Impact of supplementary livelihood on cocoa farmers in Ahafo Ano South District (Ashanti Region) of Ghana

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2021-06-28
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
The study was conducted to assess the impact of complimentary income on the livelihoods of cocoa farmers in the Ahafo Ano South District. The research study applied the primary data from well crated questionnaire to illicit information from the cocoa farmers. Both the secondary data from documentary sources and the primary data used in arriving at the conclusions. The sample size was 120 of the farmers and was based on the judgement of the researcher and thus a nonprobability sampling method was used to gather the primary data and as a result the choice of 120 was not a true representative of the population in the District. Cocoa farmers were selected from villages and towns that were well noted for growing cocoa and the rural nature of the District reflected in the low educational levels of the respondents which in turn manifested in the mode of answering the questionnaire : respondents answering or ticking and researcher reading to the respondents and ticking on their behave were employed. Income levels from cocoa was low and could not suffice the farmers throughout the year and numerous variables such as the smallness of the farms; none application of fertilizers and other inputs; difficulty in accessing agricultural extension officers; high labour cost; difficulty in accessing credit and worse of all the illegal activities of surface mining referred to as ‘galamsey’ in the Ghanaian parlance. The study established that the stool owns a greater proportion of the land and further ascertained that land could be acquired foremost through the stool. Cocoa farmers contended that food crops were integrated into the cocoa farms. Result from the research study showed that some of the commonest livelihood ventures were animal rearing; petty trading; vegetable farming; bee-keeping “gari” processing and palm oil production. The study further established that the proceeds from the alternative livelihood activities could not alleviate the financial difficulties they go through especially during the lean cocoa season. Nonetheless, the income from such ventures reduces the financial burden of farmers in no small measure
Description
A dissertation submitted to the Department of Construction Technology and Management, College of Art and Built Environment in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Award Degree of Master of Science.
Keywords
livelihood, Cocoa farmers, Ahafo Ano South District
Citation