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Social differentiation, farming systems, and agrarian change in rural Ghana

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Title: Social differentiation, farming systems, and agrarian change in rural Ghana
Authors: Michael Pervarah
Source: Cogent Social Sciences, Vol 10, Iss 1 (2024)
Publisher Information: Taylor & Francis Group, 2024.
Publication Year: 2024
Collection: LCC:Social Sciences
Subject Terms: Farming systems, social differentiation, smallholder farmers, agrarian change, rural Ghana, Geng Yuqing, Shanghai Dianji University, China, Social Sciences
More Details: Agriculture is predominantly rural and dominated by smallholder farmers. However, efforts to improve smallholder agricultural production have not yielded the desired results. Some scholars and practitioners have argued that development interventions often overlook the variability in smallholder farming systems. Therefore, it is unlikely that such initiatives will directly reach the smallholder end of the landholding spectrum to facilitate desired outcomes. This study examined differences within the smallholder sector in the Kassena Nankana Traditional Area, showing how socioeconomic differentiation among smallholders defines their choice of farming system. Using a mixed methods approach, this study identified three types of farms: compound, lowland, and bush farms, characterized by a differential pattern of traditional farming methods, prevalent in compound farms compared to mechanized farming practices, predominantly in lowland and bush farms. This pattern highlights the production orientation of smallholders and specifies the farming practices they engage in and rationalize to meet household consumption needs and market demand. The study concludes that resource endowments are crucial in determining farm types owned by differentiated smallholders and the farming systems they choose in response to persuasive incentives. Extension services should harness the local farmers’ understanding of soil characteristics and the diversity of farming systems when designing specific strategies to promote productivity-enhancing technologies and practices, to achieve sustainable smallholder transformations in rural Ghana.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 23311886
2331-1886
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/2331-1886
DOI: 10.1080/23311886.2024.2302215
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/6279fc005a604c6d92befcc43e75b66a
Accession Number: edsdoj.6279fc005a604c6d92befcc43e75b66a
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  Data: Agriculture is predominantly rural and dominated by smallholder farmers. However, efforts to improve smallholder agricultural production have not yielded the desired results. Some scholars and practitioners have argued that development interventions often overlook the variability in smallholder farming systems. Therefore, it is unlikely that such initiatives will directly reach the smallholder end of the landholding spectrum to facilitate desired outcomes. This study examined differences within the smallholder sector in the Kassena Nankana Traditional Area, showing how socioeconomic differentiation among smallholders defines their choice of farming system. Using a mixed methods approach, this study identified three types of farms: compound, lowland, and bush farms, characterized by a differential pattern of traditional farming methods, prevalent in compound farms compared to mechanized farming practices, predominantly in lowland and bush farms. This pattern highlights the production orientation of smallholders and specifies the farming practices they engage in and rationalize to meet household consumption needs and market demand. The study concludes that resource endowments are crucial in determining farm types owned by differentiated smallholders and the farming systems they choose in response to persuasive incentives. Extension services should harness the local farmers’ understanding of soil characteristics and the diversity of farming systems when designing specific strategies to promote productivity-enhancing technologies and practices, to achieve sustainable smallholder transformations in rural Ghana.
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      – SubjectFull: Farming systems
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      – SubjectFull: smallholder farmers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: agrarian change
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: rural Ghana
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      – SubjectFull: Geng Yuqing, Shanghai Dianji University, China
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