields, tractors used for plowing and maize shelling have been widely adopted even among small farmers. Medium- and large-scale farmers who own tractors provide the majority of mechanization services. Recognizing this fundamental fact is important for designing any effective mechanization policy, which should aim at the entire service market instead of targeting a selected group of service providers as beneficiaries. Tractor owners and operators are often discouraged from traveling long distances to plow only a few acres for individual small farmers, which becomes a considerable barrier for smallholders to access tractor services on time. This requires the government consider mechanisms to improve coordination among small farmers and to encourage Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) to facilitate such coordination. The use of harrowing or second-plowing has been shown as a productivity-enhancing farming practice but it is currently under-demanded by farmers. A pilot program to address the coordination failures and to nudge small farmers to adopt harrowing services together can be considered.

Geography of Smallholders' Tractor Adoptions and R&D- Induced Land Productivity

Geography of Smallholders' Tractor Adoptions and R&D- Induced Land Productivity PDF Author: Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
Despite the urbanization and gradual rise of medium-to-large scale farming sector, smallholders without substantial mechanization remain central to agriculture in countries like Ghana. Significant knowledge gaps exist on the adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity with land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise total factor productivity and also returns to more intensive farm power use, are important drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders. Using the three rounds of repeated crosssectional, nationally representative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana, and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant- reeding locations, this paper shows that the adoption of rented agricultural equipment and tractors in Ghana has been induced by high-yielding production systems that have concentrated in areas that are agroclimatically similar to plant-breeding locations. These effects hold for mechanization adoptions at both extensive margins (whether to adopt or not) and intensive margins (how much to adopt). These linkages have strengthened between 2006 and 2010s, partly due to improved efficiency in supply-side factors of mechanization.