Abstract:
The Government of Ghana, through the Ministry of Food and Agriculture,
collaborated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency in the
Sustainable Development of Rainfed Lowland Rice Production project to meet
the increasing demand for rice and improve the livelihood of smallholder
farmers in the Northern and Ashanti regions of Ghana. However, no formal
studies have been conducted to determine the impact of the project on the
livelihoods of farmers. The study used a cross-sectional convergent mixed
method to collect data from 331 farmers, 12 AEAs, national MoFA staff and
two regional Department of Agriculture staff. A structured interview schedule,
document review, interview and focus group guides were used to collect the
data. Statistics such as means, standard deviations, frequencies, and
percentages were used to describe the data while Pearson Product Moment
correlation, dependent sample t-test, Chi-square test and Ordinary Least
Squares multiple regression were used to find relations or differences in the
data. The study revealed that the farmers perceived the SDRLRP project to be
highly effective. The adoption of technologies in both regions was very high,
but higher in Northern Region compared to the Ashanti Region. The income
status and livelihood of the majority of the farmers improved after
participating in the project. The educational status, farming experience,
participation, perceived effectiveness, knowledge and skills influenced the
livelihood outcomes of the farmers in the project. The study recommends that
MoFA should implement more agricultural technology training programmes to
improve the livelihoods of farmers and use the existing rice farmer groups as
trainers to reach other rice farmers in Ghana.
