Browsing by Author "Onumah, J.A."
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Item Actor roles and linkages in the agricultural innovation system: options for establishing a cocoa innovation platform in Ghana(Taylor & Francis Group, 2021) Onumah, J.A.; Asante, F.A.; Osei, R.D.Innovation platforms promote interactions among actors in an innovation system. Given the importance of the cocoa sub-sector to the Ghanaian economy, having an innovation platform is imperative for increasing innovative performance. Using qualitative data collection tools we obtained in-depth information on the roles and linkages of actors to provide options for the establishment/strengthening of the cocoa innovation platform in Ghana. Findings from the thematic and social network analysis suggest that stimulating the participation of farmer groups, actors in research, extension, policy, and the private sector is important as they have the power to attract and sustain relevant actors to the network and hold the structure of the cocoa innovation platform together. The study contributes to the literature by being the first study that has applied the SNA tool to the cocoa innovation system in Ghana and also by emphasizing the prominent role farmers and private sector actors play in such networks.Item Do farmer-actor interactions in the agricultural innovation system drive technological innovation adoption in Ghana?(African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development, 2022) Onumah, J.A.; Asante, F.A.; Osei, R.D.; Asare-Nuamah, P.The low level of technological innovation adoption among farmers has been a development concern. However, not much attention has been paid to how agricultural innovation system actors contribute to the adoption of technological innovations among farmers. This paper, therefore, analyzed the factors that drive the adoption of technological innovations using the agricultural innovation system concept. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach where qualitative data from focus group discussions was used to triangulate findings obtained from the quantitative data analyzed. A two-period panel data set of 3486 observations of randomly sampled agricultural households across Ghana was analyzed using descriptive statistics and the multinomial logit regression model. Findings showed that farmers with strong ties in the innovation system had a higher probability of adopting multiple sets of innovations, compared to those with weaker linkages. Platforms that encourage actor interactions, such as innovation platforms, should be strengthened to increase the innovative performance of smallholder farmers. This study is one of the few that has quantified the effect the agricultural innovation system has on the adoption of innovations and hence makes a positive contribution to the budding literature regarding the importance of unpacking actor interactions whilst considering a holistic inquiry of the agricultural innovation system.Item Helping the Helpless: Contribution of Rural Extension Services to Smallholder Farmers’ Climate Change Adaptive Capacity and Adaptation in Rural Ghana(International Journal of Rural Management, 2019-11-15) Onumah, J.A.; Botchway, E.; Asare-Nuamah, P.While there is no doubt that extension services play an active role in promoting smallholder farmers’ adaptive capacity and adaptation to climate change, there is a dearth of information and research on how this institution champions climate change adaptation in rural farming communities in Ghana. This study employed a qualitative case study design and interviewed 15 extension officers and 26 smallholder farmers to understand how extension services enhance smallholder farmers’ climate change adaptive capacity and adaptation in the rural Adansi North District in Ghana. The findings indicate that extension services adopt multiple strategies to build the adaptive capacity of farmers to climate change. Through the transfer of skills and knowledge, technology and innovations, supply of inputs, technical advice and liaison role with existing local institutions, farmers are able to adapt to climate change. The study further revealed that extension services are hindered by geographical, sociocultural and economic challenges which affect their alignment and fitness to effectively assist smallholder farmers. The study recommends strengthening the capacity of the extension institution. Moreover,more experts must be trained to provide special, targeted and important services to smallholder farmers in respect of climate change sensitization and adaptationItem Meta-frontier analysis of organic and conventional cocoa production in Ghana(Agricultural Economics (Czech Republic), 2013-01) Onumah, J.A.; Onumah, E.E.; Al-Hassan, R.M.; Brümmer, B.This study considers the meta-frontier technique to compare the efficiency level of organic and conventional cocoa production systems in Ghana using a cross sectional data of 390 farms. The results reveal that the organic systems exhibit an increasing return to scale whilst, the conventional system exhibit decreasing returns to scale. All the inputs variables positively influence the production except the age of trees. The combined effects of operational and farm specific factors are identified to influence the technical efficiency although the individual effects of some variables are not significant. The mean technical efficiency relative to the meta-frontier is estimated to be 0.59 for the organic and 0.71 for the conventional farms. The study concludes that the conventional system of cocoa production is more technically efficient than the organic system. However, the increase in the scale of production in the organic system to take advantage of the economies of scale may enhance the efficiency of production.Item Non-tariff measures and household welfare: Evidence from Ghana(Journal of International Development, 2023) Martey, E.; Onumah, E.E.; Onumah, J.A.Most studies on the impacts of non-tariff measures (NTMs) economic outcomes are at the macro-level with limited micro-level studies. This study uses primary data on 604 commercial farm households in Ghana to examine the relationship between NTMs and household welfare outcomes. The results show that NTMs are positively associated with assets, household expenditure and income, but negatively associated with food expenditure, household dietary diversity score (HDDS) and poverty probability index (PPI). We find that the results are not likely to be driven by unobserved heterogeneity. Our results suggest that the Potential mechanisms through which NTMs influence welfare outcomes are household income and expenditure. The main implication of the study is that a reduction in the number of customs formalities and the cost of testing and certification can facilitate trade and contribute to the economic development of commercial farm households.Item Production risk and technical efficiency of fish farms in Ghana(Elsevier B.V., 2018) Onumah, E.E.; Onumah, J.A.; Onumah, G.E.This paper adopts the stochastic frontier model with flexible risk to analyze production risk, technical efficiency and its determinants of fish farms in four regions of Ghana including Greater Accra, Volta, Western and Ashanti regions. The study employs a two year panel data from 320 farms making a total of 640 observation through a random selection. The findings demonstrates that the translog model is best fit for the mean output function, whilst the input variables: hired labour, family labour, fingerlings, feed and other cost are identified to positively influence fish farm output at an increasing returns to scale. The paper also finds that feed and other cost are risk increasing inputs, whilst hired labour, family labour and fingerlings are identified to be risk decreasing inputs. The estimated average technical efficiency score of 0.74 shows that efficiency is compromised when the production technology is modeled without the flexible risk property which gave a score of 0.87. Additionally, the results show that age2, experience, pond area, gender, pond type and fish farming education significantly influence technical efficiency of farmers. This paper also highlights that technical efficiency of fish farms in the study area improved over time. In conclusion, the paper notes that on the average, 26% of potential output is lost due to technical inefficiency and production risk and given the present state of technology and input level, the possibility of enhancing production can be achieved by reducing technical inefficiency by 26% through adoption of practices of the best fish farm, whilst taking production risk into consideration. © 2018