Land use analysis for agroforestry interventions in the Asunafo North district of the Brong Ahafo region, Ghana

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2015-11-09
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Abstract
Land is an important asset especially in tropical African countries including Ghana where majority of the people are small-scale farmers. For many years, land uses have been dictated by livelihood orientations. The study aimed at identifying and analyzingexisting land use systems for agroforestry development intervention in the Asunafo North District in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. The study describes socio-economic, environmental features and land use systems in the district; diagnoses major production constraints of the major land use systems, and identifies research needs for the development of AGF interventions.This study employed Micro Diagnosis and Design methodology developed by ICRAF to collect data.The data of the study came from household survey with randomly selected 112 farmersin eight communities. Results showed that majority of respondentswere natives (63.4%)whiles 36.6% were migrant farmers.The principal occupations were farming (76.8%), trading (7.1%), artisan (7.1%) and public service (9.0%). Major source of energy used was fuelwood (60.2%), charcoal (23.2%) and LPG (16.6%). Most farmers kept multiple farmlands with different crop types (Annuals, perennials, tree crops, and intercropping), combinations (pure stand and mixed stand) and land sizes; predominantly less than 5 acres for annuals and perennials and greater than 10 acres for tree crops. Predominant crops included oil palm, cocoa, citrus, yam, plantain and tomatoes, in pure stands and different combinations.Most respondents (79.5%) lacked technical knowledge on tree management. All respondents practiced fallows ranging from 1 – 6 years. Livestock, including chicken, guinea fowl, goats, sheep and cattlewere keptunder semi-intensive systems.Theconcludedthat the major problems confronting the district are lack of cash, scarcity of land, access to good and improved Crop varieties, inadequate rainfall, lack of storage, poor crop varieties, insect and pest infestation, soil erosion and credit facilities. Findings of the study suggest that the introduced agroforestry intervention can improve the economic status of farmers and ecological stability of the area only if establishment costs are subsidized and land tenure problems are solved
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Agroforestry, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Science Agroforestry Faculty of Renewable Natural Resources College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, 2015
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