Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
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Item Implications of crop yield distributions for multiperil crop insurance rating in Ghana: a lasso model application(Agricultural Finance Review, 2024) Addey, K.A.; Jatoe, J.B.D.Purpose – The objective of this paper is to examine crop yield predictions and their implications on MPCI in Ghana. Farmers in developing countries struggle with their ability to deal with agricultural risks. Providing aid for farmers and their households remains instrumental in combatting poverty in Africa. Several studies have shown that correctly understanding and implementing risk management strategies will help in the poverty alleviation agenda. Design/methodology/approach – This study examines the importance of crop yield distributions in Ghana and its implication on multiperil crop insurance (MPCI) rating using the Lasso regression model. A Bonferroni test was employed to test the independence of crop yields across the regions while the Kruskal-Wallis H test was conducted to examine statistical differences in mean yields of crops across the ten regions. The Bayesian information criteria and k-fold cross-validation methods are used to select an appropriate Lasso regression model for the prediction of crop yields. The study focuses on the variability of the threshold yields across regions based on the chosen model. Findings – It is revealed that threshold yields differ significantly across the regions in the country. This implies that the payment of claims will not be evenly distributed across the regions, and hence regional disparities need to be considered when pricing MPCI products. In other words, policymakers may choose to assign respective weights across regions based on their threshold yields. Research limitations/implications – The primary limitation is the unavailability of regional climate data which could have helped in a better explanation of the variation across the regions. Originality/value – This is the first study to examine the implications of regional crop yield variations on multiperil crop insurance rating in Ghana.Item Analysis of fishers’ wellbeing in the western region of Ghana(Development in Practice, 2023) Onumah, E.E.; Al-Hassan, R.M.; Ocran, J.; Béné, C.Small-scale fisheries in Ghana are declining in response to the global fisheries crisis. The policies to curb this situation are dependent on the wellbeing of fishers in terms of material condition, quality of life, and transformative strategies for sustainable livelihoods. This paper employs survey data to investigate the wellbeing of fishers, using descriptives, principal-component analysis, and structural equation modelling. The results revealed that the summative effect of material condition and quality of life, and sustainability on fishers’ wellbeing is low. Despite the low ranking of income (lower among men fishers than women fishers) processors), basic necessities, and government support, fishers are still motivated to work but claim that their children may one day be locked out of the industry. This paper addresses the gap in the literature by establishing the need to enhance educational facilities for the children of fishers, while complementing with investments that create job opportunities in the fishing communities. This may eventually reduce dependence on the sea for sustainable fisheries.Item Protocol: The impact of infrastructure on low‐income consumers' nutritious diet, women's economic empowerment, and gender equality in low‐ and middle‐income countries: An evidence and gap map(Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2023) Obeng‐Amoako, G.A.O.; Okyere, C.Y.; Nyan, C.P.; et al.This is the protocol for an evidence and gap map. The objectives are as follows: this evidence and gap map (EGM) aims to identify, map, and provide an overview of the existing evidence and gaps on the impact of different types of physical infrastructure on various outcomes of low-income consumers' nutritious diet, women's economic empowerment, and gender equality in low- and middle-income countries. The specific objectives of the EGM are: (1) identify clusters of evidence that offer opportunities for evidence synthesis and (2) identify gaps in evidence where new studies, research, and evaluations are neededItem The effect of carbon farming training on food security and development resilience in Northern Ghana(Climate and Development, 2024) Okyere, C.Y.; Atta-Ankomah, R.; Asante-Addo, C.; Kornher, L.Carbon farming has recently been advocated for as a climate change and variability mitigation and/or adaptation strategy in global agriculture. In this study, we address an important research question of whether carbon farming training can improve household resilience capacity as well as food security by employing internationally standardized indicators. Household resilience capacity and its components are measured using the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)’s resilience capacity index while the food security measures used include household and child food insecurity experience scale (FIES and CFIES), food consumption score (FCS) and household dietary diversity score (HDDS). We relied on doubly robust treatment effect estimators to account for potential selection bias and heterogeneity. We find that carbon farming training has no statistically significant effect on overall household resilience capacity. However, we find a large and statistically significant effect on key components of resilience (specifically, access to basic services, assets and social safety nets) and a marginal improvement in adaptive capacity. We also find statistically significant effect on FCS and HDDS but not for the other food security indicators (FIES and CFIES). Overall, the results suggest that agricultural training programs, particularly climate change adaptation capacity building initiatives, could improve important welfare measures in developing countries.Item Typology and performance of inter-organizational relationships among Ghanaian farmers(International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, 2021) Adaku, A.A.; Amanor-Boadu, V.This study explored inter-organizational relationships (IOR) between farmers and agri-food processors in Ghana and their relative effect on participating farmers’ performance. The IOR were organized into three broad types: governance (formal/informal); orientation (price, quality, or quantity); and structure (direct-to-buyer). farmer-based organization (FBO)/agent). The study showed that about 44% of farmers participated in IOR. and 72% of them use direct-to-buyer relationships compared to 25% and 5% who use FBO and agents. The total exceeds 100% because some farmers used multiple IOR structures. Likewise, more than half of farmers involved in IOR use multiple orientations, with 29%, 81% and 54% of them using orientations involving quantity, quality, and price specifications, respectively. Formal governance (IOR) accounted for 31% of IOR by governance. On performance, the average farm income of farmers involved in IOR was GHS 3,947, which was 3.1 times higher than non-IOR farmers, and those with formal arrangements had 6.4 times higher average farm income than farmers in informal relationships. IOR with formal governance and quality-price orientation presented positive and statistically significant effects on marginal benefits, while producer demographics and socio-economic characteristics did not. These results provide instruction for policymakers and practitioners in helping inform farmers’ participation in IOR that produces superior outcomes.Item Mapping of community perspectives on land acquisition for biofuel investment in northern Ghana(Land Use Policy, 2024) Kupabado, M.M.; Mensah-Bonsu, A.We apply Q methodology, a model with a qualitative background, albeit with rigorous quantitative analysis, to map community perspectives (concerns, attitudes, beliefs, opinions, and perceptions) towards the acquisition of communal land for a biofuel project in northern Ghana. We extracted four community perspectives, in the order of importance as follows: (1) pro-biofuel project, but pessimistic (2) against the biofuel project (pro-environ mental) (3) strong against and (4) optimistic. Taken together, the perspectives suggest the local people believe the biofuel project has no potential to improve their livelihoods, meanwhile, there is a consensus that the project destroyed trees of economic importance and provided poor working conditions for the local employees. We recommend (1) the establishment of enforceable economic and social contracts between the employees, local land users and the biofuel investors (2) direct monetary compensation for the affected communal land users (3) investigation of allegations of late or partial-payment of salaries of the biofuel project’s employees (4) future considerations for acquiring communal land should include broad community consultations and incorporate the local land users’ interests, concerns, and viewpoints and (5) the local bioenergy policy of the government of Ghana must include checks on communal land sale decisions, which directly or indirectly impact the welfare of the people.Item Abnormal pricing in international commodity trading: Evidence from Ghana(International Economics, 2022) Ahene-Codjoe, A.A.; Alu, A.A.; Mehrotra, R.mispricing of international trade in natural resources contributes to significant tax base erosion from developing countries but is difficult to measure using aggregate trade statistics. In this paper, We apply a novel approach motivated by legal rules for trade and transfer, mispricing. to estimate. abnormal pricing in gold and cocoa exports from Ghana, i.e., exports valued outside an assumed arm's length price range that indicates fair market values. Using daily frequency, transaction-level data from Ghana Customs, our results indicate abnormally undervalued exports of gold and cocoa from Ghana equalled USD 8.8 billion in constant prices (base year 2011) or USD 4.1 billion in current prices between 2011 and 2017. Approximately 11% of gold dorm exports and 1% of cocoa bean exports, and 7.2% of cocoa paste exports appear abnormally undervalued. The implied corporate tax base erosion equals USD 2.2 billion in constant prices (base year 2011), corresponding to an average annual decrease of 0.3% in Ghana's tax-to-GDP ratio.Item How healthy and food secure is the urban food environment in Ghana?(World Development Perspectives, 2022) Mockshell, J.; Asante-Addo, C.; Ogutu, S.O.; et al.The importance of the food environment in influencing dietary choices of consumers has been widely acknowledged, but little attention has been paid to the urban food environment in Africa despite the rise in incidence of obesity and other nutrition-related noncommunicable diseases (NR-NCDs). We contribute to the literature on urban food environments by conducting an observational macro-scan of the food environment in three cities – Accra, Cape Coast, and Koforidua – with a view to unravelling the nature of the urban food environment in Ghana. We examine the food environment based on two dimensions of food security – avail ability and accessibility (affordability) – and also assess the extent to which foods are processed. The results show that all four food categories – unprocessed, processed, processed culinary, and ultra-processed – are available, accessible, and affordable. Ultra-processed foods are just as highly available, accessible, and/or affordable as unprocessed foods. The results also show that processed foods account for the larger share of all foods in Ghana’s urban food environment, and ultra-processed foods account for more than 30% of all processed foods. Overall, these results suggest that physical and economic access to food are not major constraints in urban Ghana. This is certainly a welcome finding from a food policy perspective; however, the high availability and accessibility of ultra-processed foods has serious potential health implications. Regulation will be needed to prevent over consumption of ultra-processed foods and the resulting increase in obesity and other NR-NCDs.Item Gendered health effects of cooking fuel technologies in southern Ghana(Technology in Society, 2024) Okyere, C.Y.; Abu, B.M.; Asante-Addo, C.; Kodua, T.T.The introduction of clean cooking technologies in many developing countries ensures environmental quality and improved well-being through reduction in indoor air pollution. This study examines the adoption of cooking fuel technologies and its effect on health outcomes using panel data from two districts in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. The inverse probability weighting regression adjustment (IPWRA) approach was used to examine the effect of cooking fuel technologies on health outcomes. The empirical results show that factors such as tenancy, kitchen design, assets, gender, education, access to internet and tarred roads influence the adoption of cooking fuel technologies, including clean cooking fuels. The study finds that clean cooking fuels decrease female illness incidence but not male illness incidence, with large improvement for adults. The findings suggest that policies and programs aimed at promoting clean cooking fuel technologies can significantly improve well-being of females in developing countriesItem The micro determinants of financial inclusion and financial resilience in Africa(African Development Review, 2022) Tinta, A.A.; Ouédraogo, I.M.; Al‐Hassan, R.M.This study analyzes the factors influencing financial inclusion and financial resilience in Africa. Using national surveys of 40 African countries and the When doing business database, multiple models are performed to analyze financial inclusion drivers. The results show that individual characteristics, barriers to formal accounting, financial literacy and innovation condition the decision to have a traditional or mobile account. Informal savings are common among women, youth and in rural areas, while formal savings predominate among men, the elderly and in urban areas. A high level of education and income leads people to migrate to formal savings. For business purposes, informal savings are preferred, while for old age, individuals resort to formal savings because of interest rates. Social lifestyles make informal credit predominate in Africa. However, when people have employment, high income or education, they turn more to formal credit to preserve their reputation because of the respect and popularity they enjoy in their community. Marriage, financial literacy and innovation improve the resilience of individuals, while employment increases their vulnerability. Key policy recommendations are to improve the banking sector, institutions, innovations and income-generating activities to attract women and reduce the gender gap.Item Bayesian technical efficiency analysis of groundnut production in Ghana(Cogent Economics & Finance, 2022) Chakuri, D.; Asem, F.E.; Onumah, E.E.This paper considered Bayesian Stochastic Frontier Model to analyse technical efficiency and their determinants of groundnut farmers in Ghana. The paper used cross-sectional data of three-hundred (300) observations to obtain posterior distributions of the farmers’ technical efficiency levels. All computations were done using Markov Chain Monte Carlo methods (MCMC). results revealed that the groundnut farmers produce at an increasing return to scale of 1.10. Average technical efficiency of the farmers was found to be 70.5%, ranging from a minimum of 13.0% to a maximum of 95.1%. Frequency of extension visit, educational level and gender of the farmers were identified to significantly explain inefficiency of the farmers. The paper concluded that groundnut farmers in the northern part of Ghana are operating in the first stage of the production function and could increase their frontier output by 29.5%.Item Determinants of Household-Level Food Storage Practices and Outcomes on Food Safety and Security in Accra, Ghana(Foods, 2022) Afriyie, E.; Asem, F.E.; Aidoo, E.K.; et al.Household-level food storage can help families save money, minimize food waste, and enhance food safety and security. Storing food within households may, however, be affected by domestic routines like food shopping and cooking. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate how consumers’ attitudes and behaviors influence food storage at the household level. This study aimed to assess the determinants of household-level food storage, ascertain consumers’ behavior and perception towards food storage, and assess the effect of household-level food storage on food safety, wastage, food expenditure and security. Dzorwulu and Jamestown, both located in Accra, Ghana, served as the study’s primary sites. The study employed a survey and structural equation modeling to evaluate key determinants of household-level food storage practices and their impacts. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 400 food household heads, sampled using systematic sampling procedure. The results showed that food shopping drives food storage. There was, however, a significant negative association (p < 0.001) between food shopping and time of food storage. Although cooking impedes household-level food storage; there was significant positive association (p < 0.001) between frequency of cooking and storage period of food commodities. The findings also revealed that household-level food storage promotes food safety, reduces food expenditure and waste, and contributes to enhancing food security by 43%. To promote household-level food storage and ensure food safety and security, future study should concentrate on enhancing conventional household-level food storage practices that are efficient, cheaper and easily implementable.Item Rice price volatility and transmission: implications for food security in Ghana(Cogent Economics & Finance, 2022) Onumah, E.E.; Owusu, P.A.; Mensah-Bonsu, A.; Degraft, H.A.This paper examines price volatility and transmission of rice markets in Ghana and draws implications for food security. Using monthly rice price data from From 2013 to 2019, the paper uses the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) with an Error Correction Model (ECM) to ascertain the availability and accessibility of rice, whilst the Generalized Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity (GARCH) model is considered to measure the stability of the commodity. The paper finds evidence of cointegration between the World and Ghana’s rice market. Findings confirm cointegration in Ghana’s regional markets for both imported and domestically produced rice. This ensures stable long-run relationship, allowing trade flows that guarantees rice availability. The corrections in short-run deviations of price ensure continuous accessibility of rice in the country. Estimates from the volatility model suggest high fluctuation in prices, implying stability in the prices of rice is an issue across all regional markets. The paper recommends efforts to increase domestic production to enhance availability and accessibility of rice. Stakeholders along the rice value chain should be encouraged to invest in competitive riceproduction. government should leverage rice prices with giant import countries to reduce the cost of importation for stable price on the market.Item Comparative assessment of vulnerability of smallholder livestock farmers to climate change in North-West Ghana(Local Environment The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability, 2020) Shaibu, M.T.; Onumah, E.E.; Al-Hassan, R.M.; Kuwornu, J.K.M.This study examined the vulnerability of smallholder livestock farmers in North-West Ghana to climate change using data obtained from 200 livestock farmers obtained through the administration of a semi structured questionnaire. The Livelihood Vulnerability Index (LVI) approach was used to examine the levels of vulnerability. The study compared the vulnerability between the Nandom district and the Lawra district. The empirical results revealed that livestock farmers are more vulnerable to climatic extremes in the Nandom district than the Lawra district. The study highlights the critical role of the government regarding education and construction of water resources, among others.Item Profit efficiency of layer production in Ghana(Sustainable Futures, 2021) Yevu, M.; Onumah, E.E.This study assesses profit efficiency and its determinants of intensive housing system of layer production in Ghana. A normalized translog stochastic profit frontier model is employed using cross-sectional data of 300 layer producers in nine districts of Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra regions. The results show that the costs of feed and labour are the most significant factors negatively affecting the profit levels of layer producers. All the input variables respond positively to layer output. Layer producers are about 54% profit efficient and characterized by increasing returns to scale. However, training in poultry farming, farmer-based organization membership, pro vision of extension service, gender, experience, housing type and mortality rate are the key factors that signif icantly explain the variations in profit efficiency. The study concludes that on average, layer producers are operating with profit gap of about 46%. The implication of the findings is that training of layer producers by extension services (veterinary officers) in early detection of poultry disease and control are key to reducing inefficiency level to achieve higher profits. Membership of associations by layer producers is key to increasing efficiency in poultry production.Item Irrigation adoption: A potential avenue for reducing food insecurity among rice farmers in Beni(Water Resources and Economics, 2018) Nonvide, G.M.A.Since the 1960s, the government of Benin has invested in the development of canal irrigation schemes in order to intensify food crop production and reduce food insecurity. This paper em ployed an ordered probit model with sample selection to assess the potential of irrigation in reducing food insecurity in the municipality of Malanville, Benin. The results show that 60% of the irrigation farmers and 46% of the dry land farmers were food secure. Adoption of irrigation has a positive effect on food security. Other variables explaining food security are education, informal training, credit, extension services, use of improved seed, fertilizer and herbicide ap plication, farm and off-farm income. The study recommends that efforts to rehabilitate current irrigation scheme and develop other schemes should be intensified.Item The impact of irrigated agriculture on child nutrition outcomes in southern Ghana(Water Resources and Economics, 2021) Okyere, C.Y.; Usman, M.A.In this study, we investigated whether irrigated agriculture results in improved child nutrition outcomes among farm households in southern Ghana. Using panel data collected between 2014 and 2015, this study seeks to add to the growing body of literature on the determinants of irri gated agriculture adoption, its effects on child nutrition, and the potential pathways through which irrigation can affect child nutrition outcomes. The results from the inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) estimator suggest that children living in irrigating households have, on average, 0.23 standard deviations of weight-for-age and 0.27 standard de viations of weight-for-height higher than their counterparts; with males and under-five children gaining substantial improvements. Disaggregating irrigation by types, the results indicate that households planting on riverbeds or riverbanks had improved child nutrition. In contrast, chil dren living with households lifting water from water sources had higher height-for-age and weight-for-age. Further analysis of the underlying pathways suggests that an increase in health care financing and improvement in environmental quality rather than decreases in illness inci dence may be the crucial channels. Altogether, the findings show the importance of investments in agricultural development, particularly in small-scale irrigated agriculture technologies, to reduce childhood undernutrition.Item Understanding the determinants of household cooking fuel choice in sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from Nigeria(Clean Energy, 2024) Aminu, R.O.; Dzudzor, M.A.; Oyawole, F.P.; Afolayan, S.O.Overreliance on traditional cooking fuels by agricultural households poses a signifcant obstacle to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 7 by 2030 in Nigeria. Despite the emerging recognition of remittances as a crucial factor infuencing cooking-fuel choices in the energy-transition literature, there is a paucity of studies examining this infuence in Nigeria. Using data from 4400 agricultural households sourced from the fourth wave of the Nigerian Living Standard Measurement Survey data sets, this study examined the infuence of remittances on cooking-fuel choices, among other factors in Nigeria. Employing descriptive stat istics and the multinomial logit regression model, the analysis reveals that traditional cooking fuels, including wood, crop residue and animal dung, continue to dominate the cooking-fuel landscape. The empirical result of the multinomial logit model showed that households that receive remittances are more likely to use modern cooking fuels. Furthermore, wealthier, more educated house holds with access to electricity are more likely to use modern and transitional cooking fuels than traditional cooking fuels. Based on the fndings, the study suggests the incentivization of remittances into the country through the reduction in associated transaction costs and accelerated public infrastructural investment in affordable electricity and good road networks to connect rural areas to gas-supply networks to drive the transition to modern cooking energy. Additionally, educational and awareness campaigns about the health risks associated with traditional cooking energy, particularly indoor air pollution, should be encouraged, especially in rural areas.Item COVID-19 and child education outcomes in Southern Ghana(Heliyon, 2024) Okyere, C. Y.; Otchere, F.; Darko, J. K.; Osei, C. K.This study analyses the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child education outcomes by providing evidence on the gendered dimension, determinants and coping measures of informal households in Southern Ghana. We rely on a face-to-face interview undertaken in January 2022 (i.e., approximately 2 years after the beginning of the pandemic) involving 761 students across basic and secondary schools from 10 metropolitan, municipality and district assemblies (MMDAs) in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. We document several disruptions to child education out comes such as learning practices, school attendance, class participation and academic perfor mance. The results also showed that per child education expenditure incurred due to the COVID 19 pandemic by the informal households was GHS305 (US$ 49). Additionally, we assess the correlates of the negative effects on academic performance and COVID-19 related education expenditure as a result of coping measures. Our results from Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) show strong association between participation in online classes, age of students, ownership of television and district of residence on COVID-19 related education expenditure. Results from Logit models show that self-reported negative effects of COVID-19 pandemic on academic performance are affected by gender and age of student, distance to market and location of residence. Interestingly, we also found considerable gendered heterogeneity for the predictors of the COVID-19 pandemic on child education outcomes. We conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated countermeasures had negative effects on child education outcomes, and that informal households incurred considerable costs in attempting to address the associated education challenges in Southern Ghana. The findings have implications on the design and implementation of educational policies and programs to address the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on child ed ucation outcomes in developing countries.Item Dynamics Of The Poultry Market In Ghana(Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2023) Onumah, E.E.; Ayeduvor, S.This paper examines the dynamics of the poultry market in Ghana using secondary data and a field study in four regions, including Greater Accra region, Western region, Ashanti region, and Northern region. Secondary data on prices, per capita consumption, imports, and export quantities was obtained from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). Primary data on shopping malls, supermarkets, cold stores, and open markets, as well as on imported and local chicken meat prices and brands was also obtained using surveys and focus group discussions. The study employs trend and content analyses to highlight specific imported products, their origins, drivers, and the potential of domestic poultry as a substitute for imported chicken meat. The paper confirms that Ghana imports about 80% of its poultry meat. mostly in the form of branded cut parts (thighs, wings, legs, back, and offal) from high-income countries, including Belgium, the US, Brazil, Poland, and the Netherlands. Despite a 35% increase in tariffs, imported poultry meat tends to be 27–30% cheaper than locally produced chicken. The findings further show that although there is some preference for domestic poultry meat, this does not translate into purchase decisions, as people prefer more convenient and ready-to-use products. The paper recommends the prioritization of policies to boost local production through investments in processing (cut parts), branded packaging, and marketing facilities such as cold vans. Furthermore, policies to reduce chicken meat import volumes may be focused on other non-tariff measures, such as licenses, allotments, trade embargoes, foreign exchange restrictions, and import depositories.