An assessment of the contribution of cotton production to local economic development in Sissala East and West Districts
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Date
2015
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Abstract
Millions of poor households secure their livelihoods from the cultivation of cotton the
world over. In most developing countries, cotton production contributes about 40 percent
of exports and about 5 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Cotton production in Ghana
however has, remained a subject of concern to policy makers and other development
stakeholders for some time now due to the poor sector performance. The objective of this
study was to assess the contribution of cotton production to Local Economic Development
in the Sissala East and West Districts. The study was an exploratory case study which
utilized both quantitative and qualitative types of data both of which were accessed from
primary and secondary sources. The tools used for data collection included questionnaires,
interview/FGD guides/checklists. The data collection methods included Focus Group
Discussions, structured, semi structured and unstructured/informal interviews and
questionnaire surveys. A sample size of 335 was obtained from a total sampling frame of
2589 at 95% confidence and a margin of error of 5%. Findings of the study show that, the
entire Sissala land has a huge potential for the cultivation of cotton even without the use of
fertilizer. It is was also established that, cotton production creates more employment
opportunities for the people than other crops due to its numerous value chain processes
which further translate into improved income levels of cotton farmers. The study again
discovered that farmer attitudes towards cotton production in terms of input diversion
remains a major challenge to efforts aimed at revamping the cotton sector in the districts.
The study recommends that, cotton farmer associations, cotton producing companies, and
the government through the districts assemblies should harness the needed synergy to
salvage the rather promising cotton industry in the districts through input subsidies,
improved peer monitoring on the usage of inputs supplied to the farmers for cotton
production, and the institution of schemes to reward hardworking farmers, Cotton
Production Assistants and farmer groups who are able to repay in full their indebtedness to
the companies
Description
Thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Development Policy and Planning,