CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION
Background
A basic necessity of life is food as explained by Maslow’s theory of need. According to Datt et al., (2000), inadequate nutrition is considered a critical yardstick for poverty in many communities around the world. Jensen (2002), states that the assurance of food availability ensures several advantages including stability in terms of the political atmosphere and people coexisting peacefully in the country whilst food insecurity causes low performance of in both children and adult due to poor health.
Food security can generally be considered as a situation mostly associated with the provision of food, one’s access to it and ability to utilize it for normal body functions. The term “food security” was further explained with a focus on ‘supply’ during the World Food Conference (1974). Food security was explained as the “availability at all times of adequate world food supplies of basic foodstuffs to sustain a steady expansion of food consumption and to offset fluctuations in production and prices”. Later attempts at the definition of ‘food security’ added demand and access related issues to the concept of food security. During the World Food Summit (1996), it was concluded that there is food security “when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe and nutritious food to meet their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life.”
The concept of food security in developing and middle income countries is linked to issues related to poverty reduction and alleviation and also guaranteeing a sustainable socioeconomic development of a nation. The realization of food security lies at the heart of the challenges confronting farming households and this is largely due to seasonality of production cycles, low
productivity, limited economic opportunities, poor habit of savings, price fluctuations as well as variability in food supply. The array of food related problems facing farmers are due to the unsuitable application of agro-chemical inputs coupled with the use of insufficient enhanced varieties, insufficient access to critical public goods and facilities and the overreliance on rain- fed agriculture.
Cocoa is a major cash crop and the source of significant foreign currency earnings in Ghana. Cote D’Ivore is the world’s leading producer of cocoa followed by Ghana. Cocoa cultivation is not only native to these countries, it is also cultivated within several developing countries and known to be one of the most standardized commodities with regard to its acceptability and usage in the world.
Cocoa is produced in six (6) of the ten (10) political regions in Ghana. This is due to the geographic and ecological difference of the regions. The Western Region recorded the highest amount of cocoa output (50% of overall national output). Ashanti Region follows (recording 16% of overall national output). Both Eastern and Brong Ahafo Regions together produce 19 percent of total national production whilst the Central and Volta Regions produce the remaining 15 percent (COCOBOD, 2012).
According to GAIN (2012), farmers engaged in cocoa production in Ghana still rely on the indigenous practices and ways of production such as the use of cutlass and hoe for farming. “Cocoa cultivation in Ghana is also predominantly rain fed and the best conditions for cocoa farming are those in which there is favorable rainfall during the night followed by sunny days as these result in healthy looking trees with fully filled pods” (GAIN, 2012). The major cropping season for cocoa in Ghana is from October to February/March and the minor or light crop season occurs during April/May to September (GAIN, 2012). “In order to maximize foreign currency earnings, the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) also introduced an extended
duration for harvesting and marketing in the longer crop seasons for the main crop (October to May) and limited the duration for the light crop season (June to September) as the light crop beans are typically smaller in volume in comparison to the main crop variety, although the same type of bean quality is cultivated” (GAIN, 2012).
All cocoa produced in Ghana except that which is smuggled is mandatorily sold to the Cocoa Marketing Board. Another issue confronted with cocoa production in the country is the fact that most cocoa farms are medium in size. “About 700,000 households are growing cocoa mostly on plots of two to three hectares plantations” (ICCO, 2006). Granting that, majority of the cocoa farmers in the country are small scale farmers hence cultivating on small plots of land which are less than three hectares, only few of these cocoa farmers happen to control the trade. “Indeed, some studies show that about one-fourth of all cocoa farmers receive just over half of total cocoa income” (Clark, 1994). It has been observed globally that, cocoa producing countries generally cultivate small to medium land sizes and more specifically in Ghana 90 percent of cocoa produced are grown on small farms (COCOBOD, 2012).
Notwithstanding the small sizes of cocoa farms in the country, according to Vigneri (2007) production has experienced some increment over the years due to the following reasons;
- New lands acquired for cultivation/production
- Concentrated use of casual labour
- Effective farm spraying
- Increased fertilizer and chemical use
Despite this production increase there are some major constraints affecting farmers in attaining the optimal output levels. Studies by Kolavalli and Vigneri, (2003), and Vigneri, (2007) suggest that cocoa farmers in Ghana are yet to make full use of technology and modern innovations in their cultivation, so that the output is sustainable over time. Cocoa farmers make
use of intensive casual labour and this has led to a rise in the cost of man-power (labour) and may negatively affect profitability.
“Ghana’s cocoa yield has been on average 25 percent less than the average yield level of the ten largest cocoa producing nations and nearly 40 percent below the average yield level of neighboring Côte d’Ivoire” (Mohammed et al., 2011). The possible reasons attributed to the country’s low yields consist the aged cocoa trees, pests and diseases, and insufficient investments in cocoa farming coupled with the non-practice and or the strict adherence to the planting in widespread rows system (Mohammed et al., 2011).
One needs a good appreciation of the cocoa sector in Ghana and all the processes farmers go through to enable him or her conduct a study aimed at enhancing the lives of such farmers. This in a long run translates into enhancing the processes geared at increasing production output and food security of cocoa farmers.
Problem Statement
Food security has generated a lot of debate in Africa. Literature shows that the per capita food production has declined in several parts of Africa in the last two decades (FAO, 2010).
Indeed, it has been reported that while millions of people in the industrialized countries often are worried about dietary diseases which stems from excessive intake of food, ironically, double that number of people in developing countries are actually faced with hunger emerging from the lack of food on daily basis. “There are over 800 million people globally suffering from inadequate food intake; about 700 million are in the developing countries among whom over 100 million are found in the Africa” (Pinstrup-Andersen, 2009). It is reported in FAO, (2013) that, 78 percent of the total number of people suffering from inadequate food intake are living in under-developed areas of developing countries. Majority of the rural dwellers in
Ghana are crop farmers and are mostly affected by this inadequate food intake as a result of food insecurity.
“Though governments over the years have introduced various policies aimed at ensuring food security, some empirical studies claimed that food security policies have failed to address the core livelihood risk issues of inadequate nutrition, malnutrition and poverty in developing countries” (Pretty and Koohafkan, 2002, and Ruivenkamp, 2005). According to Windfuhr and Jonsén (2005), several reasons account for the lapses in the effective implementation of policies geared toward addressing food related crisis, paramount among them are that, ineffective coordination among government and non-governmental agencies tasked to see to the implementation of the policies, also the few rich or wealthy people in the society controls most of the resources in the society and food security policies rather tend to promote privatization or capitalism.
“Available statistics indicate that the economy of Ghana is doing well at the macro level in terms of human development indices making Ghana one of the fastest growing economy in the world” (GSS, 2012). That notwithstanding, this effect (increased disposable income and standard of living) is yet to drip down to the micro level since improvements in the economy are not seen and experienced by the majority at the grass-root level. Recent developments around the globe and more especially Ghana in terms of food shortages, high food prices, climate change and increasing request for land for cocoa production in the country have made it essential to examine the present food security status of households of farmers in the cocoa sector who are already trapped in poverty (Kugelman, 2012).
The Services sector is the predominant economic area of Ghana employing about 80 percent of the country’s working force currently engaged, that notwithstanding the Agriculture sector provides the highest percentage of people employed permanently (GSS, 2015). The
Agricultural sector employs about 800,000 households in cocoa farming representing 5.81 percent (COCOBOD, 2014). Cocoa is an important cash crop of the country and therefore ensuring the development of the cocoa sub-sector has significant implication on the quality of lives of key stakeholders in the sub-sector including farmers. The sector’s growth offers a possible model of leading broad-based and ripple effect of reducing poverty incidence and raising the standards of living of the people (Kuwornu et al., 2011).
Several factors affect the food security status of farmers’ households in Ghana. Lack of adequate storage facilities, lack of financial credit and pressing need for cash to pay off debt are the major factors which push cocoa farmers to sell their produce at low prices at harvest and buy at high prices during the lean periods of production (Brinkman et al., 2010).
The Ashanti Region continues to experience high rates of food insecurity due to high magnitudes of variance in the determinants of ‘food security’ in both rural and urban areas. These differences are due to the falling standards of factors such as the number of livelihood activities head of the household is engaged in and total own production of the household (Frimpong and Asuming-Brempong, 2013).
Understanding the food security status of cocoa farming households is very important since inadequate nutrition before the age of two years could result in permanent effects on an individual’s physical and mental development as well as future potential (Victora et al., 2008). Also malnourished and food insecure farmers are prone to ill health and lack the resources to respond to technological changes in agriculture. Since agriculture is the predominant economic activity in Africa, and for the matter Ghana, employing the largest proportion of the population aged 15 years and above in their main job (GSS, 2016). It therefore has significant implication for Ghana’s choice of development policy.
Cocoa is not a staple crop therefore farmers rely mostly on food crops predominantly (cassava, plantain, cocoyam and rice) for their source of food and alternative incomes for sustaining
themselves, families and farming activities. Cocoa is a perennial crop therefore at the early stages of cocoa production, there are high initial costs which are then followed by more steady yearly returns after five years that are non-linear over the life span of the cocoa trees (Nkang et al., 2007). Given the growing cycle, cocoa farmers would have to look elsewhere or consider other alternative streams of income for their livelihood awaiting the major streams of income from the output of cocoa after it has been harvested and sold which happens from September to March for the main crop and from May to August for the minor crop.
Several food security studies have been conducted in Ghana especially in the three northern Regions (Northern, Upper East & Upper West). This is because these regions recorded the highest poverty headcount that is 70.7 percent, 50.4 percent and 44.4 percent for Upper West, Northern and Upper East Regions respectively (GSS, 2015). The few studies undertaken in the Ashanti Region with regard to food security focused on patterns of consumption and the comparative analysis in urban and rural areas (Frimpong and Asuming-Brempong, 2013; Frimpong, 2013). A study is yet to be conducted which assesses the food security status of cocoa farming households and production constraints together in the Ashanti Region. Therefore, the study seeks to address the following research questions:
- What is the food security status of cocoa farming households in the Ashanti Region?
- What are the factors influencing food security status of the cocoa producing households in the Ashanti region?
- What are the food security indices of cocoa farming households in the study area?
- What are the coping strategies adopted by cocoa farming households in the study area?
- What are the constraints of cocoa production of farmers in the study area?
Objectives
The main objective of the study is to assess the food security status and production constraints of cocoa farming households in the Ashanti Region of Ghana using two districts.
To address the main objective of the study, the following specific objectives would be achieved:
- To determine the food security status of cocoa farming households in the study area.
- To estimate the determinants of food security status of the cocoa producing households.
- To estimate and compare food security indices of cocoa farming households in the region.
- To estimate and compare the index of coping strategies adopted by cocoa farming households of the two districts in the study area.
- To identify and rank the constraints of cocoa production of the cocoa farming households.
