Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Insights from a recent field study

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Insights from a recent field study
Author: Diao, Xinshen
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 42
Release:
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Ghana is one of a few African countries where agricultural mechanization has recently undergone rapid development. Except for places in the forest zone where stumps are still an issue in fields, tractors used for plowing and maize shelling have been widely adopted even among small farmers. Medium- and large-scale farmers who own tractors provide the majority of mechanization services. Recognizing this fundamental fact is important for designing any effective mechanization policy, which should aim at the entire service market instead of targeting a selected group of service providers as beneficiaries. Tractor owners and operators are often discouraged from traveling long distances to plow only a few acres for individual small farmers, which becomes a considerable barrier for smallholders to access tractor services on time. This requires the government consider mechanisms to improve coordination among small farmers and to encourage Farmer Based Organizations (FBOs) to facilitate such coordination. The use of harrowing or second-plowing has been shown as a productivity-enhancing farming practice but it is currently under-demanded by farmers. A pilot program to address the coordination failures and to nudge small farmers to adopt harrowing services together can be considered.

An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?

An evolving paradigm of agricultural mechanization development: How much can Africa learn from Asia?
Author: Diao, Xinshen, ed.
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 548
Release: 2020-12-07
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0896293807

Agricultural mechanization in Africa south of the Sahara — especially for small farms and businesses — requires a new paradigm to meet the needs of the continent’s evolving farming systems. Can Asia, with its recent success in adopting mechanization, offer a model for Africa? An Evolving Paradigm of Agricultural Mechanization Development analyzes the experiences of eight Asian and five African countries. The authors explore crucial government roles in boosting and supporting mechanization, from import policies to promotion policies to public good policies. Potential approaches presented to facilitating mechanization in Africa include prioritizing market-led hiring services, eliminating distortions, and developing appropriate technologies for the African context. The role of agricultural mechanization within overall agricultural and rural transformation strategies in Africa is also discussed. The book’s recommendations and insights should be useful to national policymakers and the development community, who can adapt this knowledge to local contexts and use it as a foundation for further research.

Agricultural mechanization policy options in Rwanda

Agricultural mechanization policy options in Rwanda
Author: Takeshima, Hiroyuki
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 24
Release: 2024-05-13
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

This paper summarizes general demand- and supply-side issues for agricultural mechanization based on recent studies that focus on experiences and evidence from both Africa and Asia. The paper pro vides typologies of agricultural mechanization in Rwanda along with policy options within the context of its current mechanization support strategies. Provincial variations in agroecology and cropping systems, irrigated/rainfed systems, farm size, and labor use intensity, among other factors, characterize the key types of mechanization use in Rwanda. Support for mechanization in Rwanda can be broadly tailored to (a) irrigated medium-scale farmers in the Eastern province and Kigali; (b) rainfed medium-scale farmers in the Eastern and Southern provinces; (c) rainfed, small-scale highland farmers in the Northern province; and (d) irrigated small-scale farmers in the Western province. Recent experiences in other countries with rugged terrain and smallholder farming systems similar to Rwanda suggest that significant growth in the use of tractors is possible in the medium term among smallholders cultivating rainfed maize and legumes, in addition to irrigated rice. However, farm wages may still be too low in Rwanda and tractor-hiring fees may still be too high to induce a shift to mechanization in the short term. Therefore, it may be advisable for policy support for mechanization to focus on improving the understanding of mechanization needs among each type of farmers identified, knowledge of suitable machines, and required skills for their operations and maintenance. Such efforts should also balance the need to develop competitive markets and supply networks for promising machines, parts, and repair services at a viable and integrated market scale.

Food systems transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the past and policy options for the future Loading... Files Full Book (7.78 MB, pdf) Chapters List (73 KB, pdf) Authors Breisinger, Clemens Keenan, Michael Mbuthia, Juneweenex Njuki, Jemimah Date Issued 2023-12-20 Language en Type Book Review Status Peer Review Access Rights Open Access Open Access Usage Rights CC-BY-4.0 Metadata Sha

Food systems transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the past and policy options for the future Loading... Files Full Book (7.78 MB, pdf) Chapters List (73 KB, pdf) Authors Breisinger, Clemens Keenan, Michael Mbuthia, Juneweenex Njuki, Jemimah Date Issued 2023-12-20 Language en Type Book Review Status Peer Review Access Rights Open Access Open Access Usage Rights CC-BY-4.0 Metadata Sha
Author: Breisinger, Clemens
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 536
Release: 2024-02-12
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

The new Kenyan government faces a complex domestic and global environment, and it is widely expected to address key food and agricultural challenges with a new set of policies and programs. This policy brief presents key recommendations from a forthcoming book, Food Systems Transformation in Kenya: Lessons from the Past and Policy Options for the Future, which provides research-based “food for thought and action” to support the Kenyan government’s efforts to improve food security.

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation

Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation
Author: Xinshen Diao
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 310
Release: 2019
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0198845340

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.

Geography of smallholders’ tractor adoptions and R&D–Induced land productivity: Evidence from household survey data in Ghana

Geography of smallholders’ tractor adoptions and R&D–Induced land productivity: Evidence from household survey data in Ghana
Author: Hiroyuki Takeshima
Publisher: Intl Food Policy Res Inst
Total Pages: 51
Release: 2019-10-10
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Despite the urbanization and gradual rise of medium-to-large scale farming sector, smallholders without substantial mechanization remain central to agriculture in countries like Ghana. Significant knowledge gaps exist on the adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders for whom the scope for exploiting complementarity with land is limited. We test the hypotheses that high-yielding technologies, which potentially raise total factor productivity and also returns to more intensive farm power use, are important drivers of adoptions of agricultural mechanization among smallholders. Using the three rounds of repeated crosssectional, nationally representative data (Ghana Living Standard Surveys 2006, 2013, 2017), as well as unique tractor-use data in Ghana, and multi-dimensional indicators of agroclimatic similarity with plant- reeding locations, this paper shows that the adoption of rented agricultural equipment and tractors in Ghana has been induced by high-yielding production systems that have concentrated in areas that are agroclimatically similar to plant-breeding locations. These effects hold for mechanization adoptions at both extensive margins (whether to adopt or not) and intensive margins (how much to adopt). These linkages have strengthened between 2006 and 2010s, partly due to improved efficiency in supply-side factors of mechanization.

Progress towards sustainable agriculture – Drivers of change

Progress towards sustainable agriculture – Drivers of change
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 102
Release: 2021-12-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9251354200

The Progress towards Sustainable Agriculture initiative (PROSA) is a framework that seeks to complement ongoing efforts on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and particularly indicator 2.4.1, to support country-level assessments using data already available at the national level. Making agriculture more sustainable – productive, environmentally friendly, resilient and profitable is fundamental, as agriculture remains the main source of livelihood for the majority of the world’s poor and hungry. The pathway towards sustainable agriculture must ensure increasing output, but also make more efficient use of increasingly scarce global resources, be resilient to and help mitigate climate change, and improve human well-being. This technical study examines the key factors driving changes in trends in the indicators of sustainable agriculture and provides decision-makers with insights into viable options for achieving this goal. The study identifies five key groups of drivers that most influence these indicators globally. The ways in which each driver affects the multiple dimensions of sustainability highlights the interconnections, synergies and trade-offs that must be managed in different global contexts to achieve agricultural sustainability. The analysis can help decision-makers operating in different country contexts to identify practical solutions to ensure that their interventions contribute positively to a more sustainable agriculture.

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa

Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization: A Framework for Africa
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 150
Release: 2019-03-13
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9251308713

This framework presents ten interrelated principles/elements to guide Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization in Africa (SAMA). Further, it presents the technical issues to be considered under SAMA and the options to be analysed at the country and sub regional levels. The ten key elements required in a framework for SAMA are as follows: The analysis in the framework calls for a specific approach, involving learning from other parts of the world where significant transformation of the agricultural mechanization sector has already occurred within a three-to-four decade time frame, and developing policies and programmes to realize Africa’s aspirations of Zero Hunger by 2025. This approach entails the identification and prioritization of relevant and interrelated elements to help countries develop strategies and practical development plans that create synergies in line with their agricultural transformation plans. Given the unique characteristics of each country and the diverse needs of Africa due to the ecological heterogeneity and the wide range of farm sizes, the framework avoids being prescriptive.

Agri-hire in sub-Saharan Africa

Agri-hire in sub-Saharan Africa
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 78
Release: 2021-06-23
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 9251345449

There has been a surge in the attention to sustainable agricultural mechanization for Africa. The need to support agricultural mechanization in the value chain in order to achieve agricultural and rural development is well recognized. Therefore, it is vital to address the major challenge of ensuring that business models for mechanization hire services driven by the private sector (including farmers, cooperatives, and small and medium enterprises) are not only profitable, sustainable and inclusive for smallholder farmers and vulnerable community members including women and youth, but also resilient to the effects of climate change. For a better understanding of how agricultural mechanization hire service provision can contribute to agricultural and rural development, this publication aims to (i) showcase a variety of business models of private-sector businesses providing agricultural mechanization hire services in Africa, (ii) identify success factors, and (iii) provide entry points for investment.