A Study of the Profitability of Mushroom Cultivation in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana

Abstract

This study examines the extent to which farmers trained by the Food Research Institute have taken up mushroom farming and also determines the profitability of mushroom production. Specifically, the study describes trends in the levels of mushroom production since 1995, the rate of adoption and dis-adoption of mushroom farming by trainees, the profitability of mushroom cultivation and identifies constraints to mushroom farming from the perspective of farmers. Trend description involves annual output of respondents in the Greater Accra region from 1995 to 1999. The profitability of mushroom cultivation was determined by the use of the Benefit-Cost Ratio ,Net Present Value and the Internal Rate of Return criteria. The constraints to mushroom cultivation from the perspective of the farmers were listed and ranked in decreasing order of importance. Results from the study reveal that there is an increasing trend in production by the individual farmers in the Greater Accra region, and that majority of the Food Research Institute’s trainees took up mushroom production. The estimates of the profitability indicators suggest that mushroom cultivation is profitable. The average values of the B/C ratio, NPV and IRR are 1.35, < z 6,2900.00 and 48.24% respectively. The three most important constraints found militating against mushroom cultivation are: poor marketing, lack of funding and scarcity of water, in that order. Some of the means by which constraints to marketing of agroproducts in general could be removed are: Intensification of market survey and dissemination of market information to producers and also increase in the proportion of Ghana’s merchandise exports that are processed. The problem of funding could be solved by the farmers forming savings and loans associations. Investment in rainwater harvesting and storage facilities is a possible means of solving the water problem. It is recommended that a similar research be carried out in areas outside the Greater Accra region of Ghana to assess profitability of the industry nationwide