IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fpr/gsspwp/6.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Defining smallholder agriculture in Ghana: Who are smallholders, what do they do and how are they linked with markets?

Author

Listed:
  • Chamberlin, Jordan

Abstract

""Smallholders in Ghana, as elsewhere, are widely considered to be the largest as well as the most vulnerable component of the rural sector. Ghana professes national development objectives of reducing rural poverty through the increased productivity and commercialization of smallholder agriculture.... This work uses household survey data, district-level production data and a variety of mapped infrastructural and biophysical data to characterize the production environments and characteristics of smallholder agriculture. This paper explores the relevance of geographically-differentiated characteristics. Several key issues are highlighted: the less prevalent use of inputs, lower commercialization, and lower welfare rates of producers with smaller landholdings.

Suggested Citation

  • Chamberlin, Jordan, 2007. "Defining smallholder agriculture in Ghana: Who are smallholders, what do they do and how are they linked with markets?," GSSP working papers 6, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  • Handle: RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://cdm15738.contentdm.oclc.org/utils/getfile/collection/p15738coll2/id/37971/filename/37972.cpd
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jayne, T. S. & Yamano, Takashi & Weber, Michael T. & Tschirley, David & Benfica, Rui & Chapoto, Antony & Zulu, Ballard, 2003. "Smallholder income and land distribution in Africa: implications for poverty reduction strategies," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 253-275, June.
    2. A. de Janvry & E. Sadoulet, 2002. "World Poverty and the Role of Agricultural Technology: Direct and Indirect Effects," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(4), pages 1-26.
    3. Chamberlin, Jordan & Pender, John & Yu, Bingxin, 2006. "Development domains for Ethiopia: capturing the geographical context of smallholder development options," EPTD discussion papers 159, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Prabhu L. Pingali, 1997. "From Subsistence to Commercial Production Systems: The Transformation of Asian Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 628-634.
    5. C. Peter Timmer, 1997. "Farmers and Markets: The Political Economy of New Paradigms," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(2), pages 621-627.
    6. Wood, Stanley & Sebastian, Kate & Nachtergaele, Freddy & Nielsen, Daniel & Dai, Aiguo, 1999. "Spatial aspects of the design and targeting of agricultural development strategies:," EPTD discussion papers 44, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Olwande, John & Mathenge, Mary K., 2012. "Market Participation among Poor Rural Households in Kenya," 2012 Conference, August 18-24, 2012, Foz do Iguacu, Brazil 126711, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    2. Benjamin Tetteh Anang & Stefan Bäckman & Antonios Rezitis, 2016. "Does farm size matter? Investigating scale efficiency of peasant rice farmers in northern Ghana," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 36(4), pages 2275-2290.
    3. Benjamin T. Anang & Stefan Bäckman & Antonios Rezitis, 2017. "Production technology and technical efficiency: irrigated and rain-fed rice farms in northern Ghana," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 7(1), pages 95-113, April.
    4. Benin, Samuel & Johnson, Michael E. & Abokyi, Emmanuel & Ahorbo, Gerald & Jimah, Kipo & Nasser, Gamel & Owusu, Victor & Taabazuing, Joe & Tenga, Albert, 2013. "Revisiting agricultural input and farm support subsidies in Africa: The case of Ghana’s mechanization, fertilizer, block farms, and marketing programs:," IFPRI discussion papers 1300, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Ros-Tonen, Mirjam A.F. & Insaidoo, Thomas F.G. & Acheampong, Emmanuel, 2013. "Promising start, bleak outlook: The role of Ghana's modified taungya system as a social safeguard in timber legality processes," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 57-67.
    6. Olwande, John & Mathenge, Mary K., 2011. "Market Participation Among Poor Rural Households in Kenya," Working Papers 202599, Egerton University, Tegemeo Institute of Agricultural Policy and Development.
    7. Baidoo, Samuel Tawiah & Yusif, Hadrat & Anwar, Umar, 2016. "The effect of smallholder livestock production on income of farm households in Northern Ghana," MPRA Paper 90803, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Gutierrez, Elizabeth & Zereyesus, Yacob & Ross, Kara & Amanor-Boadu, Vincent, 2017. "Building a Resilience Index in Northern Ghana Context," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252806, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mekonnen, Tigist, 2017. "Impact of agricultural technology adoption on market participation in the rural social network system," MERIT Working Papers 2017-008, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    2. Tigist Mekonnen Melesse, 2015. "Agricultural Technology Adoption and Market Participation under Learning Externality: Impact Evaluation on Small-scale Agriculture from Rural Ethiopia," Working Papers 2015/06, Maastricht School of Management.
    3. Muricho, G. & Kulundu, D. & Sule, F., 2018. "Impact Assessment of Agricultural Commercialization on Food Security Among Smallholder Farmers in Kenya: An Application of Correlated Random Effects," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277325, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Tanguy Bernard & Alemayehu Seyoum Taffesse & Eleni Gabre‐Madhin, 2008. "Impact of cooperatives on smallholders' commercialization behavior: evidence from Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(2), pages 147-161, September.
    5. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Jaleta, Moti, 2013. "Policy Imperatives of Commercial Transformation of Smallholders: Market Orientation Versus market Participation in Ethiopia," 2013 Fourth International Conference, September 22-25, 2013, Hammamet, Tunisia 160580, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    6. Govereh, Jones & Jayne, Thomas S., 1999. "Effects of Cash Crop Production on Food Crop Productivity in Zimbabwe: Synergies or Trade-Offs?," Food Security International Development Policy Syntheses 11371, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    7. Bathrick, David D., 1998. "Fostering global well-being: a new paradigm to revitalize agricultural and rural development," 2020 vision discussion papers 26, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    8. Chamberlin, Jordan, 2008. "It's a small world after all: Defining smallholder agriculture in Ghana," IFPRI discussion papers 823, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    9. Montalbano, P. & Pietrelli, R. & Salvatici, L., 2018. "Participation in the market chain and food security: The case of the Ugandan maize farmers," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 81-98.
    10. Chamberlin, Jordan & Schmidt, Emily, 2012. "Ethiopian Agriculture: A dynamic geographic perspective," IFPRI book chapters, in: Dorosh, Paul A. & Rashid, Shahidur (ed.), Food and agriculture in Ethiopia: Progress and policy challenges, chapter 2, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. Bernard, Tanguy & Gabre-Madhin, Eleni Z. & Taffesse, Alemayehu Seyoum, 2007. "Smallholders' commercialization through cooperatives: A diagnostic for Ethiopia," IFPRI discussion papers 722, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    12. Hernandez, Gustavo Adolfo & Prada, Sergio & Ramirez, Juan Mauricio, 2001. "Impacto Económico del programa de Desarrollo Alternativo del Plan Colombia [Economic Impact of Plan Colombia's Alternative Development Program]," MPRA Paper 17844, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Gebremedhin, Berhanu & Jaleta, Moti, 2010. "Commercialization of Smallholders: Is Market Participation Enough?," 2010 AAAE Third Conference/AEASA 48th Conference, September 19-23, 2010, Cape Town, South Africa 96159, African Association of Agricultural Economists (AAAE).
    14. Prabhu Pingali, 2007. "Agricultural growth and economic development: a view through the globalization lens," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 37(s1), pages 1-12, December.
    15. Mather, David & Boughton, Duncan & Jayne, Thomas S., 2011. "Smallholder Heterogeneity and Maize Market Participation in Southern and Eastern Africa: Implications for Investment Strategies to Increase Marketed Food Staple Supply," Food Security International Development Working Papers 118473, Michigan State University, Department of Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics.
    16. Birhanu Megersa Lenjiso & Jeroen Smits & Ruerd Ruben, 2016. "Smallholder Milk Market Participation and Intra-household Time Allocation in Ethiopia," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 28(5), pages 808-825, November.
    17. Harris, David & Orr, Alastair, 2014. "Is rainfed agriculture really a pathway from poverty?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 84-96.
    18. Kirk, Angeli & Kilic, Talip & Carletto, Calogero, 2018. "Composition of Household Income and Child Nutrition Outcomes Evidence from Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 452-469.
    19. Justus Ochieng & Beatrice Knerr & George Owuor & Emily Ouma, 2020. "Food crops commercialization and household livelihoods: Evidence from rural regions in Central Africa," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(2), pages 318-338, April.
    20. Plamen Mishev & Nedka Ivanova & Philip Kostov, 2004. "Agricultural policy options distinguishing a subsistence sub- sector in Bulgaria," Computational Economics 0409003, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:fpr:gsspwp:6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ifprius.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.