Abstract:
This study focuses on rice production in two areas, Weta/Afife and Avatime in the Volta
region of Ghana. It compares rice production under two distinct farming systems: one using
indigenous seeds under rain-fed agriculture (Avatime); and the other improved seeds under
modern irrigation system (Weta/Afife). At Avatime farms are not mechanized, farm sizes are
small, farmers do not use modern farm inputs and cultivate indigenous glaberrima rice
varieties in addition to some modern rice varieties. Rice is primarily cultivated for domestic
use. In contrast, at Weta/Afife rice is cultivated under a modern irrigation system with
modern farm machinery and inputs. Farmers cultivate aromatic Asiatic varieties as a cash
crop. However they do not purchase certified seed but multiply modern open pollinated
varieties. Although they have adopted modern technology they have adapted it to their
conditions and existing constraints. These two farming styles show distinct strategies
developed by farmers, both responding to agricultural intensification by adopting strategies
based on:
Investment in labour and labour saving technologies (Avatime)
Investment in high inputs and seeds for increased productivity (Weta)
However agricultural policy in Ghana does not recognise the autonomous attempts of
farmers to modernise their agriculture or the significance of investments in labour but seeks
to promote a single production system driven by high external input usage that may not fit
into the farming system and farmers’ objectives, including the play-off between investment
in labour and labour-saving technologies, new seed and inputs, or in other ways of raising
fertility and productivity. Agricultural policy in Ghana does not assist farmers to develop
their distinct farming systems but promotes use and dependence on commercial inputs.
