Does adoption of cocoa hand pollination (CHP) improve welfare of farmers? Evidence from smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana

ABSTRACT

This paper evaluates the impact of the adoption of cocoa hand pollination (CHP) on the welfare of smallholder cocoa producers. Using data collected from 1200 cocoa farmers in Huni Valley and Kejebril districts of Ghana, we employed endogenous switching regression, propensity score matching and inverse probability weighted adjustment techniques to assess the impact. The two-step Cragg was used to examine the determinants of the decision and intensity of adoption. The results showed that education, marriage and farm size positively influenced both the decision and intensity of adoption of the CHP technique. The result further showed that the cost of labour for implementing the technology, age, education, family head, economic active members, age of the cocoa tree, off-farm work, credit access and farm size significantly determined the impact of adoption on smallholder cocoa producers’ welfare. Additionally, there is a positive impact of CHP adoption on productivity, income and food security. Careful consideration should be given to these factors including collaborations between government and stakeholders in the cocoa industry through the regular sensitization and trainings for farmers on improved technologies as the CHP to increase productivity, household income and reduce food insecurity of smallholder cocoa farmers.

KEYWORDS:

• Adoption
• propensity score matching
• hand pollination
• endogenous switching regression
• welfare

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Correction

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the smallholder farmers in the Huni Valley and Kejebril districts in the Western North of Ghana for their precious time and patience in contributing to the data collection for making this study successful. We express our deepest appreciation to all unknown reviewers for constructive suggestions to improve this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

Data is available upon request from the corresponding author.

Correction Statement

This article was originally published with errors, which have now been corrected in the online version. Please see Correction (http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14735903.2023.2278947).

Notes

1 The likelihood ratio test statistic was found to be greater than χ² critical value, therefore, the results from the Cragg two-step mode was used for the discussions.

2 In the ESR model, the instrument variables used are FBO membership, extension and colleague farmer. We assumed that these variables affect adoption decisions but does not affect productivity, income and food security not directly.

Additional information

Funding

This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

Notes on contributors

Bright O. Asante

Bright O. Asante is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi. He holds a PhD. Agricultural Economics degree from the University of New England, Australia; an MPhil. Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon; and a BSc. Agriculture from KNUST.

Seth Etuah

Seth Etuah is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension in the Faculty of Agriculture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics from KNUST. Dr. Etuah has specialized in Agricultural Economics, Applied Econometrics, and Agribusiness Management.

Adams Faizal

Adams Faizal is a lecturer with the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana. He holds both MPhil and PhD in Agricultural Economics from the same University. However, part of Dr Adams' PhD education was carried out in Canada at Nova Scotia Agriculture College under the mentorship of Prof. Emmanuel Yiridoe.

Amos Mensah

Amos Mensah is a leading educator at KNUST's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources in Ghana. He completed his Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics at the Georg-August University Göttingen in Germany, and also earned a Master of Science degree in Tropical and International Agriculture from the same institution.

Stephen Prah

Stephen Prah is an MPhil student in Agricultural Economics at KNUST, Ghana, with a BSc (Hons) in Agribusiness Management. Certified in Rainforest Alliance, Fairtrade, and more, he specializes in production economics, climate tech, gender analysis, and agribusiness. He's a National Tutor for Greening Africa Together and an Agronomist at Holland Greentech Ghana.

James O. Mensah

James O. Mensah is an Associate Professor of Agribusiness Management at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension of KNUST, Kumasi. He holds a PhD in Agribusiness Management from KNUST-Kumasi and an MSc. in Management and Economics of Innovation from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg-Sweden.

Robert Aidoo

Robert Aidoo is an Associate Professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Extension at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Ghana. He holds Ph.D and MSc. Degrees in Agricultural Economics from KNUST, and a Certificate in Agribusiness and Postharvest Management from the Galilee International Management Institute (GIMI), Israel.