Beyond certification: Investigating the nexus between compliance with sustainable agriculture standard and livelihood assets of certified smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana
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Date
2023
Authors
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Journal ISSN
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Publisher
Cogent Food & Agriculture
Abstract
Studies have shown that farmers appear to deviate from set certification
standards after they have passed audits and received their certificate. This usually
makes them vulnerable and affects their livelihood assets. Therefore, this study set
out to investigate the nexus between certified smallholder cocoa farmers’ continual
compliance with sustainable agriculture standard (SAS) and their livelihood assets.
The research was conducted in the Sefwi Wiawso Municipality of Ghana. Data were
collected from a survey of 400 cocoa farmers. Ordered logistic regression modelling,
Chi-square test, frequencies, means, standard deviations, and percentages were
used to analyze data. The findings show that 43.5% of the certified cocoa farmers complied moderately with SAS. Gender, farm size, land ownership, access to credit,
engaging in income-generating activities outside of farming, assistance provided by
License Buying Companies and extension contact were the determinants of farmers’
level of compliance with SAS. The study revealed a statistically significant association between farmer compliance and livelihood assets. Efforts to increase access to
credit for cocoa farmers must be accompanied by efforts to promote and educate
farmers on sustainable farming practices.
Description
Research Article
Keywords
certified cocoa farmers, compliance, non-compliance, rainforest alliance