Hand pollination, mass spraying, and hybrid seedlings: Do these technologies affect the welfare of smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana?

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Bright O. Asante,Kwabena N. Addai,Stephen Prah,Omphile Temoso,John N. Ng'ombe
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/rode.13014

REGULAR ARTICLE

Hand pollination, mass spraying, and hybrid

seedlings: Do these technologies affect the

welfare of smallholder cocoa farmers in Ghana?

Bright O. Asante

1

| Kwabena N. Addai

2

| Stephen Prah

1

|

Omphile Temoso

3

| John N. Ng'ombe

4

1

Department of Agricultural Economics,

Agribusiness and Extension, Kwame

Nkrumah University of Science and

Technology, Kumasi, Ghana

2

Department of Accounting, Finance and

Economics, Griffith Business School,

Griffith University, Brisbane,

Queensland, Australia

3

UNE Business School, University of New

England, Armidale, New South Wales,

Australia

4

Department of Agribusiness, Applied

Economics and Agriscience Education,

North Carolina A&T State University,

Greensboro, North Carolina, USA

Correspondence

Bright O. Asante, Department of

Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness

and Extension, Kwame Nkrumah

University of Science and Technology,

Kumasi, Ghana.

Email: brightasante2024@gmail.com

Abstract

Adoption of cocoa production technologies has the

potential to improve productivity and welfare of small-

holder producers in low-income countries. While studies

investigating synergies in agricultural technologies are

growing, empirical evidence on the determinants and

impacts of adopting multiple cocoa production technolo-

gies on smallholder farmers' welfare is scarce. Therefore,

this study contributes by analyzing the determinants and

effects of adoption of multiple cocoa production techno-

logies on the welfare of smallholder farmers in Ghana.

To achieve this, we used the multinomial endogenous

switching regression and multivalued inverse probability

regression adjustment models to a random sample of 2233

cocoa farmers from Ghana. The results show that various

socioeconomic characteristics (e.g., farmer's age and expe-

rience), resource constraints (e.g., land ownership and

credit access), market-related factors (e.g., distance to the

market), and production shocks (e.g., rainfall) influence

the adoption of multiple cocoa production technologies.

Furthermore, the results reveal that adopting multiple

production technologies significantly improves cocoa

yields,grossincome,percapita consumption expenditure,

and reduces household food insecurity. Therefore, policies,

such as financial support, need to be aimed at improving

and strengthening smallholder cocoa producers' capacity

Received: 3 November 2022 Revised: 10 May 2023 Accepted: 19 May 2023

DOI: 10.1111/rode.13014

Rev Dev Econ. 2023;27:2271–2300. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/rode © 2023 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2271

to adopt synergistic conventional and non-conventional

cocoa production technologies to maximize smallholder

farmers' welfare.

KEYWORDS

adoption, cocoa technologies, endogenous switching

regression, Ghana, multivalued inverse probability regression

adjustment, welfare

JEL CLASSIFICATION

C21, Q12, Q55, R58

1|INTRODUCTION

Cocoa remains one of the most grown crops in Ghana. Among the various crops grown in

Ghana, cocoa has been known for its significant social, economic, and political contribution to

Ghana's economy (Aidoo & Fromm, 2015; Ali et al., 2018; Anang, 2016). However, cocoa pro-

ductivity in Ghana is not at par with other Western African countries. For example, Ghana's

cocoa produc tivity was around 400 kg/ha while Cote D0Ivoire's was about 600 kg/ha in 2017

(World Cocoa Foundation, 2014). In Ghana, approximately 800,000 farming households are

engaged in the cocoa industry. During the 2019–2020 season, the country produced 771,000

metric tons of cocoa, followed by 1,047,000 metric tons in 2020–2021. However, the 2021–2022

season saw a significant drop in production to 822,000 metric tons (Statista, 2022).

The low cocoa productivity in Ghana can be attributed to the low adoption of improved

agricultural technologies, lack of credit access, poor extension services, poor infrastructure, and

depleting soil fertility among others (Attipoe et al., 2020). Thus to surmount Ghana's low cocoa

productivity, private and public agencies have promoted adoption of several improved cocoa

production technologies. These include cocoa mass spraying, improved cocoa varieties, hand

pollination, rehabilitation, fertilizers, and pesticides (Abdul-Hanan & Anang, 2018) as they are

essential to enhancing cocoa productivity, farm income, and welfare. However, adoption of

improved agricultural technologies in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) tends to be quite

low (Aneani et al., 2012; Asfaw et al., 2012; Lu et al., 2021; Tibamanya et al., 2022). This is par-

ticularly evident in the cocoa sector, where adoption rates for improved technologies remain

low (Agyemang et al., 2020; Mumin et al., 2022; Obeng-Ofori et al., 2021). It therefore, follows

that nurturing the adoption of improved cocoa production technologies requires knowledge of

the determinants of adoption of crop-specific technologies as well as their effects on household

welfare. To obtain such knowledge, this study analyses the determinants and effects of adoption

of improved cocoa-specific production technologies on smallholder farm household welfare in

Ghana.

In Ghana, agriculture alone accounts for about 20% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

compared to the industry (34%) and service (46%) sectors. The sector further accounts for

approximately 30% of the export earnings (Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research

[ISSER], 2020). In 2020, it employed about 28.46% of the Ghana's workforce (World

Bank, 2022). Within the agricultural sector, crop production is the most important sub-sector,

contributing about 65% (ISSER, 2020) with cocoa at the core. But like most low-income

2272 ASANTE ET AL.