Agricultural input markets in Ghana: A descriptive assessment of input dealers in eight districts

Agricultural input markets in Ghana: A descriptive assessment of input dealers in eight districts PDF Author: Asante, Seth
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 23

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Book Description
This paper provides a description of the agricultural input market in Ghana in 2019 across six districts with high maize production and two municipal districts noted for agricultural marketing activities. Since 2017, Ghana’s agricultural policy has been heavily focused on implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program, which has rapidly scaled up the distribution of subsidized seed and fertilizer with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity and production. Agricultural input dealers play a crucial role in the PFJ program as the final node in the supply chain of seed and fertilizer for farmers. Their operations are expected to enhance the availability of and access to these agricultural inputs. Understanding the characteristics and operations of agricultural input dealers can help policymakers to formulate, implement, and reform seed and fertilizer policies. Our study shows low levels of specialization among agricultural input shops, high participation in the sector association, an increase in the entry of traders into the agricultural input market since the launch of PFJ, and a continuing concentration on fertilizer sales compared to seed sales. Major constraints that agricultural input supplier face in expanding their businesses include difficulties in obtaining financial support from the banking sector, still unreliable supplies, and, for subsidized inputs, the slow processing by government of the subsidy vouchers farmers gave them in exchange for inputs.

Agricultural input markets in Ghana: A descriptive assessment of input dealers in eight districts

Agricultural input markets in Ghana: A descriptive assessment of input dealers in eight districts PDF Author: Asante, Seth
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 23

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Book Description
This paper provides a description of the agricultural input market in Ghana in 2019 across six districts with high maize production and two municipal districts noted for agricultural marketing activities. Since 2017, Ghana’s agricultural policy has been heavily focused on implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program, which has rapidly scaled up the distribution of subsidized seed and fertilizer with the aim of increasing agricultural productivity and production. Agricultural input dealers play a crucial role in the PFJ program as the final node in the supply chain of seed and fertilizer for farmers. Their operations are expected to enhance the availability of and access to these agricultural inputs. Understanding the characteristics and operations of agricultural input dealers can help policymakers to formulate, implement, and reform seed and fertilizer policies. Our study shows low levels of specialization among agricultural input shops, high participation in the sector association, an increase in the entry of traders into the agricultural input market since the launch of PFJ, and a continuing concentration on fertilizer sales compared to seed sales. Major constraints that agricultural input supplier face in expanding their businesses include difficulties in obtaining financial support from the banking sector, still unreliable supplies, and, for subsidized inputs, the slow processing by government of the subsidy vouchers farmers gave them in exchange for inputs.

Fertilizer Quality Assessment: Perception versus testing in selected Ghanaian districts

Fertilizer Quality Assessment: Perception versus testing in selected Ghanaian districts PDF Author: Asante, Seth
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 18

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Book Description
Fertilizer use in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below recommended rates, contributing to low yields, and increasing poverty. Poor quality fertilizer – whether perceived or real – is often cited as a reason for low adoption rates. In Ghana, for example, there are widespread but often unsubstantiated claims of substandard fertilizers. This is a concern for farmers with limited purchasing power and without the means to independently substantiate the quality of agricultural inputs. This paper describes the agricultural input sector in Ghana, compares farmers’ perception of fertilizer quality with those of input dealers, and analyses chemical tests of fertilizers performed in a laboratory. The fertilizers were sampled from selected districts participating in the Planting for Food and Jobs initiative, a large-scale farm input subsidy program. We find that input dealers and farmers are somewhat suspicious of the quality of commercially supplied and government subsidized fertilizers. However, the true quality measures based on laboratory testing of fertilizers sold in agricultural input shops were found to largely meet the labeled chemical composition.

Farm input subsidies and commodity market trends in Ghana: An analysis of market prices during 2012–2020

Farm input subsidies and commodity market trends in Ghana: An analysis of market prices during 2012–2020 PDF Author: Amewu, Sena
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 19

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Book Description
Ghana has a long history of intervening in food markets to balance consumers’ expectations of low and stable food prices, farmers’ demands for high farmgate prices, and traders’ demand for predictability in seasonal price patterns. However, government interventions may also alter the behavior of markets and alter incentives or risks for all market actors. The Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) initiative, launched in 2017, signaled a renewed commitment from government to agriculture and is Ghana’s flagship strategy for boosting smallholder production, strengthening market linkages, and developing value chains. Given this significant policy shift, we examine agricultural commodity price patterns before and after 2017 to identify potential structural shifts in price behavior in maize, tomato, and onion markets, three key sectors targeted by PFJ. Results show maize and tomato prices drop below their long-term trend under PFJ, but not onion prices. Tomato and onion prices exhibit smaller seasonal price variations. These results are indicative of a structural shift in food markets, although further analysis is required to conclusively attribute these changes to PFJ.

An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Ghana

An Action Plan for Developing Agricultural Input Markets in Ghana PDF Author: Balu Bumb
Publisher: International Fertilizer Development
ISBN: 9780880901307
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 66

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Book Description


Agricultural Input Markets in Nigeria

Agricultural Input Markets in Nigeria PDF Author: International Fertilizer Development Center
Publisher: IITA
ISBN: 9780880901284
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Landownership and the gender gap in agriculture: Disappointing insights from Northern Ghana

Landownership and the gender gap in agriculture: Disappointing insights from Northern Ghana PDF Author: Yokying, Phanwin
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 51

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Book Description
Land provides the basis for food production and is an indispensable input for economic livelihoods in rural areas. Landownership is strongly associated with social and economic power, not only across communities and households, but also within households. The link between landownership and women’s empowerment has been relatively well documented in general, but not specifically in relation to agriculture. This paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing how ownership of land is associated with agency and achievements in agriculture among female and male farmers in northern Ghana, a region transitioning from customary land tenure without individual ownership rights towards a more individualized and market-based tenure system. We use a recursive bivariate probit model and focus on eight different indicators in four distinct domains: decisions on agricultural cultivation, decisions on farm income, agricultural association membership, and time allocation. Our empirical estimates indicate that landownership is positively correlated with men’s and women’s agency in agriculture, namely in decisions on agricultural cultivation and membership in agricultural association. Yet, we also find that the gender gaps in participation in cultivation decisions, the use of agricultural earnings, and in agricultural workload continue to persist among those who own land. While the results underscore the importance of land as a resource that can enhance women’s agency, they also point out that policies aiming to solely advance land rights may not be sufficient to eradicate or even reduce gender inequality in agriculture.

Agricultural Input Subsidies

Agricultural Input Subsidies PDF Author: Ephraim Chirwa
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199683522
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 315

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Book Description
This book takes forward our understanding of agricultural input subsidies in low income countries.

A chicken and maize situation: The poultry feed sector in Ghana

A chicken and maize situation: The poultry feed sector in Ghana PDF Author: Andam, Kwaw S.
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
ISBN:
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 52

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Book Description
This study focuses on the feed milling industry, which serves as the link between maize and poultry, through a field assessment of feed millers in Ghana. The findings establish the importance of feed in the poultry value chain. In addition, they show how the sector has become more integrated with poultry production, especially on larger-scale poultry farms. Because maize accounts for 60 percent of poultry feed, its availability and price have important implications for the profitability and growth potential of feed and, therefore, for poultry production as well. We illustrate these linkages by means of a simple spatial market equilibrium model that ties together the three sectors of the poultry value chain: the primary inputs (maize and soybeans), intermediate inputs (feed), and final products (meat and eggs). This model also enables us to assess the future growth potential of the poultry industry given alternative policy-driven changes in productivity and the production capacities of all three sectors. The results show that for poultry meat, replacing imports with domestic production in the short term would be nearly impossible. For the egg industry, however, there is potential for Ghana to export to neighboring countries by reducing production costs through improvements in yellow maize production.

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation PDF Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0198845340
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310

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Book Description
Using Ghana as a case study, this work integrates economic and political analysis to explore the challenges and opportunities of Africa's growth and transformation.

Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana

Irrigated Urban Vegetable Production in Ghana PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Irrigation farming
Languages : en
Pages : 172

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Book Description