COMPARATIVE STUDY OF PERFORMANCE OF MIDDLE AND 
JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL LEAVERS FARMING IN 
NORTH TONGU DISTRICT, VOLTA REGION, GHANA
BY
ASIEGBOR ISAAC KOKU
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL 
EXTENSION, UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL 
FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE 
MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE 
(AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION)
DEPARTMENT OF ARICULTURAL EXTENSION 
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA 
LEGON
JUNE 2000
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Gy 365697
5 q-q--5 ^  4-
A ,
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
DECLARATION
I declare that the materials covered in this research document are the results of investigations 
done by me. Any secondary sources of material or information in this thesis is acknowledged.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CERTIFICATION
Certified that this thesis is the student’s own account of his research.
jdjWg*
ASIEGBOR ISAACWDKU 
STUDENT
DR. P
SUPERVISOR
S  S  /
DR. P B. ATENGDEM
HEAD OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
DEDICATION
Dedicated first to:
• The memory of the Late Mr. Johnson Kwablavi Kudivo who laid the foundation of 
my education but left this life too early to realize the fruits of his labours; and,
• My children: Mawunya, Korsi and Da Yawa.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This thesis would not have been possible without the assistance of several people. 
The first among the lot is my supervisor Dr. P. B. Atengdem who painstakingly 
advised in the design stages, read and criticised the script. I gratefully acknowledge 
his brilliant criticisms and direction which spurred me on to complete the work.
In data collection, the assistance of Madam Serah Adukpo and Joyce Funkor of 
Mafi-Kumase, Mrs. Dunyo of Mafi-Akemfo and Mr. and Mrs. Caxton Anku of 
Juapong is highly acknowledged for providing me with accommodation and catering 
services during the survey in Juapong and its surrounding areas.
The help from Mr. Thomas Dunyo of Mafi-Akyemfo whose motor bike we used to 
reach inaccessible areas of the North Tongu District is highly acknowledged.
I acknowledge the financial assistance provided through Study Leave With Pay by 
my employers, the Ghana Education Service (GES), which enabled me to undertake 
the entire programme in Agricultural Extension.
Finally, the assistance of my course mates, Miss Cynthia Anku-Tsedey, Messrs 
Abudu Insah, Gordon Ekekpi and Jonathan Anaglo for their friendship and co­
operation particularly in learning computing skills for this work are gratefully 
acknowledged with thanks.
iy
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table of Contents
Page
Declaration >
Certification ii
Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Table of Contents v
List of Tables xii
List of Figures xvi
Abstract xvii
CHAPTER 1 1
Introduction 1
1.0 Background to the study 1
1.1 Development of Basic School Agriculture in Ghana 2
1.1.1 Middle School Agriculture Programme 2
1.1.2 Junior Secondary School Agriculture Programme 3
1.1.3 Objectives of Junior Secondary School Agriculture Programme 3
1.1.4 Specific Objectives of Junior Secondary Agriculture Programme 3
1.1.5 Evaluation of Basic School Agriculture in Ghana 4
1.2 Second Cycle Agricultural Education 5
1.3 Statement of the problem 6
1.4 Research Question 7
1.5 Objectives of the Study 7
1.6 Significance of the study 8
1.7 Definition of terms 9
1.8 Scope of the Study 10
CHAPTER 2 12
Conceptual Framework 12
2.0 Concepts guiding the study 12
2.1 Meaning of New Agricultural Knowledge 12
2.2 Utilisation of New Agricultural Knowledge 13
2.3 Aspects of farming investigated 16
2.4 Selecting Farming as a Career 17
V
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
2.4.1 Attitudes of Ghanaians towards farming. 18
2.4.2 Adjustment to Frustration 18
2.5 Effects of schooling on Farming 19
2.6 Characteristics of Knowledge 20
2.6.1 Attitudes 20
2.6.2 Attitudes in Agriculture 21
2.6.3 Skills in Agriculture 22
2.6.4 Summary on Characteristics of Agricultural Knowledge 23
2.7 Learning and Forgetting 24
2.8 Competence in Farming. 25
2.9 Classification of Occupations in Agriculture 26
2.9.1 Structure of on-farm occupations in Agriculture 26
2.10 Managerial Effectiveness 27
2.11 Intervening Factors and Utilization of New Agricultural Knowledge 29
2.11.1 Compatibility of New Agricultural Knowledge to farming tasks 29
2.12 New knowledge utilisation setting 32
2.12.1 Aims for farming 32
2.12.2 Farm ownership and business structure 33
2.12.3 Achievements from farming 34
2.13 Conclusion 35
CHAPTER 3
Methodology 36
3.0 Introduction 36
3.1 Research design 36
3.2 Data gathering instruments and data collected 36
3.2.1 Personal interview schedule 37
3.2.2 Questionnaires 37
3.2.3 Validation of instruments 38
3.3 Study population 38
3.3.1 Sample size 38
3.3.2 Sampling Method 39
vi
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3.4 Contact with young farmers 40
3.4.1 Conduct of the interview 40
3.4.2 Administration of Questionnaires 42
3.5 Data Analysis 42
3.5.1 Measurement of Performance 42
3.5.2 Measurement of retained knowledge levels 43
3.5.3 Measurement of new knowledge utilisation in farming 44
3.5.4 Final levels of knowledge utilisation in out-of-school farming 45
3.5.5 Differences in knowledge utilisation and achievements from farming 45
3.5.6 Testing for significance of Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 46
3.5.7 Rankings 46
3.5.8 Ranking of needs 47
3.5.9 Levels of agreement or disagreement between respondents 47
3.5.10 Test of significance of the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W 48
3.5.11 Achievements from farming 49
3.6 Report Frame 50
CHAPTER 4
Synopsis of Basic Education and Agricultural Production Systems in
North Tongu District 51
4.0 Introduction 51
4.1 Geographical location 51
4.2 Topography 53
4.3 Climate 53
4.4 Soils 54
4.5 Vegetation 54
4.6 Drainage in the District. 55
4.7 Social groups 55
4.8 Population of North Tongu District 56
4.8.1 Population distribution 56
4.9 The Education System 57
4.9.1 School facilities 57
vii
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.9.2 Staffing in Schools
4.9.3 District Junior Secondary Schools
4.9.4 Problems in the formal Education system
4.10 The Non-Formal Education System
4.10.1 Problems in the Non-Formal Education system
4.11 Agricultural Extension Service
4.12 Other Agricultural Training Institutions
4.13 The Agricultural Production System
4.14 Crop Production
4.15 Irrigated farming
4.16 Fishing
4.17 Livestock
4.18 Livestock grazing
4.19 Cattle Ranching
4.20 Amelorkorfe Animal Breeding Station
4.21 Markets
4.22 Agro-forestry
4.23 Agro-processing:
4.24 Problems of agricultural development:
CHAPTER 5
Farmers’ Social Background and Practical Agriculture in Junior 
Secondary Schools
5.0 Introduction
5.1 Social Characteristics of the respondents
5.1.1 Gender of the respondents:
5.1.2 Age of the respondents
5.1.3 Young farmers and marital status
5.2 Agricultural Education background of the respondents
5.2.1 Childhood farming and farm ownership
5.2.2 Home training in cattle keeping
5.2.3 Use of School agricultural knowledge in home farming
viii
58
59
59
60
60
61
61
61
62
63
63
64
64
65
65
66
66
66
68
69
69
69
69
71
73
74
74
75
75
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
5.2.4 Field Trips 78
5.3 Management of Agricultural Education Programmes in the District 79
5.3.1 Management of the Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme 80
5.3.2 Quality of District Agriculture Education Staff 80
5.3.3 Time Allocation for theory and practical work 82
5.4 Basic Schools and Agricultural Production in North Tongu District 83
5.4.1 Inventory of on-farm Agricultural Vocations 83
5.5 Extension Programme for Young Farmers 84
5.6 Summary 86
CHAPTER 6 88
Agricultural Knowledge of Middle and Junior Secondary School Graduates 88
6.0 Introduction 88
6.1 Assessment of agricultural knowledge levels 88
6.2 Differences in Agricultural Knowledge levels of respondents 89
6.3 Time of leaving school and performance on test 93
6.4 Performance on fertilizer test 95
6.5 Performance on farm output measurement test 98
6.6 Performance on sheep breeding test 100
6.7 Performance on pesticide test 102
6.8 Performance on net farm margin test 105
6.9 Summary 106
CHAPTER 7 107
Factors that Influence School Leavers to become Farmers 107
7.0 Introduction 107
7.1 Reasons for Terminating schooling at an Early Age 107
7.2 Respondents and factors influencing entry into farming 110
7.3 Levels of agreement on the ranking of factors influencing
entry into farming 113
7.4 Ranking of aims for farming 116
7.5 Levels of agreement between the respondents on aims in farming 120
7.6 Summary 121
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 8 124
Basic School Leavers in Formal Agricultural Knowledge Utilisation for Farming 124
8.0 Introduction 124
8.1 Background farming information of Respondents 124
8.1.1 Full time and part-time farmers 125
8.1.2 Respondents and type of agricultural products 126
8.1.3 Respondents and farm ownership 127
8.1.4 Land ownership 127
8.1.5 Difficulty in land Acquisition 128
8.1.6 Investment in improved farming inputs 128
8.2 General farming practices 130
8.2.1 Respondents and farm enterprise planning 130
8.2.2 Use of other sources of information 131
8.2.3 Farm record keeping 132
8.2.4 Reasons for not keeping records 132
8.2.5 Knowledge utilization in general farming practices 133
8.3 Crop production practices 134
8.3.1 Crops cultivated 134
8.3.2 Land testing practices 135
8.3.3 Use of farm tools 136
8.3.4 Cropping patterns 136
8.3.5 Reasons for practising mixed cropping 137
8.3.6 Sources of seed 139
8.3.7 Row and Haphazard planting 140
8.3.8 Crop output optimisation practices 141
8.3.9 Storage practices 145
8.3.10 Reasons for storing farm produce 146
8.3.11 Mean knowledge utilization in crop production practices 146
8.4 Animal production practices 147
8.4.1 Animal keeping and housing systems 148
8.4.2 Types of animals and stock size 149
X
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.4.3 Mean total animal per head 150
8.4.4 Animal housing 151
8.5 New knowledge utilization in animal keeping practices 152
8.5.1 General animal keeping practices 153
8.5.2 Animal handling and safety practices 154
8.5.3 Animal breeding practices 155
8.5.4 Animal heath management practices 156
8.5.5 Mean total new knowledge utilization in animal keeping practices 157
8.6 Mean total new knowledge utilization in animal production activities 159
8.7 Differences in knowledge utilization in out-of-school farming 160
8.8 Achievements in farming 163
8.8.1 Differences in Achievements from farming 164
8.9 Causes of success and failure in farming 166
8.10 Security in Life 166
8.11 The better farmer 168
8.12 Needs of the farmers 170
CHAPTER 9 174
Summary, Conclusion and Recommendations 174
9.0 Summary 174
9.1 Key findings 176
9.2 Conclusion 179
9.3 Recommendations 180
9.3.1 Formal Educational interventions 180
9.3.2 Documentation of Agricultural Occupations 182
9.3.3 Integration of Indigenous Knowledge into school programmes 183
9.3.4 In-school Follow-up Programme 184
9.3.5 Out-of-school Follow-up Programme 184
9.3.6 Agricultural Production infrastructure 185
9.4 Further Research 185
Bibliography 187
Appendices
xi
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
List of Tables
Table 4.1: Number of Basic Schools and the nature of classrooms in
North Tongu District 57
Table 4.2: Number of Pupils in Schools in the District 58
Table 4.3: Number and Type of staff in schools 58
Table 4.4: Major crop production areas in North Tongu District 63
Table 5.1: Age distribution of the farmers 72
Table 5.2: Percentage distribution of respondents by childhood farming,
farm ownership and cattle herding experience 75
Table 5.3: Percentage distribution of respondents by the use of school
agricultural knowledge in home farming 76
Table 5.4: Social Characteristics of the DAEC 80
Table 5.5: Distribution of DAEC and JSS teachers by availability of
some selected resources for teaching practical Agriculture 81
Table 5.6: Distribution of DAEC and Teachers by availability of
guidelines for managing school farms and keeping yield records 82 
Table 5.7: Number of on-farm enterprises in the North Tongu District 83
Table 5.8: Percentage distribution of AEAs by responses to items on
Extension programmes for young people 85
Table 6.1: Distribution of respondents by percentage number
in correct test options 89
Table 6.2: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle School
and Junior Secondary School graduates as measured by Wilcoxon- 
Mann-Whitney Test 91
Table 6.3: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle 
School males and Junior Secondary School males as 
measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 92
Table 6.4: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle 
School females and Junior Secondary School females 
as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 92
Table 6.5: Percentage distribution of respondents on correct test
options by number of years of leaving school 93
Table 6.6 : Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Recent and Old
graduates as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 94
Table 6.7: Percentage distribution of respondents who pass or fail the test
on fertilizers by Fertilizer Applicaton 96
Table 6.8 : Distribution of respondents who score the fertilizer test item
correctly by application of fertilizers 98
Table 6.9: Distribution of respondents who correctly score the item 
on farm output measurement and those who fail by 
their level of participating in yield measurement 99
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.10: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly scored
test item by participation in sheep and goat keeping activities 101 
Table 6.11: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly score the 
item on sheep breeding by school and level of participation in 
sheep or goat keeping activities 102
Table 6.12: Distribution of respondent who correctly score the pesticide
test by pesticide application 103
Table 6.13: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly scored the 
test item on pesticides by application of pesticides in farming 
and gender 104
Table 6.14: Distribution of respondents who had the item correct and
Wrong by record keeping 105
Table 7.1: Distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates by reasons
for terminating schooling 108
Table 7.2: Distribution of all the respondents by mean rank scores for
Factors influencing entry into farming 110
Table 7.3: Distribution of Middle School and JSS males and females by
mean rank scores of factors influencing them to become farmers 112
Table 7.4: The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, among Middle School 
and JSS graduates on factors influencing selection of farming 114
Table 7.5: Distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates by ranking
of aims for farming 116
Table 7.6: Distribution of respondents by mean ranking of aims for farming
and gender 118
Table 7.7: Distribution of respondents by age and mean ranking of
aims for farming 119
Table 7.8:The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, showing levels of
agreement between respondent categories on aims for farming 120 
Table 8.1: Percentage distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates
by full time and part time farming 125
Table 8.2: Percentage distribution of respondents by type of products
produced 126
Table 8.3: Percentage distribution of respondents by type of farm
Ownership 127
Table 8.4: Percentage distribution of Respondents by land ownership
status 128
Table 8.5: Percentage distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates
by their perceived difficulty in land acquisition for farming 128
Table 8 .6 : Distribution of respondents by type and costs of investment in
improved farming inputs 129
Table 8.7: Percentage distribution of Middle School and JSS leavers
by farm planning activities 130
Table 8 .8 : Percentage distribution of respondents by use of other
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
sources of information 131
Table 8.9: Percentage distribution of respondents by farm record
keeping and reasons for keeping 132
Table 8.10: Distribution of respondent categories by percentage sub-mean 
and mean total utilization of knowledge in general farming 
practices 133
Table 8.11: Percentage distribution of respondents by crops cultivated 134
Table 8.12: Percentage distribution of respondents by land testing
practices 135
Table 8.13: Percentage Respondent Categories in type of farm tools usage 136 
Table 8.14: Percentage distribution of respondents by cropping patterns 137 
Table 8.15: Percentage distribution of respondents by reasons for
practising mixed cropping 138
Table 8.16: Percentage distribution of respondents by sources of seed for
planting 139
Table 8.17: Percentage distribution of respondents by cassava and maize
planting methods 140
Table 8.18: Distribution of respondents by rank scores for crop output
optimisation practices 141
Table 8.19: Distribution of respondent categories by The Kendall Coefficient 
of Concordance for ranking of yield optimising practices 143 
Table 8.20: Percentage distribution of respondents by storage of farm
produce and non indigenous storage technology (sack) 145
Table 8.21: Distribution of respondents by percentage mean new
knowledge Utilization in crop production 147
Table 8.22: Percentage distribution of respondents by animal keeping
and types of animals 149
Table 8.23: Distribution of respondents by animal stock size 149
Table 8.24: Percentage distribution of respondents by semi-intensive
animal housing system 151
Table 8.25: Percentage distribution of respondents by level of utilization 
of new knowledge and dependency levels in general animal 
production activities 153
Table 8.26: Percentage distribution of respondents by level of utilization
of new knowledge in animal handling tasks 154
Table 8.27: Percentage distribution of respondents by participation in
animal breeding activities 155
Table 8.28: Percentage distribution of respondents by participation in
animal health management practices 156
Table 8.29: Percentage distribution of respondents by mean total 
Knowledge utilization in animal production practices 
and dependency levels 157
xiv
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.30: Percentage distribution of respondents by sub-mean and
mean total new knowledge utilization in animal production 159 
Table 8.31: Percentage distribution of respondents by Mean and
Grand mean total knowledge utilization in general farming, crop 
production and animal production practices 160
Table 8.32: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming 
between Middle School and JSS leavers as measured by 
Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 161
Table 8.33: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming
between Middle School males and JSS males as measured by 
Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 161
Table 8.34: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming 
between Middle School females and JSS females as 
measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 162
Table 8.35: Percentage distribution of respondents by tangible
achievements in farming 164
Table 8.36:Differences in achievements from farming between Middle School 
and JSS graduates as measured by The
Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 164
Table 8.37: Differences in achievements between Middle School 
males and JSS males from farming as measured by 
The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 165
Table 8.38: Differences in achievements between Middle School 
female and JSS females from farming as measured by 
The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test 165
Table 8.39: Percentage distribution of respondents by perceived
levels of security in life 167
Table 8.40: Distribution of respondents by rank scores of needs
required for successful farming 170
Table 8.41: Distribution of respondent categories by The Kendall
Coefficient of Concordance for ranking of needs 172
XV
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
List of Figures
Figure 2.1: A suggested Model of Utilising New Agricultural
Knowledge from Basic Education for farming 15
Figure 2.2: Aspects of farming investigated for Middle and Junior
Secondary School graduates 16
Figure 4.1: A map of North Tongu District showing the road network, towns and 
villages from which the respondents were drawn for the study 52
Figure 5.1: Frequency distribution of the respondents by gender 70
Figure 5.2: Bar chart of percentage distribution of the respondents
by marital status 73
Figure 5.3: Bar chart of percentage attendance of field trips
by farmers 79
Figure 7.1: Bar chart of frequency distribution of Cattle Herders by
reasons for terminating school 109
Figure 7.2: Bar chart of distribution of Middle School and JSS leavers by mean
rank scores for factors influencing them to become farmers 111
xvi
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
ABSTRACT
The Study on Basic School Agriculture outcomes was conducted in the North Tongu 
District of the Volta Region of Ghana from May to June 1998. The main objective of 
the study is to compare the impact of the differences in the Middle School and Junior 
Secondary School Agriculture programmes on the performance of the graduates in 
farming. The Middle School Agriculture programme was vocational/practical without 
teaching or learning of theoretical knowledge while the Junior Secondary School 
Agriculture Programme was academic-vocational (Integrated).
Specifically, the study compares and explains the differences between Middle School 
and Junior Secondary School leavers by: age, gender and marital status, use of 
school-based agricultural knowledge in home farming while in school, levels of 
agricultural knowledge, ranking of factors influencing the choice of farming, ranking 
aims for farming, utilisation of formal agricultural knowledge in farming, achievements 
from farming, security in life and the needs of the respondents in farming.
The survey research methodology was employed. With a personal interview schedule, 
the snowball non probability sampling technique was used to gather information from 
the Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North 
Tongu District. With questionnaires, stratified random sampling was used to collect 
information from Agricultural Extension Agents, Junior Secondary School Agriculture 
Teachers, District Director of Agriculture and District Agricultural Education Officer. 
The Statistical Package for the Social Scientist (SPSS) was used to analyse the data
xvii
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The performance of the farmers was compared using the following statistics: 
percentages, rank scores, The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test and The Kendall 
Coefficient of Concordance.
The study shows that Junior Secondary School graduates are better farmers than 
Middle School leavers in the North Tongu District because their performance is 
related to the type of Agricultural Education programme they pursued. Junior 
Secondary school graduates tend to be more independent, think and act abstractly in 
selecting farming practices that have abstract advantages while Middle School leavers 
appear to be more dependent and select yield optimising practices with easily 
observable advantages.
The performance of the Junior Secondary School graduates is explained by their use 
of school-based agricultural knowledge in home farming while in school, ranking of 
school training as a factor influencing the choice of farming, ranking of aims in 
farming, ranking of crop yield optimisation practices and attainment of higher tangible 
achievements from farming. A similar performance is observed on the basis of 
gender. However, the perceived levels of security in life and needs of the respondents 
have not been explained by the differences in the Basic School Agriculture 
programmes they pursued.
The study provides information on the study of Basic School Agriculture outcomes and 
the intervening factors in the utilization of formal agricultural knowledge for farming.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Background to the Study
The performance of the Agricultural Sector in Ghana has not been impressive. The 
sector operates at 20 percent of its potential with an average annual growth rate of
2.1 % (Djangmah, Asiegbor and Aidoo 1997, MOFA1995). As a result of the low rate 
of growth, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture has set a target growth rate of four 
percent per annum in support of Ghana Vision 2020 policy framework (MOFA 1997). 
Among the reasons cited for low agricultural productivity in the country include low 
public and private sector investment, poor marketing, low consumption of improved 
inputs, illiteracy of farmers and low youth involvement, (Djangmah et al 1997, MOE 
1986, MOFA 1995).
The Agricultural Sector employs about 70% of the labour force, contributes 40% of the 
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and accounts for 50% of export earnings of the 
country. Several strategies have been developed to improve on the performance of the 
sector (MOFA, 1995).
One of the key strategies to raise agricultural productivity is the introduction of 
Agricultural Education and Training into Basic Schools to attract young persons into 
farming (MOE 1986, Ghanaian Times 1999). The assumption is that literate young 
persons with higher education and training are strong and energetic and can use their 
advance knowledge and skills to raise agricultural productivity.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
1.1 Development of Basic School Agriculture in Ghana
The need to introduce Agricultural Education as a subject into Basic Education in 
Ghana was identified as far back as 1922 but it was resisted by the indigenous people 
who viewed academic education as superior to agricultural education and as a means 
to escape from drudgery of rural life (Phelp 1922 as cited by MOFA 1996). In that 
context, Agricultural Education was treated differently in various eras as to be seen in 
this discussion.
1.1.1 Middle School Agriculture Programme
Prior to 1951 when the Accelerated Development Plan for Education was instituted, 
agricultural education was mainly administered in schools through pupils participation 
in manual work in school gardens (GES 1999.) It was noted that most Mission Schools 
had agriculture as a co-curricular activity but did very little to impact knowledge and 
skills to pupils.
After independence in 1957, Agriculture was taught in the Middle School as a manual 
subject, a part of Nature Study. In 1969, the subject was changed into the 
Continuation programme which was an integration of vocational subjects including 
carpentry and masonry. The subject was administered in schools through the 
Agricultural Science Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES). In the Middle School, 
the subject had no specified textbook, taught only in some schools and was not 
examined externally. The Continuation programme continued up to 1987 when the 
Junior Secondary School programme (JSS) was introduced. The last cohort of Middle 
School pupils came out of school in 1990. The Middle School agriculture programme 
was a practical (vocational) one without much theory.
2
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
1.1.2 Junior Secondary School Agriculture Programme
In the 1987 Educational Reforms, Agriculture was introduced into Basic Education as 
a compulsory subject for all pupils. Basic Education in Ghana consists of Primary and 
Junior Secondary School (MOE 1986). The administration was under a GES Division, 
Agricultural and Environmental Studies Division which was dissolved in 1992.
In the Primary School, Agriculture is studied as a part of general education. The 
subject is taught with prevocational objectives in the Junior Secondary School (MOFA
1989). In both cases the curriculum is developed centrally and distributed to all 
schools in the country irrespective of the environmental conditions where schools are 
located (CRDD 1987). The prevocational objectives of the Basic Agricultural 
Education programme read as follows:
1.1.3 Objectives of Junior Secondary School Agriculture Programme
The general objectives of the JSS Agriculture programme as contained in the 
suggested syllabus include:
1. To train students in the basic principles of agriculture.
2. To provide avenues for the development of skills and change attitudes towards 
agriculture in young children.
1.1.4 Specific Objectives of Junior Secondary Agriculture Programme
The specific objectives of the JSS Agriculture programme as culled from the 1987 
Agricultural Science syllabus read as follows:
3
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
1. To develop in the student an appreciation for agriculture in relation to his daily life, 
his school, his village, or town and his country.
2. To acquaint students with the fundamentals of modern farming.
3. To encourage students in the scientific observations and theories required in 
understanding the soil, climate, plants and animals.
4. To provide environment where students acquire effective knowledge in:
i. producing farm commodities efficiently,
ii. marketing farm products,
iii. conserving soil and other natural resources,
iv. participating in rural leadership and
v. maintaining healthy environment.
5. To develop in the student an understanding of the place of agriculture in the 
economy of the individual as well as the nation.
6. To contribute to the general education of students and develop a better 
citizenship in the sense that they have a better understanding of agriculture and 
the rural community.
7. To prepare the pupils for further training in agriculture.
1.1.5 Evaluation of Basic School Agriculture in Ghana
The Middle School Agriculture programme was not examined externally. The Middle 
School Leaving Certificate Examination (MSLC) did not include Agriculture as well as 
the Common Entrance Examination (CEE) which was used to select pupils for entry 
into Secondary Schools.
In the Educational Reforms, however, two main strategies have been developed for 
assessing pupils’ achievement. First, Continuous Assessment, a type of formative
4
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
evaluation was initially set at 40 percent but reduced to 30 percent to ensure that the 
Continuous Assessment scores do not reduce the quality of the certificate obtained at 
the basic education level for its invalidity and unreliability (WAEC, 1994). Secondly, a 
terminal examination was also increased from 60 to 70 percent accordingly. On 
completion of the JSS, a summative evaluation is done which results in the award of 
Basic Education Certificate. The grades of the Basic Education Certificate Examination 
(BECE) are: 1-6, credit, 7- 8, pass and 9, fail.
Thus, it can be concluded that the JSS Agriculture is an academic-vocational or 
(Integrated) programme (Curtis, R., F. and Crunkilton, J., R. 1993).
1.2 Second Cycle Agricultural Education
During the Middle School era, pupils who passed the Common Entrance Examination 
(CEE) were admitted into Secondary Schools. Between 1985 to 1990 only 26 percent 
of the pupils who passed the Common Entrance Examination from Middle Schools 
and Preparatory Schools were admitted into Secondary Schools (MOE 1986) 
because there were not enough Secondary Schools to absorb them.
In the Secondary Schools, Agriculture was taught as part of a general programme for 
students from form one to form three. Thereafter, students selected subjects they 
studied for their careers and Agriculture was one of them.
In the Educational Reforms, however, Basic Education Certificate Examination 
(BECE) which is taken at the end of Junior Secondary Form Three is used to select 
pupils into Senior Secondary Schools.
At first, to admit a Junior Secondary school graduate into a Senior Secondary School, 
a student was expected to make an aggregate of thirty-six (36) in six subjects
5
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
including Mathematics and English. In the case where a student obtained grade eight 
(8) in English but his or her aggregate adds up to 36 admission was offer such 
candidate for an Elective programme at the Second Cycle Educational level (GES 
1988).
With tome however, the entry requirements for Senior Secondary School admissions 
were changed in 1998. Currently, the requirements for admission into Senior 
Secondary School is aggregate 30 from six Junior Secondary School subjects.
The main continuing education programme for students who want to study Agriculture 
at the Senior Secondary School level is the Elective Agriculture programme. A total of 
30% of the students from the JSS are absorbed annually at the Second Cycle 
Educational level (GES, Basic 1989). As much as 70% of the students terminate their 
education and can enter into apprenticeship or hunt for jobs in the private sector. 
Obviously, a significant proportion of them will earn their living from agriculture (World 
Bank 1989).
1.3 Statement of the problem
There have been arguments that a practical Basic School Agriculture programme can 
make better farmers than an academic-vocational (theoretical-practical) Basic School 
Agriculture. The Middle School Agriculture programme was a practical one while the 
Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme is both academic and vocational. 
The two types of Basic School Agriculture programmes have been run for several 
years in Ghana and the graduates of the respective programmes are involved in 
farming. But what remains undetermined is the extent to which the differences in the 
Basic School Agriculture programmes pursued by Middle School and JSS graduates
6
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
affect their performance as farmers. Does a practical Basic School Agriculture 
programme make better farmers as compared to an academic-vocational Basic 
School Agriculture programme? What effects have the different Basic School 
Agriculture programmes made on the graduates in farming?
1.4 Research Question
The fundamental question that the study seeks to address is:
Does any difference exist in the performance in farming between graduates of a 
practical Basic School Agriculture programme and those of an academic-vocational 
Basic School Agriculture programme?
The specific questions to be addressed are:
1. What social characteristic differences exist between 1985-1990 Middle School and 
1990-1997 Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu 
District?
2. How does the use of school-based Agricultural knowledge in home farming while in 
school associate with the type of Basic School Agriculture programme pursued?
3. How does the level of new agricultural knowledge retained for farming associate 
with the type of agricultural education received by the Middle School and JSS 
graduates?
1.5 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study is to compare the effects of the differences in a 
practical and a comprehensive Basic School Agriculture programmes on the 
performance of Middle School and JSS graduates farming in the North Tongu District.
7
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Specific objectives
Specifically, the study will:
1. identify the social characteristic differences between the Middle School and Junior 
Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu District.
2. compare the extent to which the differences in the programmes influence their use 
of school-based agricultural knowledge in home farming while in school.
3. compare the retained agricultural knowledge levels of Middle School and Junior 
Secondary graduates farming in the North Tongu District.
4. compare the factors which influenced the Middle and Junior Secondary School 
graduates to become farmers in the District.
5. compare the aims of the Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates in 
farming in the District.
6. determine and explain the extent to which the differences in the two programmes 
influence the levels of new agricultural knowledge utilization and achievements in 
farming of the Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates in the 
District.
7. compare the factors which hinder the progress of Middle School and Junior
Secondary School graduates farming in the district.
8. suggest interventions for applying relevant aspects of the findings of the study in 
improving Basic School Agriculture in Ghana.
1.6 Significance of the study
Education is an important tool for development but it is also expensive. It is necessary
to find out the effects that a practical and a comprehensive Basic School Agriculture
have on the graduates in agricultural production to provide insights into the agricultural
8
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
education outcomes and inform policy makers, stakeholders and the public. The 
findings will guide in the selection of the design of Basic School Agriculture for 
effectiveness. The findings will also enable support programmes to be developed for 
Basic School graduates in farming. Since young people form the future human 
resource base of the country, how they use knowledge acquired from Basic School 
Agriculture programme should be known so that improvement can be made to the 
educational programme. The study will contribute to knowledge on how young people 
utilise formal agricultural knowledge acquired from Basic School in farming, the 
constraints they face and what they need to improve on their performance. The results 
will provide a rational basis for improving on the Basic Agricultural Education 
programme and for the development of programmes for Basic School leavers.
1.7 Definition of terms
The terms listed below have been operationally defined as follows:
1. New Agricultural Knowledge. This refers to formal agricultural knowledge, attitudes, 
skills, technologies, practices and information which young people acquire at 
school rather than outside school. It contrasts with Indigenous, Traditional or Local 
Agricultural Knowledge and Cosmovision which are often acquired through social 
experience and not taught in formal educational institutions.
2. Performance. It refers to the effects of applying any type of agricultural knowledge 
in carrying out tasks or activities in the process of raising crops and animals on the 
farmer and associated achievements. It also includes reasons associated with the 
choice to use such agricultural knowledge for farming.
9
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3. Utilisation of New Agricultural Knowledge. This is the choice of expressing formal 
agricultural knowledge, attitudes and skills in carrying out farming activities rather 
than using other agricultural knowledge systems.
4. Young Farmers. The term refers to people in the age range of 15 to 34 years, who 
terminated schooling after leaving Middle School and Junior Secondary School 
between 1985 to 1990 and 1990 to 1997 respectively and farm in the North Tongu 
district.
1.8 Scope of the Study
From 1985 to 1990, 74 per cent of the six batches of Middle School leavers joined the 
agricultural labour force since only 26 percent of them went to Second Cycle 
Educational system. The first batch of JSS graduates completed school in 1990. By 
1997, eight cohorts of graduates have passed through the system. The further 
education programmes designed for the graduates absorbed only 30-40 percent of 
them into Senior Secondary, Technical and Vocational Schools. In absolute terms, the 
number of graduates from the Junior Secondary Schools by 1998 is 1,681,532 (GES 
1998). Assuming that the reform absorbed about 30 % into Senior Secondary Schools, 
then there will be 1,177,072 graduates available for the informal sector training 
institutions and employment. If it is assumed that 5% of them go into apprenticeship 
training as carpenters, masons, tailors, dressmakers and the like while a further 5% go 
into trading and allied jobs, then the agricultural sector will have more than one million 
young persons for employment.
The question is where are these potential prospective farmers located? However, 
anecdotal information indicates that many Junior Secondary and Middle School 
graduates farm in the southern part of the Volta Region. North Tongu District is the
10
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
largest of the five districts in the southern portion of the Volta Region with vast 
agricultural potentialities. Since the specific locations of the young farmers have not 
been identified, it is considered necessary to restrict the study to the North Tongu 
District for logistic and linguistic reasons as well as knowledge of the area.
The study could not apply a formal testing procedure to identify the agricultural 
knowledge levels of the young people hence the use of objective test items which are 
orally administered.
11
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 2
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 
2.0 Concepts guiding the study
This chapter is a review of related literature from which the concepts underlying the 
study have been identified and operationalized. It defines new agricultural knowledge 
and discusses the concepts and sub-concepts in the process of the utilizing new 
agricultural knowledge for farming.
2.1 Meaning of New Agricultural Knowledge
Basic School Agriculture provides new knowledge, attitudes and skills in agriculture. 
Since agricultural knowledge is multifaceted, and the education system did not 
separate indigenous knowledge from non-indigenous system in the curriculum, an 
attempt is made to explain the concept of new agricultural knowledge as applied in the 
study. Knowledge was classified by Haverkort et al (1999) into four main categories 
namely; classical knowledge, Rural Peoples’ knowledge, formal knowledge and 
cosmovision. The various dimensions of knowledge as defined by Haverkort, 
Hiesmstra and vant’ Hooft (1999) are presented as follows.
Classical Knowledge. This refers to “knowledge of ancient cultures derived from
classical texts or other cultural expressions such as designs or architecture ” (p.4).
Rural People’s Knowledge, "the actual knowledge of rural people based both on 
traditional knowledge (knowledge that was transmitted orally from one generation to 
the next or indigenous knowledge( knowledge that has been generated by a certain 
population in a specific environment) and external knowledge (i.e. knowledge brought
12
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
by education, extension, churches, mass media or commerce)”, (p.4).
Cosmovision. “or concept of life refers to the way a certain population perceives the 
world and cosmos. It includes assumed relationships between the spiritual world. It 
describes the role of supernatural powers, the relationships between humans and 
nature and the way natural processes take place. It embodies the premises on which 
people organise themselves and determine the philosophical basis for intervention in 
nature”, (p.4).
Formal Knowledge, “also referred to as western, scientific or conventional knowledge. 
Knowledge that results from the formal process of fact finding and understanding, 
based on positivist methods like quantification and interpretation of research data. This 
knowledge is being generated in formal research centres and taught in formal 
educational institutes such as universities and agricultural schools”.( p.4).
This study focuses on the utilisation of formal agricultural knowledge which is referred 
to as new agricultural knowledge.
2.2 Utilisation of New Agricultural Knowledge
In the process of utilising formal agricultural knowledge for farming, several intervening 
factors impede or enhance the process and ultimately determine the level of usage 
and outputs of using the knowledge^ Sibylle 1995).
The intervening factors in the process of using formal agricultural knowledge for 
farming include the characteristics of the new agricultural knowledge itself, 
characteristics of the learner, the perceived value the learner places on the new 
knowledge, the method of acquiring the new knowledge, the societal value for the
13
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
use of the new knowledge, the support system put in place for the use of new 
knowledge, socio-cultural factors such as beliefs and taboos, physical, climatic and 
social factors in the agricultural production environment, the advantage of using the 
new knowledge as compared to the use of an alternative knowledge in the 
performance of the same task in farming and the achieved value or satisfaction 
derived for using the new knowledge.
The main concept underlying the study is the effect of utilising New Agricultural 
Knowledge in the process of farming. It has three sub-concepts, namely;
(i) compatibility of new agricultural knowledge to farming tasks.
(ii) influence of intervening factors in the process of utilising new agricultural 
knowledge for farming.
(iii) the magnitude of the satisfaction derived from utilising new agricultural 
knowledge for farming as well as the desire to use or not to use the new 
knowledge again.
The sub-concepts compliment, supplement or compete with each other in the 
process of using new agricultural knowledge for farming. In all, the three sub­
concepts provide insights into the phenomenon of applying new agricultural 
knowledge for farming by young low-resource people. A suggested frame of the 
factors and stages in the process of using new agricultural knowledge is presented 
in Figure 2.1.
14
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
E
DU
cAT
I
ON
A Type of:C Knowledge,H Attitudes,I SkillsE (KAS)VED
New KAS or Change of goal
Continued use
Achieved Value for use of KAS:
-  achievements- Security in life- Satisfaction in life
s :
REINFORCEMENT Of KAS, eg: Home Farming
Learner CharacteristicsMemoryInterestsAimsActivities
Societal Value for Use of KAS
Agric. Production Environment:Land/soilfertility, Climate, Irrigation etc.
SUPPORT SYSTEM For Young Fanners:Land, credit, farming Inputs, risk management etc.
FIGURE 2.1: A SUGGESTED MODEL OF UTILISING AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE FROM BASIC EDUCATION FOR FARMING.
Source: Developed by the study from the literature.
The model suggests that the type of knowledge, skills and attitudes achieved from 
Basic School Agriculture depend on the type of programme, the learner and his or her 
characteristics particularly the learner’s memory, aims and interests. If the learner 
uses the knowledge acquired from Basic School Agriculture in farming at home for 
instance s/he will develop value for the knowledge and internalise it. The reverse is 
also true. The value so developed for use of new
15
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
knowledge would spur the learner on to apply the knowledge in out-of-school farming. 
However, this will depend on the societal value developed for the persons already 
using similar knowledge for farming. The lower the societal value for those using the 
knowledge, the lower the perceived value for the new knowledge. Out-of-school new 
knowledge utilization in farming depends on the support system put in place for young 
farmers as well as the agricultural production environment. Continued use would be 
made of the new knowledge if the farmer achieves high level of satisfaction from the 
use of the knowledge. The farmer would stop using the new knowledge if his or her 
goals change or another new knowledge or technology comes to replace the former
2.3 Aspects of farming investigated
From the model on the utilisation of new knowledge from Basic School Agriculture, the 
study assesses the performance of Middle School and Junior Secondary School 
graduates in four main aspects of farming as shown in the Figure 2.2.
Figure 2.2: Aspects of farming investigated for Middle and Junior Secondary School 
graduates.
Source: The Study
16
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
2.4 Selecting Farming as a Career
It may be interesting to find out the factors which influenced the young people 
to select farming as a career in the first place. Literature on career selection is 
presented as follows. Levinson’s (1986) life course theory suggests that an 
individual goes through several eras of growth in a life cycle. Within each life cycle 
era, the individual enters five developmental tasks.
Two of the tasks which relate to this study are forming and modifying ones dream of 
life, and an occupation. He indicated that the dream directs ones decision-making to 
move in certain ways and not in others. Boyd (1989) explains that to understand what 
motivates an individual to select an occupation requires a determination of the 
meaning that person attaches to the developmental task of forming and modifying an 
occupation. He indicated that the process of selecting an occupation is influenced by 
the era or period of life the individual is going through. These eras identified by 
Levinson (1986) spans the period of birth to death. Three of the eras are pre­
adulthood, early adulthood (years 17- 45), middle adulthood (years 40-65) and late 
adulthood. It was noted that transition periods exist between these eras of growth in 
an individual’s life cycle.
Important factors that influence selection of an occupation are the education one 
receives in early life, security in life and value that society attaches to the occupation 
(Finch and Crunkilton 1993 Chaplin and Krawiec 1974, Chitambar 1972).
One of the higher needs of an adult is to select an occupation that will guarantee a 
secured future, (Chaplin and Krawiec 1974). But do the Middle School and JSS
17
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
graduates in the North Tongu District consider farming as an occupation that can 
guarantee a secured future for them?
2.4.1 Attitudes of Ghanaians towards farming
The World Bank, (1989 and Foster 1979) indicated that historically, Ghanaians have 
had a strong support for academic education as against vocational education. They 
viewed academic education as the gateway for their children to gain access to 
prestigious professions, (World Bank 1989). In recent years however, there is a 
gradual change in expectations since the links between academic education and 
public wage sector employment has broken down (MESW 1998, World Bank 1989). 
Apparently, some parents began to value vocational education (MESW 1998 and 
World Bank 1989).
2.4.2 Adjustment to frustration
When an individual’s goals and wishes are blocked by circumstances beyond solution, 
a frustrating situation arises (Chitambar 1972). Chitambar continued to say that the 
individual makes adjustment in behaviour by redirecting his or her energies and 
actions into developing new goals, a process called compensation. Two mechanisms 
in compensation are substitution and sublimation. In substitution, the frustrated 
individual replaces the original goal with a closely related one (Chitambar 1972). But 
in sublimation, an individual faced with a frustrating situation replaces a high goal with 
a lower one.
Two years after the commencement of the 1987 educational reforms in Ghana, the 
World Bank (1989) reported that in-school youth, parents and teachers in South 
East Ghana including the study area expressed positive attitudes towards self- 
employment in the informal sector, including farming.
18
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
But a contrary evidence on the ground showed that Ghanaian youth regarded farmers 
as poor people (Odoi 1999). Did the young out-of-school youth select farming out of 
interest or frustration?
2.5 Effects of schooling on farming
Schooling is supposed to alter the way farmers think about and solve agricultural 
problems, (Eisemon and Nyamete 1988). It provides skills for processing information 
from printed materials and other sources. Eisemon and others (1988) argued that one 
major intention of education is to influence how daily life events are to be understood, 
explained and how farmers relate them to their work.
School agricultural education is designed and implemented with the ultimate aim of 
creating capacities for knowledge-based behaviours in children towards agricultural 
production. As an aspect of the ideology of the modernisation process in development 
planning, deliberate change is effected in traditional agricultural beliefs and practices 
through school agricultural education systems by use of metropolitan languages which 
de-emphasise Indigenous Agricultural Knowledge Systems, (Eisemon and Nyamete 
1988). Wallace, Mantzou and Taylor (1996) stressed the need to integrate indigenous 
and empirical science-based agricultural knowledge systems for effective education.
The mechanism through which schooling is expected to affect the performance of
farmers was outlined by Eisemon and Nyamete (1988) as follows:
- “understanding modem agricultural technologies and incorporating them into 
agricultural production practices and into the knowledge they possess from 
social experience............. use they make of school knowledge of science
and agriculture and comprehension and use of numeracy skills 
in the performance of tasks in farming”, (p.35).
19
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
2.6 Characteristics of Knowledge
Educational objectives have been categorised into three domains, cognitive, affective 
and psychomotor (Bloom 1956). Knowledge is one of the cognitive outputs of 
education. It has been classified by Bloom (1956) into six hierarchical levels namely; 
Knowledge, Comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation. Each 
of these levels of knowledge has distinct characteristics.
Factual Knowledge is the lowest level and evaluation is the highest, in agricultural 
education. Other scholars also referred to cognitive educational objectives as 
“cognitive outputs” (Eisemon and Nyamete 1988) and "profile dimensions” (Quansah 
1996). Based on profile dimension classification, agricultural education objectives 
consist of Knowledge and Understanding (KU), Application of Knowledge (AK) and 
Practical Skills (PS) (Quansah 1996).
2.6.1 Attitudes
The affective domain of educational objectives which was developed by Krathwohl 
(1958) consists of five hierarchical levels namely; Receiving, Responding, Valuing, 
Organisation and Characterisation by value or Value Complex. The affective domain is 
related to attitudes.
The summaries of definitions of the concept of attitudes seem to agree that an attitude 
is a disposition or an inferred factor within the individual which produce a tendency to 
perceive and react favourably or unfavourably towards aspects of ones environment. It 
is the sum total of ones inclinations, feelings, prejudices, bias, fears, perceptions and 
convictions about objects, ideas, or issues which can be expressed overtly or covertly
20
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
(Osgood et al 1957, Allport 1967, Mouly 1968, and Fishbein 1971). Though attitudes 
are enduring they are subject to change (Hallaran 1967).
Attitudes have cognitive, affective and behavioural components. The cognitive 
components of attitudes are knowledge-based and form the foundation of beliefs 
which make people tell whether an object or idea is bad or good. The affective domain 
of attitudes refers to the emotions of like or dislike which charge an individual towards 
an object, idea or issue. The behavioural component of attitude is the overt or covert 
action or feeling of the individual towards an attitude object, idea or issue. Although 
behaviour is related to attitudes, other external, social and physical conditions can 
determine behaviour (Hallaran 1967).
2.6.2 Attitudes in Agriculture
Some curriculum experts do not consider attitudes as important components of 
agricultural education objectives (Quansah 1997, personal communication). But 
Phipps (1966) and Warner (1986) identified attitudes as major components of 
agricultural education.
Since agricultural production can impact positively or negatively on the environment, 
farmers need to have desirable attitudes for the protection of the environment. In 
modern times, owing to rapid social and technological changes, new attitudinal issues 
in agricultural production and consumption have emerged. Some of these attitudes 
include identification, recognition, valuing and action to be taken in respect to 
importance of agriculture in national socio-economic development, roles of women and 
other vulnerable groups in agricultural production, agricultural production practices that 
degrade, protect and conserve the environment, farm safety measures, co-operation 
between various actors in the management of the environment, observation of
21
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
agricultural product quality standards, protecting agricultural product consumers from 
zoonotic diseases such as Anthrax, Rabies, Mad Cow disease, improved farming 
practices, love and respect for dignity of labour in farming, discarding beliefs and 
taboos that hinder agricultural development, substance abuse in farming, hard work, 
endurance and resilience in farm work , (Johnson 1990). Other attitudinal issues in 
agricultural production include labour and personnel handling in farming, and the roles 
of science, social science and technology in agricultural production, (Taylor 1996).
2.6.3 Skills in Agriculture
Psychomotor objectives in education are made up of five hierarchical levels: 
Perception, Set, Guided Response, Mechanism and Complex Overt Response. 
Though they relate to skills, skills have quite distinct characteristics which embodies 
knowledge as well, (Bajah 1990). Skills in agriculture have been further classified into 
several groups: practical skills (Pierce 1985), problem-solving skills (Swanson and 
Claar 1984), manipulative skills (Olaiton and Onazi 1989), responsibility skills (Warner 
et al 1986), managerial skills or production oriented management skills, (Riedmiller 
1990). Again skills have been categorised into transferable skills, problem-solving 
skills, communicative skills, decision-making skills and management skills (Wallace et 
al 1996).
In developing formal educational programmes such as curriculum planning, 
instructional design, teacher preparation, programme implementation and evaluation, 
various individual aspects or combinations of aspects of these learning taxonomies are 
used. (Walkinshaw 1989).
22
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
In syllabus planning for instance, the type of learning outcomes expected of the 
programme are specified in the objectives and weighted based on learning taxonomic 
levels. Specific behavioural terms or active verbs are used to express the learning 
objectives of the programme (Quansah 1996, Chiwona 1990). The objectives in a 
syllabus determine content to teach, activities learners must perform and the method 
the acquired behaviour can be assessed ( Sarr 1990 ).
The complexities involved in integrating the various learning taxonomies and levels led 
to the curriculum development process to look at learning objectives in terms of the 
functions or activities an individual performs which are expressions of knowledge, 
attitudes and skills, (Quansah 1996, Sarr 1990). It has also stimulated a search for 
new ways of categorizing educational objectives. This led to the development of the 
experiential learning model and taxonomy of educational objectives by Steinaker and 
Bell (1979) as cited in Walkinshaw (1989).
The experiential taxonomy consists of five hierarchical levels with sub-levels or steps. 
Exposure is the lowest level in the experiential learning taxonomy followed by 
Participation, Identification, Internalization and Dissemination. The experiential 
learning taxonomy merges the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of 
learning. It also recognizes dissemination of acquired experience as part of the 
learning process ( Walkinshaw 1989 ).
2.6.4 Summary on characteristics of Agricultural Knowledge
In summary, what the four typologies of learning seem to suggest is that there are 
different types of knowledge, attitudes and skills, and any meaningful educational 
programme integrates and incorporates the various types of educational objectives
23
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
into it. The proportions of knowledge, attitudes and skills in a training programme 
determine the practical and or theoretical nature of it.
The components of an educational programme consists of the curriculum, human 
and material resources, the school or learning environment, the socio-cultural 
system, characteristics of learners as well as the process of implementation and 
management of the programme (Wallace et al, 1996 and Taylor, 1996). The 
programme determines the type of knowledge acquired. The strengths or 
weaknesses of an educational programme can result from the differences in the 
combinations of the individual learning taxonomic levels and balance between the 
three types of learning taxonomies included in the programme.
No matter the combinations of educational objectives achieved through a learning 
process, the fact remains that whatever is learnt can be forgotten.
2.7 Learning and Forgetting
The Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North 
Tongu District have all terminated formal schooling between 1-13 years at the time 
of the study. They could reproduce the knowledge acquired from school if they 
retained such knowledge in their Long-Term Memory (LTM) or in the Short-Term 
Memory (STM) any of the knowledge acquired from social experience just a few 
days before the oral test. The theory of retention and forgetting in verbal learning 
discussed by several persons and cited by Chaplin and Krawiec (1974) and Von 
Runkel (1986) explains the situation of the farmers. The elements of the theory of 
retention and forgetting of learning which relate to the study include:
24
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
> Learning which is not used fades through metabolic changes in the cerebral 
cortex of the brain but knowledge that is used is reinforced and can be 
remembered, recalled and reproduced.
> Memories undergo systematic changes with the passage of time.
> Interference effects; namely retroactive and proactive inhibition determine level 
of retained learning.
> Methods of measuring retained learning determine level of retention of 
knowledge. The six methods of measuring retention of knowledge namely; 
recognition, relearning, reconstruction, written reproduction and anticipation 
affect the amount of knowledge retained and reproduced.
>  Knowledge retained in the Short-Term Memory (STM) fades earlier than learning 
stored in the Long-Term Memory (LTM) (Von Runkel 1986) and;
> Knowledge which is not acquired cannot be reproduced.
The implication is that respondents who left school earlier would be expected to 
loose more of the knowledge they acquired from school than those who left school 
later. The two methods of measuring retained knowledge discussed by Chaplin and 
Krawiec (1974) are recognition and reconstruction.
2.8 Competence in Farming
Competence refers to the ability to do something properly and professionally. The 
ability to engage and perform successfully on a career is best identified from tasks 
performed on the job (Crunkilton and Finch 1993). It implies that tasks in farming 
enterprises can be identified by examining on-farm agricultural occupations (Marger 
and Beach Jr. 1967).
25
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Since the school leavers engaged in on-farm agricultural occupations, literature is 
reviewed to highlight some of the tasks in on-farm agricultural occupations.
2.9 Classification of Occupations in Agriculture
A vocation is defined as a person’s trade or profession while an occupation is defined 
as that which occupies one’s time either permanently or as a hobby (Homby, Cowie 
and Gimsou 1988). Thus, vocational agriculture education programme enables 
learners to practise agricultural vocation or occupations as their trade, profession or 
hobbies.
Agricultural occupations are categorised into two: off-farm agricultural occupation and 
on-farm occupations (Harold and Carsie 1970). Off-farm agricultural occupations 
involve agricultural production activities that are not necessarily carried out on a farm. 
On-farm agricultural occupations require the farm environment for the activities to be 
carried out in raising crops and animals.
2.9.1 Structure of on-farm occupations in Agriculture
Agricultural occupations are made up of specific agricultural vocations or jobs. A 
vocation is identified by a job or occupational title, (Marger and Beach Jr. 1967, Ivor 
1973, Goodgame 1981, William 1982, Finch and Crunkilton 1993). Job titles identify 
individuals and the associated roles they play in practising an occupation.
Job titles of on-farm occupations can be identified by examining the ownership 
systems of farming enterprises. The two types of farm ownership systems are public 
and private, (Johnson 1990). Examples of public farm ownership systems are co­
operatives, state farms, collective farms and public corporations (Johnson 1990).
26
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Private farm ownership systems include Company farming, Partnerships and Sole 
Ownership, (Johnson 1990).
Job titles such as Farm Hand, Cattle Stockman, Farm Supervisor and Farm 
Manager are occupied by individuals in public farm ownership systems as well as 
company farming and sometimes partnerships (Addo-Quaye 1994).
The job titles in public farm enterprises, as well as partnerships and company farming 
are in clusters arranged hierarchically. Farm Hand is the lowest, Farm Supervisor is 
middle level and Farm Manager is top level. The individuals who occupy these 
positions and perform the ascribed roles are wage or salary earners. The knowledge, 
attitudes, skills and competence required for the above jobs are not the same. The 
implications of the above to occupational structure is that curriculum can be designed 
to target the lowest jobs as entry points to enable learners get, keep and advance in 
the jobs to higher levels (Warmer et al 1986).
In contrast, sole ownership has the same person occupying the various job titles and 
performing the roles of farm hand, farm supervisor and farm manager. The sole owner 
is a self-employed farmer who plays the role of a farm manager, (Johnson 1990). The 
farm manager makes his or her own decisions and change policies as and when he or 
she desires (Johnson 1990). The foregoing indicates that knowledge, attitudes and 
skills required by a self-employed farmer are not the same as those needed by a farm 
hand. The self -employed farmer requires knowledge to operate as a Farm Hand, 
Supervisor and Manager on his or her own farm.
2.10 Managerial Effectiveness
Managerial effectiveness is defined as the level of achievement of business objectives,
27
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
(Johnson 1990). Successful results of commercial farmers are achieved by ‘good 
management - not luck’, (Johnson 1990). The main factors affecting managerial 
effectiveness have been summarised by Johnson (1990) as follows: experience, 
education and training, personal characteristics, development of managerial skills, and 
age. The best small-holder farming results are shown by those farmers who have had 
a wider world experience by travelling, than those who practised locally accepted 
norms in farming (Johnson 1990). The use of new methods in farming is shown by 
highly educated farmers than those low in literacy. Personal characteristics such as 
willingness to work hard, courage to invest, innovate and expand business, toughness, 
self-confidence, honesty, integrity, ability to inspire other people, resilience to try again 
even if one experiences failure and good health are pre-requisites to managerial 
effectiveness (Johnson 1990). Managerial skills are best developed through 
experience, observation, analytical ability, decision-making and communication skills. 
Age is an important factor affecting managerial effectiveness. Most people are known 
to go through three phases; the learning period, full maturity and top performance 
(years 45-54), and post-maturity or pre-retirement period when individual goals 
change.
Young men with growing families tend to be more effective managers whereas old 
men reduce in effectiveness in management due to the change in their goals (Johnson
1990). Managerial effectiveness also vary with the kind of job, the proportion of 
technical content and human relations in it, (Johnson 1990).
In summary, the literature reveals that, to make new agricultural knowledge, 
attitudes and skills compatible with farming tasks graduates of the programme are 
expected to perform, involves identifying the specific occupational titles the students
28
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
will engage in after completion. It helps in determining the level of exposure to be 
given the students and consequently the content to include in the curriculum. Based 
on occupational clusters, the curriculum design strategy features the lowest jobs 
first, retaining the middle and top level occupations for higher education and 
training, this ensures vertical job mobility of the graduates (Warmer et al 1986).
On the other hand if self-employed farmers are the target of the Basic Agricultural 
Education programme then all the roles expected of self-employed farmers need to 
be covered. Such a goal appears to be ambitious for Basic Agricultural Education 
(Sibylle and Riedmiller 1991).
2.11 Intervening Factors and Utilization of New Agricultural Knowledge
The interactions between the various factors affecting the use of new agricultural 
knowledge in farming have been extracted from several sources and presented as 
follows. In this section, knowledge is used to include attitudes and skills. The 
intervening factors are listed and described with the interactions between 
themselves and the effects they have on process of using new agricultural 
knowledge.
2.11.1 Compatibility of New Agricultural Knowledge to farming tasks
If the knowledge in the agricultural curriculum is compatible with the farming tasks to 
be performed, the learners have high perceived value for it and a greater likelihood for 
applying it. The reverse is also true, (Crunkilton and Finch 1993, Margerand Beach Jr. 
1967, Wharton 1971, William 1982).
Learner characteristics determine the amount of knowledge achieved by the
29
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
individual, the amount retained for use in farming, perceived value for the new 
knowledge, and almost all the other factors in the process of applying the new 
knowledge, (Bajah 1990). If the young farmer changes his goal for instance, use of 
new agricultural knowledge may be discarded (Johnson 1990).
The process of acquiring new knowledge determines the usefulness of the 
knowledge to the learner, its compatibility with tasks to be performed in farming 
(Eisemon 1991, Olaiton and Onazi 1989). Problem-solving approaches to.teaching 
agriculture make knowledge acquired more useful to learners (Swanson and Claar 
1984).
The societal value attached to the new agricultural knowledge is determined by 
several factors including the labour market demand for the use of the knowledge 
(Forster 1979), social recognition for farmers (Chitambar 1972), the levels of 
earnings derived from farming as well as the poverty level of farmers ( Crunkilton 
and Finch 1993). This implies that the decision to enter into farming is determined 
by the value society places on those who are already farming. Young people are 
therefore likely to enter farming and be exposed to the chances of using new 
agricultural knowledge if the socio-economic conditions of farmers are attractive. 
They may prepare for more prestigious professions and ignore farming if farmers 
remain poor. At any rate, some may be compelled to farm as a substitute career or 
out of frustration.
Support programmes for young people in the form of ease in land acquisition, 
provision of irrigation facilities, credit, marketing programmes, education and 
information service facilitate use of new agricultural knowledge than those who 
have no support (Sanderson 1996).
30
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Socio-cultural factors such as beliefs, superstition and taboos prevent use of new 
knowledge and information (Hilden 1997, Taylor 1996). Farmers who are not 
hindered by such factors tend to use more new knowledge than those who are 
superstitious.
Type of agricultural product being produced, land tenure, rainfall, drought and other 
physical factors constitute the agricultural production environment. Firstly, the kind of 
agricultural product to be produced determines the type of knowledge required to be 
used.
Land tenure, rainfall and drought can pose as risks or threats and serve as 
impediments to agricultural production (Johnson 1990). Provision of support schemes 
such as irrigation facilities, land policies regarding the youth and other programmes to 
reduce the effects of these constraints in farming can facilitate the use of new 
knowledge. Khandker (1996) noted higher returns to education for boys when 
irrigation facilities were provided in their villages in Bangladesh.
Cognitive dissonance determines the value learners attach to the new knowledge. 
When learners use new knowledge in home farming they experience lower level of 
cognitive dissonance and therefore develop greater value for the new knowledge.
Comparative advantage for use of new knowledge is a factor introduced by the study. 
It includes factors such as indigenous knowledge systems and other types of 
knowledge that are very well known and used by the farmers in the social system. It 
implies that if the use of new knowledge for performing a farming task is not 
advantageous to the farmer at a particular point in time, an existing alternative 
knowledge will be used.
31
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
2.12 New knowledge utilisation setting
The application of agricultural knowledge by a farmer can be observed and measured 
through the farming practices that s/he undertakes in the production process. Farming 
practices are products of the education enterprise; they are learnt and therefore the 
type of agricultural education one has determines the type of farming practices that 
one learns and enacts in the production process.
Education and Training provides new knowledge, attitudes and skills which in turn 
produce competence in learners and empower them to modernise or do things in 
new ways (Wharton 1971, Bown and Tomori 1979, Sanderson 1996). Since the 
Middle School leavers and JSS graduates have different types of agricultural 
education and training, they have different types and levels of knowledge, attitudes 
and skills. The quality of learning achieved may also be different. The quality of 
education one receives cannot be measured in terms of knowledge acquisition alone, 
usually manifested in possession of degrees, certificates and other credentials but also 
in knowledge and information use, concept formation, development and application of 
analytical skills (UNESCO 1994). The knowledge the two groups of learners have 
should be manifested in their farming practices if they perceive them valuable. But to 
use the new knowledge, certain factors in the person and conditions surrounding the 
farm business control the process. Some of these factors are discussed as follows.
2.12.1 Aims in farming
The aims for farming by small-scale farmers have been outlined by Dupriez and De 
Leener (1988) and Wayne et al (1989) as Family Food, Cash Income, Secured 
Community living, Protection of the Farm Environment and Leisure. Wayne and
32
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
others classified farmers into two main categories on the basis of their aims in 
farming namely; the pursuit of utility and profit. Farmers whose priority aims are 
food, secured community living, leisure and protection of the farm environment fall 
under the category that seeks utility or satisfaction; those who pursue cash income 
belong to the profit seeking group. It was indicated that the pursuit of profit or utility 
divides farmers into two sub-groups namely; commercial and peasant farmers and 
consequently their farming practices (Johnson 1990). Commercial farmers tend to 
apply capital intensive methods while those who pursue utility tend to apply labour 
intensive methods in their farming operations.
2.12.2 Farm ownership and business structure
The farming practices that are applied by a farmer can be understood from several 
factors including the type of product being produced, type of technology of production 
available, the education and training had, and the type of ownership of the farm 
business.
The type of ownership determines the business structure or organisational frame 
within which the farmer operates (Johnson 1990). Organisational structure divides 
the organisation into component parts and specifies roles these will play in 
achieving specific aims of the organisation as a whole (Derek, Aysen and Edwards 
1998).
The types of business structures or farm ownership systems discussed by Johnson 
(1990) included Sole Ownership, Partnership, Company Farms, State Farms, 
Collective farms and Public Corporations. In all, the type of farm ownership system 
determines the business structure within which a farmer operates. It also determine
33
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
aims for farming, type, source and size of credit, ease of getting land and production
decision- making, (Johnson 1990).)
2.12.3 Achievements from farming
The indicators of achieved value for use of new knowledge in farming are the outputs 
of the farming process. The outputs of a farming programme include size and quality 
of farm products, food security, cash income, profit, properties acquired, utility or 
satisfaction derived from farming and security in life (Chaplin and Krawiec 1974; 
Dupriez and De Leener 1988; McCreary 1989; Wayne et al 1989). The size of the 
achieved value for the utilisation of new knowledge determines the extent of continued 
or discontinued use of the knowledge.
2.13 Conclusion
The literature on the process of utilising new agricultural knowledge for farming 
indicates that a plethora of factors affect it. These intervening factors enhance or 
impede the application of new agricultural knowledge and consequently determine the 
outputs or benefits of using new knowledge. The main intervening factor from the 
educational sector is the compatibility of the new agricultural knowledge to the farming 
tasks the graduates will face in their farming activities. If the new agricultural 
knowledge matches with the tasks, the school leavers will have more confidence to 
use the knowledge. However, if there is a mis-match between the new knowledge and 
farming tasks the graduates are likely to use less of the new knowledge.
Another factor which adds to the mis-match of new knowledge and farming tasks is 
cognitive dissonance. This occurs if there are conflicts between new knowledge and 
the knowledge being applied by learners while learning. Cognitive dissonance makes
34
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
learners fail to internalise knowledge acquired at school through the practice of the 
same at home.
The other intervening factors in the use of new knowledge lie outside educational 
intervention. But their effects on the process of applying new agricultural knowledge 
can be reduced if development programmes are designed to cater for them. In all, the 
most important factors in the process of using new agricultural knowledge is the 
individual human being, the value placed on the knowledge, ownership of the farming 
enterprise, the socio-economic status of farmers in the social system and support 
programmes put in place to encourage the youth to use new agricultural knowledge for 
farming.
35
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 3
METHODOLOGY 
3.0 Introduction
The study was conducted in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region, from 26th 
of May to 10th July, 1998. The period of the survey was to ensure that Junior 
Secondary School Teachers were in school to be reached and the actual farmers 
were met on the ground to forestall problems due to seasonal migration of farmers 
from the area particularly in the dry season.
3.1 Research design
The survey method was used to gather both quantitative and qualitative information 
from the respondents. Six categories of subjects were used for the study: Middle 
School leavers who stopped formal schooling between 1985 to 1990, Junior 
Secondary School graduates who did not continue schooling from 1990 to 1997 and 
were farming in the North Tongu District, the District Director of Agriculture, Agricultural 
Extension Agents, Junior Secondary School Agriculture Teachers and the District Co­
ordinator of Agricultural Education.
3.2 Data gathering instruments and data collected
The data gathering instruments used for the study include a structured personal 
interview schedule, questionnaires, observation and unstructured interviews. The 
structured personal interview schedule was used for collecting information from the 
young farmers in order to obtain responses which can be analysed quantitatively. 
Unstructured interviews and observation were used to clarify issues concerning some 
of the responses given by the young farmer respondents.
36
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3.2.1 Personal interview schedule
The information gathered from the farmers include demographic characteristics of 
farmers, background information on home training in farming, use of school 
agricultural knowledge in home farming, retained agricultural knowledge of farmer, 
factors influencing choice of farming as a career, aim in farming, farm ownership 
status, land ownership status and levels of farm investment in improved inputs; 
Utilisation of new knowledge in: general farming practices (farm enterprise planning, 
record keeping and use of other sources of agricultural production information); crop 
production practices (choice of crops, land or soil testing, farm tool usage, planting 
methods, post-harvest treatment, and ranking of yield optimisation practices). Other 
types of data collected included new knowledge utilisation in animal production 
practices, achievements from farming, farmers’ level of security in life and farmers’ 
needs to improve on their performance.
3.2.2 Questionnaires
Questionnaires were used for collecting information from the District Director of 
Agriculture, Agricultural Extension Agents, Junior Secondary School Agricultural 
Teachers and the District Co-ordinator of Agricultural Education. The questionnaire for 
the District Director of Agriculture sought information on demographic data, agricultural 
production potentials of the district and programmes for young farmers. The 
questionnaire for the Agricultural Extension Agents collected information on social 
characteristics of the agents, new agricultural technologies introduced into the district 
after 1987, extension programmes for the youth, crop yield standards for extension 
operational areas and an inventory of on-farm agricultural occupations.
37
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The questionnaires for the JSS agriculture Teachers and the Co-ordinator of 
Agricultural Education were virtually the same and sought information on demographic 
characteristics, agricultural education human and material resources, school-based 
crop yield standards, approaches to the teaching and learning of practical work in 
agriculture, activities between agricultural education and agricultural research and 
follow-up activities on Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the district.
3.2.3 Validation of instruments
The instruments for the study were examined by my colleagues and supervisor. They 
were further trial tested in April 1998 in the Ho District which shares a common 
boundary with the North Tongu District. After trial testing the instruments were revised 
for the final data collection.
3.3 Study population
The population of subjects of the study consisted of Middle School leavers who 
completed schooling between 1985 to 1990 and Junior Secondary School 
graduates who terminated School between 1990-1997 and were farming. The total 
population of the young farmers was not known. The total stratified population of 
other respondent categories in the study was made up of 23 Extension Agents, 61 
JSS Agricultural Science Teachers, one Director of Agriculture and one Agricultural 
Education Co-ordinator.
3.3.1 Sample size
The total sample size was 140 subjects made up of 120 young farmers 10 Agricultural 
Extension Agents, 8 Agriculture Teachers one District Director of Agriculture and one 
District Agricultural Education Co-ordinator. The 120 young farmers consisted of 60
38
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
middle school leavers and 60 JSS graduates. The sample size was considered large 
enough for analytical purposes. The Middle School sample was made up of 48 men 
and 12 women while that of the JSS consisted of 39 men and 21 women. In all, 10, 
25, 35 and 50 farmers were interviewed from Aveyime, Juapong, Adidome and Mafi- 
Kumase agricultural sub-districts respectively.
3.3.2 Sampling method
There was no sampling frame for the young farmers to enable the use of probability 
sampling approach. In such cases the Snowball method is a reliable non-probability 
method to sample individuals (Robson 1993, Sarantakos 1993). Snowball sampling 
involves first identifying and interviewing an individual from the study population. After 
interviewing the first respondent he or she is used as an informant to identify another 
member of the study population. The snowball process continues until the appropriate 
sample size is achieved.
The researcher used the snowball sampling technique for selecting villages visited 
in the four agricultural sub-districts where young farmers were found with the 
assistance of Agricultural Extension Agents, Circuit Supervisors and Teachers. He 
contacted the farmers that could be reached who in turn showed other villages 
where more farmers could be reached. The snowball process was used in the four 
zones in the district until the sample size of 120 farmers was achieved.
To avoid influences from the Agricultural Extension Agents on the farmers, the 
researcher reached the villages by bicycle or a motorbike operated by one of his 
friends who was not associated with the farmers.
39
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
With the stratified lists of Agricultural Science Teachers and Extension Agents, simple 
random sampling was used to select them for administration of the questionnaires.
3.4 Contact with young farmers
In every village visited, first contact was made with a teacher in a Junior Secondary 
School or Headman or Chief of the village. Assembly men were avoided because of 
fears that they might politicise the study. The contact person identified in a town or 
village was asked to identify other young farmers in the category being studied by 
calling one of them who in turn called others available. A list of young farmers in that 
village was made. Appointment was made with the young people for the day and time 
of the interview. They were asked to inform their friends about the meeting. The days 
of meeting in most of the villages were taboo days or Sunday afternoons since these 
were the periods they were free to be interviewed. In some villages however, young 
farmers were interviewed just after preparing their list if they were physically available 
and willing to participate.
In every village visited, at most 10 percent of the Middle School and JSS leavers listed 
as farmers were purposively selected and interviewed taking into consideration their 
sex, type of school attended and the type of agricultural products they produced. This 
was meant to prevent biases due to gender and product disparity to ensure a greater 
coverage of young farmers’ characteristics in the district in respect to types of 
agricultural products they learnt in school and produced.
3.4.1 Conduct of the interview.
The purpose of the study was explained to the farmers and major products 
produced by them were identified through open-ended questions. This was to aid
40
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
the researcher in selecting farmers producing products that were not covered 
sufficiently in other villages. Again, through open-ended questions group needs of 
the farmers were identified and prioritised by them. This was to provide a framework 
of needs to guide the researcher in identifying priority needs of individual farmers.
The interview process involved the researcher giving a copy of the interview 
schedule to a respondent to read. After reading, the researcher collected the copy of 
the interview schedule and asked the respondent questions on the schedule. The 
answers provided by the respondent was recorded by the researcher. The interview 
process itself was facilitated by the positive attitudes of all the respondents 
interviewed. A minimum of two interviewees were in attendance for the interviews. 
Individual interviews lasted for 50-70 minutes. The number of interviews conducted 
a day varied from 1 to 6.
At the end of the day, the researcher kept a cumulative record of the number of 
interviews conducted in a day indicating type of school attended, sex of interviewee 
and type of farmer. This was used as a guide in selecting farmers for subsequent 
interviews to get a balance between subjects interviewed on the bases of gender and 
type of agricultural products produced.
It was noted that middle school leavers who were women and terminated schooling in 
the period being studied were difficult to get in the villages visited. The researcher 
visited farms of some of the respondents to cross check some of the practices they 
reported in the interviews for instance, row planting and record keeping.
41
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3.4.2 Administration of Questionnaires
The names of the Agricultural Extension Agents were obtained from the District 
Agricultural Office together with the zones in which they worked. This made it easy to 
locate them in the villages where they lived. The purpose of the study was explained to 
them and the questionnaire was give to them to fill. The filled questionnaire was 
collected a day later.
The JSS Agricultural Science Teachers were visited at their schools and 
questionnaires were given to them to fill. The questionnaire were collected after filling it 
on the same day.
3.5 Data Analysis
Data collected was coded and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social 
Scientist (SPSS). The statistics used included frequencies, percentages, The 
Wilcoxon-Mann-Witney Test, Rank scores and the Kendall Coefficient of 
Concordance.
3.5.1 Measurement of Performance
The key parameters of performance in farming assessed in the study include 
percentage levels of retained new knowledge, frequency of use of school-based 
agricultural knowledge in home farming while at school, new agricultural knowledge 
utilisation in out-of-school farming, mean ranking of causes or reasons for 
participating or not participating in a farming activity, levels of agreement in ranking 
factors or reasons associated with the performance of farming activities, tangible 
achievements in farming and levels of security in life.
42
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The performance of the young farmers was assessed at five main stages. First, the 
level of utilization of new agricultural knowledge in home farming while at school 
was determined. Second, the retained knowledge level of the respondents was 
measured through a multiple response test. Thirdly, the use of new knowledge in 
out-of-school farming was assessed in three stages; namely general farming 
practices, crop production practices and animal production practices. In each case, 
the number of each respondent category that participated in a farming practice was 
determined. Fourthly, since a set of respective farming tasks constitute a 
corresponding farming practice, the percentage sub-mean total level of utilizing new 
agricultural knowledge measured by the farming tasks formed the level of 
participation in a farming practice to which the tasks belong.
Fifthly, to identify causes of some of the observations and solicit reasons for 
participating or not participating in some farming tasks, the farmer respondents were 
asked to rank factors associated with some of the farming tasks or practices. The 
mean rank score was used to compare the performance of the farmer respondents. 
The highest mean score for any of the factors or reasons that were rank ordered, 
the greater the importance accorded that factor or reason by the respondents as 
well as its significance in data interpretation.
3.5.2 Measurement of retained knowledge levels
Based on the methods of measuring retained learning, the study used recognition 
for test item number one (fertilizer label) and item number two (pesticide test item). 
Reconstruction knowledge measuring method is used for test item number three 
(sheep breeding), item four (farm output estimation) and item five (determination of 
net farm margin). The percentage level of retained knowledge was measured
43
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
through a multiple response test. The test items consisted of three response 
options. For each test item, one of the response options was correct while two were 
wrong. In scoring, the number of each respondent category which picked correct 
options of the test items were computed in percentages.
3.5.3 Measurement of new knowledge utilisation in farming
The utilisation of new agricultural knowledge by a person can be observed in the 
type of farming tasks the one performs and the processes of carrying out the task. 
A set of tasks constitute a farming activity. Level of knowledge utilisation in a 
farming activity was determined in percentages by computing the number of farmer 
respondents who took part in an activity being measured. After determining the 
level of participation of the respondents in a set of farming tasks, the sub-mean total 
of participation in a farming activity was determined by adding all the percentage 
scores for the respective tasks and dividing it by the number of tasks constituting the 
farming activity.
To identify a high knowledge user respondent category from a low user, the 
percentage task totals and sub-mean totals of participation in a farming task or activity 
of the respondent categories were compared. The higher the percentage a respondent 
category indicates in participating in a farming task or activity, the higher the level of 
new knowledge utilisation of the group in that farming activity. The percentage scores 
of the respondents in every farming task and activity considered by the study were 
compared and commented o n .
44
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3.5.4 Final levels of knowledge utilisation in farming
To determine the final levels of new agricultural knowledge utilisation of the Middle 
School and Junior Secondary School leavers in farming, one measurement was 
made in the study, namely; grand mean total knowledge utilisation in farming which 
is the mean of the mean total knowledge utilisation in general farming practices, 
crop production practices and animal production practices.
3.5.5 Differences in knowledge utilisation and achievements from farming
The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test statistic was used to determine differences between 
the respondents in levels of retained agricultural knowledge, out-of-school new 
agricultural knowledge utilization in farming and achievements from farming. The 
Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test is a statistic used for measuring differences between 
two independent groups when categorical or ordinal data samples are collected from 
the two groups, (Siegel and Castellan, 1988). For instance, if we have data from two 
independent populations X  and Y. The null hypothesis (Ho) is that X  and Y have the 
same distribution. Thus, Ho: P [X>Y] =1/2. The alternative hypothesis is that a score 
from X  is larger than a score from Y; Hi: P[X>Y] < 1/2. This implies that the “bulk" of 
the elements of population X  are larger than the bulk of elements of population Y.
In predicting differences between two independent populations when the direction of
the differences are not stated, the alternative hypothesis is; H^ P[X>Y] *  1/2.
)
The procedure in calculating the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test is as follows:
• Let n represent the number of cases in the sample from X  and m the number of 
cases in the sample from Y. The observations or cases from both groups are
45
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
ranked in order of increasing size being careful to retain each score’s identity as 
either an X or Y score.
• Calculate the sum of the ranks for each of the groups, i.e. Wx and Wy.
• Determine the sum of ranks for the combined group, i.e. Wx + WY = N(N+1) /2, 
where N= n+m (the sum of the cases of X and Y).
• If the null hypothesis is true, the average ranks in each of the two groups would 
be about equal.
• When tied scores occur, each of the tied observations are given the average of 
the ranks they would have had if no ties had occurred. A  correction for ties 
should be used if two or more ties occur involving both groups. The values do 
not change much if ties occur in the same group.
• When the number of cases in X and Y are small, i.e. (n < 10 > m) probability 
tables are used to test for significance.
3.5.6 Testing for significance of Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test
The method for testing for the significance of Wx depends upon the size of m and 
n, the number of cases from each group. If n < 10 > m, the exact probability 
associated with a value as large or as small as an observed Wx is given in Appendix 
Table J which are one-taiied probabilities. In this study Appendix Table J sufficed 
for all determinations of Wx.
3.5.7 Rankings
The young farmer respondents were asked to rank factors embodying the causes or 
reasons for performing or not performing certain farming activities. The ranking was 
designed to elicit the reasons behind the performance of various farming activities,
46
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
or identify the causes of behaviour observed in the respondents. The factors ranked 
by the farmer respondents included factor influencing choice of farming, aims for 
farming, crop yield optimisation practices and the priority needs of the young 
farmers.
3.5.8 Ranking of needs
Most of the farmer respondents identified six and seven needs. But those who 
identified eight needs were in the minority. To complete the ranking of the eight 
needs, the average rank score of 7.5 was given to the seventh and eight needs for 
those farmers who listed and prioritised only six needs.
3.5.9 Levels of agreement or disagreement between respondents
The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, is a statistic which measures the level of 
agreement between more than two individuals or groups in ranking a set of factors 
greater than two, (Sigel and Castellan Jr. 1988). To determine the mean rank scores 
and the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, the order of ranking as done by the 
fanner respondents were calculated by reversing the ranks given by the respondents. 
In the calculations the highest rank scores were allotted to the most important factors 
and the lowest rank scores to the least important factors. This was to enable the 
highest and lowest ranked factors to be projected accordingly. The results of the mean 
rankings of the factors or reasons were determined and presented in tables or bar 
charts.
The following were ranked: factor influencing choice of farming, aims in farming, 
yield maximisation practices and the felt-needs of the farmers. The mean rank 
scores which show the level of importance attached to a factor among a group of 
ranked factors was used to compare the performance of the farmer respondents.
47
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The greater the rank score for a particular factor, the higher the level of importance 
attached to it by the respondent category.
The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, was calculated for all the ranked data 
using the formulae suggested by Siegel and Castellan Jr. (1988) for non-tied and 
tied observations respectively.
For non-tied observations the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance , W, is given by 
the relationship : W = >.(Ri-R)2
N ( N2-1 )/12 , 
where N = number of factors being ranked,
Ri = average of the ranks assigned to ith factor,
R = the average (or grand mean) of the ranks assigned across all factors 
and N ( N2-1 )/12 = maximum sum of squared deviations.
3.5.10 Test of significance of the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W.
The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance measures the level of agreement or 
disagreement between respondent categories on factors they ranked (Siegel and 
Castellan Jr., 1988). To test for the significance of W, the calculated value of W is 
compared to the values in the appropriate tables. The Null Hypothesis is true, that 
is, the ranking is random and does not have any relationship if the calculated value 
of W is equal or less than the value in the table at p=.05 and .01 and N-1 degrees of 
freedom. The Null Hypothesis is rejected, that is, the ranking is not at random and a 
relationship exists between the respondent categories indicating a level of 
agreement among them if the calculated value of W is greater than the value in the 
table at the appropriate probability level and degrees of freedom.
48
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
In this study, the number of factors ranked in each case, N, ranged between 4 to 8, 
(N < 8), and the set of rankings, k, ranged between 12 to 120, (12 < k <120). When 
K < 20, the significance of W was directly referred from Table T which gives critical 
values of W at probability, p =.05 or = 01 significant levels and (N-1) degrees of 
freedom.
In cases where the number of sets of rankings is more than 20, (k> 20), the chi- 
square values, x2, which is related to the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance by the 
equation %2 = k (N-1)W, suggested by Siegel and Castellan Jr.(1988) is used to 
determine the levels of agreement or disagreement between the respondent 
categories on their ranking of the factors.
3.5.11 Achievements from farming
The fourth type of measurement made by the study was that of achievements in 
farming. The achievements of the farmer respondents from farming were measured 
in percentages at two main levels. First, tangible achievements which included 
indicators of successful farming and security in life. Security in life was measured on 
a 5-point rating scale namely; very insecure, not secure, uncertain security, secure 
and very secure. The measurement was made by computing the number of 
members of the various respondent categories who indicated having attained any of 
the objectives in farming. The achievements presented to the farmer respondents 
included success in farming, high farm outputs (yield), food security, cash income, 
acquisition of properties and security in life.
49
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
3.6 Report Frame
Chapter one of the report deals with the research problem, research questions, 
objectives of the study, significance of the study, definition of terms and scope of the 
problem. In chapter two, the theoretical framework of the study in the form of a 
scheme for utilizing Basic School Agricultural Knowledge has been outlined with the 
intervening factors in the process of utilizing new knowledge. Chapter three discusses 
the method of the study while chapter four concentrates on the study area. Results 
and discussion are presented in chapter five, six, seven and eight.
While chapter five deals with the profiles of the Agricultural Education systems in the 
district and the social characteristics of the respondents, chapter six assesses and 
compares the retained agricultural knowledge levels of the farmer respondents. The 
factors which influenced the young persons to enter into farming and their aims in 
farming form the focus of chapter seven.
The process of knowledge utilisation and its effects on the respondents, achievements 
of the young farmers and assessment of constrains which impede their progress in 
farming are dealt with in chapter eight. Finally, chapter nine of the report dwells on 
summary, recommendations and conclusion.
The report presentation approach used for the study is as follows: first, the results of 
the responses of the farmer respondents to questions on an issue are presented in 
tables or figures, then followed by a discussion of the information deduced from the 
tables or figures. That procedure is observed throughout the report. The approach is 
adopted to facilitate the process of referring to tables and figures in reading the report.
50
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 4
SYNOPSIS OF BASIC EDUCATION AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 
SYSTEMS IN NORTH TONGU DISTRICT 
4.0 Introduction
This part of the study deals with the background information about North Tongu 
District. It covers the physical features, the educational system and the agricultural 
production system of the district. The information about the district is important 
because it provides the framework within which the young farmers were educated and 
trained in agriculture. It also provides the socio-economic agricultural production 
setting within which the young persons farm. The conditions in the district influence 
the activities and operations of the young farmers.
4.1 Geographical location
North Tongu District lies within latitude 5° 47’ N to 6° N and longitude 0° 5’ E to 0°45’ 
E. It shares common boundaries with Akatsi, Ho and Sogakope Districts in the Volta 
Region, Asuogyaman in the Eastern Region, Dangme-West and Dangme East in the 
Greater Accra Region. The District is divided into two unequal halves by the Volta 
River, stretching from the lower Volta gorge near Akosombo in the north to Awadiwoe 
Island, located north of the Lower Volta Bridge at Sogakope. The total area of the 
District is 1460 km2. A map of North Tongu District showing the road network, towns 
and villages from which the respondents were drawn for the study is shown in Figure
51
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
I I
o - 10
\
/
ASUOGYAMAN  (  
D IS T R IC T  f
' P od o e
0° 20  O* 30
HO D ISTR IC T
A ve d o to e
A d id o k p o v u i 
A f la v e n u is :^
)
 _______ . . . ______________K u , ] m e <  %G id i l<P»e
Norgbedzikofe^ sakpo \
Kiisrum,, \  Sasekpe \
■ AKATS I
DA  NGBE W E S T  
D IS T R IC T
¥ D is t r i c t  C o p i r o !
A v e y im e  
/ • T o k p o  ? T e h e
f ^Dodikofe
,>*7-
L 'u fo
lo w n s  a n d  v i l la g e s  f ro m  
w h ic h  young  fo rm e r s  w e re  
l o c a t e d .
—  • * D i s r r i c r  B o u n d a ry  
----------------Roods
\ f
/  D A N G 8E  E A S T  
D IS TR IC T
4 TONGU  
D IS T R IC T
IN S E T  MAP OF G HANA  SHOW ING  
T H E  LOCATION OF T H E  S TU D Y  
A R E A ! NORTH TONGU  D IS TR IC T
Asiekpe,--' ^ ■ n U d a le k p o e
KUdZra^ ^ r % ^ o e  ^  'D IS T R IC T
^ — - ''i jp K p e d z e g lo
O R T H  j^ o d zo . TONGU 4/ WuH! ’D2Bbuk0°j j ^ w u n  s > A g o r  t o r k p o r y
A k u lo  /
f ' -
D I STR I CT  Drakofe
A gb aK p e am '
A vo kp e d om e \
Da d om e *  n  n in r i r  - * K lu w a
M o p e '" " "—
B a to r  * V \  • N e w B o k p a
O ld  B a kp a v /
Figure 4.1: A map of North Tongu (Adidome) District showing the road network, towns and 
villages from which the respondents were drawn for the study.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.2 Topography
The topography of the district is gentle, rising from near sea level to a height of about 
18 metres (60 feet) above sea level, with slopes less than 5 per cent. The areas near 
the Volta River are at a higher elevation, falling gradually backwards and rising again 
into the Adaklu Hills. This has created large catchment areas that span the Alabo, 
Kolo and Aklakpa streams and other tributaries, causing extensive flooding making the 
area difficult to traverse. The topography is gentle with a few iselbergs which rise 
abruptly from the plains, namely Avakpe hills, Asiekpe Hills, Nukportoe, Akpokpo and 
the Kluma Hills which are composed of granitic rocks. The Todze Hills located near 
New Bakpa are composed mainly of marble.
4.3 Climate
The district enjoys a Tropical climate, greatly influenced by the South-West Monsoons 
from the South Atlantic and the dry harmattan winds from the Sahara. There are two 
rainy seasons, the major one from mid-April to early July and the minor from 
September to November. Over 50 per cent of the total rainfall occurs in the major 
season. The average annual rainfall varies from 900mm to 1100mm. However, there 
are considerable variations in the time of onset, duration and intensity of the seasonal 
rainfall.
Temperature and relative humidity vary very little throughout the year. The mean 
temperature is 27 °C and the maximum and minimum vary from 22 °C to 33 °C 
respectively. March and April are the hottest months whereas July and August are the 
coolest months. Average relative humidity is about 80%.
53
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.4 Soils
The main rock composition of the terrain consists of acidic and basic gneiss and 
schists. There are dominantly medium to moderately coarse textured alluvial soils 
along the Volta River. Below these are the heavier clay soils (Akuse series) that 
characterize most parts of the District leading to poor surface and sub-surface 
drainage, making road development difficult. These soils are also very difficult to 
cultivate because they have low water holding capacity. However they are suitable for 
rice and sugarcane cultivation under irrigation.
In the locations of Adidome, Anfoe, Kpedzegblo, Mafi-Kumase, Sasekpe and Bakpa 
Avedo the soils consist of moderately coarse or sandy loams which drain easily and 
are suitable for agricultural purposes. These soils however, have low water holding 
and cation exchange capacity.
4.5 Vegetation
The North Tongu District lies within the tropical savannah grassland zone. The 
vegetation is generally, low savannah characteristic of the Accra and Ho-Keta plains. 
Dense vegetation is seen along the Volta River and other river basins due to the 
presence of subsoil moisture. The vegetation close to river basins consists of trees 
such as mangoes, oil palm, baobab, silk cotton, acacia and other trees. Further from 
the river basins, the vegetation is sparse, predominantly grassland, interspersed with 
neem trees, Guinea grass, Spear grass and other grasses. An important feature of the 
vegetation in these areas is Borasus Palm which dots Mafi-Kumase, Agohome and 
Avetakpo areas. The Borasus Palm provide special wood used extensively as timber 
for housing and fencing purposes in the district. The leaf petioles of the Borasus Palm 
serves as source of firewood in gari processing in the Mafi-Kumase area. Fuel-wood
54
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
and charcoal extraction, though providing sources of revenue have completely 
destroyed the tree-cover with consequent ecological problems. The main affected 
areas being Alabo, Mafi-Kumase, Volo, Duffor, Aklakpa and Dedukope. Stumps of 
neem and other felled trees pose problems during land clearing operations such as 
ploughing and harrowing. The shrub and grassland areas provide suitable grounds for 
cattle grazing which make the district one of the largest cattle producing areas in 
Southern Ghana. Uncontrolled grazing and frequent bush fires are gradually reducing 
such areas into near desert conditions.
4.6 Drainage in the district
River Todze and its western tributaries drain the eastern part of the district into the Avu 
lagoon. In the rainy season, these streams overflow their banks causing damage to 
roads and farms. Numerous creeks including Ke, Aklamadaw, Amidoe, Akplordo exist 
in the district. Several water harvesting structures such as ponds, dugouts or dams are 
found in the district. Major ones are located at Atiteti, Adudonu, Mafi-Kumase and 
Adidokpavu. These serve as sources of water supply for the inhabitants and livestock. 
Most of these water sources dry up in the dry season and pose problems of scarcity of 
portable water for humans and domestic animals in the district.
4.7 Social groups
The North Tongu or Adidome District is inhabited by eight social groups namely: 
Bakpa, Battor,Duffor, Fodzoku, Mafi, Mepe, Torgorme and Volo. Duffor, Fodzoku and 
Torgome are often referred to as Dusor (Psalm Consults, 1996). These Traditional 
Areas have some social groups such as Battor Development Association, Mafi 
Development Association (MADAS), Mafi-Kumase Area Youth Association 
(MAKAYA), Mafi-Kumase Women Development Association (MAWODA), Mepe
55
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Development Association, Bakpa Youth and Development Association and Volo 
Development Association. The main concern of these social groups is the 
development of their respective traditional areas. These groups plan their annual 
festivals, raise funds for development projects, execute development projects and 
collaborate with the District Assembly.
There are a number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) which operate in the 
District. They play important roles especially in the provision of social sen/ices and 
infrastructure facilities to the rural communities. However, none of them have 
agricultural objectives as such. Some of the NGOS include Danida, Volo-Esbjerg, Mafi- 
Kumase-EIgg, Caretas-MAWODA.
4.8 Population of North Tongu District
The population of the District rose from 55,000 in 1970 to 90,000 people in 1984 
(Psalm Consults, 1996). Current estimates suggest a range from 115,600 persons to 
126,400 by the year 2000. It is estimated that 48 percent of the population are in the 
active age group (15-59 years) an indication of a high dependency.
4.8.1 Population distribution
The physical factors appear to dictate the spatial distribution of the population in the 
district. With the exception of Duffor and Mafi-Kumase areas, a greater proportion of 
the population is found along the Volta River as observed by the distribution pattern. 
However, isolated settlements dot the whole of the physical landscape. Population 
density generally is very low a factor for agricultural expansion since land may be 
available but not necessarily accessible to investment. The population settlement
56
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
pattern is highly skewed towards rural settlement (about 94% as against 6% urban 
population) (Psalm Consults, 1996).
4.9 The Education System
The Basic Education system consists of Kindergarten Schools, Primary Schools and 
Junior Secondary Schools. The three complements of the basic education system are 
available in the North Tongu District.
4.9.1 School facilities
The total number of basic schools available in the district in 1996, their condition and 
number of pupils as described by Psalm Consults are shown in Tables 4.1 and 4.2.
Table 4.1: Number of Basic Schools and the nature of classrooms in North Tongu
District.
Type of school No. of schools No.
classrooms
of No. of decent 
classrooms
No. of bad 
classrooms
Kindergartens 35 98 14 84
Primary Schools 120 484 149 335
Junior Secondary Schools 64 210 90 120
Source: Psalm Consults (1996, page 41).
Psalm Consults indicated that it was not difficult to obtain admission for children of 
school going age in the North Tongu District. The number of pupils in Basic and Senior 
Secondary Schools is shown in Table 4.2.
57
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 4.2: Number of Pupils in Schools in the District.
TYPE OF SCHOOL BOYS. GIRLS TOTAL
Pre-School (Kindergarten) 988 1174 2162
Primary School 8604 8107 16711
Junior Secondary School 3411 2328 5739
Senior Secondary School 1181 454 1635
TOTAL 14184 12063 26247
Source: Psalm Consults (1996, page 43).
4.9.2 Staffing in Schools
The staffing situation in schools in the District as indicated by Psalm Consults is 
shown in Table 4.3.
Table 4.3: Number and Type of staff in schools
TYPE OF SCHOOL TRAINED UNTRAINED TOTAL
M F M F
Pre-School (Kindergarten) 6 37 8 99 150
Primary School 326 132 106 10 574
Junior Secondary School 207 33 100 4 344
Senior Secondary School 38 10 41 9 98
TOTAL 577 212 255 122 1166
Source: Psalm Consults, (1996, page 43)
The schools are staffed with a considerable number of untrained teachers as indicated 
in Table 4.3. This together with poor condition of facilities contribute largely to poor 
performance of pupils and students.
58
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The staff level at the District Education Service Office was under an Acting Director 
who was an Assistant Director. There were other assistant Directors, Principal 
Superintendents and Senior Superintendents with rather low academic qualifications, 
a source of worry and an unsatisfactory condition for effective administration and 
management of the education system in the district at the time of the study.
4.9.3 District Junior Secondary Schools
At the time of the study in 1998, there were 70 Junior Secondary Schools in the North 
Tongu District, an increase of four schools compared to the situation in 1996 as 
reported by Psalm Consults. The schools were distributed in nine educational circuits 
as follows: Adidome (10), Aveyime (8), Avedo-Bakpa (6), Duffor Adidome (5), Juapong 
(7), Mafi-Kumase (13), Mepe-Dove (11),Podoe (4) and Zongo/Kpedzegblo (6).
4.9.4 Problems in the formal Education system
The major problems in the formal educational sector as summarized by Psalm 
Consults (1996) include:
> poor performance of pupils;
>  high female dropout rate after primary level.
> poor classroom and furniture condition in the schools;
> inadequate teaching / learning materials (textbooks, supplementary reading 
materials) and sports equipment;
> inadequate qualified teachers, circuit supervisors and support staff in the schools;
> inaccessibility of many schools owing to lack of roads in many parts of the District 
and the riverine nature of the landscape which create flooding and waterlogging;
> lack of accommodation for staff especially in the remote areas;
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
> low community involvement and participation in infrastructural development and 
management of schools; and
> lack of adequate planning and management information.
4.10 The Non-Formal Education System
Besides the Basic Education system, the Ministry of Education also provides non- 
formal education mainly to adults through the Non-Formal Education Division. The 
main objectives of the functional literacy programme in the district are to make illiterate 
adults functionally literate, provide civic education to both literate and illiterates and 
training people in income generating activities such as farming, soap making, pottery, 
weaving and others. It was reported by Psalm Consults (1996) that by '1993 a total of 
3014 learners made up of 2443 females and 571 males were functionally educated’.
4.10.1 Problems in the Non-Formal Education system
The main problems confronting the Non-Formal Education system in the District as 
stated by Psalm Consults (1996) are: inadequate funding, lack of instructional 
materials such as primers, writing materials; lack of logistics, stationery, lighting units, 
equipment; lack of means of transport; inadequate staff and lack of appropriate office 
accommodation. With the exception of Torgome Library, no other public library facility 
is located in the whole district.
The agricultural extension system in the district at the time of the study is the Unified 
Agricultural Extension Service (UAES) with a staff of 25 officers made up one Director 
of Agriculture, a Deputy Director and 23 Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs). The Unified 
Agricultural Extension Service was just about to start operating in the District at the
4.11 Agricultural Extension Service
60
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
time of the study in 1998. North Tongu District is divided into four agricultural sub­
districts namely: Adidome, Aveyime, Juapong and Mafi-Kumase. The distribution of 
Agricultural Extension Agents per sub-district is five, four, seven and seven 
respectively.
4.12 Other Agricultural Training Institutions
Apart from the formal education system, non-formal education, and agricultural 
extension service which give training and education to young people in the North 
Tongu District, there is also the Adidome Farm Institute which is among three others 
nationally. The organisation and administration of Farm Institutes is under the Ministry 
of Food and Agriculture (MOFA). The Farm Institute curriculum provides knowledge 
and skills in Vegetable Production, Field Crop Production, Poultry and Livestock 
production, Farm Management, Farm machinery, Farm Workshop Practice, Soil 
Science, Surveying and English Language.
The main problems besetting the Institute include inadequate funding, insufficient 
training resources and time, inadequate research support and low enrolment. It is 
observed that the graduates of the farm institutes prefer public sector employment 
instead of the private sector.
4.13 The Agricultural Production System
The economy of the district is based mainly on agricultural production which involves 
small-scale farmers with small and scattered holdings. With the exception of the farm 
tractor, the farmers use traditional tools with little mechanisation due to lack of capital 
for investment and the capacity to use high technology for production. As low 
resource farmers, many young people organise themselves into co-operative labour 
gangs to facilitate farm-work in the district.
61
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
A five-day working week controls farm work and rest or taboo days in the typical 
traditional religion dominates in the district. However, the areas occupied by Christians 
use the seven-day week calendar and rest on Sundays. In the Dedukope area 
Monday is the taboo day. There is shortage of labour in the peak of the farming 
seasons since almost every able-bodied person operates a farm. Migrant labour from 
other districts such as Akatsi and other places who use to assist farmers in the district 
have not been coming of late.
Although the Agricultural sector is the major economic activity area, it is characterized 
by low productivity and high level of post harvest losses particularly in maize and 
vegetables. No modern agro-processing facility exists in the district except Juapong 
Textiles Limited. Agro-processing activities in the district involve traditional 
technologies mainly practised by females.
4.14 Crop Production
The main crops produced in the district and the locations of cultivation are shown in 
Table 4.4. Crop production is rain-fed except at Aveyime where rice is produced 
under irrigation.
Table 4.4: Major crop production areas in North Tongu District.
CROP MAJOR PRODUCING AREAS
Maize Bakpa-Avedo, Mafi-Kumase, Juapong
Cassava Bakpa-Avedo, Mafi-Kumase, Juapong, Podoe, Duffor
Groundnuts Mafi-Kumase, Fakpoe Boklotovui
Cowpea Mafi-Kumase, Adidome, Duffor, Volo
Sugar Cane Boklotovui, Fakpoe
Vegetables Atiteti, Adidome, Dedukope, Adakpe, Ahumakope
O il Palm Fodzoku, Juapong, Sasekpe, Bakpa Avadiwoe
Rice Aveyime
Mangoes Battor, Mepe, Devime
Source: Adapted from Psalm Consults (1996, p.25).
62
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.15 Irrigated fanning
Pilot project for rice production has been in existence near Aveyime since 1965 with 
water pumped from the River Volta. During the period of the study, the farmers 
complained of high water rates which have made the irrigated rice production non 
competitive hence no Junior Secondary or Middle School leavers of the year-groups 
being studied were found on the Aveyime Rice Project. In addition, several other small 
plots are farmed for rice by local farmers that receive run-offs from the surrounding 
areas. Vegetables are also grown at Adape and Ahumakope by irrigation.
The Dove Agriplex (Quality Seed) Project located on the right bank of the Volta River 
between Dove and Aveyime started at the time of the study.
4.16 Fishing
Fresh water fishing in the Volta River, an important occupation in the district has 
declined considerably due to the formation of the Volta Lake. The principal traditional 
fishing communities notably, Bakpa, Battor, Mafi, Mepe, and Volo which are close to 
the Volta have had their economic bases eroded. Many of the economically active 
population have migrated to other fishing locations along the Volta Lake in the 
Atebubu, Afram Plains, Gonja-East, Kete-krachi, Nkwanta, Kpando and other districts.
The traditional clam industry which was an important economic activity for women from 
Ada up to 60km upstream has equally vanished as the river's flow reduced 
considerably as a result of the construction of Akosombo and Kpong dams. Ecological 
conditions suitable for spawning of clams have been altered by the high level of salinity
63
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
and change in the flow of the river. The spawning grounds have been choked with 
weeds. This has created favourable environment for the survival of aquatic snails, the 
intermediate hosts of bilharzia. These parasites have become major health hazards to 
people living by the river. Most of the streams and ponds or creeks which used to 
contain lots of fish have been completely depleted due to the absence of the annual 
flooding from the Volta which stocked them with fish. Apart from these, there are 
about 64 dams and ponds in the district which contain large stocks of fish; and there is 
a tremendous potential to develop fish farms.
4.17 Livestock
The livestock sector forms an integral part of the farming system in the Adidome 
district. More than 30% of the farming families in the district keep some ruminants. 
The Adidome District is among the three largest cattle producing areas in the country. 
Apart from the three cattle ranches at Aveyime, Amelorkope and Adidokpavu, 
individual farmers keep Kraals all over the district.
4.18 Livestock grazing
Ruminant production system in the district is under open grazing on natural pastures. 
The natural vegetation provides livestock feeds as animals are grazed on communal 
lands. Apart from established ranches no farmer grows fodder for livestock feed. The 
natural vegetation and drinking water for animals are insufficient to meet the 
requirements of the present livestock population. Owing to the inaccessibility of the 
district, the livestock sector is divided into three veterinary districts namely: Adidome, 
Aveyime and Juapong respectively.
64
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The livestock production system depends on hired herdsmen or children of Kraal 
owners, who do not go to school; take care of the cattle. Sometimes the children go to 
school after completing the apprenticeship training in cattle herding.
The practice of cattle tenancy or “contract herding” where the real owners of the stock 
live in towns and other places engage in other businesses is widely practised in the 
district. The kraal owners usually have limited stock. This practice poses 
management problems in the industry. At times they are not ready to spend money on 
behalf of the real owners; the cause of spread of livestock diseases in the district 
(Psalm Consults, 1996).
The district has seen the introduction of new animal types in recent years. An Ostrich 
farm project has been established and located in the Dedukope area of the district.
4.19 Cattle Ranching
Aveyime Cattle Ranch is a European Economic Community (EEC) funded project. The 
project involves running a cattle ranch and an extension service. The extension 
service provides routine rinderpest immunization and dip tanks to cattle in the 
surrounding area. The ranch has 2,500 acres of fenced pasture and 2,300 herds of 
cattle. Overgrazing is observed and improved pasture grasses are being cultivated as 
well as fodder trees such as leucenia to provide fodder during the dry season.
4.20 Amelorkorfe Animal Breeding Station
This is one of the animal husbandry breeding stations established in the first republic. 
However, the project has been abandoned and all stock sold.
65
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.21 Markets
There are five main markets in the district; located at Mafi-Kumase, Mafi-Adidome, 
Mafi-Avedo, Juapong and Battor. These form the focus of commerce and trade in the 
district. The location of these markets, considering the size of the district implies that 
farmers have to convey their produce over long distances to the markets. The markets 
operate weekly or twice in a week. These markets depend on produce from farms 
around and traders who come from outside the District to either buy farm produce to 
go and sell or bring manufactured goods to the markets.
There are no hotels in the district. There is a small motel at Adidome and rest houses 
at Juapong and Kpedzegblo. There are Rural Banks and Agencies at Adidome, 
Battor, Mepe and Mafi-Kumase aside of the Agricultural Development Bank at 
Juapong. The small number of banks in the district is mainly due to the low level of 
economic activities. There is no insurance company in the district. Customers depend 
on other districts for such services.
4.22 Agro-forestry
Massive destruction of forests for farming, fuel-wood, charcoal burning, the clam shell 
industry as well as gari processing has occurred in the district. Interestingly, Agro­
forestry projects have started springing up in the district. Some of these projects are 
observed at Podoe, Gidikpoe and Sasekpe locations in the district. Many schools 
have established woodlots and forested their compounds in the district.
4.23 Agro-processing
The major agricultural products processed in the district include gari, cassava dough, 
palm oil, kernel oil, local cheese(wagazi), local gin (akpeteshie), cotton into grey-baft 
and lumbering. Gari processing is done by women using various traditional methods at
66
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Mafi-Kumase, Anfoe, Mawoekpor, Kpedzegblo, Juapong, Bakpa-Avedo localities. 
Indigenous technology and equipment are used besides grinding mills. The weakness 
of the traditional processing technology is low labour productivity. This led to the 
establishment of the Mafi-Kumase Gari Processing Factory by the National Council for 
Women and Development in 1980. The factory is however out of production, though 
the local industry still flourishes.
Distillation of palmwine from felled palm trees into local gin (akpeteshie) is a major 
occupation in the District. The Distillery Industry is well organised in the district with 
self-supporting co-operatives in almost all localities. Records from the societies 
indicate high production levels. The lucrativeness of the Distillery Industry has led to 
land litigation in some communities over Oil Palm plantations.
Another important agro-processing facility in the District is the Juapong Textiles 
Limited. It is the single largest factory in the District and in the Region. It employs 
about 2000 labour force. It imports cotton to spin into grey-baft for Ghana Textile 
Printing (GTP) which produces wax prints. Small users also include the Batik and Tie 
& Dye Industry. Some of the raw materials are also obtained from the Ghana Cotton 
Company in which JTL is a shareholder.
The main lumbering activity in the District is Borasus Palm (Agor). Local lumbering of 
the common Borasus palm is done around Mafi-Kumase, Sasekpe, Horkpo and 
Adexo. The beams obtained are used in the building industry. It provides the lumber 
for Kraals and buildings in the district.
67
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
4.24 Problems of agricultural development
According to Psalm Consults (1996) despite the agricultural interventions of 
VORADEP and FASCOM programmes in the Volta Region, “the agricultural sector 
has not undergone significant changes in the district over the years and remain 
significantly subsistence." The main obstacles to the adoption of improved farming 
practices include: over-reliance on the erratic rainfall; lack of access to information due 
to poor and inadequate road networks, making it difficult for extension officers to reach 
the farmers; high prices of farming inputs; lack of credit facilities; poor marketing due to 
poor transportation facilities and access to markets; high level of illiteracy among 
farmers; land tenure system; destruction of farms by livestock; bushfires; inadequate 
infrastructure such as irrigation facilities, motorable roads, dams; inadequate 
veterinary personnel; incidence and prevalence of livestock diseases such as sleeping 
sickness, rinderpest, anthrax, blackleg, new castle, and human diseases such as 
malaria, guineaworm and bilharzia which reduce labour capability and productivity.
68
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 5
FARMERS’ SOCIAL BACKGROUND AND PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE IN 
JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS
5.0 Introduction
The Middle School and Junior Secondary School leavers, the subjects of the study, 
come from similar social systems, have similar languages and with identical home 
backgrounds in informal training in farming. The generally poor performance of the 
educational system in the district (Psalm Consults, 1996) might have affected the 
two groups in different ways.
The study therefore assessed the social characteristic differences between Middle 
School and JSS graduates farming in the district in terms of gender, age, marital 
status and agricultural education backgrounds. The process of teaching and 
practice of practical work in agriculture in the district has also been assessed and 
discussed in this section of the report.
5.1 Social Characteristics of the respondents
The main social characteristics considered by the study include gender, age, period 
of leaving school, and agricultural education background.
5.1.1 Gender of the farmers
Gender is an important social construct which establishes the socially or culturally 
accepted roles of men and women, differentiates household production and 
consumption functions, demarcates areas of responsibility in farming, determines 
choice of crops, priorities and tasks in farming and the distribution of the benefits 
derived from farming between household members (Fieldstein and Poats 1989,
69
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Fieldstein and Jiggins 1994). It is necessary to examine the gender composition of 
the young farmers in the North Tongu District in order to trace the links between it 
and performance of the young farmers. The gender distribution of the respondents 
is shown in Figure 5.1.
Frequencies
@ Mid S men 
S  Md S women 
Q  JSS men 
£J JSS women 
HA II Males 
E3 All Females
MSm MSw JSSm JSSw Male Female 
Gender Categories
LEGEND: MSm = Middle School male. MSw = Middle School womenJSSm = Junior Secondary School male. JSSw = Junior Secondary School women 
Figure 5.1: Frequency distribution of the respondents by gender
Source: The Study
Figure 5.1 shows that the respondents consist of more males than females.
Middle School females (MSw) form the minority of the respondents. It was difficult 
to locate Middle School female farmers during the period of the study. This is 
probably due to the low primary school enrolment rate in the late 1970s and 80s. 
The average annual growth rate in primary school enrolment between 1980/81 to 
1987/88 for Ghana was 1.59 percent as against a population growth rate of 3 per 
cent for school-going aged children, World Bank, (1989). The drop-out rate was 71 
per cent in some schools. But in the North Tongu District which was then part of the 
Sogakope District, Middle School enrolment ratio of girls to boys in 1985 / 86
70
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
academic year was 1:1.8 (GES.1986). It implies that many girls did not attend 
Primary school at that time to complete Middle School between 1985 and 1990. 
Some of the few girls that terminated schooling after Middle School between 1985 to 
1990 and resided in the district might have engaged in employment in other 
economic activities such as dress making trading and the like. It is also possible that 
they might have married and migrated to settle in other parts of the country.
It was quite easy to locate both male and female JSS graduates in farming in the 
area as indicated by their frequency distribution in the sample of 39 and 21 
respectively. This is probably due to the higher primary school enrolment rate of 
girls in that educational era which was 78.3 percent on average, (GES 1986).
5.1.2 Age of the respondents
Age is an important social characteristic that determines transitional periods in the 
life of an individual and categorizes people into children, teenagers, young adults, 
mature adults and old age (Giddens 1994). Age brings about changes in growth and 
in the physical, biological and psychological development of people and determines 
allocation of tasks in farming. It determines periods of exposure to social 
experience, level of knowledge; goals in life, self-supportiveness and role 
expectations. The study considered it worthwhile to examine the age of the young 
farmers in North Tongu District. Table 5.1 shows the mean age distribution of the 
respondents.
71
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 5.1: Age distribution of the farmers
Respondent category__________ Aoe Range and mean aae in years,
Age Range Mean Age
Middle School leavers (MS)
MS male (N=48) 21-34 28.4
MS female ( I 'M  2) 19-34 26.2
All MS (N=60) 19-34 27.3
JSS leavers (JSS)
JSS male (N=39) 15-30 22.5
JSS female (N=21) 15-27 21.0
All JSS (N=60) 15-30 21.8
Source: The Study
Table 5.1 indicates that the age range of the respondents is 15-34 with an average 
age of 24.6 years. Middle School leavers form the older group of respondents with 
an age range of 19 -34 and a mean of 27.3 years while the Junior Secondary 
School graduates are younger with a range of 15 -30 and a mean of 21.8 years. 
The oldest people among the respondents are male Middle School males with a 
mean age of 28.4 years. Middle School females come second with a mean age of
26.2 years, while JSS males are third at 22.5 years and JSS females placed fourth 
with a mean of 21.0 years.
The age structure of the respondents categorizes them into pre-adulthood and early 
adulthood (Levinson, 1986 quoted in Boyd 1989). Those below 18 years are in the 
period of pre-adulthood while those above are in early adulthood. The young 
farmers below 18-year cohort are young and would experience the crisis of 
dependency and independency (Boyd 1989). The two respondent cohorts (pre­
72
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
adulthood and early adulthood) fall in the life era when they will develop dreams for 
their lives and in the stages to select and modify occupations (Boyd 1989).
5.1.3 Young farmers and marital status
Marriage is a factor that affects the way of life of a person, imposes strains, difficulties, 
responsibilities and challenges on an individual (Giddens 1994). Marriage therefore 
affects ones aims, rights and responsibilities and freedom to travel. An important 
output of marriage is childbearing. Married women have to take extra responsibilities in 
caring for young children. Stroh and Keating, (1989), indicated that marriage brings 
along with it support from spouse which keeps stress low among farm families. All 
these conditions, roles and responsibilities in marriage make it important for the study 
to examine the marital status of respondents. The marital status distribution of the 
young farmers is shown in Figure 5.2.
Marital status categories 
LEGEND: MRD = Married. SNG= Single. D / W= Divorced or Widowed
Figure 5.2: Bar chart of percentage distribution of the respondents by marital status 
Source: The Study.
73
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Majority of the respondents, (63.3%), are married persons. Quite a substantial 
number of them too are single constituting 34.2 percent of all the respondents, an 
indication of a tendency to be unstable in farming since they do not have child 
bearing and upbringing responsibilities (Giddens, 1994). It is interesting to note that 
majority of the spinsters among the respondents are JSS graduates because they 
are generally younger than Middle School leavers. The spinsters form 38.3 percent 
of all the JSS graduates. A minority of the respondents consisting of 2.5 percent of 
all the respondents are divorced or widowed, suggesting that single parenthood, 
which can produce stressful conditions, among the young farmers is low.
5.2 Agricultural Education background of the respondents
The study assesses the background training of the Young Farmers in formal and 
informal agricultural education. Since the type of training received affects the 
performance of people in farming, the study assessed the background training of the 
Young Farmers in that respect. Information sought from the Young Farmers include 
home-farming experience (raising crops and or animals while attending school), 
frequency of applying school-based agricultural knowledge in home-farming, 
frequency of attending field trips while in school and experience in cattle herding.
5.2.1 Childhood farming and farm ownership
The results of the responses to questions on childhood farming, farm ownership and 
cattle herding experience of the respondents are shown in Table 5.2.
74
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 5.2: Percentage distribution of respondents by childhood farming, farm 
ownership and cattle herding experience.
Respondents %numbar of respondents who received respective type of Home Training in farming while in school....
Childhood Non-Childhood Farm Non-Farm Cattle
Training Training Owners Owners Herders
Middle School leavers.
MS male (N=48) 100.0 0.0 89.6 10.4 20.8
MS female (N=12) 100.0 0.0 75.0 25.0 0.0
All MS (N=60) 
JSS leavers
100.0 0.0 86.7 13.3 16.7
JSS Male (N=39) 97.4 2.6 82.1 17.9 20.5
JSS Female (N=21) 100.0 0.0 57.1 42.9 0.0
All JSS (N=60) 98.3 1.7 73.3 26.7 13.3
All the Farmers (N = 120) 99.2 0.9 80.0 20.0 15.0
Source: The Study
From Table 5.2, majority (99.2%) of the respondents had childhood agricultural 
training at home which consists of 100.0 and 98.3 percent Middle School and JSS 
graduates respectively. As high as 80 percent of all the respondents had their own 
small farms while 20 percent of them did not own farms but assisted their parents.
5.2.2 Home training in cattle keeping
Cattle Keeping is one of the most important agricultural occupations in North Tongu 
District. In fact, its importance to the people is rated on equal level as cocoa farming 
in cocoa growing areas of Ghana (Volta Region Cattle Farmers Association 1992). 
The distribution of the respondents on the basis of childhood cattle keeping 
experience is also shown in Table 5.2.
It is interesting to note from Table 5.2 that a total of 15.0 percent of the young 
farmer respondents served as cattle herders in their childhood. That number is 
made up of 20.8 and 20.5 percent Middle School and JSS leavers respectively.
5.2.3 Use of School agricultural knowledge in home-farming
The application of formal knowledge in home-farming is assessed for the farmers. 
The farmer respondents were asked to indicate the frequency of using their new
75
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
agricultural knowledge in home-farming. The frequency levels are ‘never’, 
‘sometimes’ and ‘always’. For simplicity in analytical purposes, the response 
categories, ‘sometimes’ and ‘always’ is merged into ‘ever used’ while “never stands 
for not used. The results are shown in Table 5.3.
Table 5.3: Percentage distribution of respondents by the use of school agricultural 
knowledge in home farming.
Respondents % respondents in respective frequency of use of school knowledge in home farming while in school.
NEVER SOMETIMES ALWAYS EVER USED
Middle School leavers
MS Male (N=48) 56.3 33.3 10.4 43.7
MS Female (N=12) 91.7 8.3 0.0 8.3
All MS (N=60) 63.3 28.4 8.3 36.7
JSS leavers
JSS Male (N=39) 25.6 43.6 30.8 74.4
JSS Female (N=21) 47.6 42.9 9.5 52.4
All JSS (N=60) 33.3 43.4 23.3 66.7
Source: The Study
Table 5.3 shows that the young farmer respondents practise home-farming within a 
high level of non use of school knowledge. On average, 48.4 percent of them said 
they never used their school knowledge in home farming. Junior Secondary School 
graduates use more school agricultural knowledge in home farming than Middle 
School leavers. Middle School females experience the highest level of non use of 
school knowledge, followed by Middle School males, JSS females and JSS females 
in that order.
The finding also suggests that JSS graduates use more new knowledge in home- 
farming than Middle School leavers. JSS males use knowledge in home-farming 
more than all the other groups of respondents. They are followed by JSS females, 
Middle School males while Middle School females come last.
76
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The findings suggest that the JSS Agriculture programme might have given more 
relevant knowledge to the graduates, hence their higher use of knowledge in home- 
farming than the Middle School leavers. The lower use of knowledge of Middle 
School females and females in general tend to be supported by the resistance they 
experienced from their mothers. Some of the females said their mothers did not 
allow them to apply farming practices they learnt in school because they were time 
consuming.
From Table 5.2 and 5.3 it can be inferred that majority of the young farmers have 
informal training under the tutelage and supervision of their parents. Since females 
were denied the chances of applying their new agricultural knowledge in home- 
farming, they might have experienced a higher level of cognitive dissonance 
condition (Thompson 1983). If the cognitive dissonance condition is not remedied 
early it leads to a state where the learners would discard what is learnt as they 
perceive it as unimportant (Hartmut et al 1989).
The high level of non use of school knowledge in home-farming experienced by the 
farmers tends to suggest that a sizeable number of them may develop a reduced 
importance for what they learnt in agriculture at school by the time they enter into 
career farming.
With respect to home training in farming, it can be concluded that majority of the 
respondents have quite extensive informal exposure to practical experience in 
farming in the North Tongu District. But, the apparently high level of non application 
of school agricultural knowledge may detract from the benefits of home training in 
farming particularly with Middle School leavers.
77
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Experience from the district tends to suggest that many school pupils sponsor 
themselves in school. The high level of in-school youth owning farm enterprises at 
such tender ages suggests self-sponsorship in schooling. The school pupils may be 
raising crops and animals in order to generate income to support themselves in 
school. But this does not suggest that they may be using school-based knowledge. 
It is possible they might be using Indigenous Technical Knowledge in agriculture in 
home-farming as suggested by the findings. This may adversely affect their 
schooling output since they may have a divided attention between farming and 
schooling as suggested by the generally poor performance of the educational 
system in the district, (Psalm Consults 1996).
5.2.4 Field Trips
An important educational practice purposely designed to expose in-school youth to 
new developments in agricultural production is the organization of field trips to 
established farms, agricultural projects or research stations (Olaitan and Onazi 
1989). The study finds out the level of exposure the young people have to new and 
improved agricultural production practices through participation in field trips. The 
responses of the respondents on field trip attendance is shown in Figure 5.3.
78
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
NEVER SOMETIMES
Frequencies of field trip attendance
Figure 5.3: Bar chart of percentage attendance of field trips by farmers 
Source: The Study
Figure 5.3 shows that only 18.3 percent of all the respondents ever attended field 
trips in the Middle School and in the JSS agricultural education programmes in the 
North Tongu District. However, 20 percent of Middle School leavers participated in 
field trips while 16.7 percent of the JSS graduates benefited from it.
This suggests low attendance of field trips by the formal agricultural educational 
systems in the district. Again, there is lack of large-scale commercial farm 
enterprises, projects or research stations which schools can visit in the district. It is 
evident that whereas the informal agricultural education system caters for the 
training of majority of the respondents, the formal education system lacks important 
strategies for effective practical agricultural education of the young farmers in the 
North Tongu District.
5.3 Management of Agricultural Education Programmes in the district
The study assessed the implementation process of the formal and Extension 
agricultural education systems to show how the educational systems influenced the
79
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
a tta inm ents  o f the  fa rm e r responden ts  w h ile  in schoo l and  out-o f-schoo l.
5.3.1 Management of Practical Agriculture in Junior Secondary Schools
The process of implementing an educational programme affects its outputs (Avortri 
and Asiegbor 1997). Effective implementation of a programme depends a great deal 
on the calibre of the implementers. Since the study is on the utilization of school-based 
agricultural knowledge, the study assesses the process of teaching and practice of 
practical work in agriculture in Junior Secondary Schools by examining the quality of 
staff at the district office in charge of the programme and the inputs for practical farm 
work in the schools. Practical farm work at school is intended to offer opportunities to 
pupils to utilize school-based agricultural knowledge.
5.3.2 Quality of District Agricultural Education Staff
The demographic information on the District Agricultural Education Co-ordinator 
(DAEC) is presented in Table 5.4.
Table 5.4: Social Characteristics of the DAEC.
 Question Item________________________________Response................................................
Qualification B.Ed Hons
Subject of specialisation Social Studies
Number of years in teaching 21 years
Number of years in teaching Agriculture 0.0 years
Position or Schedule Peripatetic /  Agricultural Education
Source: The Study
The background information from Table 5.4 indicates that the District Agricultural 
Education Co-ordinator position is occupied by an officer who had no training or 
experience in teaching the subject. This was a significant factor influencing the 
management of the JSS Agriculture programme in the North Tongu District.
80
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The DAEC and JSS Agriculture Teachers were to indicate the availability and 
adequacy of material resources for the implementation of the practical component of 
the programme, time allocation for practical work and theory, guidelines for managing 
school farms, and availability of average crop yield figures from school farms in the 
district. The responses to the items are presented in Tables 5.5 and 5.6.
Table 5.5: Distribution of DAEC and JSS teachers by availability of some selected 
resources for teaching practical agriculture.
Resources______ DAEC. Teachers and %  number of schools with the resources............
%  practical work resource availability in JSS schools
DAEC (N=1) Teachers (N=8)
Weighing Scale 0.0 0.0
Measuring Tape 0.0 25.0
Knapsack Sprayer 100.0 75.0
Ranging Pole 0.0 0.0
Burdizzo 0.0 0.0
Laboratory 0.0 0.0
Vegetable Unit 95.7 87.5
Arable Crop Unit 98.6 87.5
Livestock Unit 0.0 0.0
Fish Pond 0.0 0.0
Source: The Study
Table 5.5 shows that material resource allocation for practical work is inadequate 
because none of the items listed have been adequately available at school level. That 
aside, there are inconsistencies in the data given by the DAEC and the information 
from the teachers in the schools in the case of Knapsack Sprayer, Vegetable Unit and 
Arable Crop Unit. The inconsistencies suggest lack of information from the schools by 
the DAEC. If proper monitoring is carried out, it should be known that not all schools 
have the materials listed.
81
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
5.3.3 Time Allocation for theory and practical work
The study finds out that the district is not consistent in time allocated for theory and 
practical lessons in Agriculture. Theory lessons per week have a range of 1-3 hours, 
with a mean of 2.5, while practical lessons have a range of thirty minutes to five hours 
with a mean of three hours. This is supported by observation of pupils involvement in 
manual work in the district, a whole day is declared “project day”. This practice makes 
pupils spend one day (8 hours) per week on farm work or other jobs such as carting 
blocks, bricks, sand, gravel and allied tasks to generate income for the school. Such 
activities are carried out without any specified educational objectives.
The DAEC and Teachers were asked to indicate whether they have guidelines for 
managing school farms and the keeping of records on yield from school farms. Their 
responses are shown in Table 5.6.
Table 5.6: Distribution of DAEC and Teachers by availability of guidelines for 
managing school farms and keeping yield records.
Information % respondents in positive responses to the items
DAEC (N=1) Teachers (N=8)
Guidelines 0.0 0.0
Average yield records 0.0 12.5
Source: The study.
Table 5.6 shows that no guidelines have been provided for the schools on which to 
base practical work in school farms. Only 12.5 % of the schools said they keep yield 
records on their school farms. The findings give an indication that no attainment 
standards have been set up for the schools. Each school in the District does what it 
can in terms of the teaching of practical work in agriculture.
82
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
5.4 Basic Schools and Agricultural Production in North Tongu District
The interrelationships between the JSS Agricultural Education programme and the 
agricultural production system in the North Tongu District was traced. First, the extent 
of coverage of on-farm agricultural occupations in the district by the JSS programme 
was assessed. This was done by preparing an inventory of agricultural occupations in 
the district using information provided by Agricultural Extension Agents.
5.4.1 Inventory of On-Farm Agricultural Vocations
The Agricultural Extension Agents were asked to provide information on the number of 
on-farm enterprises in their operational zones in the North Tongu District. The 
responses are summarised in Table 5.7.
Table 5.7: Number of on-farm enterprises in the North Tongu District.
Type of on-farm Agricultural Vocation Number of Vocations
Animals 15
Cereals 3
Food Processing 7
Fruits and Tree Crops 5
Industrial Crops 3
Legumes 4
Lesser Fruits 5
Root and Tubers 6
Vegetables Crops 7
Total 55
NB: Actual names of the vocations can be found in appendix 6.
Source: The Study
Table 5.7 shows that a total of 55 on-farm enterprises are known to be practised in the 
District at the period of the study. While majority of them are traditional on-farm 
enterprises, some are new introductions. One of the newly introduced on-farm 
vocation is Ostrich farming. Some of the indigenous ones like Fan Palm Yam 
production is not even documented although it forms an important economic activity
83
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
for farmers in the dry season particularly in areas where the Fan Palm or Borassus 
Palm exists.
It is clear that the JSS Agricultural Education programme does not cover all the on- 
farm enterprises which are practised by the graduates of the programme in the district.
5.5 Extension Programme for Young Farmers
In order to raise agricultural productivity, young people must be involved in it (MOE 
1986, Ghanaian Times 1999). Since Agricultural Extension disseminates new 
knowledge and improved agricultural technologies from research to farmers, young 
and prospective farmers need to be linked with Agricultural Extension so that they will 
be aware of its value. The study sought information from the District Director of 
Agriculture and Frontline Agricultural Extension Agents on the activities the Extension 
system performs in Junior Secondary Schools in the North Tongu District.
The District Director of Agriculture was asked to indicate whether there was a support 
system or scheme for young farmers; whether the district has average crop yield 
figures and to rate young farmers’ access to agricultural production resources.
The answers to all the questions are negative. The responses of the District 
Director of Agriculture show that the young people who become farmers in the 
district are not cared for by the Agricultural Extension Education system as such.
The Agricultural Extension Agents were asked to provide the following information:
❖ Number of years spent in the District.
❖ whether they (AEAs) give demonstrations on new agricultural technologies 
introduced into the District after 1987 to JSS students in school.
84
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
❖ whether the Extension system has a programme for young farmers.
❖ whether the AEAs identify young people who enter into farming every year and
❖ what agricultural technologies they teach JSS graduates farming in their
operational areas.
The AEAs’ who gave positive responses to the above questions have been counted 
and presented in percentages in Table 5.8.
Table 5.8: Percentage distribution of AEAs by positive responses to items on 
Extension programmes for young people.
AEAs Number of years and % respondents in respective positive item responses
No. Years (Q1) 
Range & 
mean age
Demonstrations (Q2) 
% YES
Programme (Q3) 
% YES
ldentification(Q4) 
% YES
Technologies
(Q5)
% YES
AEAs 
(N=10)
2-10(6) 20.0 60.0 80.0 50.0
Source: The Study NB: Average number of years in the District in parenthesis italic
Table 5.8 shows that the Agricultural Extension Agents work quite long in the district 
with an average of six years experience. However, only 20.0% of them said they ever 
gave demonstrations on new agricultural technologies to Junior Secondary School 
students in the district. When those who said ‘no’ to the question were asked why they 
did not give demonstrations, the commonest answers were “the teachers felt as if I 
was imposing my ideas on them,.... they did not form part of my target group....”,
While 60.0% of the AEAs said they had programmes for young farmers thereby 
contradicting the response from the Director of Agriculture, 80.0% said they identify 
young people who enter farming every year. This contradicts the information from 
the JSS graduates that some of the AEAs do not know that they (JSS leavers) are 
farmers and therefore do not visit them.
85
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
When those AEAs who said they visited Young farmers were asked to state the types 
of agricultural technologies they taught them, some of their responses include: “line 
planting, germination test demonstration, agro-forestry, lining and pegging and crop 
rotation."
Clearly, there are inconsistencies and contradictions in their responses as compared 
to that of the Director of Extension Services and among themselves. Some of the 
technologies like row planting and crop rotation could not have been the need of JSS 
graduates since they would at least, have been taught at school.
To sum up, it can be inferred from the discussion that the Agricultural Extension 
system appears to distance itself from the future and prospective farmers in the 
district because no programme is designed to target them as an identified group. 
Secondly, there appears to be lack of co-operation between JSS Agriculture 
Teachers and Agricultural Extension Agents (AEAs) in the district.
5.6 Summary
The chapter also identifies several social characteristic differences between the 
Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu 
District. Gender, age, marital status and agricultural education and training 
differences have been noted between the respondents. Middle School graduates 
form majority of the men. They are also the older group of the respondents while 
Middle School women constitute the least number but belong to a higher age cohort 
than their JSS counterparts.
86
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Junior Secondary School graduates are younger than Middle School leavers. A 
higher percentage of the Middle School leavers are married but majority of the JSS 
are single. Divorce and widowhood is minimal among the young farmers.
The agricultural education background of the respondents shows a high level of 
home training in farming. A high proportion of the respondents owned and operated 
farm enterprises in their childhood but less than half of their number applied what 
they learnt from school in their early farming experience.
A small number of the young farmers from Middle School and JSS graduates had 
cattle herding experience in childhood. Agricultural Education experience through 
field trip attendance at school was generally low.
This chapter shows that practical farm work instruction and practice are poorly done 
in the schools. The Agricultural Extension system in the North Tongu District does 
not cater adequately for Junior Secondary pupils.
87
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 6
AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE OF MIDDLE AND JUNIOR SECONDARY 
SCHOOL GRADUATES 
6.0 Introduction
One cannot utilise knowledge that one does not have. Since the study is about the 
effects of use of formal agricultural knowledge for farming, the formal agricultural 
knowledge levels of the young farmers have been assessed as presented in this 
chapter.
6.1 Assessment of agricultural knowledge levels.
In assessing the formal agricultural knowledge levels of the respondents, five multiple 
response test items have been used. The test items seek for application of agricultural 
knowledge on: interpretation of fertilizer labels (FTLZ), the concept of concentration in 
mixing pesticides (PST), application of gestation period in sheep breeding (SHP), 
estimation of crop yields (YLD) and calculation of farm earnings (NFM).
The results of the performance of the respondents on the test items are shown in Table
88
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.1: Distribution of respondents by percentage number in correct test options.
Respondent
categories
Type of test items and % number of respondents in correct 
test options.
Fertilizer Pesticide Sheep Yield Farm Mean
Earnings Correct
Options
Middle School Leavers
MSm (N=48) 22.2 87.5 12.5 6.3 97.9 45.4
MSw (N=12) 16.7 91.7 16.7 0.0 83.3 41.5
All MS (N=60) 21.7 88.3 13.3 3.2 95.0 44.7
JSS leavers
JSSm (N=39) 25.6 82.1 53.8 5.1 84.6 50.2
JSSw (N=21) 19.0 61.9 71.4 0.0 81.0 46.7
All JSS (N=60) 23.3 75.0 60.0 2.6 85.0 49.3
All respondents 22.5 81.7 36.7 2.9 90.0 47.0
Source: The Study.
Table 6.1 shows that the Middle School leavers and JSS graduates did very poorly on 
the test items on estimation of crop yields and interpretation of information on fertilizer 
labels. Their performance on fertilizer labels determined on the basis of type of school 
attended is 21.7% and 23.3% respectively for Middle School and JSS while that on yield 
estimation is 3.2% and 2.6%.
On the basis of gender, the females perform worse than males on the test items on 
fertilizer labels and yield determination.
Both Middle School and JSS graduates do not depart far from each other in their 
performance on the two test items. The low performance of the respondent categories
89
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
on fertilizer label and yield determination test items suggests knowledge deficiency on 
the concepts.
Referring from Table 6.1, JSS graduates have a mean correct options of 49.3 percent 
while Middle School leavers have 44.7 percent. The average score of JSS leavers is 4.6 
percent higher than that of the Middle School graduates.
On gender, 45.4% of Middle School males have all the test item correct while 41.5% of 
their female counterparts have all the test items right. Nearly half (50.2% ) of the JSS 
males have all the test items correct with JSS females at 46.7%. In all, more of the JSS 
graduates score the tests items correctly than Middle School leavers while males also 
score more than the females.
6.2 Differences in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Farmers
To test whether there is a difference between the JSS and Middle School leavers on the 
levels of agricultural knowledge, the Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test statistic is employed. 
The Null Hypothesis (H0) is JSS and Middle School leavers come from the same 
population and therefore have no difference in retained agricultural knowledge levels.
Thus, H0, = P [W js s  > WMs] = 1/4, where WJSS is the sum of the ranks of the number of JSS 
graduates scoring the test items correctly and WMs is the sum of the ranks of the 
number of Middle School leavers scoring the test items correctly. The relationship 
between JSS and Middle School leavers on the test items as determined by Wilcoxon- 
Mann-Whitney Test is shown in Table 6.2.
90
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.2: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle School and Junior
Secondary School graduates as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Number of respondents in 
correct test options
2.6 3.2 13.3 21.7 23.3 60.0 75.0 85.0 88.3 95.0
Categories of respondents JSS MS MS MS JSS JSS JSS JSS MS MS
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
I dee claratahamcih
W Msm=2+3+4+9+10=28
H0= soI deev nI u ev f clgi = But,, P[27>28] =.500;where, n = 5, m = 5
Legend: C OMM is the sum of the ranks of the number of JSS graduates scoring the test items correctly
C PMP  is the sum of the ranks of the number of Middle School leavers scoring the test items correctly
Source: The Study
Table 6.2 shows that the Null Hypothesis is true since P[ WJSs>28] =.500. This implies 
that no significant difference exists in agricultural knowledge levels between Middle 
School leavers and JSS graduates farming in the North Tongu District.
The performance of the Middle School and JSS graduates shows that the knowledge 
retained by the two groups does not differ from each other. This suggests that the effect 
of forgetting on knowledge imparted through Basic School Agriculture does not depend 
on the academic nature of the programme in the district. Since the JSS Agricultural 
programme is more academic than the Middle School one, the former should have kept 
more knowledge than the latter. Despite the comprehensiveness of the JSS Agricultural 
Education programme, no difference exists in the knowledge retained by the graduates 
and Middle School leavers. The knowledge levels of JSS males and Middle School 
males are compared as presented in Table 6.3.
91
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.3: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle School males and
Junior Secondary School males as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Number of respondents in 5.1 6..3 12.5 22.2 23.3 25. .6 53.0 82.1 87.5 97.9
correct test options
Categories of respondents JSSM MSM MSM MSM JSSM JSSM JSSM JSSM MSM MSM
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
C OMMP A RTITVTETSAUE
CDMP A UTYTFTNTRLAUS
Ho =P[ C OMMP J C DHDG =1/2 = But, P[27> 28] = .500 where, n=5, m=5
Legend: C OMMP is the sum of the ranks of the number of JSS Men scoring the test items correctly
C PMP  is ^  sum of the ranks of the number of Middle School Men scoring the test items correctly
Source: The Study
Table 6.3 shows that the Null Hypothesis is true since A,Cer ti f 28] =.500. This implies 
that no significant difference exists in agricultural knowledge levels of Middle School 
males and JSS males. The knowledge levels of JSS and Middle School females are 
compared as shown in Table 6.4.
Table 6.4: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Middle School females and Junior 
Secondary School females as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Number of respondents in 
correct test options
0.0 0.0 16.7 16.7 19.0 61.9 71.4 81.0 83.3 91.7
Categories of respondents JSSf MSf MSf MSf JSSf JSSf JSSf JSSf MSf MSf
Rank 2 2 4 4 6 7 8 9 10 11
I deeb  c iatahamayc.i
Iu eb  ciaiaAaAalkallc..
wk csoI deeb nI veb fclgi = But, P[32 > 3 3 ]  =  .1548 ;where n=5, m=5
L eg en d : C OMM, Is the sum of the ranks of the number of JSS Females scoring the test items correctly
C PMP,  is the sum of the ranks of the number of Middle School Females scoring the test items correctly
Source: The Study
92
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.4 shows that the Null Hypothesis is not true since A,Cerr d f 33] =.1548 and at 
the upper tail end (CL), P[WMSF >32] =.8452 . This implies that a significant difference 
exists in agricultural knowledge levels of Middle School females and JSS females 
farming in the North Tongu District.
The performance of the Middle School and JSS graduates and males suggest that the 
effect of forgetting on knowledge acquired from a training programme does not depend 
on whether the programme is either only practical or comprehensive (theoretical and 
practical). In conclusion, the type of Basic School agriculture programme pursued by the 
Middle School and JSS graduates cannot not be used to explain fully their performance 
on the test.
6.3 Time of Leaving School and Performance on test
The difference between the performance of those who left school more than six years 
ago and those who completed in less than six years was compared as shown in Table
Table 6.5: Percentage distribution of respondents on correct test options by number of years of 
leaving school.
No. of years of leaving 
school
Type of Test Items and percentage number of respondents who had 
correct responses
Fertilizer Pesticide Sheep Yield Net Farm 
Margin
Mean
Below 6 years (Y6-) 
(N=51)
38.1 73.7 55.8 3.9 78.3 50.0
Over 6 years (Y6+) 
(N=69)
21.7 86.9 23.2 4.3 92.6 45.7
Source: The Study.
93
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The mean number of respondents in correct test options shown in Table 6.5 indicates 
that more of the respondents who terminated school in the last six years have more 
correct test items than those who left school over six years ago. It implies that many 
more of the recent school leavers retain more knowledge on the average among the 
respondents. The young people are fresh from school and therefore remember and 
reproduce the knowledge they acquire better than those who completed school earlier 
because knowledge stored in memory fades with time especially if it is not used 
(Chaplin and Krawiez 1974, Bajah 1990).
The performance of the respondents on the test by the tome of leaving school is tested 
to find out if any significant difference exists between the two groups, the results are 
shown in Table 6.6
Table 6.6: Difference in Agricultural Knowledge levels of Recent and Old graduates as 
measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Number of respondents in 3.9 4.3 21.7 23.2 38.1 55.8 73.7 78.3 86.9 92.6
correct test options
Categories of respondents Y6- Y6+ Y6+ Y6+ Y6- Y6- Y6- Y6- Y6+ Y6+
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Wy6-= 1+5+6+7+8=27
WY6t =2+3+4+9+10=28
H0 = P[ WY6 > WY6+ ]=1/2 But, P[ C BKX > 28] = .500; where, n = 5, m = 5
LEGEND: Y6- is recent graduates who completed school less than six years ago. 
Y6+ is old graduates who completed school more than six years ago.
Source: The Study
Table 6.6 shows that the Null Hypothesis is true since P[ wY6.>28] =.5000. The results of 
the test shows that no significant difference exists in knowledge of the respondents who
94
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
left school in the past six year (Y6-) and those who completed schooling over six years 
ago (Y6+). It implies that the performance of the respondents does not associate 
positively with the years of leaving school.
In effect, the performance of the respondents on the individual test items cannot be 
explained fully by the differentiation of the respondents on the basis of period of leaving 
school. It appears that individual differences between the respondents influence their 
knowledge levels rather than period of leaving school.
To further explain the test results, the respondents are traced to identify links between 
their performance on the test items and farming activities that involve the utilisation of 
the agricultural knowledge tested by the items. The performance of the respondents on 
each test item divided them into two groups: namely; those who have a particular item 
correct and those who have it wrong. The study therefore disaggregates the 
respondents into two categories on the test items, namely; correct respondent category 
and wrong respondent category for comparative purposes. The two categories of 
respondents are traced to determine their level of participation in farming activities 
involving the utilization of agricultural knowledge tested by each of the items.
6.4 Performance on fertilizer test.
The test item on fertilizer labels is testing application of literacy in farming. First, lack of 
knowledge can be due to non-availability of the knowledge in the school system or the 
social experience. Examining the JSS syllabuses on fertilizers, the information they 
convey does not include fertilizer labels nor is it stated as objectives of the programme. 
However textbook 3 discusses fertilizers on pages 43 to 47 but how fertilizers are
95
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
compounded and labelled is not part of the contents (MOE, 1993). It is likely that 
interpreting information on fertilizer labels is not an identified knowledge to be learnt by 
the young farmers while in school. It appears that there is a mis-match between 
knowledge tested and that of the JSS agriculture programme.
However, it is possible that resourceful teachers can teach such knowledge to their 
students. It is obvious that the above explanation alone cannot explain fully the entire 
observation as indicated by the performance of the respondents because some of the 
farmers had the item correct. They could have learnt it through social experience.
Another approach to explain the finding is that if the teachers teach the students about 
fertilizer labels and their importance the young farmers can forget the knowledge out of 
disuse and therefore are not able to manifest it in answering the test item. It is therefore 
necessary to trace those who correctly score the test items to see if they practise 
farming activities that involve the use of fertilizer knowledge. The farming activities 
associated with fertilizer knowledge utilization covered by the study is application of 
fertilizers. The levels of fertilizer usage is examined to find out if there is any link 
between it and performance on the test item as shown in Table 6.7.
Table 6.7: Percentage distribution of respondents who pass or fail the test on fertilizers 
by Fertilizer Applicaton.
Fertilizer Test Score 
Categories
% Number of respondents who apply fertilizers
Correct (N=27) 25.9
Wrong (N=93) 26.9
Source: The Study
96
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The result in Table 6.7 indicates that 25.9 percent of those who get the test item correct 
apply fertilizers while 26.9 percent of those who get the test item wrong also apply 
fertilizers. The observation that those who fail the test item also apply fertilizers almost 
equally shows that fertilizer application is not the only factor in explaining the knowledge 
levels of the respondents who correctly score the fertilizer test item.
Examining the performance further, those who get the test item correctly are traced in 
their usage of fertilizers by type of school attended and gender as shown in Table 6.8.
Table 6.8: Distribution of respondents who score the fertilizer test item correctly by 
application of fertilizers.
Correct Fertilizer Test Categories % Number of respondents who apply fertilizers
Middle School leavers
MSm (N=11) 36.4
MSw (N=2) 50.0
Total MS (N=13) 43.2
JSS leavers
JSSm (N=9) 11.1
JSSw (N=4) 0.0
Total JSS (N=13) 5.6
Source: The Study
On the basis of application of fertilizers as Table 6.8 indicates, more Middle School 
females who pass the test apply fertilizers than Middle School males and JSS men. 
Thus, it can be concluded that the test scores of Middle School females can be affected 
by their application of fertilizers, followed by Middle School males and JSS males in that 
order.
In effect, it can be concluded that the differences observed in the performance of the 
respondents on fertilizer test item is not associated with attendance of JSS or Middle
97
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
School nor participation in fartilizer application but rather, a mis-match between school 
knowledge and the test item and the period of leaving school. It is likely that another 
factor may account for the performance of the respondents which is not captured by the 
study.
6.5 Performance on farm output measurement test.
The poor performance of the Middle School and JSS graduates on measuring crop 
yields is an indication of a poor connection between school-based agricultural 
knowledge and farming. The issue is traced to the contents of the syllabuses and 
textbooks. An important content young people need to learn to be able to determine 
crop yields is standard units of measuring farm output, (Dupriez and De Leener, 1988). 
A close scrutiny of the syllabuses and textbooks indicates absence of standard units of 
measuring farm output. The students might not have learnt nor determined yields from 
school farms let alone their own farms. This is supported by the absolute absence of 
crop yield efficiency figures, school farm yields and district yield standards as shown in 
Chapter 5 of the study.
The young farmers do not know standard farm size measurement units particularly, the 
hectare. They do not know the difference between an acre and a hectare. No 
agricultural research institutes work in the district and therefore no proper linkage is 
forged between scientific measurement of crop yields and learning in schools in the 
district. Yield estimation in the North Tongu District depends on indigenous units of 
measurement. The general inaccessibility of new agricultural research findings to 
agricultural education particularly at the pre-university level in Ghana identified by CRI 
(1995) is quite pronounced in the district.
98
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Seeking for explanation for the observed knowledge levels, the young farmers who have 
the item correct are compared to those who fail the test item on the farming activity - 
measurement of crop yields. The result is shown in Table 6.9.
Table 6.9: Distribution of respondents who correctly score the item on farm output 
measurement and those who fail by their level of participating in yield measurement.
Test Score Categories % Number of respondents who measure farm output.
Correct (N=5) 80.0
Wrong (N=115) 58.3
Source: The Study.
From Table 6.9, eighty (80.0%) of the young farmers who score the item correctly 
measure yields from their farms. But only 58.3 percent of those who got the test item 
wrong said they measure yields from their farms. As already indicated in the study, farm 
output measurement in the district depended on indigenous measuring units. It is 
therefore possible that farmers who said they measure yields use the local units of 
measurement instead of standard units.
In conclusion, the poor performance of the Middle School leavers and JSS graduates on 
the test items on fertilizer labels and crop yield determination suggests a fundamental 
agricultural education curriculum weakness in Sub-Saharan African Countries identified 
by Wallace et al (1996). As a result of lack of identification of training needs of 
prospective agricultural workforce, curricular contents tend to be supply-driven instead 
of demand-driven, neglecting knowledge and skills demanded by the emerging private 
sector agricultural industry. If the job profiles of the Middle School and JSS products
99
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
were identified before designing the programme, crop yield measurement would have 
been identified and incorporated into the curriculum.
6.6 Performance on sheep breeding test
Inferring from Table 6.1, more JSS graduates demonstrate possession of knowledge in 
sheep breeding than Middle School leavers. To explain the disparity in the observation, 
the contents of the JSS agriculture syllabuses and textbooks were examined. The 
gestation period in sheep, goat, cattle and other animals are extensively discussed in 
textbook 2 page 95 to 127 (MOE, 1993). This implies that JSS leavers have a fair 
knowledge in sheep breeding.
Although no specified textbooks were written for the Middle School Agriculture 
programme general agriculture textbooks used contain the necessary information on 
gestation period in sheep. However, the knowledge levels of the Middle School 
graduates indicate lack of knowledge in sheep breeding.
The low knowledge levels of Middle School leavers may be traced to Indigenous 
Knowledge among peasant farmers in the North Tongu District concerning gestation 
period in sheep and goats. Indigenous Knowledge has it that sheep and goats lamb or 
kindle after three months of conception. Since Middle School leavers rank higher home 
training as a factor influencing their entry into farming than JSS leavers, it is likely that 
the Indigenous Knowledge produces retroactive and proactive inhibition on the learning 
acquired at school and interferes with the retention of science-based knowledge. This 
finding supports the notion that learning that precedes new knowledge or supersedes 
new learning can interfere with retention of desired knowledge and promote forgetting of
1 0 0
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
new knowledge (Chaplin and Krawiec, 1974 ; Von Runkel,1986). The indigenous 
knowledge gets embedded in their Long -Term Memory and is manifested in the 
answers to the test item. The Indigenous Knowledge fails to teach that gestation period 
is calculated from date of service to day of lambing instead of the observable distension 
of the belly of an animal marking the start of gestation.
To further probe the knowledge levels of the young farmers, those who had the item 
correct and those who got it wrong are compared on the farming activities that involve 
the utilization of sheep and goat breeding knowledge covered by the study. Goat 
keeping activities are considered because the two animals have some commonalities in 
breeding. Sheep and goat keeping are the two major farming activities involving the use 
of sheep breeding knowledge.
Again, those who had the test item on sheep breeding correct are compared with those 
who did not get it right. The results are shown in Table 6.10.
Table 6.10: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly scored test item by 
participation in sheep and goat keeping activities.
Test score 
Categories
% Respondents who keep either sheep or goats.
Sheep Keeping Goat Keeping
Correct (N=44) 18.2 25.0
Wrong (N=76) 10.5 27.6
Source: The Stuc y
From Table 6.10, majority of the young farmers who had the item correct keep sheep as 
against those who failed the test item on sheep breeding. They almost match each other 
in goat keeping. The Middle School and JSS leavers who got the item correct are
101
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
compared on the basis of their participation in sheep or goat keeping activities as done 
previously. The results are shown in Table 6.11.
Table 6.11: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly score the item on 
sheep breeding by school and level of participation in sheep or goat keeping activities.
Test Score Categories Sheep or goat keeping activities and % number of respondents
Sheep Keepers Goat Keepers
MS Correct (N=8) 25.0 50.0
JSS Correct N=36) 16.7 19.4
Source: The Study
Table 6.11 indicates that only 16.7% of the JSS graduates who got the test item correct 
keep sheep and 19.4% keep goats while 25.0% of Middle School leavers are sheep 
keepers and 50.0 percent keep goats.
The superior performance of the JSS graduates is associated with the school they 
attended more than sheep or goat keeping. The finding suggests that the JSS leavers 
might have acquired the knowledge from school. It could be concluded that the Middle 
School leavers who correctly scored the test item might have achieved it out of goat and 
sheep keeping or through other learning experiences which have not been captured by 
the study.
6.7 Performance on pesticide test
Table 6.1 shows that both the Middle School and JSS graduates perform creditably on 
the items testing the concept of concentration in mixing pesticides and determination of 
Net farm Margin. While 88.5% and 95.0% of the Middle School leavers correctly score 
the two items respectively, lower percentages of 75.0% and 85.0% of the JSS score the
102
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
items correctly. The Middle School leavers demonstrate higher knowledge levels on the 
two test items.
To get an insight into the performance of the young farmers, they are placed into two 
test score categories, namely; correct and wrong categories. They are traced to 
determine the level of their involvement in pesticide usage activities.
The main pesticide usage activity covered by the study is application of pesticides. The 
performance determined by pesticide application is shown in Table 6.12.
Table 6.12: Distribution of respondents who correctly score the pesticide test by level of 
participation in pesticide application.
Test Score Categories % Respondents who apply pesticides
Correct(N=98) 24.5
Wrong (N=22) 13.5
Source: The Study.
Table 6.12 shows that the respondents who correctly score the test item on pesticides 
participate in more pesticide application activities in farming than those who fail the test 
item. The implication is that those who score the item correctly may be rehearsing their 
knowledge for mixing pesticides and therefore are able to recall the answer while those 
who fail the test might have forgotten out of disuse of knowledge.
Further probe is made to trace any relationships that may exist between the knowledge 
levels of the young farmers on the pesticide test item and their involvement in the use of 
pesticides on the basis of type of school attended and gender as shown in Table 6.13.
103
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 6.13: Percentage distribution of respondents who correctly scored the test item on
pesticides by application of pesticides in farming and gender.
Respondents
Categories
% number of respondents in pesticide application activities
Applying Hiring labour for spraying agro-chemicals
Pesticides
Middle Sch.
Leavers 26.2 28.6
MSm (N=42) 9.1 18.2
MSw (N=11) 17.7 23.4
All MS (N=53)
JSS leavers
JSSm (N=34) 29.4 20.6
JSSw (N=11) 18.2 18.2
All JSS (N=45) 23.8 19.4
Source: The Study
From Table 6.13, on the average, Middle School leavers have a higher level of 
participation in pesticide application activities than JSS graduates. Middle School men 
who answer the pesticide test item correctly participate in pesticide application activities 
more than the other categories of respondents. The implication is that Middle School 
leavers participate more frequently in utilizing pesticides than the JSS graduates and 
hence their ability to answer the test item more than the JSS leavers. The least of the 
farming activities involving the application of pesticides for JSS men is hiring people to 
spray their farms. Agro-chemical spraying is one of the male roles in farming in the 
district and the young men do it by themselves.
In conclusion, the knowledge levels of the young farmers on the pesticide test item is 
influenced by school knowledge, their individual differences as well as application of 
pesticides and hiring of people to spray agro-chemicals, Each of the categories of 
farmers participate in the pesticide usage activities at different rates and their 
performance on the test item is affected in a similar manner. Perhaps the pesticide 
application activities enable them to rehearse, enact and reinforce their knowledge in
104
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
mixing pesticides resulting in their ability to remember and recall the knowledge in 
answering the question on pesticides. This supports the notion that activities that 
involve the use of an acquired knowledge strengthens the memory of the learner and 
the ability to recall that knowledge, (Van Dura quoted in McCreary ,1989).
6.8 Performance on net farm margin test.
The final test item is on determination of net farm margin. The main mathematical 
competence tested by the item is the ability to apply the principles underlying addition 
and subtraction of whole numbers in determining returns to investment in farming.
Respondents who score the test item correctly are traced to determine any links 
between their performance on the test and their participation in activities involved in 
using the knowledge and ability to calculate farm earnings. Since farm records provide 
information for determining farm income, the respondents were asked to indicate 
whether they kept farm records or not. The levels of participation of respondents who 
pass the test and those who fail are shown in Table 6.14
Table 6.14: Distribution of respondents who had the item correct and wrong by record 
keeping.
Test Score Respondent Category___________________% Record Keepers....................................
Correct (N=108) 49.1
Wrong (N=12) 33.3
Source: The Study.
Table 6.14 shows that although there is low farm record keeping among the 
respondents in general, those who correctly scored the test, on the average kept farm
105
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
records more than those who failed the test. The finding implies that the knowledge and 
ability to calculate net farm margin per se is not the only determinant in assessing 
performance in farming in the study area. Indigenous systems of assessing performance 
in farming is widely practised in the district which greatly influences the practices of the 
young farmers (Asiegbor, 1980).
6.9 Summary
The performance of the Middle School and JSS graduates on the test shows that the 
knowledge retained by the two groups does not differ from each other. This applies to 
Middle School and JSS graduates as well as their males. There is however a significant 
difference between Middle School females and JSS females in their retained knowledge 
levels. With the exception of the test item on goat breeding, the differences observed in 
their performance on the individual test items are associated with a mis-match between 
school agricultural knowledge and knowledge required for farming and participation in 
farming activities involving the use of such knowledge more than the school they 
attended.
106
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 7
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE SCHOOL LEAVERS TO BECOME FARMERS 
7.0 Introduction:
It is not clear at first sight why so many young boys and girls who ought to be in 
school engage in agricultural production as farmers. There may be compelling 
reasons why these young people enter into farming so early in life. Is the early entry 
into farming their own choice? Have they been compelled by circumstances beyond 
their control? What are their aims in farming?
The study finds out from the respondents their reasons for stopping schooling, the 
factors which influenced them to enter into farming at such early ages and their aims 
in farming.
7.1 Reasons for Terminating Schooling at an Early Age
The reasons given by Middle School and JSS graduates for discontinuing school in 
the North Tongu District include lack of funds, no guardian to sponsor schooling, no 
school to attend, failure in examination and other reasons (failure to take 
examinations, punishment at school, stopping school to learn a trade, teenage 
pregnancy and entry into cattle keeping. The reasons for terminating school given 
by the respondents are shown in Table 7.1.
107
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 7.1: Distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates by reasons for 
terminating schooling.
% number of respondents and reasons for terminating schooling
Respondents
Categories
No Money /  
Guardian
No School Fail Exams Cattle
Keeping
Punishment 
/  Pregnancy
Learn Trade/
Fail To take Exam
Middle Sch. Leavers
MSm (N=48) 87.5 0.0 0.0 10.4 0.0 2.1
Msw(N=12) 83.3 0.0 0.0 0.0 8.3 9.4
All MS (N=60) 85.4 0.0 0.0 8.3 1.7 4.6
JSS leavers
JSSm (N=39) 84.6 2.6 2.6 7.7 0.0 3.1
JSSw (N=21) 81.0 0.0 4.8 0.0 4.8 9.4
All JSS (N=60) 83.3 1.7 3.3 5.0 1.7 5.0
Source: The Study
Table 7.1 indicates that majority of all the respondents terminate schooling as a 
result of financial constraints. Both Middle School and JSS graduates almost equally 
terminate schooling as a result of lack of funding. This implies that a great number 
of the respondents wish to continue schooling if they have money or sponsorship.
The next most important reason for terminating schooling is cattle keeping. 
Observations from the district confirms that cattle keeping is a serious form of child 
labour which prevents boys from schooling. The study traces the background of that 
group of farmers and the results are shown in Figure 7.1.
108
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
 '2W ?M .....
ill*
   NoCSH PtoSCH FAIL TKC
Response categories
LEGEND:
NoCSH = No cash, money or guardian. No SCH = No Secondary School to attend.
FAIL = Failed in Examination. TKC = To Keep Cattle
Figure 7.1: Bar chart of frequency distribution of Cattle Herders by reasons for terminating 
school.
Source: The Study.
The respondents who terminate schooling and keep cattle are almost evenly 
distributed on two main reasons namely; no money or guardian and interest to keep 
cattle. A minority of them do not get any school to attend. It implies that more than 
half of the number of the young cattle keepers will continue schooling if they have 
money or guardian to sponsor their schooling.
It can be inferred from the results that although cattle farming is an important 
occupation in the North Tongu District, young out-of school youth prefer to go for 
higher education and training other than getting into cattle production soon after 
leaving Basic School.
109
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
To sum up, lack of sponsorship, inability to get a school, teenage pregnancy, and 
punishment at school are important factors redirecting the Middle School and JSS 
graduates to undertake other activities instead of continued schooling. A minority 
portion of the respondents express self-interest in farming. The study therefore 
probes further to identify reasons which compel the school leavers to become 
farmers.
7.2 Respondents and factors influencing entry into farming
The study identifies factors which influenced the young people to finally select 
farming as an occupation. The young farmers were asked to rank five factors which 
encourage them to become farmers in the district. The factors include, no other job 
available, own interest, home training in farming, school training in farming and 
support of parents. The support of parents is in the form of land acquisition, initial 
capitalization of the farming enterprise, supply of seed and breeding stock. The 
mean rank scores for the given factors by all the respondents are presented in 
Table 7.2.
Table 7.2: Distribution of all the respondents by mean rank scores for factors 
influencing entry into farming.
Respondent
Categories
Reasons and mean rank scores
No Job Interest Home
Training
School
Training
Support
MS (N=60) 3.26 3.14 3.40 2.68 2.81
JSS (N=60) 3.24 2.95 2.87 3.18 2.69
All Respondents (N=120) 3.25 3.05 3.14 2.93 2.75
Source: The Study
110
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
From Table 7.2, on the average, the most important factor which makes all the 
respondents enter into farming is the fact that they have no other alternative source 
of employment with a mean rank score of 3.25. The informal training they have at 
home in farming is the second important factor with a mean rank score of 3.14, 
followed by their own interest in farming, school training comes fourth, finally, the 
least factor is support of parents. The order of the ranking suggests that all the 
respondents prefer other jobs to farming and they have been compelled to take up 
farming in the North Tongu District. Informal training is the second factor indicated 
by the ranking score of the respondents for selecting farming as a career. The 
ranking of the factors based on type of school attended is shown in Figure 7.2.
Factors influencing choice o f farming .
LEGEND: NJB = No other Job Available INTST= Own Interest. HT=Home Training.
ST "  School Training in farming. SPT = Support of Parents 
Figure 7.1: Bar chart of distribution of Middle School and JSS leavers by mean rank scores of
factors influencing them to become fanners.
Source: The Study
From Figure 7.2, the order of ranking the factors by the Middle School leavers in 
descending order is, 'home training’ in farming, ‘no job’, ‘interest’, ‘support’ and ‘school
i l l
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
training’. The JSS graduates however select farming by the influence of the following 
factors in descending order, 'no job', 'school training’, 'interest', 'home training' and 
‘support’. Middle School graduates are much affected by the home-training. Since JSS 
graduates rank ‘no job’ as the most important factor, they show a higher level of 
preference for other jobs than Middle School leavers. It implies that the JSS graduates 
have been compelled to select farming as an alternative job in the district. Middle 
School leavers have a higher level of interest in farming and support than the JSS 
graduates. Since the Middle School graduates are older than the JSS leavers, with the 
expression of a higher level of interest, their parents may be more willing to provide 
them with support than the JSS graduates. The Middle School leavers appear to have 
more confidence to farm than the JSS leavers as indicated by their ranking of the factors 
influencing them to go into farming. This may be due to their age and the frustration of 
seeking for other jobs without success.
Table 7.3: Distribution of Middle School and JSS males and females by mean rank 
scores of factors influencing them to become farmers.
Respondent Categories Reasons and mean rank scores for reasons
No Job Interest Home Training School Training Support
MS male (N=48) 3.52 2.85 3.31 2.52 2.70
Ms female (N=12) 3.00 2.42 3.50 2.83 2.92
JSS male (N=39) 2.62 3.79 2.87 3.08 2.51
JSS female (N=21) 3.86 2.10 2.86 3.29 2.86
Source: The Study.
Table 7.3 shows that Middle School males rank ‘no job’ highest among the factors 
while JSS males rank ‘interest’ highest. When JSS males rank ‘school raining’ 
second, Middle School males rank ‘home training’ second. The third factor for 
Middle School males is ‘interest’ while JSS males rank ‘home training’. The fourth 
rank position is taken by ‘support’ for Middle School males and 'no job for JSS
1 12
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
males. While 'school training’ takes the fifth position for Middle School males, their 
JSS counterparts place ‘support’.
Considering the females, Middle School females place 'home training’ at first 
position in rank while JSS females select 'no job’. JSS females rank ‘school training’ 
at second position while Middle School females place 'no job’. ‘Support’ and ‘home 
training’ are ranked at third position by JSS females but Middle School females pick 
support for the third position and ‘school training’ at fourth position. The two groups 
place ‘interest’ at the last position in rank among the factors for entering into farming 
in the district.
The rankings of the factors influencing the choice of farming show that JSS females 
are compelled to enter into farming more than Middle School leavers. However, the 
Middle School males have a higher level of compulsion than JSS males for entering 
into farming.
7.3 Levels of agreement on the ranking of factors influencing entry into 
farming
The levels of agreement or disagreement between the respondent categories in 
their ranking of the factors influencing selection of farming is determined by The 
Kendall Coefficient of Concordance (W) as shown in Table 7.4.
113
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 7.4: The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, among Middle School and 
JSS graduates on factors influencing selection of farming.
Respondents R S(Ri-R,)2 W I * P=.01 P=.05 Df
(N-1)
MS (N=60) 3.05 0.369 0.0369 8.858 NS NS 4
JSS (N=60) 2.99 0.2002 0.0200 4.8048 NS NS 4
MS male (N=48). 2.98 0.7074 0.071 3.408 NS NS 4
MS female N=12). 2.93 0.599 0.06 - NS NS 4
JSS Male (N=39) 2.97 1.1375 0.114 17.78 S S 4
JSS Female(N=21) 2.99 1.6728 0.167 14.028 S s 4
NS = Not significant S = Significant
Source: The Study.
Table 7.4 indicates that there is no significant level of agreement between the 
Middle School leavers and Junior Secondary School graduates on the criteria they 
use for ranking the factors influencing choice of farming in the North Tongu District. 
It implies that they have no common basis in ranking the factors. As individual 
human beings they may have different motives and aims which are not common to 
others in terms of career selection. Selection of farming as a career does not seem 
to depend on whether the learners pursue a practical or a comprehensive Basic 
School Agriculture programme.
On the basis of sex, there is no significant level of agreement between the Middle 
School males and Middle School females on the criteria they use for ranking the 
factors. This finding suggests that as individual human beings, they may be 
influenced by different factors for entering into farming which are not associated with 
the type of school they attended. It is possible that the study does not capture some
114
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
of the factors which compel them to be farmers or they fail to disclose them to the 
study.
Considering the Junior Secondary School males and females however, there is a 
significant level of agreement between them. The rankings of the factors by JSS 
graduates can be explained by considering the JSS education programme which is 
more broad-based than the Middle School programme. It offers 12 different 
externally examinable subjects including prevocational ones as against four 
externally examinable courses for the Middle School. The Junior Secondary School 
programme might have given the graduates more scope for training and hope for 
employment in other sectors of the economy than the Middle School programme. 
They may be aspiring for other jobs rather than farming hence their preference for 
other jobs.
Secondly, the JSS graduates left school more recently than the Middle School 
leavers and may have a higher school-based solidarity or 'we feeling’ than Middle 
School leavers who may have lost school solidarity.
Again, the high ranking of 'no job’ by the respondents in general can be looked at from 
the non competitive nature of the agricultural socio-economic environment. The low 
socio-economic status of farmers observed in the district leaves much to be desired. It is 
perhaps a major factor preventing young people from entering into farming in the first 
place. In such an environment, there are little incentives to induce young people to pick 
up farming as a career.
115
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
7.4 Ranking of aims in farming
In the process of selecting farming as an occupation, the respondents are 
influenced by five factors at different levels. It may be interesting to determine how 
the differences between them and the various motives and drives they express for 
selecting farming, relate to their aims in raising crops and animals in the district.
The study asked the respondents to rank four main aims for farming. The aims are 
family food security, cash income, prestige and other aims (supplementary food, 
supplementary income and pleasure). The ranking scores for the aims for farming 
on the basis of type of school attended and the mean ranking for all the 
respondents are shown in Table 7.5.
Table 7.5: Distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates by ranking of aims for 
farming.
Respondent Categories Aims for farming and rank scores
Food Income Prestige Others
MS (N=60) 3.30 3.28 1.86 1.22
JSS (N=60) 3.22 3.54 2.35 1.81
All Respondents (N=120) 3.26 3.41 2.11 1.52
Source: The Study.
Table 7.5 shows that ‘income’ is the aim ranked highest by all the respondents, 
followed by food, prestige and other aims. Middle School leavers, in descending 
order rank family food security their highest priority aim followed by cash income, 
prestige and finally supplementary food, income or pleasure the least important. 
JSS graduates on the other hand, rank cash income their highest aim, family food
116
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
security second, prestige third and supplementary food, income or pleasure the 
least priority aim for farming. Comparing the rankings of prestige and supplementary 
food or income or pleasure by the two groups, JSS leavers rank the two type of aims 
higher than Middle School graduates. The ranking of the Middle School leavers 
appears to suggest that they are not commercially oriented as the JSS graduates 
since they focus on family food production more than the JSS graduates.
In the hierarchy of needs, food occupies the first priority in the essential needs of 
man (Swaminathan, 1992). It implies that other human needs under consideration in 
this chapter occupy higher levels in the hierarchy. Since Middle School leavers 
rank food as their top priority it is indicative of the fact that they are behaving as 
peasant farmers (Johnson, 1990) while JSS graduates show orientation towards 
commercial farming.
This finding implies that Middle School leavers being older and married, may be 
raising families. They may be concerned with raising food to keep their families and 
therefore accord it the highest priority in their objectives for farming as opposed to 
JSS graduates. Most of the JSS leavers are single and do not have children to feed.
Examining the issue on the basis of type of school attended and gender a different 
scenario is portrayed as shown in Table 7.6.
117
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 7.6: Distribution of respondents by mean rank scores of aims for farming and 
gender._____________________________________________________
Respondent Categories Aims for farming and rank scores
Food Income Prestige Others
Middle Sch leavers 
MSm (N=48) 2.70 3.30 2.00 1.24
MSw (N=12) 3.55 3.20 1.52 1.25
JSS leavers 
JSSm (N=39) 2.98 3.48 2.20 2.49
JSSw (N=21) 3.46 3.56 2.48 1.08
Source: The Study
Table 7.6 shows that Middle school males and JSS males rank ‘income’ in the first 
position and ‘food’ second. They alternate the third and fourth positions with 
‘prestige’ and ‘others’ or supplementary aims in farming. Middle school females give 
‘food’ the highest rank score while their JSS counterparts rank ‘income’ at the first 
position. The latter also rank ‘income’ higher than the former. JSS females rank 
‘prestige’ higher than Middle School females while the latter also rank other aims in 
farming more than the former.
The ranking of aims for farming by the respondents shows similarities in their 
ranking on the basis of type of school attended. However, variations are observed 
on the rankings based on gender. It is evident from the rankings that differences in 
type of school attended cannot fully explain the observations on the rankings. The 
study therefore uses other differences among the respondents especially age for 
explaining the observations. The ranking of the aims in farming on the basis of age 
is presented in Table 7.7.
118
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 7.7: Distribution of respondents by age and mean ranking of aims for farming.
Age Categories Aims for farming and rank scores
Food Income Prestige Others
Less 18 years 3.00 3.71 1.86 1.29
18-24 years 3.27 3.41 2.15 1.27
25-30 years 3.33 3.45 2.03 1.55
Above 30 years 3.63 3.19 1.94 1.25
Source: The Study
Table 7.7 indicates that the oldest farmer respondents rank family food production 
their highest priority aim for farming in the North Tongu District. There is an inverse 
relationship between the ranking of the objective of family food production with age. 
The older the farmer, the higher the rank score for family food security.
Compared to the ranking of family food security, the reverse trend of ranking is 
shown for cash income. The youngest persons among the farmer respondents rank 
cash income the highest priority aim for farming in the North Tongu District. 
Generally, the younger the farmer, the higher the rank score for cash income. The 
ranking of family food security and cash income by the respondents tend to suggest 
that the farmers change their aims in farming as they grow older.
Besides the differences in the ranking of food and cash income, there is a general 
decrease in the importance of the other two aims as one moves from cash income 
towards supplementary aims for farming.
119
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
7.5 Levels of agreement between the respondents on aims in farming.
Having examined the ranking of the aims for farming, which shows differences in 
importance attached by the various groups of respondents, the study finds out 
whether there is a common basis in ranking the aims for farming by the respondent 
categories. The levels of agreement or disagreement between the respondent 
categories in the way they rank the aims for farming is determined by calculating the 
Kendall Coefficient of Concordance (W), for all the respondent categories as shown 
in Table 7.8.
Table 7.8: The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, showing levels of agreement 
between respondent categories on aims in farming.
Respondents R Z  ( Ri-R)2 W x2 
N> 20
R II © cn a  = .01 df
Mid School 
( N=60)
2.41 3.267 0.871 156.78 S 7.82 S 11.34 S 3
JSS ( N=60) 2.73 1.887 0.503 90. 54 S 7.82 S 11.34  S 3
Mid Sch. Male 
(N=48)
2.34 1.634 0.327 47. 088 S 7.82 S 11.34  S 3
Mid. Sch. 
Female(N=12)
2.48 4.3748 0.875 — .359  S .250  S 3
JSS Male 
(N=39)
2.81 0.976 0.195 22. 841 S 7.82 S 11.34  S 3
JSS Female 
(N=21)
2.65 3.886 0.777 63.78 S 7.82 S 11.34 S 3
S = Significant 
Source: The Study
From Table 7.8, the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance (W), values are significant 
for all the respondent categories at (.05) and (.01) probability levels. This is
120
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
indicative of the fact that the rankings of aims for farming by the respondents are not 
at random or unrelated but that they use similar criteria for ranking their aims for 
farming. Although there is a high level of agreement or concordance between them, 
however, the levels of the agreements vary as shown by the different values of the 
Kendall Coefficient of Concordance recorded for each of the groups.
Middle School leavers show a higher level of agreement between themselves on 
their aims for farming than the Junior Secondary School graduates. It suggests that 
the type of school they attended influence them in their ranking. It can also imply 
that their age is the factor influencing their ranking. Since the Middle School 
leavers and JSS graduates vary in age and marital status, it is possible that these 
differences may influence the criteria they apply for ranking the aims for farming.
Comparing the values of the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance of the respondent 
categories on the basis of gender, the Middle School females show the greatest 
level of agreement between themselves, followed by Junior Secondary School 
females.
1.6 Summary
The chapter reveals that majority of the respondents terminate school because they 
do not have money to continue schooling. However, there is a group who terminate 
schooling to keep cattle. In all, there is an indication that if majority of the 
respondents are able to get sponsorship they will prefer going for further education 
and training than to enter into farming in the district.
121
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
JSS graduates show the highest level of preference for other jobs than the Middle 
School leavers. On the basis of gender, the JSS females indicate a greater 
preference for other jobs than Middle School females. In effect, they have been 
compelled to choose farming as a career. However, JSS males show the greatest 
interest for entering into farming.
Middle School leavers are influenced more by the informal agricultural education 
than JSS graduates. Similarly, JSS leavers indicate a higher influence from the 
formal agricultural education they have for entering into farming than Middle School 
graduates.
The respondent categories rank the factors influencing choice of farming in the North 
Tongu District at random because no significant level of agreement exists between 
Middle School leavers, JSS graduates, Middle School males and females in the 
ranking. It is shown that the JSS males and females have significant levels of 
agreement in ranking the factors for choosing farming in the district.
The rankings of the aims for farming by the respondents indicate that Middle School 
leavers show a higher priority for family food security while JSS graduates are more 
commercial in their priorities. On gender, Middle School females rank family food 
security first priority but JSS females rank income.
The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance, W, indicates significant levels of 
agreements between all the respondent categories. The type of Basic School 
Agriculture pursued cannot fully explain the aims in farming but age because it is
122
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
shown that as the farmer respondents grow older their aims in farming change from 
income to family food security.
123
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 8
BASIC SCHOOL LEAVERS IN FORMAL AGRICULTURAL KNOWLEDGE 
UTILISATION FOR FARMING 
8.0 Introduction
The study traces the background of the Middle School leavers and Junior 
Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu District and determines 
some of the differences that exist between them. The main differences identified 
between the JSS and Middle School leavers include type of Basic Agriculture 
pursued, age, gender, marital status, use of school-based agricultural knowledge in 
home farming while in school, factors influencing the choice of farming and aims in 
farming.
This chapter determines and discusses how these differences between the Middle 
School and Junior Secondary School graduates affect their farming practices and 
their achievements in farming. The discussion focuses on factors in new knowledge 
utilisation setting, new knowledge utilisation in: general farming practices; crop 
production practices, animal keeping practices and achievements from farming.
8.1 Background farming information of Respondents
The new agricultural knowledge utilisation factors discussed in this part of the report 
consists of the background farming information of the respondents. It includes part time 
farming, type of farm products produced, farm ownership systems, land ownership and 
level of investment in improved farming inputs.
124
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.1.1 Full-Time and Part-Time Farming
The composition of respondents in terms of full time and part time farming is 
assessed in the study as shown in Table 8.1.
Table 8.1: Percentage distribution of respondents by full time and part time farming. 
Respondents % number of Middle School and JSS leavers in full time and part time farming.
Full Time Part Time
MS (N=60) 61.7 38.3
JSS (N=60) 68.3 31.7
All respondents (N=120) 65.0 35.0
MS Male (N=48) 68.8 31.2
MS Female (N=12) 33.3 66.7
JSS Male (N=39) 76.9 23.1
JSS Female (N=21) 52.4 47.6
Source: The Study.
Table 8.1 shows that on the average, majority of the respondents (65.0%) are in full 
time farming. More of the JSS graduates operate as full time farmers than Middle 
School leavers while the latter do part time farming more than the former. JSS males 
are in full time farming more than Middle School males. A higher proportion of 
Middle School females (66.7%) are in part-time farming than all the other groups of 
respondents.
Some of the regular occupations of part-time farmers include tailoring, driving, 
masonry, hair dressing, dressmaking and carpentry. Respondents in part-time 
farming have regular jobs which occupy their time and concentration. Paying 
attention to such jobs may influence their farming practices and achievements.
In all, the females engage in part-time activities more than the males. One major 
part-time activity of the females is agro-processing. It was observed that almost all 
the females undertake agro-processing. Some of the products include gari, cassava
125
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.1.2 Respondents and type of agricultural products
The types of agricultural products produced are used to identify the type of farmers they 
are. The respondents were asked to indicate the kinds of products they produced. The 
results are presented in Table 8.2.
dough, palm oil, kernel oil and local cheese (wagazi). But these agro-processing
activities are not fully covered by the JSS syllabus.
Table 8.2: Percentage distribution of respondents by type of products produced. 
Respondents_________ % number of respondents and farmer types.................................................
Crops Only Crops and Animals
MS (N=60) 31.7 68.3
JSS (N=60) 25.0 75.0
All respondents 28.4 71.7
MS Male (N=48) 29.2 70.8
MS Female (N=12) 41.7 58.3
JSS Male (N=39) 12.8 87.2
JSS Female (N=21) 47.6 52.4
Source: The Study.
From Table 8.2, majority (71.7%) of the respondents are mixed farmers. Junior 
Secondary School graduates (75.0%) are involved in mixed farming more than Middle 
School leavers (68.3%) while the latter do crop farming more than the former. More 
Middle School Females are involved in animal production than JSS females. Generally, 
the young farmers are involved in raising animals more than crops. This finding 
supports the estimates of Psalm Consult (1996) that 87 percent of the farmers in the 
North Tongu District engage in animal raising.
It was observed that almost all the females involved in one form of agro-processing or 
the other. The products they dealt with include gari, cassava dough, palm oil, kernel oil,
126
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.1.3 Respondents and farm ownership
The study determines the type of farm enterprise ownership systems within which 
the young farmer respondents operate. The respondents were asked to indicate 
whether they farm on their own or in partnership. The answers given by the 
respondents are shown in Table 8.3.
Table 8.3: Percentage distribution of respondents by type of farm ownership 
Respondents % number of respondents bv type of farm ownershi system....
coconut oil and local cheese (wagazi). But the processing of these products are not
covered by the JSS Agriculture syllabus.
Sole Ownership Partnership
MS (N=60) 98.3 1.7
JSS (N=60) 93.3 6.7
All respondents 97.2 4.2
MS. male (N=48) 100.0 0.0
MS. female (12) 91.7 8.3
JSS male (N=39) 97.4 2.6
JSS female (N=21) 85.7 14.3
Source: The Study.
Table 8.3 indicates that majority (97.2%) of all the respondents are sole farm 
owners. On the average, only 4.2 percent of all the respondents are in partnership 
system. Junior Secondary School graduates are in partnership ownership system 
more than Middle School leavers.
8.1.4 Land ownership
The respondents were asked to indicate the type of land ownership system they 
operate. They were also to rate the level of difficulty they experience in obtaining 
land for farming in the district. The responses are shown in Tables 8.4 and 8.5.
127
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.4: Percentage distribution of respondents by land ownership status.
Respondents_______ % number of respondents bv type of land ownership status
Own-self Own-Family Hire Communal
MS (N=60) 3.3 13.3 33.4 50.0
JSS (N=60)) 3.3 18.3 31.7 46.7
All respondents (N=120) 3.3 15.8 32.5 48.4
MS Male (N=48) 4.2 14.6 37.5 43.8
MS Female (N=12) 0.0 8.3 16.7 75.0
JSS Male (N=39) 2.6 15.4 30.8 51.3
JSS Female (N=21) 4.8 23.3 33.3 38.1
Source: The Study.
From Table 8.4, the mean land ownership status of the respondents indicates that 
majority (48.4%) of them belong to the communal system of land ownership in the 
North Tongu District. Almost a third of the young farmers hire land on which they 
farm. Quite a substantial number too work on land owned by their families. Middle 
School leavers work more on communal land than JSS graduates who in turn hire 
land more than the former.
8.1.5 Difficulty in land Acquisition
The levels of difficulty experienced by the young farmers in obtaining land for 
farming is shown in Table 8.5.
Table 8.5: Percentage distribution of Middle School and JSS graduates by their 
perceived difficulty in land acquisition for farming.
Respondents % number of respondents bv land acquisition difficulty levels
Difficult Somewhat Difficult Easy
MS (N=60) 35.0 3.3 61.7
JSS (N=60) 43.3 3.3 53.4
All respondents 39.2 3.3 57.5
MS Male (N=48) 35.4 4.2 60.4
MS Female (N=12) 33.3 0.0 66.7
JSS Male (N=39) 38.5 5.1 56.4
JSS Female (N=21) 52.4 0.0 47.6
Source: The Study.
128
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.5 indicates that on the average, majority (57.5%) of the respondents do not 
perceive much difficulty in obtaining land in the North Tongu District for farming 
particularly Middle School leavers. But the JSS graduates have quite a high level of 
difficulty in securing land for farming. Both JSS and Middle School Females have the 
highest level of difficulty in land acquisition while JSS Males experience the least level 
of difficulty in getting land to farm in the District.
8.1.6 Investment in improved farming inputs
The study determines farm investment practices of the young farmers. The 
respondents were asked to indicate the type and amounts of investments they 
usually made on improved farming inputs namely tractor service, improved seeds, 
fertilizers and veterinary products. The results are presented in Table 8.6.
Table 8.6: Distribution of respondents by type and costs of investment in improved 
farming inputs.
Respondents Mean Amount invested in respective improved farming inputs ( i ) ......................
Tractor Service Improved Seed Fertilizer Vet. Products MeanTotals
MS (N=60) 64,367.00 4,033.00 16,583.00 42,333.00 31,892.00
JSS (N=60) 66,367.00 4,516.00 12,733.00 23,250.00 26,725.00
All respondents 65,385.00 4,274.00 14658.00 32,791.00 26,725.00
MS. Male (N=48) 109,458.00 5,042.00 17,917.00 50,104.00 45,630.00
MS Female (N=12) 53,167.00 0.00 11,250.00 11,250.00 18,917.00
JSS Male (N=39) 83,359.00 4,949.00 14,846.00 34,338.00 34,373.00
JSS Female (N=21) 21,000.00 333.00 8,333.00 2,286.00 7,988.00
Source: The Study.
Table 8.6 indicates that Middle School leavers are higher investors than JSS 
graduates. Middle School males invest more than JSS males. The least investors 
are JSS females.
129
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The general farming practices considered by the study include, farm enterprise 
planning, post harvest treatment, record keeping and use of other sources of 
agricultural information.
8.2.1 Respondents and farm enterprise planning
Planning is an important practice in every business operation and farming is no 
exception. The study assesses the farm enterprise planning practices of the 
respondents. They were asked to indicate whether they perform various farm 
enterprise planning activities as shown in Table 8.7.
Table 8.7: Percentage distribution of Middle School and JSS leavers by farm 
planning activities
Respondents % number of respondents in respective Farm Planning Activities..............
8.2 General farming practices
Planning Writing Plans Setting Objectives Time Tabling Sub-Mean Total
MS (N=60) 98.3 31.7 91.7 58.3 70.0
JSS (N=60) 98.3 28.3 88.3 41.7 64.2
All respondents(N=i2o) 98.3 30.0 90.0 50.0 67.1
MS Male (N=48) 100.0 33.3 93.3 54.2 70.3
MS Female (N=12) 91.7 25.0 83.3 75.0 68.8
JSS Male (N=39) 100.0 43.6 92.3 43.6 69.9
JSS Female (N=21) 95.2 0.0 81.0 38.1 53.6
Source: The Study.
In all, the sub-mean total participation of Middle School and JSS graduates in farm 
enterprise planning is 60.3 percent as shown in Table 8.7. The better farm planners are 
Middle School leavers as compared to JSS graduates. Considering the other 
respondent categories, the order of better farm enterprise planners is Middle School 
males, JSS males, Middle School females and finally JSS females. JSS females plan 
their farming activities in their heads because they do not write down the plans.
130
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.2.2 Use of other sources of information
The farmer respondents were asked to indicate the sources of new information they use 
in their farming activities by selecting from the list provided. The results are shown in 
Table 8.8.
Table 8.8: Percentage distribution of respondents by use of other sources of 
information.
Respondents % Number of respondents usina other sources of agricultural information
Extension Visit Friends Radio Printed Mat.. Sub-Mean Totals
MS (N=60) 55.0 78.3 5.0 16.7 38.8
JSS (N=60) 26.7 90.0 1.7 8.3 31.8
All respondents 40.9 84.2 3.3 12.5 35.3
MS Male (N-48) 60.4 72.9 6.3 20.8 40.1
MS Female (N=12) 33.3 100.0 0.0 0.0 33.3
JSS male (N=39) 30.8 84.6 2.6 12.8 32.7
JSS female(N=21) 19.0 100.0 0.0 0.0 29.8
Source: The Study
The sub-mean totals from Table 8.8 show a low level of utilization of agricultural 
information from other sources by the farmer respondents. Middle School leavers use 
other sources of information more than JSS graduates. Middle School males use more 
information from other sources than their own knowledge followed by their female 
counterparts. JSS males are third while their female counterparts place fourth in utilizing 
agricultural information from other sources.
The performances of the farmer respondent categories suggest that they depend mostly 
on their own knowledge in farming. But the practice varies from one farmer group to 
another. The JSS graduates appear to be more independent than the Middle School 
leavers in that regard.
131
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.2.3 Farm record keeping
The study investigates the farm record keeping practices of the respondents as shown 
in Table 8.9.
Table 8.9: Percentage distribution of respondents by farm record keeping and reasons 
for keeping.
Respondents % Farm Record Keepers and reasons for not keeping records,
Keepers Not Useful Wastes Time Laziness Not Understand
MS (N=60) 41.7 40.0 2.9 37.1 20.0
JSS (N=60) 53.3 24.1 3.4 69.0 3.4
All respondents(N=120) 47.5 31.9 3.2 53.1 11.7
MS Male (N=48) 50.0 25.0 4.2 50.0 20.8
MS Female (N-12) 8.3 72.7 0.0 9.1 18.2
JSS male (N=39) 64.1 20.0 6.7 66.7 6.7
JSS female (N=21) 33.3 28.4 0.0 71.4 0.0
Reasons for not keeping records was determined only for respondents who did not keep records. 
Source: The Study
Table 8.9 shows that the young farmer respondents do not keep farm records much 
since the percentage participation in record keeping is 47.5. However, JSS graduates 
keep farm records more than Middle School leavers. JSS males place first followed by 
Middle School males while JSS and Middle School females are third and fourth 
respectively.
8.2.4 Reasons for not keeping records
The young farmer respondents who do not keep records express different reasons for 
not doing so. The reasons include: 'farm record keeping is not useful’, 'it wastes time’, 
‘lazy in keeping records’ and, ‘does not understand’. On the average, 31.9 percent of all 
the respondents consider record keeping not useful. However, Middle School leavers 
hold a higher opinion on it than JSS graduates. JSS graduates said record keeping 
wastes their time more than Middle School leavers. On the whole, only Middle School
132
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
males and JSS males said it is a waste of time. Laziness is the major factor in 
preventing the all respondents from keeping farm records. JSS graduates cite this factor 
more than Middle School leavers. On average, lack of knowledge in farm record 
keeping is the third factor that prevents 11.7 percent of the respondents from practising 
the activity. However, Middle School leavers are affected by lack of knowledge more 
than JSS graduates.
8.2.5 Knowledge utilization in general farming practices
The general farming practices assessed for the farmers include planning, use of other
sources of agricultural information and farm record keeping. The mean percentage
Knowledge Utilization in general farming practices is determined by adding up all the
sub-mean percentage totals of participation in the listed practices and dividing by the
number of practices involved. The results are shown in Table 8.10.
Table 8.10: Distribution of respondent categories by percentage sub-mean and mean 
total utilization of knowledge in general farming practices.
Respondents Sub-mean and mean totals of respondents in respective general farming practices...........................
Planning Other information sources Record Keeping Mean Utilization 
MS (N=60) 70.0 38.8 41.7 50.2
JSS (N=60) 64.2 31.8 53.3 49.8
All respondents(N=120) 67.1 35.3 47.5 50.0
MS male (N=48) 70.3 40.1 50.0 53.5
MS female (N=12) 68.8 33.3 8.3 36.8
JSS male (N=39) 69.9 32.7 64.1 55.6
JSS female (N=21) 53.6 29.8 33.3 38.9
Source: The Study
Table 8.10 shows that 50.0 percent of all the farmer respondents on the average utilize 
new agricultural knowledge in general farming activities. However, Middle School 
leavers use new agricultural knowledge a little more than JSS graduates.
133
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The crop production practices considered by the study include crop selection, land 
testing, farm tool usage, cropping system selection, seed selection, planting 
methods, cropping patterns and yield measurement.
8.3.1 Crops cultivated
The survey identifies the types of crops cultivated by the farmer respondents. They 
were asked to indicate the crops they cultivate. The results are shown in Table 
8.11.
Table 8.11: Percentage distribution of respondents by crops cultivated.
8.3 Crop production practices
Respondents__________% number of respondents and respective crops.
Vegetables Cereals Roots&Tubers Legumes Sub-Mean Total
MS (N=60) 12.7 86.7 85.0 19.2 50.9
JSS (N=60) 15.6 88.3 88.3 27.5 54.9
All respondents (N=120) 14.2 87.5 86.7 23.4 52.9
MS Male (N=48) 14.1 83.3 81.3 18.8 49.4
MS female (N=12) 6.7 100.0 100.0 20.9 56.4
JSS male (N=39) 17.4 92.3 87.2 28.2 56.3
JSS female (N=21) 12.4 80.9 90.5 26.2 52.5
Source: The Study.
The mean total participation of all the respondents in crop cultivation as shown in Table
8.11 is 53.0 percent. It is an indication that the respondents do not participate much in 
the production of crops listed. However, JSS graduates produce the listed crops more 
than Middle School leavers.
On the whole, Middle School females lead the other respondents in crop production 
than the other respondent categories. JSS males are second followed by JSS females 
and finally Middle School males.
134
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Since every type of crop may not grow well on every soil, farmers develop practices 
for testing the suitability of farmlands for crop cultivation. The respondents were 
asked to indicate whether they tested their farmlands or not. They were also to 
indicate whether they perform the following land testing practices: determination of 
soil texture and organic matter content, matching plants growing on the land to 
fertility status of land and determination of soil nutrients. The results are shown in 
Table 8.12.
Table 8.12: Percentage distribution of respondents by land testing practices.
Respondents % number of respondents in respective land testing activities.....................................................................
Testers Texture Organic Matter Match Plants Nutrients Sub-Mean Totals
8.3.2 Land testing practices
MS (N=60) 90.0 90.0 88.3 68.3 0.0 67.3
JSS (N=60) 83.3 81.7 81.7 81.7 0.0 65.7
All respondents (N=120) 86.7 85.9 85.0 75.0 0.0 66.5
MS male (N=48) 95.8 97.9 95.8 81.3 0.0 74.2
MS female (N=12) 66.7 58.3 66.7 16.7 0.0 41.7
JSS male (N=39) 87.2 84.6 84.6 84.6 0.0 68.2
JSS female (N=21) 76.2 76.2 76.2 76.2 0.0 61.0
Source: The Study.
The sub-mean total participation in land testing by all the respondents is 66.5% as 
shown in Table 8.12. Middle School leavers are better land testers than JSS 
graduates. In all, the descending order of good land testers is Middle School males, 
JSS males, JSS females and Middle School females although they vary in the level 
of participation in specific indigenous land testing practices. None of the 
respondents determines the nutrients in the soil of their farmlands.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.3.3 Use of farm tools
The study assesses the types of farm tools used by the farmers in the district. The types 
of tools are classified into indigenous and non indigenous farm tools. The respondents 
and of tools used is shown in Table 8.13.
Table 8.13: Percentage respondent categories in type of farm tools usage
Farming Task Percentage respondent categories in type of farm tools usage 
Middle School (N=60) JSS (N=60)
Indigenous Non
Indigenous
Indigenous Non Indigenous
Bush Clearing 1000.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Tree Felling 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Stumping 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Soil Digging 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Raised Beds 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Ridging 98.3 1.7 100.0 0.0
Mound Preparation 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Weeding 100.0 0.0 100.0 0.0
Source: The Study
Table 8.13 shows that indigenous tools are the types used by both JSS and Middle 
School leavers in the North Tongu District for farming. It suggests that the use of 
non indigenous tools for teaching Basic School Agriculture does not influence the 
use of the same.
8.3.4 Cropping patterns
Cropping patterns is used here to refer to the number of types of crop species 
occupying a farmland at a time. The respondents were asked to indicate the type of
136
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
cropping patterns they adopted for the cultivation of crops in their farms and give 
reasons for adopting them. The results are shown in Table 8.14.
Table 8.14: Percentage distribution of respondents by cropping patterns.
Raspondents % number of respondents and respective cropping patterns.....................................................................................
Monocropping Mixed Cropping 
MS (N=60) 58.3 71.7
JSS (N=60) 55.0 76.7
All respondents (N=120) 56.7 74.2
MS male (N=48) 66.7 68.8
MS female (N=12) 25.0 83.3
JSS male (N=39) 59.0 71.8
JSS female (N=21) 47.0 85.7
NB: Some of the respondents use both monocropping and mixed cropping.
Source: The Study
On the average, more than half the number of all the farmer respondents practise 
monocropping. Middle School leavers monocrop more than JSS graduates. The 
descending order of monocroppers is Middle School males, JSS females, JSS 
males and Middle School females.
Table 8.14 shows that a higher proportion of the respondents practise mixed 
cropping than monocropping. JSS graduates practise mixed cropping more than 
Middle School leavers. In all, JSS females top in mixed cropping followed by Middle 
School females, JSS males and finally Middle School males.
8.3.5 Reasons for practising mixed cropping
The reasons for mixed cropping as outlined by the respondents include prevention 
of crop failure, saving costs on land preparation, lack of land and compatibility of 
crop mixtures. The percentage distribution of respondents by reasons for mixed 
cropping is shown in Table 8.15.
137
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.15: Percentage distribution of respondents by reasons for practising mixed
cropping.
Crop Failure Save Cost Lack of Land Compatibility
MS (N=60) 15.0 43.3 8.3 6.7
JSS (N=60) 25.0 38.3 8.3 3.3
All respondents (N=120) 20.0 40.8 8,3 5.0
MS male (N=48) 14.6 37.5 8.3 8.3
MS female (N = 12) 8.3 50.0 8.3 16.7
JSS male (N=39) 28.2 33.3 2.5 5.0
JSS female (N=21) 19.0 47.6 19,0 0.0
NB: Totals do not add to 100 because some of the respondents did not practise 
mixed cropping and therefore did not give reasons.
Source: The Study.
Table 8.15 indicates that majority of all the respondents practise mixed cropping as 
a means of saving costs on land preparation and to prevent total crop failure. A 
minority practise it for lack of land and compatibility of the crops grown in the 
mixtures. More JSS females cite prevention of crop failure as their major reason for 
practising mixed cropping than the other respondent categories while cost saving is 
of greatest priority to Middle School females, followed by JSS women, then Middle 
School men and JSS males. Lack of land is a more important reason for JSS 
females practising mixed cropping than the other respondent categories.
Prevention of total crop failure and cost saving on land preparation are two risk 
minimizing techniques in crop cultivation (Sibylle 1991). On the basis of risk 
management, JSS graduates are more sensitive to risk management practices than 
Middle School leavers. Middle School females manage risks better than all the other 
respondent categories followed by JSS females while the males lag behind. This 
finding supports that of Johnson (1990) and Sibylle (1991) that resource poor small- 
scale farmers tend to apply risk management techniques at the expense of profit
138
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
maximising practices in their farming operations particularly when this is compared 
to their ranking of aims in farming.
8.3.6 Sources of seed
A farmer's persistent use of improved seeds depends on the availability of such 
seeds and the value he or she attaches to the concept of seed technology. The 
study identifies sources of planting materials used by the farmer respondents. The 
results are shown in Table 8.16.
Table 8.16: Percentage distribution of respondents by sources of seed for planting.
Respondents_____________ % of respondents in respective sources of seed supply.
Own Farm Friends Local Market Seed Dealers
MS (N=60) 80.0 1.7 5.0 11.7
JSS (N=60) 73.3 3.3 8.3 15.0
All respondents (N=120) 76.7 2.5 6.7 13.4
MS male (N=48) 75.0 2.1 6.3 14.6
MS female (N=12) 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
JSS male (N=39) 71.8 2.6 7.7 17.9
JSS female (N=21) 76.2 4.8 9.5 9.5
Source: The Study.
Table 8.16 shows that majority of all the respondents obtain planting materials from 
their own farms and only a minority procure it form accredited seed dealers. JSS 
graduates procure seeds from accredited sources than Middle School leavers. A 
farmer's value for planting seeds from accredited sources depends on the 
understanding he or she has in Seed Science. Understanding the genetic basis of 
seeds would increase the chances of procuring seeds from accredited sources for 
planting while lack of knowledge would probably produce the opposite.
139
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.3.7 Row and Haphazard planting
Since majority of the farmer respondent groups cultivate cassava and maize, row 
and haphazard planting methods for the two crops are used for analysis as shown in 
Table 8.17.
Table 8.17: Percentage distribution of respondents by cassava and maize planting 
methods.
Respondents % respondents in respective casava and maize planting methods.......................................................................
CASSAVA_______________MAIZE.
Row Haphazard Row Haphazard Mean Row Total
MS (N=60) 58.3 26.7 80.0 5.0 69.2
JSS (N=60) 63.3 25.0 83.3 5.0 73.3
All respondents (N=120) 60.0 25.9 81.7 5.0 71.3
MS male N=48) 60.4 20.8 81.3 5.0 70.9
MS female(N=12) 50.0 50.0 75.0 25.0 62.5
JSS male (N=39) 71.8 15.4 89.7 2.6 80.8
JSS female (N=21) 47.6 42.9 71.4 9.5 59.3
NB: Totals do not add to 100 because some of the farmers did not cultivate cassava nor maize 
Source: The Study.
The mean total row planting for cassava and maize is shown in Table 8.17 Since 
haphazard planting method is an indigenous practice acquired from, home more than 
school, and row planting is learnt at school as new knowledge, the assessment of the 
performance of the young farmer respondents is based on mean total row planting for 
the two crops used for the analysis.
The practice of row planting of maize and cassava among the respondents is quite 
high (71.3%). However, JSS graduates practise row planting more than Middle 
School leavers. In all, the descending order of high row planting is JSS males, 
Middle School males, Middle School females and JSS females respectively.
140
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The study assesses the farming practices the farmers use to increase crop yields on 
their farms. They were asked to rank seven practices for optimising crop outputs. The 
practices include row planting, fertilizer application, use of supernatural powers, pest 
and disease control, planting improved varieties, weed control and increase of farm 
size. The results of the ranking are shown in Table 8.18.
Table 8.18: Distribution of respondents by rank scores for crop output optimisation 
practices.
Respondents________ Rank Scores for crop output optimisation practices...................................................................................
8.3.8 Crop Output Optimisation practices
Row Fertilizer S. Powers Pest/Diz. Varieties Weeds Farm
MS (N=60) 5.43 3.93 4.05 3.45 3.03 6.25 1.85
JSS (N=60) 6.23 3.55 4.33 3.13 3.47 5.88 1.47
All respondents (N=120) 5.83 3.74 4.19 3.29 3.25 6.07 1.66
M S. Male (N=48) 5.42 3.94 4.04 3.46 3.02 6.07 1.96
MS. Female (N=12) 5.40 3.92 4.08 3.42 2.50 6.58 1.42
JSS male (N=39) 6.26 3.44 4.28 3.28 3.62 5.69 1.64
JSS female (N=21) 6.24 3.76 4.43 2.67 3.19 6.19 1.14
Source: The Study.
From Table 8.18, the descending order of ranking crop yield optimising practices by all 
the respondents is weeding, row planting, use of supernatural powers, fertilizer 
application, pest and disease control, planting improved varieties and increase in farm 
size. The ranking of supernatural powers suggests that the farmers have a high level of 
belief in supernatural interventions in increasing outputs from farming.
While JSS graduates rank row planting as the first practice, Middle School leavers give 
weeding the first position. Again, JSS graduates place weeding second, Middle School 
leavers place row planting second. Both groups rank supernatural powers third and 
fertilizer application fourth. However, the fifth yield optimising practice for the JSS is
141
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
improved varieties while that of Middle School leavers is pest and disease control. But 
the two groups interchange the sixth position with the two practices; pest and disease 
control for JSS and improved varieties for Middle School leavers. Although both groups 
rank farm size seventh, the rank score of Middle School leavers is greater than that of
The ranking pattern of the two groups shows that JSS graduates give higher values to 
row planting and improved crop varieties while Middle School leavers give the two 
practices lower values.
With the exception of fertilizer application and improved varieties, Middle School males 
and JSS males rank the practices in a similar manner. While Middle School males place 
improved varieties at sixth position, JSS males put it at fourth place in the rank. JSS 
females place row planting first but Middle School females rank weeding at first position. 
The pattern of ranking of the factors by female respondents is similar to that of males. 
The major difference between them is the ranking of row planting, use of improved 
varieties and pest and disease control. JSS females rank row planting first while Middle 
School females rank it second. Improved crop varieties is fifth for JSS while Middle 
School females place it sixth.
To test for their levels of agreement in ranking yield optimisation practices, the 
Kendall Coefficient of Concordance is calculated for all the farmer respondents as 
shown in Table 8.19.
142
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.19: Distribution of respondent categories by The Kendall Coefficient of 
Concordance for ranking of yield optimising practices.
Respondents The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance for yield optimisation practices of farmers
R 2 (R i - R ) 2 W X2, i f  
N ^ 20
P =.05 P = .0l Df=N-1
(7-1)
MS (N=60) 4.00 12.9807 0.464 167.04 S s 6
JSS (N=60) 4.00 16.2574 0.581 209.16 s s 6
MS male (N=48) 3.99 11.7271 0.419 120.672 s s 6
MS female N=12) 3.90 16.5880 0.592 - s s 6
JSS male (N=39) 4.03 14.5785 0.521 121.914 s s 6
JSS female (N=21) 3.95 20.6403 0.737 92.862 s s 6
S = Significant. 
Source: The Study
Table 8.19 shows that there are significant differences between all the respondent 
categories in their ranking of practices for optimising crop yields from their farms. 
This means that the various farmer groups apply similar criteria in ranking these 
factors.
Referring to Table 8.18, Middle School leavers ranked the yield optimisation 
practices in a different way from the ranking of JSS graduates. Similarly, Middle 
School males differ in their ranking from that of JSS males. In a similar manner, 
Middle School females differ from JSS females in the ranking of the yield 
optimisation practices.
From Table 8.17, it is noted that JSS leavers plant crops in rows more than Middle 
school leavers. A similar pattern is observed for both male and female respondent 
groups in the study. Again, Table 8.16 also shows that JSS leavers buy improved 
seeds more than Middle School leavers.
143
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The investment patterns of Middle School and JSS leavers provide more support to 
the consistency of the ranking of yield optimisation practices. Middle school 
graduates invest more in fertilizers than JSS leavers while the later also invest more 
in improved seed than Middle School leavers. A similar scenario is observed for 
male and female farmers in the study.
From the above presentations, it is shown that the type of school attended by the 
JSS and Middle School leavers influence them in ranking these factors.
It appears that the JSS programme makes the graduates develop higher value for 
row planting and planting of improved varieties than the Middle School programme 
hence the difference between the two groups in their rankings. Again, row planting 
and planting of improved varieties are farming practices with observable merits only 
after harvesting. Farmers with deeper knowledge about their advantages are more 
likely to consider them as a higher priority in planning their activities. The JSS 
graduates therefore demonstrate possession of higher values for farming practices 
which have abstract merits.
The patterns of ranking of the Middle School and JSS leavers suggest that graduates 
from an academic-vocational Basic Agricultural Education programme place higher 
value on yield maximising practices that are abstract with no immediately observable 
advantages while those from a practical programme place higher value on practices 
with immediately observable advantages.
144
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The performance of the other categories of respondents is explained by similar 
arguments.
The performance of the JSS graduates supports the findings of Eisemon and Nyamete 
(1988) that Basic School Agriculture should make farmers understand modern 
agricultural technologies, incorporating them into agricultural production practices, 
incorporating modern agricultural technologies into existing indigenous knowledge 
system of the farmer and use of school science knowledge and numeracy skills in the 
performance of tasks in farming.
8.3.9 Storage practices
The respondents were asked to indicate whether they store their farm produce, and the 
type of storage technology applied. Two types of storage technologies applied by the 
respondents are indigenous or non indigenous. Cribs and Bams are indigenous storage 
technologies while sack is a non indigenous technology taught in school.
The distribution of the respondents by storage of farm produce and non indigenous 
storage technology (sack) usage is shown in Table 8.20.
Table 8.20: Percentage distribution of respondents by storage of farm produce and 
non indigenous storage technology (sack).
Respondent % number of respondents storing produce and in sack storage technology.............................................................
Storers Sacks Mean Total
MS(N=54) 86.7 53.7 70.2
JSS (N=48) 80.0 62.5 71.3
All respondents (N=120) 83.3 58.1 70.8
MS male (N=43) 87.5 53.5 70.1
MS female (N=11) 83.3 45.5 64.4
JSS male (N=32) 82.1 34.4 58.3
JSS female (N=16) 76.2 43.8 60.0
Source: The Study.
145
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.20 indicates that majority (83.3%) of all the respondents store the produce from 
their farms but only 58.1% use sacks. However, Middle School leavers store farm 
produce more than JSS graduates but they almost match the latter in using sacks for 
storage. Middle School males store produce more than JSS males and also in using 
sacks. Middle School females follow their men counterparts in storing but JSS females 
lead them in using sacks.
8.3.10 Reasons for storing farm produce
The reasons for storing farm produce listed by the respondents include storing 
produce for: higher prices, food security, preventing waste of produce and use of 
product during periods of scarcity.
8.3.11 Mean knowledge utilization in crop production practices
The crop production activities assessed by the study include crop selection, land 
testing, farm tool usage, selection of seed sources, row spacing and storage. The 
mean knowledge utilization in crop production activities is shown in Table 8.21.
146
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.21: Distribution of respondents by percentage mean new knowledge 
Utilization in crop production.
Respondents Respondents In respective sub-mean total crop production practices and mean knowledge utilization.
Crop
Selectio
n
Land
Testing
Farm
Tool
usage
Seed
Source
Row
Planting
Storage Mono
cro-pping
Mixed-
Cropping
Mean Kn. 
Utilization
M.S (N=60) 50.9 67,3 1.7 11.7 69.2 70.2 58.3 71.7 50.1
JSS (N=60) 54.9 65.7 0.0 15.0 73.3 71.3 55.0 76.7 51.5
All
respondents
52.9 66.5 0.8 13.4 71.3 70.8 56.7 74.2 50.8
M.S. Male 
(N=48)
49.4 74,2 2.1 14.6 70.9 70.1 66.7 68.8 52.1
M.S. Female
(N=12)
56.4 41.7 0.0 0.0 62.5 64.4 25.0 83.3 41.7
JSS Male 
(N=39)
56.3 68.2 0.0 17.9 80.8 58.3 59.0 71.8 51.5
JSS.Female
(N=21)
52.5 61.0 0.0 9.5 59.3 60.0 47.0 85.7 46.9
Source: T he Study
From Table 8.21, the mean new knowledge utilization in crop production by all the 
respondents is 50.8 percent. However, JSS graduates have a little edge over Middle 
School leavers in utilizing more new agricultural knowledge in crop production. On the 
whole, Middle School males utilize more new knowledge in crop production than all the 
respondent categories, followed by, JSS males, JSS females and the least is Middle 
School females in that order.
8.4 Animal production practices
Having compared the levels of participation of the Middle School and Junior 
Secondary School graduates in crop production practices, this aspect of the 
presentation deals with animal production activities. Since all the respondents do
147
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
not keep animals, the analysis depends mainly on the number of animal keepers in 
each respondent category. Also, more than half of the number of respondents in 
each category participate in animal raising in the study area. The young farmer 
respondents are compared on the following animal production practices: type of 
animals kept, stock size, systems of housing animals and level of participation and 
dependency in animal production activities.
8.4.1 Animals keeping and housing systems
The young farmers were asked to indicate the type of animals they keep. The 
percentage of respondents keeping various animals are determined and the mean 
calculated by adding the respective percentages and dividing by the number of animal 
types for all the groups of animals kept. In poultry for instance, chicken, ducks, guinea 
fowls and pigeons are the types kept by the farmer respondents. The total percentage 
for the respective types of birds are divided by four (4), the number of poultry types kept. 
None of the respondents keep turkeys nor ostrich which is recently introduced into the 
North Tongu District.
The Non Traditional animals kept by the respondents are grasscutter, guinea pigs and 
bees. None of the respondents keep rabbits. In the determination of stock size, one 
beehive is considered as one animal unit.
In determining stock size of animals per head per respondent category, the number of 
animals in each animal group is added and divided by the number of animal keepers in 
each respondent category. The stock size figures are calculated to the nearest whole
148
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
number to make them meaningful. The mean totals show the percentage number of the 
respondents keeping animals as shown in Table 8.22.
Table 8.22: Percentage distribution of respondents by animal keeping and types
Respondents_______% animal keepers bv respective animal types.
Keepers Cattle Sheep /Goats Poultry Pig Non Tradi, Sub-Mean
MS (N=60) 68.3 22.5 22.3 22.4 10.0 1.3 24.5
JSS (N=60) 75.0 15.5 21.1 30.5 0.0 1.7 24.0
All respondents (N==86) 71.7 19.0 21.5 26.5 5.0 1.5 24.2
MS male (N=48) 70.8 26.5 25.0 22.7 11.8 1.5 26.4
MS female (N=12) 58.3 0.0 23.6 21.3 0.0 0.0 17.2
JSS male (N=39) 87.2 17.6 23.6 29.4 0.0 2.2 26.7
JSS female (N=21) 52.4 0.0 13.7 34.1 0.0 0.0 16.7
Source: The Study
Table 8.22 indicates that majority of the farmer respondents keep animals. Junior 
Secondary School graduates participate in animal keeping more than Middle School 
leavers. JSS males keep animals more than Middle School males. Middle School 
females also keep animals more than JSS females.
8.4.2 Types of animals and stock size
The study assesses the animal stock size of the respondents by dividing the number of 
animal-type kept by each respondent category by the number of respondents in that 
category as shown in Table 8.23.
Table 8.23: Distribution of respondents by animal stock size.
Respondents number of animals per head per respondent category.
Cattle Sheep/Goats Poultry Pig Non Trad. Mean Total
MS (N=41) 15 3 4 1 1 6
JSS (N=45) 3 3 6 0 1 3
All respondents (N=86) 9 3 5 1 1 5
MS Male (N=34) 18 8 6 1 1 9
MS Female (N=7) 0 1 2 0 0 1
JSS Male (N=34) 4 4 7 0 1 4
JSS Female (N=11) 0 3 2 0 0 1
Source: The Study
149
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.23 indicates that each respondent category keeps at least two poultry. Thus 
poultry is the most popular farm animal kept by all the young farmers. The keeping of 
sheep and goats is the second in terms of groups of young farmers involved in it. More 
Middle School leavers rear sheep and goats than JSS graduates. Cattle keeping is the 
third important farm animal reared by all the respondents because female respondents 
do not keep it. The high cattle stock size is probably due to the fact that cattle keepers 
keep other people’s animals in addition to their own. Additionally, some of the cattle 
farmers said they acquired animals through inheritance from their departed parents.
Middle School leavers involve more in cattle keeping than JSS graduates. Women 
respondents do not keep cattle. The non participation of females in cattle keeping is in 
agreement with gender roles in animal rearing in the District. Cattle keeping is a male 
dominated job although females own cattle, they are not keepers themselves. Pig 
keeping is the fourth in importance.
Finally, the farmer respondents rear three non traditional animals; namely: grasscutter, 
guinea pigs and bees.
8.4.3 Mean total animal per head.
Table 8.23 indicates that the average number of animals per head of all the 
respondents is five. Middle School leavers have a higher number of animal per head 
than JSS graduates. Middle School males are second with nine, followed by JSS males 
with four while Middle School and JSS females tie at the last place with one each.
150
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.4.4 Animal housing
Free Range and the Semi-Intensive system of housing in farm animals are the 
major housing practices of the respondents as shown in Table 8.24.
Table 8.24: Percentage distribution of respondents by semi-intensive animal 
housing system.
Respondents_________ % respondents in semi-intensive animal housing system.
Cattle Sheep/Goats Poultry Pig Non Tradi. Sub-Mean Totals
Middle School (N=41) 100.0 13.1 1.1 0.0 100.0 42.8
JSS (N=45) 100.0 19.6 5.0 100.0 56.2
All respondents (N=86) 100.0 16.4 3.1 0.0 100.0 43.9
Mid.Sch. male(N=34) 100.0 14.2 2.2 0.0 100.0 43.2
Mid Sch. Female(N=7) 22.2 0.0 11.1
JSS male (N=34) 100.0 1 2.5 6.3 100.0 54.7
JSS female (N=11) 41.6 0.0 20.8
NB: The dashes (-) show that the respective respondent category do not keep such animals and 
therefore do not house them.
Source: The Study
From Table 8.24, the mean totals show that the semi-intensive system of housing 
animals is practised by less than half the number of all the respondents (43.9%). 
However, the practice of the housing system varies from one group of respondents to 
another as well as from one animal type and the other.
The ‘Kraal’ type of housing cattle is widely practised in the district. This appears to be a 
consequence of cattle rattling in the district, a factor which compels cattle keepers to 
form Cattle Farmers Association in the Volta Region (VRCFA, 1990). The farmers said 
they guard their kraals in the night against cattle thieves. Sheep and goats are second 
to cattle and non traditional animals in semi-intensive housing units. JSS graduates 
apply the semi-intensive housing system for sheep and goats more than Middle School 
leavers. Poultry is poorly housed by all the farmer respondents. JSS graduates
151
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
practise better housing for poultry than Middle School leavers. Pigs are poorly housed 
by their respective keepers namely; Middle School males. All the non-traditional farm 
animal keepers restrict their animals within reasonable limits under the semi-intensive 
system.
The pattern of animal housing among the farmer respondents suggests that the 
semi-intensive system of housing is applied for animals with high value and those 
with low level of domestication while the free range practice is applied for animals 
considered to be of little value and prestige. Cattle, sheep and goats, the large 
animals with high prices and prestige are better housed than poultry. Non 
Traditional animals some of which are not properly domesticated, such as the 
grasscuter are kept under the semi-intensive system of housing.
8.5 New knowledge utilization in animal keeping practices
Among the animal keeping practices considered by the study include general 
animal keeping practices, animal handling and safety, animal breeding and animal 
health management practices. The practices have been further broken down into 
tasks for detailed analysis. Thus, a number of tasks constitute a practice. New 
knowledge utilization of the farmer respondents in animal production is assessed by 
three response choices, namely; ‘I do not do it’, ‘ I do it with the help of other 
persons’ and finally, 'I do it by myself. While the first response category is meant to 
measure the level of non-participation of farmer respondents in animal production 
activities, the third response category constitutes the farmers’ level of dependency 
in animal production activities and willingness to learn from other people. The third
152
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
response category however, measures the actual level of utilization of new 
knowledge of the farmers in animal keeping practices.
The level of utilization of new knowledge in animal production activities
and dependency levels for all the respondent categories are shown in Tables 8.25,
8.26, 8.27 and 8.28.
8.5.1 General animal keeping practices
The general animal keeping practices considered by the study include identification of 
animals, animal pen construction, feed preparation and milking. The levels of 
participation in general animal keeping practices are shown in Table 8.25.
Table 8.25: Percentage distribution of respondents by level of utilization of new 
knowledge and dependency levels in general animal production activities.
Respondents % respondents in respective general animal production tasks and dependency levels.
MS (N=41)
Identification
41.5
Pen Construction 
34.1
Feed Preparation 
14.6
Milking
24.4
Sub-Mean Total 
28.7
JSS (N=45)
(0.0)
35.6
(4.9)
22.2
(2 .4)
15.6
(0.0)
13.3
(1.8)
21.7
(0.0) (2.2) (0.0) (0.0) (0 .6 ) -v'iV
All respondents (N=86) 38.6 28.2 15.1 18.9 25.2 , .x V 'v'
(0.0) (3.5) (1.2) (0.0) (1.2) ■ 1
MS male( N=34) 50.0 41.2 17.6 29.4 34.6 -
(0.0) (2.9) (2.9) (0.0) (1.5) J \
MS Female (N=7) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
(0.0) (42.9) (0.0) (0.0) (10.3)
JSS male (N=34) 41.2 26.5 14.7 14.7 24.3
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
JSS female (N=11) 18.2 9.1 18.2 9.1 13.7
(0 .0) (9.1) (0.0) (0.0) (2.3)
Percentage dependency levels are shown below the levels of competencies in parenthesisSource: The Study.
Table 8.25 shows that the respondent categories differ slightly in performing the tasks in 
general animal production practices. However, the sub-mean total level of utilization of 
new knowledge in general animal production activities is 25.2% with a dependency level 
of 1.2%. The level of utilization of new knowledge in animal production practices by
153
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Middle School leavers (28.7%) is higher than that of JSS graduates (21.7%). Their 
levels of dependency are 1.8% and 0.6% respectively. Middle School males participate 
more in general animal production activities than JSS males. Similarly, the former 
depend on other persons more than the latter.
Both Middle School females and JSS females do not participate in general animal 
production activities. However, the two groups have dependency levels of 10.3% and 
2.3% respectively.
8.5.2 Animal handling and safety practices
The tasks considered in animal handling and safety practices include restraining, 
dehorning, disbudding and hoof trimming as shown in Table 8.26.
Table 8.26: Percentage distribution of respondents by level of utilization of new 
knowledge in animal handling tasks.
Respondents % respondents in respective animal handling tasks and dependency levels.
Restraining Dehorning Disbudding Hoof Trim. Sub-Mean Total
MS (N=41) 100.0 24.4 2.4 17.1 36.0
(0.0) (0.0) (2.4) (4.9) (1.8)
JSS (N=45) 100.0 15.6 2.2 11.1 32.2
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
All respondents (N=86) 100.0 20.0 2.3 14.1 34.1
(0.0) (0.0) (1.2) (2.4) (0.6)
MS Male (N=34) 100.0 29.4 2.9 20.6 38.2
(0.0) (0.0) (2.9) (5.9) (2.2)
MS female (N=7) 100.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 25.0
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
JSS male (N=34) 100.0 17.6 2.6 11.8 33.0
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
JSS female (N=11) 100.0 9.1 0.0 0.0 27.3
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (0.0)
Source: The Study NB: Percentages o f dependency levels are shown in parenthesis
Table 8.26 shows that the level of utilization of new knowledge of all the 
respondents in animal handling tasks vary from task to task. But the sub-mean total 
participation in animal handling activities by all the respondents is 34.1% with a
154
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
dependency of 0.6%. Middle School leavers participate and depend on other people 
in animal handling activities more than JSS graduates. Similarly, Middle School 
males participate and depend on other people in animal handling activities more 
than their JSS counterparts. However, JSS females participate more than their 
Middle School counterparts in animal handling activities. Both groups do not depend 
on other people in handling animals. This may be due to the fact that in the North 
Tongu District, females do not normally keep large ruminants like cattle which 
sometimes require assistance from other people in handling.
8.5.3 Animal breeding practices
The animal breeding tasks considered by the study include separation of male and 
female animals in housing, developing a breeding programme, assisting animals with 
difficulty in giving birth and castration. The level of utilization of new knowledge in animal 
breeding activities and dependency are shown in Table 8.27.
Table 8.27: Percentage distribution of respondents by participation in animal 
breeding activities.
Respondents % respondents in respective animal breeding tasks and dependency levels.
Separating Breeding Assisting Castration Sub-Mean Total
Sexes Programme Parturition
MS (N=41) 0.0 0.0 22.2 31.7 13.5
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (19.5) (4.9)
JSS (N=45) 0.0 0.0 8.9 17.8 6.7
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (20.0) (5.0)
All respondents (N=86) 0.0 0.0 15.6 24.8 10.1
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (19.8) (5.0)
MS Male (N=34) 0.0 0.0 26.5 38.2 16.2
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (17.6) (4.4)
MS Female (N=7) 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0 (28.6) (7.2)
JSS male (34) 0.0 0.0 8.8 17.6 6.6
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (20.6) (5.2)
JSS female(N=11) 0.0 0.0 8.3 0.0 2.1
(0.0) (0.0) (0.0) (33.4) (8.3)
Source: The study. NB: Percentages for dependency levels are shown in parenthesis
155
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.27 shows that the respondents house male and female animals in the same 
pen and do not draw breeding programmes. The sub-mean total level of utilization 
of new knowledge in animal breeding activities by all the respondents is 10.1% with 
a dependency of 5.0%. Middle School leavers participate more than JSS graduates 
in animal breeding activities. Similarly, Middle School males participate more than 
JSS males. However, JSS females participate in animal breeding activities than 
their Middle School counterparts.
8.5.4 Animal health management practices
The tasks discussed under animal health management include developing a medication 
schedule, vaccination, controlling ectoparasites, controlling endoparasites and 
treatment of injuries. The level of utilization of new knowledge by all the respondents in 
animal health management activities is shown in Table 8.28.
Table 8.28: Percentage distribution of respondents by participation in animal health 
management practices.
Respondents % respondents in respective animal health management tasks and dependency levels.
Medic. Schedule Vaccination Ectopara. Endop. Injuries Sub-Mean Total
MS (N=41) 7.3 12.2 90.2 26.8 100.0 47.3
(24.4) (68.3) (0.0) (24.4) (0.0) (23.4)
JSS (N=45) 11.1 15.6 93.3 20.0 87.0 45.4
(6.7) (51.1) (0.0) (15.6) (2.2) (15.1)
All respondents (N=86) 9.2 13.9 91.8 23.4 93.5 46.4
(15.6) (59.7) (0.0) (20.0) (1.1) (19.3)
MS Male (N=34) 8.8 14.7 91.2 26.5 100.0 48.2
(23.5) (73.5) (0.0) (29.4) (0.0) (25.3)
MS Female (N=7) 0.0 0.0 100.0 0.0 100.0 40.0
(28.6) (42.9) (0.0) (28.6) (0.0) (20.0)
JSS male (N=34) 14.7 14.7 100.0 23.5 91.2 48.8
(5.9) (52,9) (0.0) (20.0) (0.0) (15.8)
JSS female (N=11) 0.0 18.2 72.7 9.1 81.8 36.4
(9.1) (45.5) (0.0) (0.0) (8.3) (12.6)
Source: The Study. NB: Percentages for dependency are shown in parenthesis
156
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.28 shows that all the respondent categories participate in the six animal 
health management tasks. The sub-mean total level of new knowledge utilization by 
all the respondents in animal production practices is 46.4% with a dependency level 
of 19.3%. Middle School leavers participate and depend on other persons more 
than JSS leavers. Middle School males participate in 48.2% of the tasks while their 
JSS counterparts do so at 48.8%. However, JSS males do not depend on other 
people as Middle School males. Middle School females participate in 40.0% of the 
health management activities while their JSS counterparts do so at 36.4%. The two 
groups have dependency levels of 20.0% and 12.6% respectively.
8.5.5 Mean total knowledge utilization in animal keeping
The mean total knowledge utilization in animal keeping practices is determined by 
adding up the percentage sub-mean totals for the four animal production practices 
discussed and dividing it by four. A similar treatment is given the dependency 
levels to obtain the percentage mean total dependency levels as shown in Table 
8.29.
Table 8.29: Percentage distribution of respondents by mean total knowledge utilization 
in animal keeping practices and dependency levels.
Respondents % Sub-mean total knowledge utilization and dependency levels in animal keeping...........................................................
Sub-mean Knowledge utilization Dependency
MS (N=41)
JSS (N=45)
All respondents (N=120) 
MS male (N=34)
MS female (N=7)
JSS male (N=34)
JSS female (N=11)
31.4
26.5 
29.0
34.3
16.3 
28.2 
19.9
8.0
5.2 
6.5
8.4
9.4
5.2 
5.8
Source: The Study
157
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.29 indicates a low level of knowledge utilization of all the farmer respondents at
29.0 percent in animal keeping practices with a dependency level of 6.5 percent. 
However, Middle School leavers participate and utilize new knowledge in animal 
keeping activities than JSS graduates. They are also more dependent on other 
persons for performing animal keeping tasks more than the JSS leavers. Middle School 
males use more new knowledge in animal keeping than JSS males. JSS females also 
use more new knowledge in animal keeping than Middle School females. On 
dependency, however, Middle School males are more dependent on other people than 
JSS leavers. JSS females are less dependent on other people than Middle School 
females.
Inferring from Tables 8.6, 8.23 and 8.29, high levels of farm animal possession 
associate positively with high levels of investment in veterinary products and higher 
levels of new knowledge utilization in animal keeping practices. Middle School leavers 
have a greater number of animals per head, investment more in veterinary products and 
utilize new knowledge in animal rearing than JSS leavers. Similarly Middle School 
males portray the same scenario as compared to JSS males. However, performance of 
the females is not explained by similar factors.
On dependency, an academic-vocational Basic School Agriculture associates with a 
higher level of independence. JSS graduates tend to be less dependent on other 
people in rearing animals though they do not use new knowledge as much as 
Middle School leavers.
158
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The pattern of dependency in performing animal keeping tasks suggests that the 
theoretical-practical Basic Agricultural Education give the JSS graduates confidence to 
be more independent in animal production than their counterparts.
8.6 Mean total new knowledge utilization in animal production activities
The performance of the farmer respondents in the animal production practices is the 
mean of the sub-mean totals of their involvement in animal keeping, animal housing 
and participation in animal keeping practices as presented in Table 8.30.
Table 8.30: Percentage distribution of respondents by sub-mean and mean total 
new knowledge utilization in animal production.
Respondents % sub-mean and mean total knowledge utilization in respective animal production practices.
Involvement Mousing Keeping Mean Utilization
M. S. (N=60) 24.5 42.8 31.4 32.9
JSS (N=60) 24.0 56.2 26.5 35.6
All respondents (N=86) 24.3 49.5 29.0 32.4
M.S.male (48) 26.4 43.2 34.3 34.6
M. S. female (N=12) 17.2 11.1 16.3 14.9
JSS male (N39) 26.7 54.7 28.2 36.5
JSS female (N=21) 16.7 20.8 19.9 19.1
Source: The Study
From Table 8.30, the mean utilization of new knowledge in animal keeping is at a low of
32.4 percent for all the farmer respondents. However, JSS graduates have an edge 
over Middle School leavers. JSS and Middle School males are low users. JSS and 
Middle School females are very low users at 19.1 and 14.9 percent respectively. 
Compared to general farming practices and crop production, utilization of new 
knowledge in animal keeping is the least.
159
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8.7 Differences in knowledge utilization in farming
The study compares the levels of new knowledge utilization of the farmer 
respondents in general farming practices, crop production practices and animal 
production activities as shown in Table 8.31.
Table 8.31: Percentage distribution of respondents by Mean and Grand mean total 
knowledge utilization in general farming, crop production and animal production
practices.
Respondents % mean totals In general farming, crop production and animal production practices; and grand 
mean total in farming activities
Mean general 
farming
Mean crop production Mean animal production 
practices
Grand mean total 
knowledge utilization in 
farminq activities.
MS (N=60) 50.2 50.1 32.9 44.4
JSS (N=60) 49.8 51.1 35.6 45.5
All respondents (N=120) 50.0 50.6 34.3 45.0
MS male (N=48) 53.5 52.1 34.6 46.7
MS female (N=12) 36.8 41.7 14.9 31.1
JSS male (N=39) 55.6 51.5 36.5 47.9
JSS female (N=21) 38.9 46.9 19.1 35.0
Source: The Study
Table 8.31 shows that the various respondent categories do not vary from each 
other in using new knowledge in general farming activities, crop production 
practices and animal production activities. Besides, the grand mean total level of 
new knowledge utilization in farming by all the respondents is 45.0%. With the 
exception of JSS males at a high of 47.9% and JSS females and Middle School 
females at 35.0% and 31.1% respectively, the rest of the respondent categories do 
not vary far from the grand mean total of 45.0%.
This implies that the farmers utilize more Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) at 
55.0% as compared to formal knowledge at 45.0%.
160
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test is used to assess the differences in knowledge 
utilization in general farming activities, crop production and animal rearing as shown 
in Tables 8.32, 8.33 and 8.34.
Table 8.32: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming between Middle
School and JSS leavers as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Level of knowledge 
utilization
32.9 35.6 49.8 50.1 50.2 51.1
Categories of respondents MS JSS JSS MS MS JSS
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6
C OMM A UTYTV A RR
WMS =1+4+5  = 10
Ho = P f C OMM > W MS1 = 1/2, But, PfWjss > 101 = .5000 where, n=3, m=3.
Q()(20WC OMM =  Sum o f ranks for JSS graduates C PM =  Sum of ranks for Middle School leavers
Source: The Study
Table 8.32 shows that no significant difference exists between Middle School leavers 
and JSS graduates in utiizing new knowledge for farming in the North Tongu District. 
JSS graduates do not use more new knowledge for farming than Middle School leavers. 
The difference in new knowledge utilization between JSS males and Middle School 
males is shown in Table 8.33.
Table 8.33: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming between Middle
School males and JSS males as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Level of knowledge utilization 34.6 36.5 51.5 52.1 53.5 55.6
Categories of respondents MSm JSSm JSSm MSm MSm JSSm
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6
W js sm  =2+3+6 = 11
WMSm = 1+4+5 = 10
Ho = P  r W js sm  > W MSm ] = 1/2, But, P fjs sm  > 91 = -5000 where, n=3, m=3
Q()(20WC OMMP =  Sum o f ranks for JSS Males C PMP  =  Sum of ranks for Middle School males
Source: The Study
Table 8.33 indicates that no significant level of difference exists between Middle 
School males and JSS males in utilizing new knowledge for farming in the North 
Tongu District. JSS males do not use more new knowledge in farming than Middle
161
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.34: Difference in new knowledge utilization levels in farming between Middle 
School females and JSS females as measured by Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
School males. The difference in new knowledge between Middle School females
and JSS females is shown in Table 8.34.
Level of knowledge utilization 14.9 19.1 36.8 38.9 41.7 46.9
Categories of respondents MSf JSSf MSf JSSf MSf JSSf
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6
Wjssf =2+4+6 = 12
WMSf = 1+3+5 = 9
H0 = P [ Wjssf > W MSf ] = 1/2, But, Pfjssf > 9] = .8000 where, n=3, m=3
Q()(20WC OMM, =  Sum of ranks for JSS Females C PM,  =  Sum o f ranks for Middle School Females
Source: The Study
Table 8.34 indicates that a significant level of difference exists between Middle 
School females and JSS females in utilizing new knowledge for farming in the North 
Tongu District. JSS females use more new knowledge in farming than Middle 
School females.
The findings on the differences in new knowledge utilization suggest that an 
academic-vocational Basic School Agriculture programme does not necessarily 
make the graduates use more new knowledge for farming than graduates from a 
practical programme. However, the converse is true in the case of JSS females as 
compared to the performance of Middle School females.
Besides the factors that impede new knowledge utilization for farming already 
discussed, one factor which relates to the pattern of new knowledge utilization by 
the respondent categories are the gaps between the contents of the JSS and Middle 
School Agriculture programmes and knowledge and skill requirements for farming in 
the North Tongu District. The contents of the Basic School Agriculture programmes
162
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
do not include some of the knowledge and skills required for farming in the district. 
In addition, the process of implementing the Basic School Agriculture programme 
might have affected the repertoire of agricultural knowledge acquired by the 
graduates.
If the school leavers do not have a particular new knowledge they cannot manifest it 
in their farming practices. The third factor to explain the low knowledge utilization in 
farming is lack of support for the young farmers as indicated by the District Director 
of Agriculture. Support in the form of credit can encourage the farmers to purchase 
improved farming inputs like fertilizers and improved seeds and other planting 
materials. The application of these inputs for instance will compel them to use new 
knowledge for farming.
8.8 Achievements from farming
One of the premises of the study is that achievements follow knowledge utilization in 
farming. Achievements in farming are discussed at two main levels in the report 
namely: tangible and intangible achievements in farming. Tangible achievements in 
farming comprise indicators of success in farming. The intangible achievements in 
farming refer to the perceived level of security in life from farming. The respondents 
were asked to indicate whether they have been successful in farming or not over the 
last couple of years. They were also asked to state the indicators of their success in 
farming. The results are presented in Table 8.35.
163
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.35: Percentage distribution of respondents by tangible achievements from 
farming.
Respondents % Number of farmer respondents in respective indicators of success in farming
High Output Food Security Cash Income Properties
MS (N=60) 89.6 88.9 58.3 28.3
JSS (N=60) 91.7 91.7 46.7 35,0
All respondents (N=120) 90.7 90.7 52.5 31.7
MS Mate (N=48) 89.6 89.6 60.4 29.2
MS Female (N=12) 91.7 91.7 50.0 25.0
JSS Male (N=39) 94.9 94.9 58.9 46.2
JSS Female (N=21) 95.2 95.2 52.4 14.3
Source: The Study
Table 8.35 shows that the farmers vary in the levels of achievements in farming. 
They vary in achieving farm output, food security, cash income and property 
acquisition. The levels of achievements decrease generally from food security to 
cash income and to acquisition of properties. This suggests that they consume part 
of their harvests and cash achievements decline as one moves towards acquisition 
of properties. The JSS females are most affected since their level of property 
acquisition is 14.3%.
8.8.1 Differences in Achievements from farming
The achievement levels of the respondents are compared using the Wilcoxon- 
Mann-Whitney Test as shown in Tables 8.36, 8.37 and 8.38.
Table 8.36: Differences in achievements between Middle School and JSS graduates 
from farming as measured by The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Levels of achievements from 
farming
28.3 35.0 46.7 58.3 88.9 89.6 91.7 91.7
Categories of respondents MS JSS JSS MS MS MS JSS JSS
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7
C OMM A UTYTETE ARN
C PM A RTFTITVARV
H0 = P f Wigs > C PMa = 1/2 But, PfW.iss >161= .7571 where, n=4, m=4
LEGEND:Wjss =  Sum of ranks for JSS graduates Wms =  Sum of ranks for Middle School leavers
164
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Source: The Study
Table 8.36 shows a significant difference exists in the achievements from farming 
between Middle School leavers and JSS graduates. JSS graduates attain more 
tangible achievements in farming than Middle School leavers. The difference 
between Middle School males and JSS males in tangible achievements from 
farming is shown in Table 8.37.
Table 8.37: Differences in achievements between Middle School males and JSS
males from farming as measured by The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Levels of achievements from 
farming
29.2 46.2 58.9 60.4 89.6 89.6 94.9 94.9
Categories of respondents MSm JSS
m
JSS
m
MSm MSm MSm JSS
m
JSS
m
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 7
Wjssm = 2+3+7+7 =19
W MSm =1+4+5+5=15
H0 = P [ Wjssm > W MSm ] = 1/2 But, P[ Wjssm >15 ] = .8286 where, n=4, m=4
Q() (20WC OMMP =  Sum o f ranks for JSS Males C PMP  =  Sum of ranks for Middle School Males
Source: The Study
Table 8.37 shows that a significant difference exists in the achievements from 
farming between Middle School males and JSS males. JSS males attain more 
tangible achievements from farming than Middle School males. The difference in 
achievements between Middle and JSS females is shown in Table 8.38.
Table 8.38: Differences in achievements between Middle School females and JSS
females from farming as measured by The Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test.
Levels of achievements from farminq 14.3 25.0 50.0 52.4 91.7 91.7 94.9 94.9
Categories of respondents JSSm MSm MSm JSS
m
MSm MSm JSSm JSSm
Rank 1 2 3 4 5 5 7 7
W js s f  =1+4+7+7 =19
W MS, =2+3+5+5=15
H0 -  P f W js sm  > Wm sm ] = Vi But, P[ W js s f  > 15 1 = .8286 where, n -4, m=4
Q()(20WC OMM, =  Sum o f ranks for JSS Females W m s f =  Sum of ranks for Middle School Females
Source: The Study
165
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.38 shows that a significant difference exists in the achievements from 
farming between Middle School females and JSS females. The findings of all the 
respondent categories suggest that an academic-vocational Basic School 
Agriculture associates positively with higher tangible achievements from farming in 
the North Tongu District.
8.9 Causes of Success and Failure in Farming
The farmer respondents who said they were successful in farming were asked to 
indicate the factors which made them successful in farming, they listed the following 
factors: rainfall, effective management, supernatural intervention, planting improved 
varieties, credit and availability of fertile land.
When the farmers who said they were not successful in farming over the last couple of 
years were asked to indicate the causes of their failure, they mentioned rainfall failure, 
lack of tractor services on time for ploughing, supernatural powers, disease-causing 
rain, lack of credit and flooding. It is noted that vegetable crop farmers list disease- 
causing rain as a factor of failure in farming in the district.
8.10 Security in Life
The respondents were asked to indicate their perceived levels of security in life based 
on guaranteed means of livelihood as farmers. The means of livelihood include food 
security, cash income and acquired properties. The levels of security have been 
measured on a 5-point rating scale of very insecure, not secure, uncertain security, 
secure and very secure. The responses of the farmer respondents are presented in 
Table 8.39.
166
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.39: Percentage distribution of respondents by perceived levels of security in life.
Respondents % respondents and their perceived levels of security in life
Very
Insecure
Not Secure Uncertain
Security
Secure Very
Secure
MS (N =60) 6.7 26.7 23.3 26.7 16.7
JSS (N = 60) 23.3 21.7 13.3 23.3 18.3
All Respondents (N=120) 15.0 24.2 18.3 25.0 17.5
MS Male (N = 48) 6.3 25.0 27.1 25.0 16.7
MS Female (N = 12) 8.3 33.3 8.3 33.3 16.7
JSS Male (N = 39) 15.5 23.1 12.8 28.2 20.5
JSS Male (N = 21) 38.1 19.0 14.3 14.3 14.3
Source: The Study.
Table 8.39 shows that less than 17.5 and 25.0 percent of all the farmers said they 
are very secure and secure respectively. While 23.3 % of the Middle School leavers 
said they are uncertain, an equal percentage of JSS graduates also said they are 
not secure. Middle School and JSS leavers indicate their levels of very Secure and 
secure at 16.7 /  26.7 and 18.3 /  23.3 percent respectively.
Considering the responses by sex, JSS Males are more very secure than Middle 
School leavers at 20.5% and 16.7% respectively. The least very secure group is 
JSS females.
Comparing the tangible and intangible achievement levels of the farmers, although 
JSS graduates attain a significantly higher levels of tangible things from farming
167
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
than Middle School leavers the former perceive a lower level of security in life than 
the latter.
Comparing the tangible and intangible achievement levels of the farmer 
respondents as shown in Table 8.35 and 8.39, those who have high cash income 
and properties tend to be more secure than those with low cash income and low 
level of property acquisition. The high level of security shown by Middle School 
females appears to be linked with part time farming. From Table 8.1, 66.7 percent of 
the Middle School females do other jobs such as trading and hair dressing. These 
jobs may give them extra income for acquiring properties and hence their high 
perceived security in life as compared to JSS females who are in full time farming.
8.11 The better farmer
To explain the performance of the Middle School and JSS leavers in farming, the 
various parameters measured in the study have been examined to establish 
relationships between them and performance. However, none of the social 
characteristic differences nor background farming information identified in the study 
explains the observations as the following: use of school-based agricultural 
knowledge in home farming while in school, ranking of school training as a factor 
influencing choice of farming as a career, ranking of crop yield optimisation 
practices and tangible achievements from farming.
First, inferring from Table 5.3, JSS graduates use school-based agricultural 
knowledge in home farming while in school more than Middle School leavers. 
Secondly, from Figure 7.2 JSS leavers rank school training higher as a factor
168
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
influencing them to enter into farming than Middle School leavers. Thirdly, in Table 
8.18, JSS graduates rank higher row planting and improved crop varieties as yield 
optimisation farming practices than Middle School leavers. Again, from Table 8.17 
and 8.16, more of the JSS plant crops in rows and purchase seeds from accredited 
seed dealers than Middle School graduates. But it should be noted that row planting 
and raising of improved crop varieties and animal breeds are formal agricultural 
knowledge and practices emphasised more in school training than in home training. 
Fourthly, from Table 8.9 and 8.35, JSS graduates keep farm records and attain a 
higher level of tangible achievements from farming than Middle School leavers.
The links between the performance of the farmers suggest that the respondents who 
use school-based agricultural knowledge in home-farming while at school achieve 
higher productivity levels and therefore develop higher value for formal knowledge 
than those who do. not use the knowledge in home-farming. The former tend to rate 
higher and apply such knowledge as higher priorities in their farming activities, 
hence their higher levels of tangible achievements from farming. In addition, since 
record keeping enables effective assessment of achievements from farming, the 
JSS graduates may be more accurate in assessing their tangible achievements than 
Middle School leavers. This finding supports that of Thompson (1983) and Hartmut 
et al (1989) that learners who use new knowledge during the period of learning tend 
to internalise such knowledge and develop value for it than those who do not use 
the knowledge while learning.
The performance of the farmers show that JSS graduates are better farmers than 
Middle School leavers because the former relate their performance in farming to
169
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
formal agricultural knowledge and attain higher levels of tangible achievements from 
farming than the latter. A similar explanation apply to the performance of the 
farmers on the basis of gender.
The attainments of the respondents in intangible achievements (perceived security 
level in life) however, appears to be partly related to tangible achievements but not 
fully explained by the factors already discussed. Perhaps the criteria for perceiving 
levels of security in life is associated with other factors which have not been 
identified by the study.
8.12 Needs of the Farmers
The Young Farmer respondents were asked to identify and prioritise their needs for 
successful farming in their localities. The results are presented in Table 8.40.
Table 8.40: Distribution of respondents by rank scores of needs required for
successful farming.
Respondents Rank Scores of Needs of Farmers
Credit Subsidy Land Irrigation/
Portable
Water
Improved
Seeds/
Breeds
Information/
Training
Tractor/
Machines
Health &
Marketing
Facilities
M.S (N=60) 6.70 4.59 2.77 6.14 3.00 3.57 5.39 3.82
JSS (N=60) 6.78 4.72 2.53 5.55 3.18 4.16 5.42 3.51
All respondents 
(N=120)
6.74 4.66 2.65 5.85 3.09 3.87 5.51 3.67
M. S Male (N48) 6.58 4.56 2.74 4.11 2.92 3.55 5.45 3.80
M.S. Female (N=12) 7.17 3.71 2.88 5.92 3.33 3.63 5.17 3.46
JSS Male(N=39) 6.60 4.78 2.17 5.94 3.22 4.38 5.56 3.71
JSS Female (N=21) 7.10 4.83 3.57 4.83 3.12 3.74 5.14 3.14
Source: The Study
Table 8.40 indicates the farmers listing as many as eight needs. The list is made up 
of credit, subsidy, land, irrigation and portable water, improved seeds and animal 
breeds, information and training, tractor/machines, health and marketing facilities.
170
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
In descending order, the need of the highest priority for all the respondents is credit, 
irrigation/portable water is second in importance, followed by tractor and farm 
machines, subsidy, information and training, health and marketing facilities, 
improved seeds and animal breeds and finally, land. Some of the priority needs of 
the farmers are not strictly agricultural but developmental in nature. A typical 
example is heath facility.
The ranking of needs of the Middle School and JSS graduates do not differ much 
from each other as compared to the ranking done by all the respondents except 
information and training and health facilities. The JSS graduates express a higher 
need for information and training than Middle School leavers. However, Middle 
School males and JSS males deviate from each other in the ranking of some of the 
needs. While Middle School leavers rank tractor/machines second, JSS graduates 
place it third. JSS graduates rank irrigation and portable water second, Middle 
School leavers place it at fourth position. Again, while subsidy is fourth for JSS, 
Middle School graduates place it at third position. The two groups rank improved 
seeds at seventh and land at eighth positions in their prioritisation of the needs.
Both JSS Middle School females rank credit first in importance and improved seeds and 
breeds at seventh position but vary in the ranking of the other needs.
To test whether there is a common basis for ranking the needs associated with type 
of school attended, the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance is determined for the 
respondents as shown in Table 8.41.
171
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 8.41: Distribution of respondent categories by The Kendall Coefficient of 
Concordance for ranking of needs.
Respondents The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance for needs of farmers
R Z ( R i - R ) 2 W X*,if
N > 20
*0 II © en
©II0L Df=N-1
(7-1)
MS (N=60) 4.62 15.02 0.358 150.36 S s 7
JSS (N=60) 4.48 15.04 0.358 150.36 S s 7
MS male (N=48) 4.22 11.72 0.279 93.74 S s 7
MS female N=12) 4.41 15.98 0.381 s s 7
JSS male (N=39) 4.55 15.38 0.366 99.92 s s 7
JSS female (N=21) 4.43 12.55 0.299 43.95 s s 7
Source: The Study
The results of the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance from Table 8.41 shows that 
significant levels of agreement is established in the ranking of the needs of the 
respective respondent categories. The implication is that each respondent category use 
a common criterion for ranking the needs.
Although the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance result associates with type of school 
attended, the Middle School and JSS graduates have the same values, implying that 
they use similar criterion for ranking their needs. However, JSS leavers express higher 
need for information and training than Middle School leavers. On the basis of sex, 
however, the differences between the various groups emerge as there are differences in 
the values of the statistic.
To sum up the findings on needs of the farmer respondents, it can be concluded 
that each farmer expresses the needs pertinent to his or her locality in the district. 
These needs relate much to the problems confronting agricultural production in the
172
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
district more than differences in type of Basic School Agriculture one pursues. 
Generally, the needs are based on the circumstances the farmer respondents find 
themselves. No one’s needs are superior to those of others.
173
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
CHAPTER 9
SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This study is a comparison of the impact of an academic and vocational Basic School 
Agriculture on the performance of the graduates in farming. It is an educational outcome 
research on Junior Secondary School Agriculture (an academic programme) and Middle 
School Continuation Programme in Agriculture (a vocational programme). The study 
was carried out in the North Tongu District of the Volta Region of Ghana from May to 
June 1998.
The main objective of the study was to compare the effects of a practical and an 
academic-vocational Basic School Agriculture systems on the performance of the 
graduates in farming in the North Tongu District.
Specifically, the study was to identify the social characteristic differences between the 
Middle and Junior Secondary School leavers; assess, compare and explain the 
following: their levels of use of school agricultural knowledge in home farming while at 
school, differences in their agricultural knowledge levels, factors influencing choice of 
farming, aims for farming, utilisation of new knowledge in out-of-school farming 
practices; achievements in farming and their needs or constraints in farming.
The survey research methodology was employed. With a personal interview schedule, 
the snowball non probability sampling technique was used to gather information from
9.1 Summary
174
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
the Middle School and Junior Secondary School graduates farming in the North Tongu 
District. The District Agricultural Extension personnel were randomly sampled as well 
as JSS Agriculture Teachers.
The information gathered from the farmers included demographic characteristics, 
background information on home training in farming, use of school agricultural 
knowledge in home farming while in school, formal agricultural knowledge level on an 
oral test, factors influencing choice of farming as a career, aim in farming, part time 
farming, farm ownership status, land ownership status and levels of farm investment in 
improved inputs.
Other information gathered included new knowledge utilisation in general farming 
practices (farm enterprise planning, farm tool usage, use of other sources of agricultural 
production information and record keeping); crop production practices (choice of crops, 
land/soil testing, planting methods, post-harvest treatment, success determination in 
farming and causes of success and failure in farming).
Other types of data collected included animal production practices (choice of animals to 
keep, stock size, level of utilising new knowledge in raising animals and dependency in 
animal rearing). The final type of information gathered involved achievements from 
farming, farmers’ perceived level of security in life and the needs of farmers.
Information was also collected from Agricultural Extension Agents, the District Director 
of Agriculture, Junior Secondary School Agriculture Teachers and the District Co­
175
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
ordinator of Agricultural Education on the state of practical work in school farms in the 
district.
The data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Scientist (SPSS).
Using percentages, mean rank scores, Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney Test and The Kendall 
Coefficient of Concordance statistics, the performance of the young farmers was 
assessed and compared. The Kendall Coefficient of Concordance was used to measure 
the levels of agreement or disagreement between the farmers for ranking factors that 
influence their performance in farming.
9.1.1 Key findings
The study was on the impact of the Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme 
and the Middle School Continuation Programme on the performance of the graduates in 
farming. The Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme was an academic course 
dealing with theory and practicum while the Middle School Continuation Programme in 
Agriculture was a practical one without theoretical objectives. The study focused on the 
impact of the differences between the two Basic School Agriculture programmes on the 
performance of their respective graduates in farming in the North Tongu District.
• The social characteristic differences identified between the JSS and Middle 
School leavers include gender, age, marital status, informal and formal 
agricultural education and training background. The Middle School leavers are 
older and married more than JSS graduates. But the two groups have similar 
informal training in farming in the district.
•  There is generally poor management of practical farm work in schools in the 
district.
176
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
• Agricultural Extension programme in North Tongu District does not cater adequately 
for Junior Secondary School pupils in the district..
•  The Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme tended to make the pupils use 
more school knowledge in home-farming while in school than the Middle School 
Continuation programme.
• The contents of the JSS Agriculture programme does not match all the knowledge 
and skill requirements for farming in the District.
• JSS graduates have been influenced by school agriculture to enter into farming 
while Middle School leavers were influenced by home training in farming.
• The Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme did not tend to influence 
retention of knowledge of the graduates particularly as the contents of the 
programme did not match all the knowledge and skill requirements for farming.
• JSS graduates tend to have commercial objectives for farming as opposed to Middle 
School leavers who aim at attaining food security. However, the farmers’ aims for 
farming tended to change from cash income to food security as they grow older.
• The females in the study involved in part-time jobs and agro-processing more than 
the males. But agro-processing occupations are not adequately covered by the JSS 
Agriculture programme.
• Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme tended to make the graduates 
select yield optimisation practices which do not have easily observable 
advantages while Middle School programme influenced the selection of practices 
with easily observable merits.
177
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
•  The graduates from the Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme tend to 
use new agricultural knowledge more effectively in out-of-school farming and 
attain higher levels of achievements than Middle School leavers.
• The graduates from the Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme did not 
use more new knowledge in out-of-school farming than Middle School leavers. 
The JSS and Middle School leavers use more Indigenous Technical Knowledge 
(ITK) (55.0%) as against school-based knowledge at (45.0%) in farming.
• Junior Secondary graduates tend to be more independent in animal keeping 
than Middle School leavers.
•  Although graduates from the Junior Secondary School Agriculture programme 
attained higher achievements from farming, they did not appear to perceive a 
higher level of security in life than Middle School gradates.
• The results of the study suggest that the Junior Secondary School Agriculture 
curriculum design appears to be better than the Middle School Continuation 
programme because the JSS programme makes better farmers than the Middle 
School Agriculture programme.
• The better performance of the JSS graduates as compared to Middle School 
leavers is explained by the relationships between use of school-based 
agricultural knowledge in home-farming while at school, ranking of school 
training, ranking of row planting and use of improved varieties of crops and 
tangible achievements from farming.
• The needs of Middle School leavers and JSS graduates farming in the North 
Tongu District relate much to the problems confronting agricultural production in 
the district more than differences in type of Basic School Agriculture they
178
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
pursued. However, the JSS leavers expressed a higher need for training than 
Middle School leavers.
• The performance of the farmer respondents shows that Junior Secondary School 
graduates are better farmers than Middle School leavers in the North Tongu 
District. The former attain higher levels of achievements from farming and relate 
formal agricultural knowledge utilization to their achievements more than the 
latter. However, these differences do not fully explain their perceived levels of 
security in life as farmers. It appears that greater achievements from farming 
does not necessarily relate to a higher perceived security level in life.
• JSS males are better farmers than Middle School males because of the reasons 
cited for JSS graduates and Middle School leavers. JSS females are better 
farmers than Middle School females because of similar reasons. The 
performance of the JSS and Middle School males and females are explained by 
similar findings, logic and arguments. However, JSS females have the lowest 
perceived level of security in life as farmers.
9.2 Conclusion
The study compared the performance of Junior Secondary School and Middle School 
graduates farming in the North Tongu District. The Junior Secondary School agriculture 
programme was an integration of theory and practicum while the Middle School 
programme was purely practical without much theoretical knowledge.
The performance of the farmers shows that graduates of the Junior Secondary School 
Agriculture programme are better farmers than Middle School leavers. Thus, an 
integrated Basic agricultural curriculum tends to produce better farmers than a purely
179
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
vocational curriculum. The graduates from the Junior Secondary School Agriculture 
programme show a higher level of abstract thinking and action than Middle School 
leavers in farming.
9.3 Recommendations
The recommendations herein presented are based on the findings of the study. They 
have been put into two categories, namely those concerning the Basic Agricultural 
Education system and those that relate to Agricultural Extension Education system.
9.3.1 Formal Educational interventions
The findings of the study reveals that an academic-vocational (Integrated) Basic School 
Agriculture curriculum design is preferable to a practical one in terms of its impact on 
the learners to become effective users of science-based formal knowledge in farming. 
The results of the study suggest the development of a curriculum framework that should 
specify the balance between theory and practical work.
To achieve a balance between theory and practicum, the proportion of theory and 
practical components of Basic School Agriculture need to be specified during the 
development of the programme. Since the proportion of theory and practical work in the 
JSS Agriculture programme was not defined, in reviewing and revising the programme, 
the practical and theoretical components need to be defined.
This can be done by structuring the specific objectives of the curriculum in such a way 
that a specified percentage is reserved for practical skills while the remaining 
percentage is shared between low and high cognitive objectives. An assessment
180
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
framework should be established to guide teachers and the West African Examinations 
Council to assess the repertoire of practical skills and cognitive objectives prescribed by 
the curriculum.
The absence of guidelines for managing school farms and yield standards do not 
augur well for effective learning and practice of agriculture in the schools. The 
Ghana Education Service needs to develop guidelines for the management of 
school agricultural projects at the Basic Education level.
Efforts must be made to link Basic School Agriculture to research and development 
for sustainability. This can be achieved in three main ways; namely,
i. Organisation of Field Trips
Field Trips should be organised regularly for schools so that pupils and teachers 
can have direct interactions with Agricultural Researchers and projects. Pupils 
will have assess to research findings which can be used for teaching/learning.
ii. Dissemination of Agricultural Research Information
Agricultural Research updates which are issued annually need to be supplied to 
Basic School libraries so that teachers and pupils will have direct assess to them 
at school level.
iii. Integration of Research and School Agricultural Projects
Agricultural Research Institutes can site specific research projects at the same 
site within school projects. Agricultural problems in school localities will be 
identified and Research Institutes design experiments for the problems. The 
findings of such studies will be made available to schools for adoption and
181
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
implementation in school farms. This will enable exchange of research 
information between schools and Research Institutes.
The compulsion levels shown by the farmers for entering into farming suggests the 
need for diversification of the Agriculture curriculum in Basic School. Farming is not 
the only occupation in agriculture. It was observed that almost all the female farmers 
encountered in the study involved in agro-processing activities. But ironically, these 
are the agricultural activities the syllabus did not cover much.
The curriculum development process should take into consideration secondary 
agricultural production vocations such as those in agro-processing. Agro-processing 
occupations need to be identified and documented for curriculum development to 
diversify agricultural training and enhance the chances of school leavers engaging 
in other agricultural vocations other than farming.
The major weaknesses of the Junior Secondary Agriculture programme identified in 
the study include a mis-match between its content and on-farm / off-farm agricultural 
occupations and interference effects of Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK). 
These problems require specific interventions to address them as presented as 
follows.
9.3.2 Documentation of Agricultural Occupations
In order to identify the job profiles of young farmers, there is the need to identify all the 
agricultural occupations in the district, identify and analyse the tasks included in them to 
guide the curriculum development process. Such an information will be used to create
182
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
an Inventory of Agricultural Occupations (IAO) in the district level to guide curriculum 
developers. The inventory will provide data on the age of persons engaged in the 
identified occupations, their level of training, the tasks included in the vocations and 
standards of task performance.
The information will be used to develop demand-driven training programmes as well as 
teaching materials for schools in agriculture. Training programmes developed will be 
based on the age structure of the identified jobs such that they will be compatible with 
the age of the target groups and provide avenues of vertical job mobility and higher 
training in agriculture for those who engage in the agricultural industry.
The Inventory of Agricultural Occupations will help in diversifying the agriculture 
curriculum to include secondary agricultural production vocations. To encourage more 
young persons to take farming as a career, knowledge and skills in agro-processing to 
add value to products need to be taught and practised by pupils.
9.3.3 Integration of Indigenous Knowledge into school programmes
On the average, the level of formal knowledge use is 45.0% which implies that the 
respondents use ITK at 55.0%. The interference effects shown by the respondents is a 
pointer to the need to document Indigenous Technical Knowledge (ITK) for validation 
and integration into school curriculum. The validation will assist in eliminating ITK that is 
not useful. In the circumstances, where resource availability is restricted by several 
factors, young farmers will apply ITK as a substitute for formal agricultural knowledge.
183
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
9.3.4 In-school Follow-up Programme
The high level of non-use of school-based agricultural knowledge at 48.3% experienced 
by the school leavers and its consequences on their subsequent performance in out-of- 
school farming is a factor to consider. Despite the fact that as much as 80% of the 
respondents did have home training they were not allowed to utilize their new 
knowledge in farming at home. It is suggested that a follow-up programme be designed 
for in-school youth. In such a programme, qualified Agriculture Teachers who teach at 
the JSS level should follow-up on pupils and plan projects with the pupils in consultation 
with their parents to ensure that new knowledge and skills learnt at school are applied in 
home-farming. This would help the pupils to internalise the new knowledge acquired by 
developing value for it.
Competitions should be organised for schools with yield attainment standards and 
rewards for pupils to strive to achieve. This will help them to internalise new knowledge 
acquired in Basic School Agriculture.
The in-school follow-up programme should also involve Agricultural Extension to ensure 
the learning of new agricultural technologies introduced into the agricultural production 
system.
9.3.5 Out-of-school Follow-up Programme
There is the need to design a programme for the out-of-school youth involved in 
farming. Support systems in terms of land acquisition, credit, farm machinery, marketing, 
education and training to make such agricultural production resources available and 
accessible to young people needs to be established. Interestingly, the Youth in
184
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Agriculture programme being pursued by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture may have 
to be examined to ensure that it addresses the felt needs of the young farmers in the 
North Tongu District. New markets need to be created to support the education system 
to ensure that out-of-school youth who go into farming succeed to serve as incentive 
and attraction to other youngsters in the district.
9.3.6 Agricultural Production Infrastructure
One major need identified in the study which influenced young farmers’ performance is 
the inadequacy of agricultural production infrastructure. The absence of irrigation 
facilities, motorable roads, accessible markets and access to market information serve 
as disincentives to new knowledge utilization. Majority of the young farmers who met 
with failure in farming in the district indicated rainfall failure as the main determinant 
factor. Similarly, those farmers who were successful indicated rainfall as a major factor 
to their success. The need to provide irrigation facilities and other agricultural 
production infrastructure to encourage and make farming successful cannot be 
overemphasised. The Village Infrastructure Project (VIP) being pursued by the Ministry 
of Food and Agriculture should be implemented so as to ease the problems due to lack 
of agricultural infrastructure in the North Tongu District.
9.4 Further Research
The study has opened up new areas for investigations. First, the very topic can be 
investigated on national basis to make findings generalizeable instead of being 
limited to one district because of the important place the JSS agriculture programme 
occupies in the educational reforms in Ghana. There is the need to compare the 
performance of JSS graduates in different ecological-zones, export product
185
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
production, irrigation farming and rain-fed agricultural production to find out if these 
factors have any effects on their levels of new knowledge utilization and 
achievements from farming. In addition, several factors that affect utilization of new 
agricultural knowledge in farming need further investigation to provide deeper 
insights on them.
186
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Addo-Quaye, A . , A (1994). Missing Links in Pre-University Agricultural Education 
in Ghana: Human Resource Needs, Paper presented at 12th Annual 
General Conference of the Agricultural Science Teachers’ Association 
of Ghana, Opoku Ware Secondary School, Kumasi, August, 19-23.1994 .
Ahiabu, R., K., and Addai, J., K. (1999). Cassava : A  crop for the Millions. In 
Daily Graphic No. 147552 March 13, 1999. (p. 17).
Allport, G ., W. (1967) Attitudes . In Fishbein, (ed.), Readings in Attitude Theory 
and Measurement. New York: Wiley and Sons Inc. p. 1-13).
Asiegbor K., I. (1980). Economics of Cassava Production and Gari Processing 
in Mafi-Kumase Area, Unpublished: St. Andrews’ College, 
Ashanti-Mampong.
Avotri, R. and Asiegbor, K. ,l. (1997): Report on the Analysis of Primary 
School Education Curriculum in Ghana as a basis for Renewal, 
Report prepared for UNESCO, Accra.
Bajah, S. ,T.(1990). Learning Experiences and Content Selection in Cyclic
Models. In Proceedings of A Curriculum Development Course; Under 
the Auspices of the African Curriculum Organisation in collaboration 
with the German Foundation for International Development,
August 6 -  September 15; Banjul: the Gambia.
Bloom, B ., (1956) Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain. 
Longman: London.
Bown, L., and Tomori, S. (1979).A Handbook of Adult Education for West 
Africa. London; Hutchison & Co. ( Publishers).
Boyd, R. ,D.(1989).Concepts from Psychology In Donald J. Blackburn, (ed.). 
Foundations and Changing Practices in Extension. Guelph: 
University of Guelph.
Crop Research Institute (1995). Missing Links in Pre-University Agricultural and 
Training in Ghana: inaccessibility of Research Findings to Agricultural 
Education: A paper presented at the 12th Annual General Conference 
of the Agricultural Science Teachers” Association of Ghana(ASTAG), 
Opoku Ware School Kumasi, 19-23 August, 1995.
Chaplin, J.,P. and Krawiec, T. S. (1974). Systems and Theories of
Psychology , 3rd edition; New York: Holt Rinehart and Winston Inc.
Chitambar, J. B. (1993). Introductory Rural Sociology New Delhi: Wiley Eastern 
Limited.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Chiwona, P. ,H. (1990). Objectives in Curriculum Development. In Proceedings of 
A Curriculum Development Course; Under the Auspices of the 
African Curriculum Organisation in collaboration with the German 
Foundation for International Development, August 6 -  September 
15; Banjul: the Gambia.
Curtis., R., F. and Crunkilton, J., R. (1993): Curriculum Development in
Vocational and Technical Education: Planning, Content Selection 
and implementation, Massachusettes: Allyn and Bacon.
Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD), (1987). A Suggested 
Agricultural Science Syllabus for Junior Secondary School.
Curriculum Research and Development Division (CRDD), (2000). Republic of 
Ghana, Junior Secondary School Agriculture JSS 1-3, issued by 
MOE.
Davies, I., K. (1973). Competency-Based Learning: Technology Management and 
Design. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Derek, R. ,Aysen, B. and Edwards,D.,J. (1998): Organisational Behaviour and 
Analysis: An Integrated Approach. Addison and Wesley, Essex: 
Longman.
Djangmah, J, S., Asiegbor, K., I. and Aidoo, E., A. (1997). Accelerated
Agriculture Growth Study. Report prepared for the Ministry of Food 
and Agriculture; Accra.
Dupriez, H.,and De Leener (1988).Agriculture in African Rural Communities: 
Crops and Soils. Waneningen Macmillan Publishers with Teres et 
VIE and CTA.
Eisemon, T. O. (1992): Impact of Primary Schooling on Agricultural Thinking and 
Practices in Kenya and Burundi. In George G. Mades (ed). Primary 
School Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Workshop Report and 
Resource Material: Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur 
Techniische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (p.31-37).
Fiadjoe F.,Y.,M.(1987).Socio-cultural factors that Farmers with Limited 
Resources Consider in Making Choices when faced with 
problematic situations in their farming Enterprise;
Unpublished; North Carolina State University, Raleigh.
Fieldstein H.,S. and Poats S., V (1989). Working Together: Gender Analysis in 
Agriculture. .Volume 1; Case Studies: Connecticut,
Kumarian Press, Inc.
Fieldstein H., S. and Jiggins J. (eds.) (1994).Tools for the Field :Methodologies 
Handbook for Gender Analysis in Agriculture. Connecticut:
Kumarian Press.
188
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Fishbein, M. (1967), (ed.). Readings in Attitude Theory and Measurement,
New York: Wiley and Sons Inc.
Foster, P. J (1965): The Vocational School Fallacy in Development Planing.
In: C.A. Anderson and Bowman (Ed). Education and Development, 
Chicago: Aldine Publishing Co.
GES (1999). Pre-Tertiary Agricultural Education Through A Decade of
Educational Reforms (1989-1999): Achievements and Challenges, Accra.
Ghana Education Service, Planning and Budget Division (1986): Digest of 
Education Statistics: pre-university Education-Ghana 1985-1986.
GES (1998). Report of Meeting of Ad Hoc Committee to Examine Existing 
Guidelines for Selecting Junior Secondary School Graduates into 
Senior Secondary Schools, Held at Director Generals’ Conference 
Room, December, 1998.
Ghana Education Service (GES), (1998): Statistics on Basic Education 
Certificate Examination, Accra: Basic Education Division.
Giddens A. (1994). Sociology. 2nd Ed. Oxford: Polity Press.
Goodgame, D., (1989). A Guide for Developing Post Secondary Competency- 
Based Instructional Programs. Texas: Texas Higher Education 
Co-ordinating Board.
Harold, B ., and Carsie, H., (1970). Experience Programs for Learning Vocations 
in Agriculture. Danville: The Interstate Publishers and Printers Inc.
Hartmut A., Bergmann H., Diederich G., GroBer E., Hoffmann V., Keller P., 
Payr G., and Suler R..(1989): Rural Development Series- 
Agricultural Extension Volume 1: Basic Concepts and Methods.
Bonn; Bundesministerium fur wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit (BMZ).
Haverkort, B., Hiemstra, W, and van’t Hooft (1999) In Search of the right 
compass: Towards experimentation within farmers’ worldviews.
In C o m o a s  N e w s le t t e r  NO. 1, February 1999, Compas: Leusden, 
the Netherlands; (p.4).
Hilden P. ,K. (1997).Telling Truths: Experience Practice and Religious Diversity 
in a South Ghanaian Community, student dissertation, Department 
and Museum of Anthropology University of Oslo.
Hornby, A . , S ., Cowie, A . , P. and Gimsou, A . , C. (1988): Oxford Advanced 
Dictionary of Current English. Bucks: Hazell Watson & Viney Limited.
Johnson, D., T., (1990).The Business of Farming: A guide to Farm Business 
Management in the Tropics. 2nd edition, London; Macmillan Pub. Ltd.
Khandker, S. ,R. (1996). Education Achievements and School Efficiency in Rural 
Bangladesh. The World Bank Discussion Papers 319, Washington 
D.C ; The World Bank (p. 14).
189
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
MacCreary E., K.(1989). Update on the Teaching and Learning of Adults.
In Blackburn D.,T. (ed.). Foundations and Changing .Practices 
in Extension. Guelph University, (pp.77).
Mades, G. (ed) (1992): Primary School Agriculture in Sub-Saharan 
AfricaiWorkshop Report and Resource Material: Eschborn:
Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Techniische Zusammenarbeit(GTZ)
GmbH .
Marger, F. and Beach, K. Jr. (1967). Developing Vocational Instruction. 
California: Fearon Publishers Inc.
Ministry of Education (1987). Agricultural Science for Junior Secondary 
Schools :Pupils book 3.Lisboa -Portugal: Mirandela C (Imao).
Ministry of Education (MOE) (1988) .Agricultural Science for Junior Secondary 
Schools: Pupils Book 2 ; Accra Unimax Publishers.
Ministry of Education, MOE (1986). Report of the Education Commission 
on Basic Education; Dr Evans Anfom (Chairman), Accra.
Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW) (1998). Labour Market 
Skills Newsletter. Accra: MESW. (p.7).
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA) MOFA (1995). Development of a 
New Agriculture Sector Strategy for Ghana: Report on Consultations 
with Stakeholders in Agriculture, Accra.
Ministry of Food and Agriculture (1997) Accelerated Agricultural Growth
and Development Strategy in Support of Ghana Vision 2020, (Draft).
Mouly, G. ,J. (1968). Psychology for Effective Teaching. New York: Holt Rinehart 
and Winston.
Odoi, V. ,(1999) Seven and Half Billion for Youth in Agriculture Programme.
In Daily G r a p h ic .  May 6, 1999; Accra: Graphic Corporation, (p. 17).
O laitan.S., 0. and Onazi, 0. , C. (1989). Agricultural Education in the Tropics. 
Methods for Teaching Agriculture. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
Osgood, G . , E. , Succi, O . , J. and Tannenbaun, P . , H. (1957):
The Measurement of Meaning. Illinois: University of Illinois Press.
Phipps, L, J (19661 Handbook on Agricultural Education in Public Schools. 
Danville: The Interstate Printers.
Pierce, D. W.(1995): An Agricultural Education Methodology and Evaluation 
in Tanzania, student dissertation, University of Manchester.
Psalm Consults (1996): North Tongu District, 5-Year Development Plan 
1996-2000.
Quansah, K . , B. (1996):Syllabus Planning and Organisation for Basic 
and Senior Secondary Schools in Ghana, Accra: CRDD /MOE.
190
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Robson, C. (1993): Real World Research: A resource for Social Scientist 
and Practitioner researchers. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers.
Rogers E.,M.(1995): Diffusion of Innovations 4th ed. New York: The Free Press
Roling, N. (1982) Alternative Approaches in Extension In G.E Jones and M. J. 
Rolls (eds.) Progress in Rural Extension and Community 
Development, Vol.1. Extension and Relative advantage in rural 
development. Chichester: John Willey.
Sanderson, G. (1996): Objectives and Evaluation, In Truelove Steve(ed), 
Handbook of Training and Development: Oxford: Blackwell 
Publishers Ltd, (pp.126-141 ).&(113-114).
Sarantakos, S. (1993) Social Research. London: Macmillan Press Limited.
Sarr, B. (1990). Developing Evaluation Instruments. In Proceedings of
A Curriculum Development Course; Under the Auspices of the African 
Curriculum Organisation in collaboration with the German Foundation 
for International Development, August 6 -  September 15; Banjul: 
the Gambia (p.72).
Sibylle, R. (1995): Primary School Agriculture. What can it achieve?
In: Agriculture and Rural Development. Vol.2 no.1.
Sibylle, R. and Mades, G. (1991). Primary School Agriculture in Sub-Saharan 
Africa: Policies and Practices. Eschborn 1; Deutsche Gesellschaftfur 
Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH (p.59).
Sibylle, R.(1992) Analysis of the Situation of Primary School Agriculture in 
Sub- Saharan Africa -Policies and Practices (Summary), In Mades,
G. (ed.) Primary School Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: Workshop 
Report and Resource Material: Eschborn: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur 
Techniische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, (p.39-44)
Siegel, S and Castellan, J. N. Jr. (1988). Nonparametric Statistics for the 
Behavioral Sciences. 2nd Ed. New York: McGraw-Hill 
Book Company.
Spore (1998). Producing Fruits and Vegetables etc. To Meet Market Needs.
In Weekly Spectator Saturday, April 4,1998 (p. 14).
Swaminathan, M.,S., (19921 Agricultural Growth and Human Welfare.
Aggrey- Fraser-Guggisberg Memorial Lectures delivered at 
the University of Ghana in April 1981. Accra; Ghana 
University Press, (p. 6)
Swanson, B. ,E. and Claar (eds.) (1984). Pre-Service Training of
Extension Personnel In FAO Agricultural Extension: A Reference 
Manual. Rome: FAO, (p.200).
191
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Taylor, P. (1996): Contextualisina the curriculum in Rural Primary School: The 
role of Agriculture: Agricultural Extension and Rural Development,
The University of Reading, Working paper 96/3.
The World Bank (1989). Republic of Ghana: Basic Education for
Self- Employment and Rural Development; A sub-sector study;
Africa Country Department iv, Population and Human Resources 
Division .(p.15).
The West African Examination Council (WAEC) (1994) Ghana Basic Education 
Certificate Examinations: Comparison of Differential Weights of Internal 
and External Scores. In Headquarters Research Division, WAEC, 
Completed Research Projects for 1994. Vol. 4 .Lagos, Nigeria:
WAEC, (p.86-94).
Thompson, A. R. (1983): Education and Development in Africa. London;
The Macmillan Press Ltd.
Walkinshaw, C. (1989) Experiential Learning Models for Agricultural Education, 
student dissertation, University of Minnesota.
UNESCO (1994). Analyses. Agendas and Priorities for Education in Africa: 
Summary of a review of externally commissioned and supported 
studies of education in Africa, 1990-1994.UNESCO ;Paris. (p.7).
Volta Region Cattle Farmers Association (CRCFA) (1990). The Constitution 
of Volta Region Cattle Farmers’ Association, Sogakope.
Von Runkel J. (1986).How do I test and examine, and how do I give marks? 
German Foundation for International Development 
DSE \ ZGB: Mannheim (pp.46-51).
Wolf-Dietrich, G. (1994): Basic Types of Vocational Qualification: The Market 
Model- The School Model-The Dual System, In Institute for Scientific 
Co-operation, editors, Education: Focus: The Dual System of 
Vocational Training. A Biannual of Recent German Contributions to 
the Field of Educational Research, Vol. 49/50, Tubingen; Institute for 
Scientific Co-operation, (p.67).
Wallace, I., Mantzou, K., and Taylor, P.(1996).Policy Options for agricultural 
education and training in Sub- Saharan Africa: Report of a preliminary 
study and literature review. Working Paper 96/1 ^Agricultural Extension 
and Rural Development Department, The University of Reading.
Warner, C., Hartgraves, J. and Lange, J. (986). Arizona Employability Skills
Horticulture Occupations: Nursery Worker: Phoenix: Northern Arizona 
University Centre for Vocational Education.
192
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Warr, P , Bird M ., and Rackhem, N. (1970): Education of Management Training, 
In Truelove Steve(Ed) Handbook of training and Development. Oxford: 
Blackwell Pub. Ltd.
Wharton, C. R. Jr.(1971): Education and Agricultural Growth: The role of Education in 
Early Stage Agriculture. In: Anderson C. A. and Bowman, M. J.(Eds): 
Education and Economic Development: London: Frank Cass and Co.Ltd.
Weber, M.,(1947) The theory of Social and Economic Organization,
(trans. and ed.) by A.M. Henderson and T. Parsons: Free Press.
William, G. ,P Jr. (1982). How To Develop Competency-Based Vocational 
Education. Ann Arbor, Michigan: Prakken Publications, Inc.
Wilson K. ,R. ,S. (1996) Farm Administration and Management, Overseas 
Development Administration (ODA) / Wenchi Farm Institute 
Consultancy Report, Harmshire: Sparsholt College.
193
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APPENDIX 1
SERIAL NO...........
STRUCTURED INTERVIEW SCHEDULE FOR YOUNG FARMERS 
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF FARMER
Name of farmer..............................................Village/Town................................................
1. District....................................
2. Age.......................  3a. Sex: a. . male [ ] b female [ ]
3b.Marital status: a. married[ ] b. single [ ] c. others [ ]
4. Which School did you attend? a. Middle School[ ] b. JSS [ ]
5. When did you leave School?...................... year.
6. Why did you terminate school after the Middle School or JSS?
a. no Guardian [ ] b. could not get a school[ ]
c. did not pass Common Entrance|BEC Exam [ ]
d. others, specify-----------------------------------------------------------------
7a. When did you start farming in your life ?
a. since childhood [ ] b. after leaving school [ ] c. other, specify------------
7b.Did you follow cattle as a shepherd? a. Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
8. While in school did you grow any crop or rear any animal on your own?
a Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
9. How often did you apply what you learnt in School in your farming activities at home while 
in school ?
a. Never [ ] b. Rarely [ ] c. Sometimes[ ] d. Always [ ]
10. When you were in school how often did your teacher take you out to large -scale farms to 
observe improved agricultural production practices?
a. Never[ ]. b. Rarely[ ] c. Sometimes[ ]. d. Always[ ]
11. How long have you been farming after leaving school ?[ Jyears
12. Do you farm on your own? a. Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
13. Do you do farming as a full-time job? a. Yes [ ], a. No [ ]
14. What type of farming do you do?
.a. Crops only[ ] b. Livestock only[ ] c. Poultry only[ ] d. Mixed Farming[ ]
15. What are your aims in farming? Please rank order your aims by writing 1 for your most
important aim 2 for the next important etc, a. Food for the Home[ ] b. Income[ ] c.
Prestige [ ] d. Others, specify................................ [ ]
1
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
16. Which of the following factors influenced you most in selecting fanning as a career? 
Please, rank order the factors that apply to you { 1} for most important factor {2 }for next 
important factor, etc........
a. no other work available [ ]
b. my own interest in farming [ ]
c. knowledge and skills gained from practising farming at home[ ]
d. knowledge and skills gained from school Agricultural Science[ ]
e. capital or support from parents, relatives, friends, teachers, etc.,[ ]
f. others.................
SECTION B : AGRICULTURAL COGNITION OF FARMER
Please answer the following questions as they are read to you by selecting the correct
options.
17 Which of the following best explains the quantity of macro-nutrients in a fertilizer labeled 
20-20-0 ?
a. 20% Potassium 20% Phosphorus and 0% Nitrogen [ ]
b. 20% Nitrogen, 20% Phosphorus and 0% Potassium [ ]
c. 20% Nitrogen, 20% Potassium and 0% Phosphorus [ ]
18. Which of the following information is required in the correct mixing of a pesticide with
water for spraying a farm?
a. The concentration of the pesticide [ ]
b The kinds of pest the pesticide controls [ ]
c. The company that produces it[ ]
19.. When your sheep is serviced on 1st January 1998 when is it likely to give birth?
a. Fourth week in March 1998[ ]
b. Fourth week in May 1998[ ]
c. Second week in June, 1998[ ]
20. A fanner obtained twenty bags of maize from a farm plot measuring one hundred metres 
square. What is the expression of the yield from the plot?
a. 20 bags of maize per acre [ ]
b. 20 bags of maize per hectare [ ]
c. 20 bags of maize per 100m [ ]
2
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
USE THIS INFORMATION TO ANSWER THE SUBSEQUENT QUESTION:
A farmer obtained the following amounts from a cowpea enterprise at the end of a season 
i. Total sales 0 500,000, ii. Cost of labour 0100,000, 
iii. Total cost of other inputs 0150,000,
21. What is the fanner’s Net Margin ?
a. 0500,000[ ]
b. 0350,000[ ]
c. 0250,000[ ]
SECTION C: LAND ACQUISITION PROCESS FOR FARMING
22. What is the ownership status of the land on which you farm?
a. Owned-self[ ] b. Owned-family[ ] c. Hired[ ] d. Bought [ ]
e..Communal [
f. Others ,specify..................................................
23. How would you rate the process of getting land to farm in this area or village?
Very
Difficult
Not
Easy
Somewhat Easy Easy Very Easy
SECTION D: FARMING ENTERPRISE PLANNING PROCESS
24. Do you plan your farming activities? a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
25. If yes to question 24, then tick YES if you perform the planning activities in the table below 
and NO if you do not. Also indicate where you learnt them.
PLANNING
ACTIVITY
YES NO PLACE OF LEARNING 
Home School Others
a. Writing down of farming plans:
b. Setting yield targets or objectives for 
farming enterprises.
c. Preparing a time table for 
implementing fanning activities.
26. How often have you been achieving your yield targets or objectives
a. Never [ ] b. Rarely[ ] c. Sometimes[ ] d. Always[ ]
27. Why do you plan your farming activities ?Give one reason.
3
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION E: CROPPING PROCESS
28. Which of the following .crops do you cultivate for cash income ? Please tick as many crops 
as apply to you.
a. Cabbage[ ] b. Cassava [ ] c. Cowpea [ ] d. Garden Egg[ ] e. Groundnutf ]
f. Hot Pepper[ ] . g. Maizef ] h. Okra[ ] k Tomato [ ] m .Shallots [ ]
n. Others, specify...........................
29. Do you test land before selecting it for your crop enterprises? a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
30. If yes to question 29, then tick Yes if you perform the land and soil testing activities listed 
in the table below and No if you do not perform them. Also indicate where you learnt them:
LAND TESTING 
ACTIVITY YES NO
a. Determining soil texture
b. Determining soil organic matter content
c. Matching plants on the land to soil fertility.
d. Determining types and 
amounts of plant nutrients in the soil
31. Please tick the land preparation methods you use in the table below
Land Preparation Method PLACE OF LEARNING 
Home School Other
a. Slash and bum
b. Ploughing only
c. Ploughing and harrowing
d. Zero Tillage
e. Ridging
f. Mounding
g. Raised or Sunken Beds
32.Which cropping pattem(s) do you use?
a. Monocropping[ ] b. Crop Rotation[ ] c. Mixed Cropping[ ]
d. Others, specify
33. Why do you practise the cropping pattem(s) you have listed in question 35 ?
4
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
34. Please use the table below to provide the following information:
CROP SIZE OF FARM 
{Acres}
TYPE OF VARIETY PLANTED 
Local Improved
a. Cabbage
b. Cassava
c. Cowpea
d. Garden Egg
e. Groundnut
f. Hot Pepper
g. Maize
h. Okra
i. Tomato
k. Shallots
35. Where do you obtain seed or planting materials for planting? 
a. Own farm[ ] b. Friends[ ] c. Open market[ ] d. Seed sellers[ ]
e. Others, specify...........................................................................................
36. Please tick the kind of Planting Methods you use for the crops in the table below:
haphazard Row or line
a. cabbage
b. cassava
c. cowpea
d. garden egg
e. g-nut
f. hot pepper
g. maize
h. okra
i. tomato
j. shallot
5
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION :F FARM TOOLS USING PROCESS
37. Please list the type o f tools you use for the farming tasks in the tables below.
TASK TYPE OF TOOL 
Indigenous Non-Indigenous
a. Bush clearing
b. Tree Felling
c. Stumping
d. Soil Digging
e. Raised/Sunk-en Beds
f. Ridging
g. Mounding
h. Weeding
38. Do you measure the yields from your farm? a. Yes[ ]b. No[ ]
39. Which practice(s) do you adopt to improve yields of your crops? Please rank order the 
practices you use by writing 1 for most important, 2 for next important, etc,]
a. plant in lines[ ] b. apply fertilizers! ]
c. use of supernatural powers[ ] d. control pests and diseases[ ]
e. plant improved varieties[ ] f. effective weed control[ ]
g. increase farm size[ ]
h. others
SECTION G: POST HARVEST TREATMENT PROCESS
40. Do you store your farm produce ? a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
41 If yes, to question 40, why do you store the produce?.........................................
42. .What method of storage do you use?
a. Silo[ ] b. Cribs/Granaries[ ]
c. Others,specify..............................................
SECTION H: ANIMAL PRODUCTION PROCESS
43. Do you keep farm animals? a. Yes[ ] bN o [ ]
44. If no to question 43, explain why you do not keep farm animals.
6
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
45 If yes, to question 43, please indicate the number of your stock of animals and the systems of 
housing which you use for them in the table below:
NAME OF FARM ANIMAL NUMBER SYSTEM OF HOUSING
Free Range Semi-Intensive Intensive
a. Cattle
b. Sheep
c. Goat
d Chicken
e Duck
f  Guinea Fowl
g Turkey
h Pig
i Rabbit
j Grasscutter
k Guinea Pig
46. Please rank the animal production tasks in the table below on the following bases: 
1=  I do not doit.
2 = I do it with the help of other people.
3 = I do it all by myself.
Also tick and indicate where you learnt them
ANIMAL PRODUCTION ACTIVITY RANKING ORDER
1 2 3
a. Constructing standard animal housing
b. Marking or Identifying animals
c. Keeping female and male animals in separate pens
d. Preparing balanced animal feed
e. Developing a medication schedule for animals
f. Vaccinating farm animals
g. Control ectoparasites by spraying
h. Control endoparasites by drenching
i. Preparing a breeding programme
j. Treating injuries cuts and fractures in farm animals
k. Preparing housing for pregnant animals
1. Assisting pregnant animal when giving birth
m. Removing milk teeth in piglets
n. Disinfecting the navel of newly born animals
7
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
p. Milking of cows
q. Sexing young rabbits
r. Castration of farm animals
s. Restraining animals
t. Dehorning animals
u. Disbudding farm animals
v. Trimming of hoofs of farm animals
SECTION I : FARM PRODUCE DISPOSING PROCESS
47 Do you divide your farm produce into parts before 
disposing of them? a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
48. If yes to question 47, into what parts do you divide the
produce?.....................................................................................................................
49 If yes to question 48, what proportions of the produce are used for the following:.
Portion of Produce for: Fraction 
crops /  animals
Home Consumption
Seed
Sale
Gift
Others
50. Where do you sell your farm produce?
a. Farm gate[ ] b. Local Market[ ] c. Others................
A. Animal produce (a) [ ] (b) [ ] (c)[ ]
B. Crop produce (a) [ ] (b) [ ] (c). [ ]
51. What factors guide you in pricing the produce? Please rank order the factors as you apply 
them.
a. prevailing market price[ ]
b. cost of productionf ]
c. demand level available on the market[ ]
d. supply level available on the market[ ]
e. own cash needs[ ]
f. others.................
8
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION J: FARM INVESTMENT PROCESS
52. Please provide the amounts you spent on the inputs in the table below in 1997.
Input Item Amount Spent ( £  )
a. Tractor services
b. Improved seeds/planting materials
c. Fertilizers
d. Pesticides
e. Spraying
f. veterinary drugs
g. Others
SECTION K: RECORD KEEPING AND ACCOUNTS.
53. Do you keep records on your farming activities? a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
54. If no to question 53, why not? Please tick one.
a. not useful [ ]
b. wastes time[ ]
c. laziness [ ]
d. I do not understand it[ ]
e. Others, specify.................................................................
SECTION K: BELIEFS ON PESTS AND DISEASES IN FARMING
55. Please rank the statements in the table below on the basis of your own beliefs:
STATEMENT ON PESTS AND DISEASES Strongly
Disagree
Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly
Agree
a. Diseases in crops are caused by pathogens
b. Some diseases in crops and animals are 
caused by supernatural powers
c. Total destruction of a crop or livestock 
enterprise is due to supernatural powers
SECTION L: CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING SUCCESS IN FARMING
56. Have you been successful in farming in the last couple of years?
a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
57. .If yes, to question 56, what did you achieve which indicated your success in farming? 
Please you can tick as many as apply to you.
a. High Yield [ ] b. Family Food [ ] c. Cash Income[ ]
d. d. Acquired Properties[ ] Others, specify......................................................
9
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
58. What would you consider as the main factors which enabled you to be successful in farming 
that year? Please tick as many as apply in your case.
a. Natural factors( e.g. rainfall )[ ]
b. Good management practices (planting on time, e t c )[ ]
c. Supernatural factors (prayers, luck, gods help etc.)[ ]
d. Planting improved varieties[ ]
e. Availability o f  credit on time [ ]
f. Application o f  fertilizers [ ]
g. Others specify...........................................................
59. I f  you were not successful in your farming activities, what did you consider as the main 
causes to your failure in fanning? Please tick as apply in your case.
a. Natural factors (rainfall failure, diseases and pests etc...) [ ]
b. Poor knowledge and management practices (late planting etc.) [ ]
c. Supernatural factors (curses, no luck, witchcraft etc..) [ ]
d. Economic factors (lack o f  credit etc) [ ]
e. Non-availability o f  tractors for ploughing on time [ ]
f. Others
60. What do you need to become a successful farmer ? Please list six o f  your needs in order o f  
importance.
1 2
3 .......................................................................................4.
5. 6.
SECTION M: USE OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION ADVICE
61. Do you have contact with Agricultural Extension Agent? a. Yes[ ] b  No[ ]
62. If no to question 61, what prevents you from contacting an Agricultural Extension Agent?
63. How would you agree or disagree with the following statement: It is necessary for a farmer 
to listen to Extension Agent’s Advice.
Strongly Disagree Disagree Undecided Agree Strongly Agree
64. Besides the Agricultural Extension Agent, what other sources of information do you consult 
for new ideas to improve your farming?...............................................
1
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION N : PARTICIPATION IN FARMER ASSOCIATIONS
65. Do you belong to any fanner association in the area (village or town)?
a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
66. List the names of the fanner associations you belong to:..............................
67.. How would you rate your future security in life as a young farmer?
Very Insecure Not Secure Uncertain
Security
Secure Very Secure
Thank you
1
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APPENDIX 2
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION AGENTS
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION 
AGENT
Name {optional}.....................................................................
1. District-----------------------------------2. Operational Area---------------------------
3. Number of years experience in service----------------------------
4. Number of years in district------------------------
SECTION B:NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES IN THE DISTRICT
5. Please list the names of agricultural technologies introduced into your Operational Area after 
1987 in the table below:
Table l:New Agricultural Technologies in the district 1988-1997
YEAR NAME OF TECHNOLOGY
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
SECTION C: DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION PROGRAMME FOR 
SCHOOLS
6. Do you have agricultural extension programmes for Junior Secondary Schools in your 
Operational Area a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ] ?
7. If yes, to question 6.how often do you visit Junior Secondary Schools in your Operational 
Area to demonstrate new agricultural technologies to them in a year ?...
a. Never[ ] b. Rarely[ ] c. Sometimes[ ] d. Always [ ]
1
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
8. Please list three new agricultural technologies that you have delivered to JSS in your 
Operational Area ?
a ,----------------------------------------------------------
i ---------------------------------------------------------
c . -------------------------------------------------------
9. I fn o to item ,6  please explain why you do not visit the JSS to demonstrate new
agricultural technologies to them ?
SECTION: D IDENTIFICATION OF JSS GRADUATES IN FARMING
10. Do you identify Young Persons who enter into farming every year in your 
Operational Area? a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
11. I f  no to question 10 ,why not ? Please explain:
12. I f yes to question 10.what mode o f  contact do you have with the Young Farmers ?
a. Individual [ ] b. Group [ ]
c. Others, sp ec ify ................................................................................
13. Please list three new agricultural technologies you have taught the Young Fanners
a  . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b  . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Have they been practising the new technologies you have taught them ?
a. Yes [ ] ,b. No [ ] c. Uncertain[ ]
SECTION E: OPERATIONAL AREA CROP YIELD STANDARDS
15. Please state the average yield per hectare o f  the crops listed in table 2 below in 
Operational Area.
2
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Table 2:Average yields of crops in the Operational Area.
CROPS YIELD PER HECTARE
Cassava Tubers Tons or
Gari Maxi bags
Cowpea Maxi bags
Garden Egg Kg or 
Maxi bags
Groundnut Unshelled Maxi bags or
Shelled Kg
Hot Pepper Fresh Fruits Kg
Dried Fruits Maxi bags
Maize Maxi bags
Okra Fresh Fruits Kg
Shallots Kg
Cabbage Kg
SECTION F: DISTRICT INVENTORY OF ON-FARM AGRICULTURAL 
OCCUPATIONS
16. Please rank order the following on-farm agricultural enterprises in your zone in order of 
importance. List 1 for most important in each group„2 for next important etc
GROUP 1: RUMINANT PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES1. Cattle Production [ ]2. Goat Production [ ]3. Sheep Production [ ]
GROUP 2 : POULTRY PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES4. Chicken Production ( Layers) [ ]5. Chicken Production ( Broilers) [ ]6. Duck Production [ ]7. Guinea Fowl Production [ ]8. Pigeon Production [ ]9. Turkey Production [ ]10. Ostrich Fanning [ ]
GROUP 3 : NON -RUMINANT PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES11. Grasscutter Production [ ]
12. Guinea Pig Production [ ]
13. Pig Production [ ]
14. Rabbit Production [ ]
3
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
GROUP 4 : NON TRADITIONAL ANIMAL ENTERPRISES15. Snail Production [ ]16. Bee Keeping [ ]17. Fish Fanning [ ]
GROUP 5: VEGETABLE FARMING ENTERPRISES18. Okro Production [ ]19. Tomato Production [ ]20. Onion Production [ ]21. Shallot Production [ ]22. Carrot Production [ ]23. Lettuce Production [ ]24. Hot Pepper Production [ ]25. Cabbage Production [ ]26. Others, specify............................................GROUP 6: CEREAL PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES27. Maize Production [ ]28. Rice Production [ ]29. Guinea Com Production [ ]30. Millet Production [ ]GROUP 7: LEGUME PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES31. Bambaranut32. Cowpea33. Groundnut34. Yam Beans35. Soya Bean36. Others, specify.........................GROUP 8: ROOT AND TUBER CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES37. Cassava Production [ ]38. Yam Production [ ]39. Sweet Potato Production [ ]40. Fan Palm Yam Production [ ]41. Tiger Nut Production [ ]42. Cocoyam Production [ ]GROUP 9: FRUITS /TREE CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES43. Citrus Production [ ]44. Mango Production [ ].45. Pineapple Production[ ]46. Plantain Production! ]47. Woodlot Production! ]GROUP 10: LESSER FRUITS ENTERPRISES48. Date Palm Production! ]49. Cashew Production-! ]50. Fan Palm (Agor) Production [ ]51. Guava Production! ]52. Hog Plum (Akukor) Production! ]53. Miraculous Berry Production! ]54. Velvet Tamarind (Atite) Production [ ]55. Vitex (For) Production -[ ]56. Soursop (Voduba)NB: Local names in italics and parenthesis
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
GROUP 11: INDUSTRIAL CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES57. Coconut Production [ ]58. Cotton Production [ ]59. Oil Palm Production [ ]d. Tobacco Production [ ]60. Sugarcane Production [ ]
GROUP 12 :FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISES61. Cattle Milk Processing [ ]62. Cassava Processing [ ]63. Coconut Oil Processing [ ]64. Fish Processing [ ]65. Groundnut Oil Processing [ ]66. Palm Kernel Oil Processing [ ]67. Palm Oil Processing [ ]
17. What other relevant information do you have on young farmers in your Operational Area?
5
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APENDIX 3
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL 
AGRICULTURE TEACHERS 
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF TEACHER
I. District.......................................... 2. Circuit.........................................
3 Name of School.:...................................... 4. Name of Teacher........................................
5. Sex ,a. male[ ] b. female [ ]
6. Professional Qualification...........................................................................................
8. Number of years of teaching....................................
9. Number of years in teaching Agriculture .............................................................
10. Number of years of teaching in this school...................................
SECTION B: QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF JSS AGRICULTURAL 
EDUCATION. MATERIAL RESOURCES
II. When did your School start the Agricultural Science programme ?..19 year
12. Please provide the information required in the table below for the 1-4 years that your school started 
running the Agricultural Science programme:
YEAR TOTAL SCHOOL 
ENROLMENT
NUMBER OF CLASSES
13. Did your school satisfy any specific conditions before mounting the Agriculture Programme ? a. Yes[ 
] b. No [ ]
14. If yes to question 13, please state the conditions:
1
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
15. Please provide the information required in the table below: 
Agric. Education Materials
Item Number of items 
in your school
Adequate Not Adequate Minimum 
Class size of 
students who 
use it.
Hoe 
Spade 
Shovel 
Rake 
Mattock 
Earth Chisel 
Pick Axe 
Axe
Foot Fork 
Hoe-Fork 
Wheel Barrow 
Hand Fork 
Measuring Tape 
Garden Line 
Ranging Pole 
Watering Can 
Cutlass
Weighing Scale
Knapsack Sprayer
Pruner
Secateurs
Shears
Burdizzo
Eartag Applicator
Drenchers Emasculator
Hand Sprayer
SECTION C: USE OF FACILITIES FOR TEACHING JSS AGRICULTURE
16. Please indicate Yes if your school has the facilities listed in the table below and No if you do not Also 
indicate whether they are adequate or not adequate:
2
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Facilities for teaching Practical Agriculture at JSS
Facility YES NO Adequate Not Adequate
Land space for Agriculture
Laboratory
Vegetable Unit/Garden
Arable Crop Unit
Fish Farms (Pond)
Livestock Unit
Farm Machines Shop
Farm Implements
17. Do you have written guidelines for the management of School Farms?
a. Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
18. If yes, to question 17, what are the objectives for the use of the following physical facilities:
a. Land Space..........................................................................................................
b. School Farm.......................................................................................................
c. Fish Pond............................................................................................................
d. Livestock Unit.................................................................................................
19. Does your school have standards of performance for practical skills? 
a Yes [ ] b .No [ ]
20. If yes, to question 19, whose standard of performance in agricultural production is 
your school’s performance compared with in the area ?
(a) peasant farmers [ ]
(b) Commercial farmers [ ]
c) Agricultural Research Stations [ ]
(d) Others, specify:...............................................................................................................
21. What use is made of school farms by farmers in the local community?
22. Which of the following practical skills do you mostly emphasise in class instruction in your school? 
Please rank order the practical skills, (1) for the most emphasised, (2) for the next etc.
[ ] Analytical skills [ ] problem-solving skills
[ ] Decision-making skills [ ]Responsibility skills
[ ] managerial skills [ .] manipulative skills
23. Do you have records of the average crop yields in school farms over the years?
a.Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
3
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
24. If yes to question 23, please state the average yield per hectare of the crops in the table below: 
Average yield of crops in Junior Secondary School farms.
Crop Average Yield per hectare
Cassava Tubers Tons Gari Maxi bags
Maize Maxi bags
Groundnut Unshelled Maxi bags Shelled Maxi bags
Okra Baskets
Garden Egg Baskets
Hot Pepper Dried Fruits Maxi bags
Tomato Crates Baskets
Shallots Baskets
Cabbage Kg.
SECTION D: JSS AGRICULTURE TEACHER SITUATION
25. Please, provide the required information on agriculture teacher situation in your school as indicated 
and tick whether it was adequate or not adequate as shown in the table below.
Agriculture Teacher situation in Junior Secondary Schools
Year AGRIC. TEACHER 
AVAILABLE?
YES NO
Male Female Trained Untrained Adequate Not
Adequate
1987/88
1988/89
1989/90
1990/91
1991/92
1992/93
1993/94
1994/95
1995/96
26. How would you rate the adequacy of the resources available for implementing the JSS Agriculture 
programme in your school in general?
Very
Inadequate
Not Adequate Somewhat
Adequate
Adequate Very
Adequate
4
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION E: APPROACHES TO THE TEACHING OF JSS AGRICULTURE:
27. What is the weekly time allocation for teaching Agriculture in your school in terms of: 
a. Theory?...................hours, and b. Practical:.............................. hours.
28. Which of the following agriculture teaching methods do you apply most in your school? Please rank 
order the most frequently used method as 1 and the least used method as 12. The methods are:
] Projects [ ]
] Lecture [ ]
] Demonstration
] Discussion/Brainstorming [ ]
] Supervised Practice
1 Futures’ wheel
Question and Answer 
Problem-solving/Discovery 
[ ] Field Trip
Role Playing 
[ ] Exhibitions
[ ] Value Clarification
29. Which of the following techniques for teaching agriculture do you use most frequently in your 
school? Please rank order the techniques(l - 7)
[ ] Questioning [ ] Hearing/Listening
[ ] Assignments [ ]Observation
[ ] Note-taking [ JPractice
[ ] Reading Textbooks or References
30. How would you rate the effectiveness of the teaching of practical farm work skills in your school?
Not Effective of little 
Effectiveness
Somewhat
Effective
Effective Very Effective
31. How would you rate the effectiveness of imparting theoretical knowledge in agriculture to Junior 
Secondary School students in your school?
Not Effective of little 
Effectiveness
Somewhat
Effective
Effective Very Effective
SECTION F: LINKS BETWEEN JSS AND NEW AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES.
32. Do you have strategies for incorporating new agricultural technologies into the JSS Agriculture 
programme in your school? a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
33. If yes to question 32 ,please describe the strategies:...................................................
34. How would you rate the success of incorporating new agricultural technologies into the JSS Agriculture 
programme?
Very
Unsuccessful
Not
Successful
Somewhat
Successful
Successful Very
Successful
5
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION G: FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES ON JSS GRADUATES
35. Do you have a compilation of Basic Education Certificate Examination results in Agricultural Science 
in your school over the years? a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
36. If yes to question 35, please provide the information required on ISS graduates in the table below
YEAR TOTAL NO. 
OF
CANDIDATES
PRESENTED
NO. OF PASSES
NO. ADMITTED 
INTO AGRIC. 
PROGRAMMES AT 
SECONDARY 
LEVEL
NO. IN FARMING
MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE MALE FEMALE
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
37. Do you have any programme for ISS graduates in fanning in your locality?
a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
38. If yes to question 37, please describe the programme for ISS graduates in farming in your 
locality:.............................................................................................................................
39. Please provide any other relevant information on ISS and Middle School graduates farming in your 
locality which has not been covered so far.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APPENDIX 4 SERIAL NO.
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR DISTRICT DIRECTORS OF AGRICULTURE
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF DISTRICT DIRECTOR OF 
AGRICULTURE
Name {optional}............................................................................................
1. District:.........................................................
2. No. of years in district:........................................................................................
SECTIONS: AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION POTENTIALS OF THE 
DISTRICT
3. What is the total land area of your district?......................................km2.
4. What percentage of the land is suitable for farming?...............................
5. What percentage of the land is already farmed?...........................................................
6. What is the average farm-size in the district ?
a. Crops.........................Hectares
b. Poultry.........................................
c. Livestock......................................
7. Do you have records of average yields of crops cultivated in the district? 
a. Yes[ ] b. No [ ]
8. If yes to question 7 , please provide the average yields of crops listed in the table below:
CROP YIELD PER HECTARE
Cabbage Kg
Cassava Tubers Tons or Gari Maxi bags
Cowpea Kg Maxi bags
Garden -Egg Fruits Kg
Groundnut Unshelled Maxi bags or Shelled Maxi bags
Hot Pepper Dried Fruits Maxi bags
Maize Grains Maxi bags
Okra Fruits Kg
Tomato Crates or Kg
Shallots Kg
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION C: PROGRAMMES FOR YOUNG FARMERS
9. Does the district have specific programmes for young people?
a. Yes [ ] b.No[ ]
10. If yes to question 9, please provide the names of the programmes.
11. What are the objectives of the programme for Young Farmers in the district?
12. What are the support programmes for Young Farmers in terms of:
a. Land acquisition for farming?
b. Credit for farming.
Subsidy on farm inputs.
d. Mechanical Services.
e. Storage of farm produce.
f. Marketing of farm produce.
g. Training and Education.
13. How would you rate the support system for Young Farmers in your district?
Very Inadequate Not Adequate Uncertain Adequate Very
Adequate
14. How long has the programme been going on in the district?..................................
15. Are there other Governmental or Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) responsible for young
people in the district: Yes [ ] No [ ]
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
16. If yes, please provide their names and locations.
Name of the organizations.......................................................................................
Location:..................................................................................................................
17. How would you rate Young People’s access to agricultural production resources 
your district?
No Access Low Access Medium Access High Access
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APPENDIX 5
SERIAL NO.
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR DISTRICT AGRICULTURAL 
EDUCATION CO-ORDINATORS
SECTION A: DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF EDUCATION OFFICER
1. Name of District....................................................................
2. Name of Education Officer: {optional}.............................................
3. Rank:.............................................................. 4. Position:..........................................................
5. Sex a. male[ ] b. female [ ]
6. Professional Qualification.........................................................................................
7. Subject Area of qualification.....................................................
8. Number of years of experience in teaching..............................................................
9. Number of years in teaching Agriculture........................................................................
SECTION B: QUANTITY AND QUALITY OF JSS AGRC. MATERIAL 
RESOURCES
10 How many Junior Secondary Schools are in your district in 1998............................
11. How many were in 1987 ..........................................
12. What were the conditions to be satisfied by Junior Secondary Schools in mounting the Agriculture 
Programme in your district.......................................................................
13. Please state the number of agricultural education materials available to each JSS
in your district and tick whether they are adequate or Not Adequate as well as the number of JSS without the
materials in the table below:
Agric. Education Materials
Item Number of item 
per JSS
Adequate Not Adequate Number of JSS 
without the item
Hoe
Spade
Shovel
Rake
Mattock
Earth Chisel
Pick Axe
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Axe
Foot Fork
Hoe-Fork
Wheel Barrow
Hand Trowel
Hand Fork
Land Chain
Measuring Tape
Garden Line
Ranging Pole
Watering Can
Cutlass
Weighing Scale
Knapsack
Sprayer
Pruner
Secateurs
Shears
Eartag Applicator
Burdizzo
Drenchers
Emasculator
Hand Sprayer
SECTION C: USE OF FACILITIES FOR JSS AGRICULTURE
14 Please state in the table below the number of JSS in your district which have the facilities listed and tick 
whether they were adequate or not adequate. Also indicate the number of JSS without the facility.
Facilities for teaching JSS Agricultural Science
Facility Number of Schools with the facility Adequate NotAdequate Number of JSS without the facilityLand space forAgric. 
Laboratory
Vegetable Unit/Garden 
Arable Crop Unit
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Livestock Unit 
Fish Farms (Pond) 
Farm Machine Shop 
Farm Implements
15. Does the District have written guidelines for schools to manage the School Farms? 
a Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
16. If yes,to question 15, what are the objectives for the use of the following physical facilities:
a. Land space:.....................................................................................................................
b. School Farm:..................................................................................................................
c. Fish Pond:.....................................................................................................................
17. Do JSSs have standards of performance in agricultural production: 
a Yes [ ] b .No [ ]
18. If yes, to question 17, whose standard of performance in agricultural production is school performance 
compared with in the district?
(a) Peasant Farmers [ ]
(b) Large-Scale Fanners [ ]
(c) Agricultural Research Stations [ ]
(d) Others, specify:............................................................................................................
19. What use is made of school farms by farmers in the local community?
[ ] Analytical skills [ ] problem-solving skills
[ ] Decision-making skills [ .] manipulative skills
[ ] managerial skills [ ]Responsibility skills
21. Do you have records of the average crop yields in school farms in your district? 
a. Yes [ ] b. No [ ]
22. If yes to question 21. please state the average yield per hectare of the crops in school farms in your 
district in the table 3 below:
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
Average yield of crops in district schools farms.
Crop Average Yield per hectare
Cassava Tubers Tons Gari Maxi bags
Maize Maxi bags
Groundnut Unshelled Maxi bags Shelled Maxi bags.
Okra Baskets or Kg.
Garden Egg Baskets
Hot pepper Dried Fruit Maxi bags
Tomato Crates Baskets
Shallots Baskets
Cabbage Kg
SECTION D: JSS AGRICULTURE TEACHER SITUATION
23. Please, provide the required information on agriculture teacher situation in your district and tick whether
it was adequate or not adequate as shown in the table below.
Agriculture Teacher situation in the district.
Year TotalNumber Male Female Trained Untrained Adequate NotAdequate
1987/88
88/89
89/90
90/91
91/92
92/93
93/94
94/95
95/96
96/97
97/98
24. How would you rate the adequacy of the resources available for implementing the JSS Agricultural Science 
programme and in your district in general?
Very Inadequate Not Adequate Somewhat
Adequate
Adequate Very
Adequate
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
SECTION E: APPRO ACHES TO THE TEACHING OF JSS 
AGRICULTURE IN THE DISTRICT
25. What is the weekly time allocation for teaching Agriculture at the JSS in terms of: 
a. Theory?.................. hours, and b Practicals:........................... hours.
26. Which of the following agriculture teaching methods are applied most in your district? Please rank order the 
most frequently used method as{l} and {2} for the next used method, etc,
[ ] Projects [ ] Question and Answer
[ ] Lecture [ ] Problem-solving/Discovery
[ ] Demonstration [ ] Field Trip
[ ] Discussion/Brainstorming [ ] Role Playing
[ ] Supervised Practice [ ] Exhibitions
[ ] Futures’ wheel [ ] Value Clarification
28. Which of the following techniques for teaching agriculture are most frequently used in your district ? 
Please rank order the techniques(l - 7)
[ JQuestioning [ JNote-taking [ ]Practice 
[ JObservation [ ]Assignments [ ]Hearing/Listening 
[ JReading Textbooks or References
29. How would you rate the effectiveness of training JSS students in practical farm work skills in your district?
Not Effective of little 
Effectiveness
Somewhat
Effective
Effective Very Effective
30. How would you rate the effectiveness of imparting theoretical knowledge in agriculture to JSS students in 
your district?
Not Effective of little 
Effectiveness
Somewhat
Effective
Effective Very Effective
SECTION F: LINKS BETWEEN JSS AND NEW AGRICULTURAL 
TECHNOLOGIES.
31 Do you have strategies for incorporating new Agricultural technologies into the JSS Agriculture
programme in your district?a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
32. If yes to question 31,please describe the strategies to incorporate new Agricultural technologies into the JSS 
Agricultural programme in your district?
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
33. How would you rate the level of success of incorporating new agricultural technologies into the JSS 
Agriculture programme?
Very
Unsuccessful
Not successful Somewhat
Successful
Successful Very Successful
SECTION G: FOLLOW-UP ACTIVITIES ON JSS GRADUATES
34. Do you have a compilation of the Basic Education Certificate Examination results in Agricultural Science in 
your district over the years? a. Yes[ ] b. No[ ]
35. If yes to question 34,.please provide the information required on JSS graduates in the table below:
Performance of JSS graduates in Agricultural Science at Basic Education Certificate
Examination (BECE) and Placement in the district.
YEAR
TOTAL NO. OF
CANDIDATES
PRESENTED
NO. OF PASSES
NO. ADMITTED INTO 
AGRIC.
PROGRAMMES AT 
SENIOR
SECONDARY LEVEL
NO. IN FARMING
MALE FEMALE MALE: FEMALE MALE FEMALE
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
36 Do you have any programme for JSS graduares in farming in your district?
a. Yes [ ] b. No[ ]
37. If yes to question 36 .please describe the programmes for JSS graduates in farming in your district?
38. Please provide any other relevant information on JSS graduates in farming in your district which has not 
been covered so far
THANK YOU
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
APPENDIX 6
DISTRICT INVENTORY OF ON-FARM AGRICULTURAL OCCUPATIONS
1.1 RUMINANT PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES1.1 1 Cattle Production1.1.2 Goat Production1.1.3 Sheep Production
1.2 POULTRY PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES1.2.1. Chicken Production ( Layers)1.2.2. Broiler Production1.2.3. Duck Production1.2.4. Guinea Fowl Production1.2.5. Pigeon Production1.2.6. Turkey Production 1.2.7 Ostrich Farming
1.3. NON -RUMINANT PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES1.3.1. Grasscutter Production1.3.2. Guinea Pig Production1.3.3. Pig Production1.3.4. Rabbit Production
1.4 NON TRADITIONAL ANIMAL ENTERPRISES
1.4.1 Bee Keeping [ ]1.4.2 Fish Farming [ ]
1.5 VEGETABLE FARMING ENTERPRISES
1.5.1 Okro Production1.5.2 Tomato Production1.5.3 Onion Production1.5.4 Shallot Production1.5.5 Carrot Production1.5.6 Hot Pepper Production1.5.7 Cabbage Production
1.6 CEREAL PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES
1.6.1 Maize Production1.6.2 Rice Production1.6.3 Millet Production
1.7 LEGUME PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES
1.7.1 Bambaranut Production [ ]1.7.2 Cowpea Production [ ]1.7.3 Groundnut Production [ ]1.7.4 Yam Beans Production [ ]
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh
1.8 ROOT AND TUBER CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES
1.8.1 Cassava Production [ ]1.8.2 Yam Production [ ]1.8.3 Sweet Potato Production [ ]1.8.4 Fan Palm Yam Production [ ]1.8.5 Tiger Nut Production [ ]1.8.6 Cocoyam Production [ ]
1.9 FRUITS /TREE CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES194.1 Citrus Production1.9.2 Mango Production1.9.3 Pineapple Production1.9.4 Woodlot Production
1.10 LESSER FRUITS ENTERPRISES
1.10.1. Date Palm Production [ ]1.10.2. Cashew Production-1.10.3. Fan Palm (Agor) Production1.10.4. Guava Production
1.10.5 Soursop (Voduba)
1.11 INDUSTRIAL CROP PRODUCTION ENTERPRISES1.11.1 Coconut Production1.11.2 Oil Palm Production1.11.3 Sugarcane Production
1.12 FOOD PROCESSING ENTERPRISES1.12.1 Cattle Milk Processing1.12.2 Cassava Processing1.12.3 Coconut Oil Processing1.12.4 Fish Processing1.12.5 Groundnut Oil Processing1.12.6 Palm Kernel Oil Processing1.12.7 Palm Oil Processing
University of Ghana          http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh