- Title
- Technology adoption, technical efficiency, and the welfare of rice farmers in Northern Ghana
- Creator
- Tanko, Mohammed
- Relation
- University of Newcastle Research Higher Degree Thesis
- Resource Type
- thesis
- Date
- 2021
- Description
- Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Description
- This thesis investigates the factors that influence farmers’ adoption, in northern Ghana, of improved rice varieties, the technical efficiency of those farmers, and the impact of adoption on the farmers’ welfare. In Ghana, rice production is a major concern: national consumption is always greater than production. An extensive review of the literature reveals a dearth of studies on the adoption of improved rice varieties vis-à-vis issues of technical efficiency and welfare from a perspective that considers culture and religion, and empirical evidence relevant in this domain requires further illumination. The agricultural initiatives of Green Revolution and the research findings on the role of culture and religion in Ghana, together with the previously mentioned gap in the literature, motivated this thesis and its focus on farmers’ adoption of rice varieties, technical efficiency, and welfare in northern Ghana, which it examines from a historical, cultural, and religious perspective. This thesis employed both qualitative and quantitative analytical approaches to analyse a dataset consisting of information about 464 rice farmers collected during a survey conducted in 2019. The farmers were classified as adopting and non-adopting; they were also classified by cultural groups—namely, the Mole-Dagbani, the Gurma, and the Guan—as well as by religious affiliations—namely, Christianity, Islamic, and Traditional. All the farmers responded to structured survey questions touching on socio-economic characteristics, cultural and religious norms, inputs for production, and risk and welfare indicators. The data is analysed using Stata 14.0, and different aspects of the results are discussed in each chapter. The first empirical study of the thesis focused on ascertaining critical factors that influence the adoption of improved rice varieties. The determinants of adoption are estimated using probit analysis, and the variables and results are explained using social norm theory and prospect theory, respectively. The results indicate that cultural and religious norms are critically influential factors in connection with farmers’ decisions about adoption. Also, risk-averse farmers are likely not to adopt improved rice varieties, while young farmers who are educated and have access to extension services are more likely to adopt agriculture technology. Furthermore, when it comes to religious affiliations, Christian farmers are likely to adopt, while in terms of cultural-ethnic groups, membership in the Guan group is significantly positively associated with adoption. The second empirical study analyses farmers’ technical efficiency and the impact of adoption on that technical efficiency. In analysing technical efficiency, the study employs a meta-frontier approach. Individual stochastic production frontiers are estimated to ascertain the technical efficiency and the determinants of technical efficiency using a two-stage method. Estimation of pooled and meta-frontier data, and a subsequent test of the same, indicate that farmers in different cultural and religious groups in northern Ghana do not share the same level of technology. Also, farmers who attached greater value to cultural and religious norms are more likely to be prone to technical inefficiency, while adopters of improved rice varieties are more technically efficient than non-adopters. Lastly, the meta-frontier analysis showed that there exists a significant technology gap in all the cultural, religious, and adoption/non-adoption clusters. The fact that adopters in each group are more technically efficient than non-adopters indicates the effect of improved rice varieties on technical efficiency. The third empirical study examined the impact of the adoption of improved rice varieties on farmers’ welfare. The impact is assessed using propensity score matching, complemented by inverse propensity score weighting and regression adjustment approaches. The analysis revealed that adopters in each cluster are better off in term of welfare (yield, per capita income, consumption expenditure, and total assets) than non-adopters in that same cluster. There is no evidence of differences in the impact of adoption on farmers’ welfare across religious or ethnic groups. Further, although the analysis revealed the effect of unobserved variables in the sensitivity analysis, the effect of adoption on farmer welfare remained significant after matching the propensity scores of treated and untreated groups. This thesis contributes to the literature by extending research on the determinants of agriculture technology adoption to include culture and religion in the first study. The analytical approach also employs a behavioural method and uses two critical theories–prospect theory and social norms theory—to examine factors that influence farmers’ adoption decisions. The study two contribute to literature by identifying the significant technology gaps among cultural and religious groupings . In addition to considering environmental factors to capture differences in farms’ natural conditions, the study also includes cultural and religious values as determinants of technical efficiency. The study three makes the first attempt to investigate farmers’ welfare based on ethnic and religious affiliations. This approach paves the way to assessing the impact of technology on farmers who differ with respect to their social norms. Based on the study findings, the thesis recommends that policymakers introduce an integrated approach to technology diffusion, in which culture and religion are considered as critical components. The role of chiefs and religious leaders in communicating technical information to farmers should not be underestimated or undermined, given that these leaders’ followers repose much confidence and trust in their stewardship. Also, the introduction of crop insurance policy could reduce the impact of risk in the adoption of improved rice varieties. The thesis also recommends that farmers be sensitised to the advantages of agricultural technology, that farmers’ education be promoted, and that the government should better disseminate information about the availability of improved seeds.
- Subject
- agriculture technology; technical efficiency; farmers` welfare; rice production
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1428581
- Identifier
- uon:38644
- Rights
- Copyright 2021 Mohammed Tanko
- Language
- eng
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