Impact of Ghana’s agricultural mechanization services center program

Impact of Ghana’s agricultural mechanization services center program PDF Author: Benin, Samuel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book

Book Description
Use of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governments—including Ghana, the case study of this paper—have resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of providing subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private-sector-run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Ghana’s AMSEC program on various outcomes, using data from household surveys that were conducted with 270 farmers, some of them located in areas with the AMSEC program (treatment) and others located in areas without the program (control).

Impact of Ghana’s agricultural mechanization services center program

Impact of Ghana’s agricultural mechanization services center program PDF Author: Benin, Samuel
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book

Book Description
Use of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governments—including Ghana, the case study of this paper—have resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of providing subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private-sector-run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Ghana’s AMSEC program on various outcomes, using data from household surveys that were conducted with 270 farmers, some of them located in areas with the AMSEC program (treatment) and others located in areas without the program (control).

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

Get Book

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.

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Is specialization in agricultural mechanization a viable business model?

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Is specialization in agricultural mechanization a viable business model? PDF Author: Houssou, Nazaire
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

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.

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

Get Book

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.

Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana

Agricultural Mechanization in Ghana PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

Get Book

Book Description


Handbook on the Human Impact of Agriculture

Handbook on the Human Impact of Agriculture PDF Author: Harvey S. James, Jr.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1839101741
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 456

Get Book

Book Description
This timely Handbook synthesizes and analyzes key issues and concerns relating to the impact of agriculture on both farmers and non-farmers. With a unique focus on humans rather than animals or the environment, the book is interdisciplinary and international in scope, with contributions from sociologists, economists, anthropologists and geographers providing case studies and examples from all six populated continents.

An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?

An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia? PDF Author: Diao, Xinshen, ed.
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN: 0896293807
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 548

Get Book

Book Description
Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Tractor owner-operators in Nigeria: Insights from a small survey in Kaduna and Nasarawa states

Tractor owner-operators in Nigeria: Insights from a small survey in Kaduna and Nasarawa states PDF Author: Takeshima, Hiroyuki
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book

Book Description
This paper presents results of a small survey of tractor owner-operators conducted in Kaduna and Nasarawa states in Nigeria. Following are the key findings from simple descriptive statistics: (1) owner-operators who buy tractors from the private market or from private individuals are more efficient than those who receive tractors through government programs, providing services to a greater area at lower costs, including during the off-peak season; (2) providing access to a wider range of tractor horsepowers may improve efficiency over diverse soil types; (3) similar to some Asian countries in the 1980s, tractor operations are mostly concentrated in interviewees’ local home districts, though a fraction form groups and serve in distant locations to earn greater revenues.

Sustainable Cultivated Land Use and Management

Sustainable Cultivated Land Use and Management PDF Author: Yongsheng Wang
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
ISBN: 2832520421
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249

Get Book

Book Description


Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198845340
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

Get Book

Book Description
Using Ghana as a case study, this work integrates economic and political analysis to explore the challenges and opportunities of Africa's growth and transformation.