Browsing by Author "Arthur, Robert Damoah"

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    The Effects of Benso Oil Palm Plantation (BOPP) Smallholder Farmers’ Scheme on Rural Poverty Reduction in the Mpohor Wassa East District of Ghana
    (2012-02-08) Arthur, Robert Damoah
    The study set out to examine the Effects of Smallholder Oil Palm Farmers’ Schemes on rural poverty reduction in Ghana with the BOPP scheme as a case study. This is intended to assess the extent to which the scheme is benefiting the participants and the community at large. A descriptive design was adopted to collect data from 200 smallholder oil palm farmers, including the smallholder scheme manager. Statistical tools used to analyse the data collected included descriptive tools such as means, medians, frequencies, and percentages. Mann-Whitney U test was also used to test for significant differences between some variables. Data from questionnaires and interview guides were transcribed and presented in discussions in support of the quantitative analysis. The study found that incomes of farmers were being improved through their participation in the scheme. These incomes had translated into higher access to health care, education, and food security for the households of smallholders. However, several challenges including low understanding of technical details, low pricing of oil palm leading to reduced incomes confronted the scheme. The roles of other stakeholders including BOPP, the government, and co-operatives were along the lines of supporting smallholders through loan facilities and subsidies, as well as helping improve on the prices offered for the oil palm fruits. The study recommended BOPP to review deduction from farmers’ gross incomes. Furthermore BOPP should intensify technical training or adopt more understandable approaches for farmers. The government could offer more subsidies for farming implements and fertiliser for farmers and could also set a price ceiling on oil palm fruits.