February 2012

Seasonal food shortages and coping strategies adopted by rural households in Northern Ghana

A household survey was conducted in four villages in the Bolgatanga District of northern Ghana with the objective of identifying causes and effects of seasonal food shortages and coping strategies adopted by households to increase food availability. Data was collected using structured questionnaires from 200 households selected by the simple random technique and was analyzed using descriptive statistics, chi-square test...

Author(s): Fred Nimoh, Ayaburi Samuel and Ransford Yeboah

February 2011

Consulting the stakeholders on pro-poor market segmentation of maize seed in Kenya

Market segmentation, while popular in the pharmaceutical industry to reach the poor in developing-countries markets, have so far not been successful in delivering agricultural technology to poor farmers. In this paper, their potential use in Kenya is analyzed, based on information gathered through an extensive stakeholder consultation. Results show that some market segmentation methods are used. Seed companies, some...

Author(s): Hugo De Groote, Kwaw Andam, Stephen Mugo, Mike Hall, Obadiah Ngigi, Benjamin Gathigi Munyua and David J. Spielman

February 2012

Irrigation access and per capita consumption expenditure in farm households: Evidence from Ghana

Investment in agricultural water management has been one key poverty reduction strategy in developing countries. In Ghana, irrigation development for livelihood support, which dates back to the 1960s manifested in the development of formal irrigation infrastructure, starting with the rural savannah and coastal regions. This study applied a propensity score matching (PSM) approach and regression analysis (ordinary least...

Author(s): John K. M. Kuwornu and Eric S. Owusu