26 pages, Farmers’ perception on soil erosion has not adequately reported in the conditions of Ghana though its causes and effects are time and site-specific. The objective of this study was to assess farmers’ perception on soil erosion and implication for developing soil management strategy in the Eastern and Northern Regions of Ghana. A total of 130 household head farmers were interviewed and complemented with field observation and group. Data was analyzed using descriptive, chi-square test, T-test and binary logistic regression. The results show that there was significant variation in socioeconomic, farm and institutional attributes among the farmers`in the study regions. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, significantly higher proportions of the farmers (95.7% and 86.7%, respectively) perceived soil erosion as serious problem. Significantly higher proportions of the respondents (80%) perceived severe erosion problem at homestead land in the Eastern Region whereas severe erosion in the Northern Region was more noticed at distance farmlands (85.0%). In the two regions, the major causes of severe erosion as perceived by most farmers were over-cultivation, deforestation and heavy rainfall events. In the Eastern and Northern Regions, 58.6% and 75.0% of the farmers perceived, respectively, that soil erosion severity has been increased since the past 10-years. Perceptions of most frequently noted indicators of soil erosion were declined productivity, shallow soil depth, presence of rills, sheet erosion, soil loss from farmland, and change in soil color. Results of the binary logistic regression indicate that there is heterogeneity in the factors accounting for the perception of soil fertility. In developing promising soil management strategy in the study area, attention must be given to key socioeconomic, biophysical, farm and institutional factors.
Spurk, Christoph (author), Asule, Pamellah (author), Ofori-Baah, Rebecca (author), Chikopela, Louis (author), Diarra, Boubacar (author), Koch, Carmen (author), and Wageningen University
Format:
Online journal article
Publication Date:
2019-08-21
Published:
Netherlands: Taylor & Francis
Location:
Agricultural Communications Documentation Center, Funk Library, University of Illinois Box: 108 Document Number: D10944
22 pages, via online journal article, Purpose: Soil fertility is decreasing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. To mitigate this trend, various agricultural technologies are available, but their uptake by farmers has been low. Perception of the problem, information exposure, and knowledge play a major role in adoption of technologies. This study assessed empirically the levels of perception, knowledge and information exposure among African farmers as an indicator for potential adoption of soil fertility technologies.
Design/Methodology/approach: The study used survey data of more than 2,400 small-scale farmers selected through random sampling from Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zambia. The survey investigated socio-economic factors, exposure to media, perception and knowledge of soil fertility and other information.
Findings: Many farmers did not perceive soil fertility as a major challenge, except in Mali; farmers were hardly receiving information on soil fertility from professional agricultural sources, and they often lacked accurate knowledge about soil fertility technologies. Radio was by far the most used information source for farmers.
Practical implications: The study has exposed the need for interventions to increase awareness, information exposure, and knowledge about soil fertility among farmers to strengthen the adoption of soil fertility technologies. It also calls for innovative ways of strengthening extension services through links with radio.
Theoretical implications: The role of communication in the uptake of agricultural innovations is still under-researched, and hence this study exposes the need to investigate in-depth knowledge, perception levels, and quality and frequency of information exposure on various channels of soil fertility management.
Originality: This is one of the few studies empirically measuring perception, information frequency on various channels, and knowledge of soil fertility among small-scale farmers in African countries.