世界農産物市場の現状 = The state of agricultural commodity markets

Determinants of climate change adaptation strategies and its impact on the net farm income of rice farmers in south-west Nigeria

This study aims to identify the determinants of adoption of improved maize variety (IMV) among farmers in the northern region of Ghana and subsequently assess the factors influencing the intensity ...

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/23322039.2017.1416896

Adoption of improved maize variety among farm households in the northern region of Ghana

This study explores smallholder cocoa farmers’ adoption decisions of agrochemical inputs in the Ghanaian cocoa industry using farm-level data collected from a sample of 838 farm households in four cocoa producing regions. Multivariate probit and Tobit models were used to examine the determinants of agrochemical inputs adoption and the extent of adoption, respectively. The result of the study showed that agrochemical management practices are complementary and thus the adoption of an agrochemical input is conditional on the adoption of others. Different household characteristics, household assets, institutional variables, and the perception of soil fertility status and the incidence of pests and diseases influence the adoption of individual agrochemical inputs. Furthermore, the result of the study showed that intensity (or extent) of agrochemical adoption (measured as farmers’ expenditure on agrochemicals) is also influenced by some socioeconomic and institutional variables such as extension services and fa...

Adoption of agrochemical management practices among smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

Credit is highly demanded in different parts of the world, mainly for capital requirement to improve land, purchase of main agricultural inputs including fertilizers, seeds, pesticides, and purchase of farm machinery. The purpose of this study was to examine the farmers’ access to credit: does collateral matter or cash flow matter?—evidence from Sindh province of Pakistan. The random sampling technique was used to collected data from 300 rural households through a face-to-face interview. To find the important factors affecting access to credit in Sindh province of Pakistan, we performed descriptive statistics and probit regression model. The results of probit regression model showed that gender, household size, educational level, farming experience, farm size, income, and availability of collateral have positive effect on farmers’ access to credit, while age has a negative and statistically insignificant effect on the farmers’ access to credit. Therefore, this study recommended that institutional ...

Famers’ access to credit: Does collateral matter or cash flow matter?—Evidence from Sindh, Pakistan

Pesticides are a significant component of the modern agricultural technology that has been widely adopted across the globe to control pests, diseases, weeds and other plant pathogens, in an effort to reduce or eliminate yield losses and maintain high product quality. Although pesticides are said to be toxic and exposes farmers to risk due to the hazardous effects of these chemicals, pesticide use among cocoa farmers in Ghana is still high. Furthermore, cocoa farmers do not apply pesticide on their cocoa farms at the recommended frequency of application. In view of this, the study assessed the factors influencing cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of pesticide application. A total of 240 cocoa farmers from six cocoa growing communities in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana were selected for the study using the multi-stage sampling technique. The Probit and Tobit regression models were used to estimate factors influencing farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of pesticide application, respectively. Results of the study revealed that the use of pesticide is still high among farmers in the Region and that cocoa farmers do not follow the Ghana Cocoa Board recommended frequency of pesticide application. In addition, cocoa farmers in the study area were found to be using both Ghana Cocoa Board approved/recommended and unapproved pesticides for cocoa production. Gender, age, educational level, years of farming experience, access to extension service, availability of agrochemical shop and access to credit significantly influenced farmers’ decision to use pesticides. Also, educational level, years of farming experience, membership of farmer based organisation, access to extension service, access to credit and cocoa income significantly influenced frequency of pesticide application. Since access to extension service is one key factor that reduces pesticide use and frequency of application among cocoa farmers, it is recommended that policies by government and non-governmental organisations should be aimed at mobilizing resources towards the expansion of extension education. In addition, extension service should target younger farmers as well as provide information on alternative pest control methods in order to reduce pesticide use among cocoa farmers. Furthermore, extension service/agents should target cocoa farmers with less years of farming experience and encourage cocoa farmers to join farmer based organisations in order to decrease frequency of pesticide application.

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Modeling Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of application: the case of Brong Ahafo Region

Analysis of the Factors Influencing Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Access to Credit in the Upper East Region of Ghana

The study assessed rice farmers’ access to credit and constraints in rice production in the Tolon District of Ghana. A total of 140 rice farmers were sampled for the study using multi-stage sampling technique. The probit model was used to estimate the factors that affected rice farmers’ access to credit. The Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to assess the constraints in rice production. The results of the study revealed that majority of the rice farmers accessed credit from family and friends and invested the credit into non-agricultural activities. The probit result revealed that age, marital status, member of farmer based organization, extension visit, record keeping and farm income were the significant variables that influenced rice farmers’ access to credit. The results also revealed that high cost of inputs and pest were the most pressing institutional and technical constraints in rice production, respectively. The study recommends that credit should be converted to physical inputs and other services and delivered to farmers to help minimize credit diversion from the farm sector. Rice farmers should be encouraged to form farmer groups and keep records of farming activities considering the fact that it positively influenced farmers’ access to credit. Subsidies should be provided on farm inputs. Effective ways of eliminating pest on rice fields should be developed since it was a major challenge facing the rice farmers in their production.

/pdf/access-to-credit-and-constraint-analysis-the-case-of-j7qncmfk9k.pdf

Access to Credit and Constraint Analysis: The Case of Smallholder Rice Farmers in Ghana

This study analyses the effects of tariff escalation on Ghanaian cocoa exports in four importing markets: USA, EU, Japan and Malaysia The study estimates nominal and effective protection coefficients in these markets based on ad-valorem equivalent of applied and bound specific tariffs Results revealed that, effective protection exists in the Japanese and Malaysian cocoa industries at different stages of processing on both bound and applied tariffs In contrast, the USA and the EU do not effectively protect their cocoa industries, thus, no tariff escalation on applied tariffs against cocoa imports from Ghana This study concludes that from a static effect, higher tariffs do have a negative consequence on Ghanaian cocoa exports in these importing countries From a dynamic perspective however, the relationship between tariff structures in these importing countries and Ghanaian cocoa exports is somewhat ambiguous and each situation has to be viewed on their own merit A complete elimination of tariffs as a form of trade barrier on Ghanaian cocoa exports does not necessarily imply that Ghana could easily increase its exports of value added cocoa

Ahmed Abdul Aziz

Papers

Modeling Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ decision to use pesticide and frequency of application: the case of Brong Ahafo Region

Analysis of the Factors Influencing Smallholder Rice Farmers’ Access to Credit in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Access to Credit and Constraint Analysis: The Case of Smallholder Rice Farmers in Ghana

Effect of tariff escalation on ghanaian cocoa exports: an empirical perspective