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

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

Welfare impact of pesticides management practices among smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

The study analyzes the effects of the determinants of farmer’s adoption of and investment in agrochemicals by collecting primary data from 156 sampled cocoa farmers in the Sefwi-Wiawso Municipality of Ghana. Descriptive statistical technique was employed to analyze demographic and farm-specific characteristics as well as the adoption rate and expenditure on agrochemicals. The findings highlighted the fact that, though a large proportion of farmers in the study area use agrochemicals, the intensity and amount spent to purchase these inputs are quite low. The Tobit regression model was used to identify and quantify the effects of the determinants of farmer’s investment in agrochemicals. The results generally indicate that the sex of the farmer, age of the farmer, household size, educational attainment, mean age of cocoa farms, farm size and farmers previous output are all important variables in explaining farmers decision to invest in agrochemicals. The paper concludes by recommending that strategic policies orienting towards improving the adoption rate as well as targeting farmers who are less likely to invest in agrochemicals is a pressing issue.

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Modelling Farmers Investment in Agrochemicals: The Experience of Smallholder Cocoa Farmers in Ghana

Since 2008 UTZ Certified has implemented a programme in Ivory Coast to enhance sustainability in the cocoa supply chain through the implementation of the UTZ Code of Conduct. The programme has supported farmers to become organised into cooperatives, receiving training on farm management and organisational capacity building, and become certified. Starting off with four cooperatives, two traders and Solidaridad as partners, it has grown into a large scale programme. By June 2012 86 cooperatives were certified, 44,624 farmers reached, and 128,582 tons of certified cocoa had been produced from an estimated farm area of 219,100 hectares. Eight traders and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) are now partners, who are implementing certification as part of broader activities to support cocoa farmers, their cooperatives and communities. As of June 2013, a further 103 cooperatives were in the process of certification. This report serves two purposes: it provides a baseline of farm-level situation as of mid-2013, which can be used to measure changes in indicators in future impact assessments. It also provides an initial assessment of impacts by comparing different groups of cocoa farmers. It provides information about the inclusiveness of the UTZ Certified cocoa programme in Ivory Coast. It evaluates how certification and related activities have affected farmers’ knowledge and implementation of good agricultural practices, social and environmental issues in line with the UTZ Certified Code of Conduct and assesses the added value of certification. Lessons learned are drawn from the results, feeding recommendations to improve the quality and effectiveness of the programme.

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Impact of UTZ Certification of cocoa in Ivory Coast. Assessment framework and baseline

This paper presents empirical evidence to show how socioeconomic factors affect the adoption of and investment in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Cote d’Ivoire. The analysis uses primary farm-level data collected in 2002 from a nationally representative sample of more than one thousand cocoa farmers. The study describes the status of the adoption of various chemical inputs and uses a multiplicative heteroscedastic Tobit model to identify and quantify the impact of the socioeconomic environment on the incentive to invest. The results generally show that farmer, household and village characteristics are all important in explaining the farmers’ decisions. The paper concludes by outlining a number of implications for strategic targeting of farmers and locations. These should serve as entry points for a successful diffusion of efficient pest, disease and soil management programs.

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/14656/1/MPRA_paper_14656.pdf

This study uses survey data to examine the role of access to credit on cocoa production, in West African cocoa production countries under conditions of agricultural policy liberalization. The study specifies and estimates econometric models to simulate the counterfactual of what cocoa production would be in the absence of credit facilities. The survey results show that about 54% of cocoa farmers have access to credit in Nigeria, and respectively 37% in Cameroon, while in Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire only a few cocoa farmers have access to credit. We find that the cocoa farmer’s capacity such as, the cocoa farm size, and the mutuality status of the farmer are more important as a determinants of cocoa farmers access to credit as well as another set of variables like the level of infrastructural development in the village, the lending reputation of the region as more determinant of extent cocoa farmer access to credit. We also find that access to credit by cocoa farmers has a positive spillover effect on cocoa production. The research concludes that there is a need of promoted credit institutions specialized in saving mobilization and credit supply to farmers in general and cocoa farmers specifically. These could include voluntary saving and credit cooperatives, which could pool funds from surplus units for lending to deficit farmers so as to smooth seasonal discrepancies between cocoa farmer income and expenditure.

The Role of Credit Access in Improving Cocoa Production in West African Countries

Studies have shown that small-scale agricultural producers from developing countries do not generally obtain the potential gains of trade. To investigate what can be done to help them get better prices, we examine ways to increase their bargaining power. Using data from 1,854 cocoa transactions between traders and producers in Cameroon during the 2005/2006 season, we show that when the bargaining situation is least favorable to the producers (because prices are non-negotiable due to interlinked credit and there is information asymmetry) the traders seize the entire surplus generated by the trade. Farmers who can avoid accepting credit from the cocoa buyers and can delay sales until after the start of the school year, when the buyers will not be able to take advantage of the farmers' financial need, are able to negotiate higher prices. To improve their bargaining situation, Cameroonian cocoa producers need an efficient market information system, better access to credit and the development of collective marketing. (Resume d'auteur)

What determines the price received by cocoa farmers in Cameroon? An empirical analysis based on bargaining theory

Various works have demonstrated that small-scale agricultural producers from developing countries do not generally obtain the potential gains linked to marketing. What can be done to help them obtain better prices? In this article, we examine two different solutions: increasing the bargaining power of individual producers and collective marketing through producer organizations (POs). We use data on 2,487 cocoa transactions undertaken by producers in Cameroon during the 2005/2006 season (IITA survey 2006). We first of all explore bargaining theories to identify the determinants of the price received by producers who sell their produce individually, and the, analyse the effect of collective marketing. We show that when the bargaining situation is least favourable to the producers (because the prices are nonnegotiable and there is information asymmetry which favours the traders), the traders seize the entire surplus generated by the trade. In order to improve the prices received by producers, it should be necessary to manage their access to credit (so that they will not be bound to any buyer the had obtained credits from, thus ameliorate arbitrate and negotiate the price), and enable them delay their sale until after the start of the school year (so that traders could no longer know the producers financial need). We also show that selling produce via the POs generally results in a price increase of 9% caused by improvement in a reduction in transaction costs (through economies of scale) and improved bargaining power. The article also examines whether or not the mere presence of a PO in a specific zone enables all the producers in this zone (even those who sell individually) to benefit from higher prices. However, a clear conclusion does not arise in this respect.

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James Gockowski

Papers

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

Investing in agrochemicals in the cocoa sector of Côte d’Ivoire: hypotheses, evidence and policy implications

The Role of Credit Access in Improving Cocoa Production in West African Countries

What determines the price received by cocoa farmers in Cameroon? An empirical analysis based on bargaining theory

What determines the price received by farmers? The case of cocoa in Cameroon