A Study of the Effects of Increasing Local Rice Production on Green House Gas Emissions in Ghana

Abstract

This research was motivated by the government of Ghana's (GoG) initiative to boost local rice production to achieve self-sufficiency by 2025, in line with the country's commitment to meet its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) of a 15% reduction of the growth of Ghana’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2030 relative to a Business as Usual (BAU) scenario. Rice production emits methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O), which have a relatively higher global warming potential (GWP) than carbon dioxide (CO2). Increasing local rice production to achieve self-sufficiency could increase GHG emissions, making Ghana's NDC pledge to reduce CO2, CH4, and N2O unachievable. The government’s policy of increasing local rice production brings about conflicting policy goals. GHG emissions resulting from paddy rice production are comprehensively discussed in many Sub-Saharan African studies, including in Ghana, but the emphasis has been on rice intensification to reduce food insecurity and poverty with little attention to environmental costs. The problem statement informed the four study objectives of this study. The first was to identify the macro drivers of GHG emissions in Ghana and the second objective was to identify the factors that contribute to the observed declining share of the total GHG emissions in Ghana attributed to the agricultural sector using time series regression analysis from 1990 to 2019. For the third objective, an environmentally extended input-output analysis was used to examine the direct and indirect GHG emissions arising from rice production and compare these emissions with the corresponding generation of incomes and employment. Using a random cross-sectional survey of farmers and qualitative research methods, the fourth objective dealt with the methods local rice farmers used to manage their production systems to deal with GHG emissions. From the macro-level analysis in objectives one and two, it was determined that the total land area dedicated to rice production was a significant driver of total GHG emissions in the economy; a one percent increase in the land area dedicated to rice production would result in a 0.35% increase in total emissions. The study further showed that while increasing rice production was a significant long-term macro driver of total emissions, this was not the case in the short-term period. Using an environmentally extended input-output analysis to deal with the third objective, it was established that rice production was the second biggest GHG impacting industry in the domestic economy, after the electricity generation industry, despite its relatively small share of total emissions, estimated at around two percent. The other three big GHG-impacting industries were transport, crude oil production, and all other agricultural industries (excluding rice production). Rice production generated broad-based income and employment impacts, both directly for the rice industry, and also indirectly for other industries in the economy. It was ascertained from the survey of rice producers that farmers had a modest understanding of climate change and GHG emissions. In response to climate change, rice producers were implementing agronomic practices such as soil fertility management, planting of early-maturing varieties, using improved seeds and drought-tolerant rice varieties, and employing no-till land preparation. However, their efforts to adapt to climate change were hampered by their limited understanding of the effects of GHG emissions, high labour costs, and low levels of extension officer contacts. All three analyses confirm that rice production is a significant emitter of GHG emissions. However, its share of the national total GHG emissions is relatively small compared to all other agricultural industries (excluding rice production), transport, crude oil production, and electricity generation.