Adoption and impacts of sustainable intensification practices in Ghana

Date
2017Language
enType
Journal ArticleReview status
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Kotu, B.H., Alene, A., Manyong, V., Hoeschle-Zeledon, I. & Larbi, A. (2017). Adoption and impacts of sustainable intensification practices in Ghana. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 15(5), 539-554.
Permanent link to cite or share this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10568/83369
Abstract/Description
Sustainable agricultural intensification requires the use of multiple agricultural technologies in an integrated manner to enhance productivity while conserving the natural resource base. This study analyses the adoption and impacts of sustainable intensification practices (SIPs) using a dataset from Ghana. A multivariate probit (MVP) model was estimated to assess the adoption of multiple SIPs. Moreover, we used a multivalued semi-parametric treatment effect (MVTE) model to estimate the effects of adopting multiple SIPs on maize productivity. The MVP model results show, among others, that access to market, capital, and information/knowledge would enhance the adoption of SIPs. The MVTE model results show that a higher number of SIPs is associated with higher productivity which is more visible when commercial inputs are used in combination with cultural practices. These results have the following policy implications. First, they imply that good rural infrastructure and agricultural services such as rural road network, village-level input delivery system, input credit, and multiple information/knowledge sharing approach (instead of the conventional singular formal information/knowledge sharing approach) can enhance adoption. Second, the results suggest that promoting an integrated use of technologies, instead of a single technology, would have a positive impact on farm productivity and farm household income.
Notes
Published online: 01 Sept 2017
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