Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26

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Agricultural Systems
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy

Farmers’ perceptions of the quality of extension services provided

by non-governmental organisations in two municipalities in the Central
Region of Ghana
Donus K. Buadi a, Kwabena A. Anaman b,c,⇑, Joseph A. Kwarteng d
a
Department of Agricultural Engineering, Ho Polytechnic, Ho, Ghana
b
Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research, University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana
c
Department of Environment and Geography, Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia
d
Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension, University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Since independence in 1957, the provision of major support services for farmers such as physical infra-
Received 24 July 2012 structure and research services for the agricultural sector in Ghana has been the preserve of the govern-
Received in revised form 18 April 2013 ment. However, with respect to agricultural credit, extension and marketing services, there has been a
Accepted 3 May 2013
mix of both public and private sector participation with public services declining in quantity over the
Available online 13 June 2013
period of structural adjustment programmes in the country beginning in 1983–2006. Over this 24-year
period, government involvement in extension delivery to farmers declined. Since 2007 the level of gov-
Keywords:
ernment support for the agricultural sector has increased considerably with government support for
Agricultural development
Agricultural extension services
investment in agriculture outpacing its recurrent expenditures for the sector. The decline of government
Extension delivery extension delivery led to an increased role for not-for-profit organizations such as non-governmental
Farmer-based organizations organizations (NGOs) in supporting farmers. We assessed the quality of extension services provided by
Non-governmental organizations four NGOs in two municipalities of the Central Region of Ghana: Mfantseman and Komenda–Edina–
Rural development Eguafo–Abrem (KEAA). The study was based on random sampling of farmers with the gender used as
the key attribute in the choice of the optimal random sample. Beneficiary farmers assessed six main ser-
vices provided by NGOs, namely information support, input supply, training, technology transfer, credit
and monitoring and evaluation of extension activities. Farmers generally perceived the services to be rel-
evant to their operations. However, they had mixed opinions concerning the services with respect to their
adequacy, availability and their timeliness of supply. Monitoring and evaluation of extension activities by
NGOs was generally acceptable.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction or rebased GDP figures, the share of the agricultural sector as a pro-
portion of the GDP was about 28.1% over the more recent 2008–
1.1. Background 2012 period. The industrial sector accounted for about 22.3% with
the remaining 49.6% of GDP accounted for by the services sector
For many countries in Africa, agriculture continues to be a ma- (Ghana Statistical Service, 2013).
jor source of income and livelihood for large numbers of people. Despite its relatively smaller size, the agricultural sector em-
The agricultural sector provides food and basic subsistence needs ploys about 41.6% of the economically active population aged 15
of many farmers living in the rural areas of these countries. In Gha- and over compared to the figures of 15.3% and 43.1% for the indus-
na, over the 2006–2012 period, the gross domestic product (GDP) trial and services sectors respectively (Ghana Statistical Service,
was re-measured after a rebasing exercise by the Ghana Statistical 2012, pp. 76–78). This makes the agricultural sector an important
Service (GSS) with the conclusion that the country had attained a source of employment of people and consequently poverty reduc-
lower middle income status as of 2010 measured by a real GDP tion in the country. Agriculture in Ghana is dominated by semi-
per capita of over 1300 United States dollars. Based on the revised subsistence farmers, who live mainly in rural areas and cultivate
about 1–3 ha of land using hand tools like hoes and cutlasses.
The export crop agriculture sub-sector, such as the cocoa industry,
⇑ Corresponding author at: Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research,
University of Ghana, Legon, Accra, Ghana. Tel./fax: +233 242 982547.
is largely dominated by male farmers who cultivate larger sizes of
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (D.K. Buadi), kwabenaasomanin@hot land on average between 6 and 10 ha. However, the food crop
mail.com (K.A. Anaman), [email protected] (J.A. Kwarteng). industry is largely dominated by women farmers. Rural non-export

0308-521X/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2013.05.002
 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26 21

agricultural production is characterized by inadequate extension Asuming-Brempong et al. (2006) document several factors and
delivery services, little modern capital inputs and resilient but rel- bottlenecks that reduce the effectiveness of agricultural extension
atively low yielding farming methods. The consequences of low services in Ghana.
support systems, and low quality inputs are low yields, relatively The diminution of the State in the provision of agricultural exten-
low commercial outputs and low revenues and endemically high sion services in Ghana saw the rise of the role of NGOs in the provi-
levels of poverty for food crop farmers. sion of these services especially since the era of SAPs starting in
The results of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS) 5 1983. It must be noted that the role of NGOs in agricultural extension
undertaken by the GSS in 2005/2006 showed that poverty reduc- services delivery is not new. For much of the 19th Century and the
tion had improved with about 28.5% of people living in poverty first two decades of the 20th Century, European Christian missionar-
with poverty measured as per capita expenditure below the 1.25 ies, especially the Swiss-German Basel Evangelical Church Mission-
United States dollars per day threshold. This poverty level ascer- aries, provided valuable agricultural extensions services as part of
tained from GLSS5 was significantly lower than the 38% level in their package of Christian livelihood mission activities which in-
1998/99 and the 51% level in 1991/92. Nevertheless, the GLSS 5 re- cluded spreading the message of Christianity, improved health and
sults indicated that most food crop farmers lived in poverty and education services. The expulsion of the Swiss-German Basel Mis-
poverty levels were over 80% in the three northern regions of the sionaries in 1917 by the British Colonial Authorities from Ghana
country (Ghana Statistical Service, 2008). Poverty reduction in (then Gold Coast) reduced significantly the role of Christian Mission-
Ghana achieved in 2005/2006 was largely due to improvement in aries in agricultural extension services delivery (Debrunner, 1967).
incomes of cocoa farmers due to relatively high world market co- The role of NGOs in economic and social development in Ghana
coa prices which were passed onto cocoa farmers and expanded has also been noted by a number of scholars. Frantz (1987) pointed
support services including the release of high-yielding cocoa vari- out that NGOs were usually involved in solving economic, social
eties for cocoa farmers which increased yields per hectare. Cocoa and cultural problems of a country. Asibey-Bonsu and Posamentier
farmers in Ghana were paid at least 70% of free-on-board world co- (2001) documented the growth of NGOs in the supply and financ-
coa prices from 2000 to 2011. ing of extension services in Ghana. According to Swanson and Sam-
There has been a growing awareness that sustained increases in my (2000), with the necessary support from the government, NGOs
poverty reduction in Ghana are more likely to be achieved through could be more effective in helping resource-poor farmers gain ac-
improvement in the agricultural sector especially the food crop sec- cess to resources and technologies. Services provided by NGOs in
tor (for example, refer to various Ghana Government medium term Ghana come in the form of services like agricultural information
development strategy documents such as the Ghana Poverty Reduc- support, provision of input and credit, training, technology trans-
tion Strategy, 2003–2005, Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy, fer, and monitoring and evaluation of projects related to agricul-
2006–2009 and the more recent policy statement, the Ghana Shared tural improvement. Farmers require training to enhance their
Growth and Development Agenda, 2010–2013) (Government of performance on the job (Halim and Ali, 1997) and improve their
Ghana, 2003; Government of Ghana, 2006; Government of Ghana, competency (Kwarteng, 1995).
2010). Despite this awareness, the real monetary value of support In order to improve production and overcome the drudgery that
services to farmers in Ghana had declined except for cocoa farmers. results from the use of traditional farm practices and tools, farmers
This legacy was mainly due to the structural adjustment pro- need to adopt new technologies. But local farmers generally have
grammes (SAPs) undertaken by the Government of Ghana since limited access to education and credit, and also lack information
April 1983 with the support of various international lending agen- and knowledge about a wide range of technological alternatives.
cies mainly the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Many rural farmers lack the capital to purchase inputs for expan-
SAPs became necessary in Ghana after the near collapse of the sion of their farms. Agricultural extension involves offering advice
economy over the 1979–83 period. The causes of the near collapse and sharing information (Garforth, 1997). Farmers obtain informa-
of the economy of Ghana have been documented by Anaman tion from several sources including the mass media, other farmers,
(2006). These included political instability, extremely severe extension services, training courses for decision-making. A major
droughts in 1977 and 1983 which were linked to a very severe requirement for the implementation of the recommendations of
form of the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) weather phenom- extension is inputs. Even though these must be available and
enon, and economic mismanagement of various military govern- affordable, farmers sometimes complain of their untimely delivery
ments that seized power from 1966 to 1983. and high cost. An important service that NGOs render is monitor-
A major consequence of SAPs was the general diminution of the ing and evaluation. It is critical to the effective implementation
State in the provision of social and public services including agri- of projects. It provides timely information on project progress
cultural extension services. Over the period from 1983 to 2006, and performance and gives an assessment of whether the target
the level of public agricultural support services declined with the group is getting the benefits.
services targeted at food farmers being hit severely (Anaman and In Ghana, a few published studies have been undertaken to as-
Okyere, 2012). Levels of support services for the agricultural sector sess the quality of agricultural extension activities of NGOs (for
started to increase in real terms from the beginning of the 21st example, refer to the work of Amanor and Farrington (1991)).
Century (2001) with the initial focus on cocoa farmers. Towards There is an inadequate level of published literature on the services
the end of the first decade of the 21st Century starting in 2007, of agricultural NGOs in the country; the kind of services provided,
the government started to increase sharply its investment support the approach used, and the perception of the beneficiaries of these
to the agricultural sector because of the world food crisis of 2007– services. The gap in the knowledge of agricultural extension ser-
2008 which hit the country with high food prices (Ministry of Food vices provided by NGOs in Ghana prompted this study. For exam-
and Agriculture, 2010). Despite the increased awareness of public ple, in the two municipalities that the study was conducted, there
support services for the agricultural sector, the public extension was a gap in service delivery by the public extension services
service is constrained by many factors including inadequate fi- which was filled by several NGOs; yet there is no published study
nances and manpower and poor roads to rural areas where many on the performance of these NGOs. Knowledge of the performance
farmers live. As a result many farmers have not benefitted much of agricultural NGOs could help the government and the commer-
from public extension services in terms of important information cial private sector gain valuable information to shape policies and
related to new techniques of farming, training for improved skills programmes to enhance the standard of living of rural people and
in farming and access to credit (Government of Ghana, 2010). thereby reduce poverty and improve rural livelihood.
22 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26

1.2. Objective of study research design and the survey procedures and administration
are discussed next.
The main objective of the study was to assess farmers’ percep-
tion of the quality of services provided by NGOs in agriculture in 2.2. Research design
Mfantsiman and KEEA municipalities of the Central Region, one
of the ten administrative regions of Ghana. The rest of this paper We used the descriptive correlation survey as the research de-
is organized as follows: the next section discusses the materials sign. As noted by Kerlinger (1979), this design aims to determine
and methodologies used for the study including sampling proce- the nature of a situation as it exists at the time of the investigation.
dures and a brief description of the study areas. The next section Gay (1987) suggests that descriptive research is useful for
of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the main results of the researchers to derive reliable insight into the current status of phe-
study. The discussion and implications section follow. The final nomenon related to conditions in a situation. The main purpose of
part of the paper contains the conclusions and references. a survey design is to describe the characteristics of a population. In
essence, researchers want to find out how members of a popula-
tion distribute themselves on one or two variables. As in other
2. Methods and materials studied types of research, the population as a whole is rarely studied. In-
stead, a sample of respondents is carefully selected and the infor-
2.1. Introduction mation they provide is used to describe some aspects or
characteristics of the population from which the sample is part.
The failure of the national government to provide adequate lev-
els of public extension services has led to an increased role for 2.3. Survey procedures and administration
community organizations such as NGOs and farmer-based organi-
zations (FBOs). The quality of extension services provided by the A survey of farmers and fishsmokers benefitting from services
Community and the State to support the farmer is important if provided by four NGOs working in the Mfantsiman and KEEA
the farmer is to use these services to improve the levels of his/ municipalities in the Central Region of Ghana was undertaken over
her incomes and reduce his/her poverty. Support services come the 3-month period from April to June 2007. Stratified random
in the form of direct inputs and/or information. Direct inputs when sampling procedure based on gender was used in selecting 297
combined in particular forms lead to certain output incomes. Infor- crop farmers based on the population of farmers in the two munic-
mation on the other hand involves the conversion of raw data and/ ipalities. For fishsmokers, 26 were selected based on interviewing
or unimproved information into forms that can be useful for deci- available women involved in fish smoking since the populations
sion making. In general, the value of extension services depend on of fishsmokers were not available. The survey approach involved
various quality attributes embodied in these services. direct face-to-face interviewing to elicit data and information on
A service needs to be relevant to a farmer for adoption for use farmers’ perceptions about the services provided by four NGOs.
on the farm. Once the service is relevant, the farmer desires its pro- The information requested from respondents consisted of six
vision at adequate levels if the service is available. This implies that main services provided to farmers in the form of (1) information
the service provision has to be timely, provided in enough quanti- support, (2) provision of inputs, (3) training, (4) technology trans-
ties and at times needed by the farmers. The service provider must fer, (5) supply of credit, and (6) monitoring and evaluation of activ-
also have an efficient monitoring and evaluation system to ensure ities. The quality of these services was assessed using a simple 1–5
that its services and products are actually reaching the farmers in a Likert scale of measurement. The survey data collected were ana-
timely manner and are considered to be reliable. Briefly, the qual- lysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS).
ity attributes of a service include (1) relevance of the service for the Descriptive statistics such as means and standard deviations of
operations of the farmer, (2) availability of the service for possible variables related to the perceptions of farmers concerning quality
use by the farmer, (3) the adequacy of the level of the service, (4) attributes of the services provided to farmers were computed using
timeliness in the provision of the service, and (5) efficiency in SPSS. Our study focused on five quality attributes of extension ser-
the monitoring and evaluation of the service by the provider aimed vices, namely (1) relevance, (2) availability, (3) adequacy, (4) time-
at establishing the reliability and consistency of the service. The liness, and (5) monitoring and evaluation of planned activities.
overall usefulness of a service depends on high levels of desired
quality attributes as one limiting quality attribute can render the 2.4. Brief description of study areas
value of a service of little value. It is also accepted that the percep-
tion of quality of a service may depend on the socio-economic The first municipality, Mfantsiman, has Saltpond as its capital.
characteristics of users (Anaman and Lellyett, 1996) and service Other major communities include the towns of Essakyir, Dominase,
provision may need to be tailored to different users based on their Anomabu, Mankessim, Kormantse, Abandze, Otuam, Narkwa and
socio-economic characteristics. Yamoransa. This Municipality had a population of 152,000 in
Services provided by NGOs to farmers are often underpriced or 2000 out of which 54% were females. Major crops cultivated are
are offered ‘‘free’’ (zero market prices). However these services do vegetables particularly pepper and garden eggs. Minor vegetables
have economic value to farmers as they are actually demanded and grown include okro, tomatoes and cabbage. Other crops cultivated
used. The values of these services are largely dependent on their are maize, cassava, plantain, pineapples and also citrus, oil palm,
perceived quality. The assessment of the quality of extension ser- cocoa, sugarcane and cashew. Gari processing is undertaken in
vices is best done by eliciting data and information directly from Taabosom with palm fruit processing factories based at Toboase,
farmers in order to help improve service delivery by tailoring the Odumanor and Akobima. The main NGOs operating in the area at
services to the expressed needs of farmers. This bottom-up-ap- the time of the study were the Adventist Development and Relief
proach is superior to the alternative approach whereby so-called Agency (ADRA), World Vision International (WVI) and Interna-
experts decide the types and levels of services needed by farmers. tional Association for the Advancement of Women in Africa
Thus, in our study, we used the direct elicitation of data and infor- (ASAWA).
mation of farmers to determine the quality of services provided by The second municipality, KEEA consists of four traditional areas,
NGOs in the selected municipalities. This was done through a sur- namely, Komenda, Edina, Eguafo and Abrem with Elmina as its cap-
vey of randomly-selected farmers serviced by various NGOs. The ital. It had a population of 112,435 in 2000 with a male to female
 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26 23

gender ratio of 91.6–100 (Ghana Statistical Service, 2001). About 3.1.4. CEWEFIA
86% of the total land area is arable land. Farmers in the area mainly This is also a local NGO which was initially formed in March
semi-subsistence farmers with average holding size between 2 and 1990 after the displacement of 54 fishmongers whose mud ovens
3 ha. Food crops cultivated include maize, cassava, yam, plantain, were destroyed during the rehabilitation of the station of the Gha-
cocoyam and pineapple. Other crops grown are citrus, cocoa, oil na Railway Corporation in Sekondi in the Western Region of Ghana.
palm and sugar cane. NGOs operating in the area at the time of The fishmongers mobilized into a group, resettled and obtained
the study were ADRA and Central and Western Fishmongers loans to improve upon their fish processing business. As a result
Improvement Association (CEWEFIA). of this initial success, some fishmongers in the Central Region in-
vited the Sekondi fishmongers to work with them. This was done
and both groups worked together and exchanged ideas and expe-
3. Results riences, hence the name Central and Western Fishmongers
Improvement Association of Ghana (CEWEFIA). CEWEFIA aims to
3.1. The profile of the target NGOs operating in the study areas improve the socio-economic status of rural women, children and
communities. It assists women by organising fishmongers into via-
This section gives a brief description of the four NGOs studied ble groups and co-operatives and encourages them to engage in
with respect to their origin and actual work that they undertake improved processing of fish using energy-efficient and environ-
in the study areas related to agricultural extension services. The mentally-friendly smoking technology. Other activities of this
four NGOs are ADRA, WVI, ASAWA and CEWEFIA. ADRA carried NGO deal with the promotion of savings and increasing access of
out its operations in 44 and 21 communities in the Mfantsiman women to micro-credit programmes through means such as organ-
and KEEA districts respectively. The other three NGOs operated ising capacity building workshops.
in seven and 12 communities in the Mfantsiman and KEAA districts
respectively. The details of the four NGOs are provided below. 3.2. Summary socio-economic characteristics of farmers

The summary socio-economic characteristics of respondents

3.1.1. ADRA are presented in Table 1 based on frequency analysis. Majority of
ADRA is a foreign NGO that came to Ghana in 1984 after the se- the farmers (56.0%) came from Mfantsiman Municipality which
vere drought of 1983. It is a major distributor of commodities that was the larger district. About 53.1% of the respondents were female
are used primarily for food-for-work (FFW) activities. It has pro- reflecting the gender composition of the population of the study
jects in all the 10 regions of Ghana. With FFW, it has promoted areas. About five-sixths of the farmers (83.6%) were between the
tree- planting for community woodlots and intercropping in farms. ages 30 to 59 with the 40–49 age group accounting for almost
It liaises with the Forestry Department, Ministry of Land and Nat- one-third of the sample (33.0%). Junior Secondary School/Middle
ural Resources for the production of free seedlings for community School graduates were the prominent class of respondents based
woodlots; however community members pay for the cost of trans- on the attainment of formal schooling (47.8%). Respondents with
port of the seedlings to the woodlots. Some of the activities under- no schooling constituted the second largest group based on educa-
taken by ADRA in the study areas include formation of farmer tional attainment (37.3%). Overall, the respondents were generally
groups, provision of farm inputs to farmers, for example, cutlasses, middle-age people with relatively low levels of formal education.
seeds, seedlings of cashew, cassia, citrus and fertilizers, offering
technical advice to farmers, helping farmers to acquire processing
3.3. Perceptions of relevance of services provided by NGOs
machines, helping farmers to construct cribs for storage of pro-
duce, provision of market information on prices of farm produce,
Farmers’ perceived importance of the relevance of the services
linking farmers to buyers of produce and the training of technical
rendered by NGOs is shown in Table 2. With the exception of the
men and farmers and undertaking monitoring of its activities.
provision of credit, all the other services were perceived by farmers
to have high levels of relevance for their work. The services with
3.1.2. WVI
WVI is a well-known international Christian-based relief and Table 1
development agency with branches in over 90 countries. It com- Summary of socio-economic characteristics of survey respondents based on fre-
menced operations in Ghana in 1979. The major programme areas quency analysis.
being pursued in Ghana are education, food and agriculture, health Item Percent frequency (%)
and nutrition, water and sanitation, gender development activities,
Municipality respondents lived
micro-enterprise development and Christian witness and leader- – KEAA 44.0
ship training. The food and agriculture programme area is meant – Mfantsiman 56.0
to improve the efficiency of farm production, incomes and welfare Gender
of farmers. WVI provides credit facilities and technical assistance – Female 53.1
to farmers through its extension staff. – Male 46.9
Age
– 20–29 5.7
3.1.3. ASAMA – 30–39 30.2
– 40–49 33.0
This is a local NGO which was started in Ghana in 1998 to help – 50–59 20.4
develop human resources in the rural areas with emphasis on – 60 or greater 10.7
training women in various income-generating activities. It assists Educational attainment level
women in areas including (1) fish smoking, processing and packag- – No school at all 37.3
ing, (2) gari processing, (3) mushroom cultivation, (4) pineapple – Some primary school 10.4
cultivation, and (5) palm oil processing. It has an integrated rural – Junior secondary school/middle school 47.8
– Technical college/secondary school 1.6
human resource centre at Ekumfi Eyisam in the Mfantsiman
– Some tertiary education 0.9
Municipality.
24 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26

Table 2 Table 3
Means, standard deviations (SD) and coefficients of variation (CV) of Farmers’ ranking Means, standard deviations (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of Farmers’ ranking
of the degree of the relevance of services provided by NGOs in two municipalities in of the adequacy of services provided by NGOs in two municipalities in Ghana. Source:
Ghana. Source: Survey Data, 2007. Survey Data, 2007.

Service N Means SD CV Service N Means SD CV

Agric information 242 4.02 0.92 0.23 Agric information 240 3.26 1.1 0.34
Inputs in general 237 3.97 0.79 0.2 Inputs in general 243 3.00 1.01 0.34
Technology transfer 196 3.87 0.94 0.24 Technology transfer 307 2.97 0.93 0.31
Training 295 3.63 0.95 0.26 Training 197 2.91 1.17 0.4
Credit 73 2.88 0.87 0.3 Credit 73 2.34 0.77 0.33
Overall mean – 3.67 0.8 0.22 Overall mean – 2.91 0.88 0.3

Notes: (1) N denotes the total number of valid responses. (2) The Likert scale used Notes: (1) N denotes the total number of valid responses. (2) The Likert scale used
for this assessment is as follows: 1 = not relevant, 2 = lowly relevant, 3 = relevant, for this assessment is as follows: 1 = not adequate, 2 = lowly adequate, 3 = ade-
4 = very relevant, 5 = relevant is excellent. quate, 4 = very adequate, 5 = adequacy is excellent.

Table 4
Means, standard deviations (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of Farmers’ ranking
the highest relevance ranking in order of importance were agricul-
of the availability of specific inputs for crop production in two municipalities in
tural information, inputs supply, technology transfer and training. Ghana. Source: Survey Data, 2007.
This finding corroborates the work of Orhin (2003) undertaken in
the Central Region of Ghana which reported that farmers rated Inputs N Means SD CV

agricultural information as very relevant based on the same Likert Seeds/planting materials 290 2.72 1.29 0.47
scoring scale index used in our study. The overall mean for rele- Seedlings 291 2.39 1.41 0.59
Hand tools 294 2.16 1.32 0.61
vance of services in our study was 3.67 with standard deviation Fertilisers/manures 290 1.94 1.2 0.62
of 0.80 and a coefficient of variation (CV) of 0.22. The CV is ob- Other agro-chemicals 291 1.69 1.12 0.66
tained by the standard deviation divided by the mean. The mean Processing plants 291 1.36 0.84 0.62
value of 3.67 indicated that the services were perceived by farmers Tillage equipment 293 1.22 0.73 0.6
Storage/preservation facilities 286 1.22 0.54 0.44
to be relevant to their activities. The relatively low CV suggested
Market facility 279 1.21 0.58 0.48
that the farmers had common agreement with respect to the rele- Overall mean – 1.78 0.73 0.41
vance of NGO services for their operations.
Notes: (1) N denotes the total number of valid responses. (2) The Likert scale used
for this assessment is as follows: 1 = not available, 2 = Barely available, 3 = available,
4 = readily available.
3.4. Adequacy of Services Provided by NGOs

Table 3 shows the means and standard deviations of the degree 3.5. Timeliness of services provided to farmers
of adequacy of various services rendered by NGOs in the two
municipalities. The mean values ranged from 2.34 to 3.26 with As indicated earlier, the timeliness of the provision of service is
the overall mean average of 2.91 which connoted a degree that crucial in the successful execution of farm activities and the overall
could be described as barely adequate. The farmers rated agricul- efficiency of farm production. With regards to the timeliness of the
tural information as the service with the highest level of adequacy provision of inputs by NGOs, the majority of the respondents
with a mean score of 3.26 and standard deviation of 1.10. This (86.1%) indicated that the inputs were provided on time by the ser-
ranking of importance was followed by supply of inputs (mean of vice providers. The timely supply of inputs is particularly impor-
3.00), training (mean of 2.97) and technology transfer (mean of tant for seasonal activities such as agriculture. Crop production
2.91). The supply of credit was ranked last with a level that could in Ghana is generally rain-fed. Farmers therefore wish to carry
be considered to be fair but not adequate. The result on adequacy is out land preparation and planting on schedule so that their crops
also consistent with the work of Orhin (2003) where farmers per- can take advantage of the rains. Inputs for other cultural practices
ceived farm inputs and agricultural information to be adequate but during farming season must be available on time if a good harvest
with rating for credit (cash) considered barely adequate with mean is to be assured. Delays in the supply of inputs could have negative
of 2.34. Our finding also corroborated the result established by Na- consequences on the farm. With respect to the timely provision of
bare (2007) that the loan size for farmers was insufficient to in- available credit, the majority (83.0%) of the farmers indicated that
crease their capital base. The farmers in our study indicated that credit provision was timely as against 17% of farmers who said it
most of their raw materials were expensive and they therefore re- was not timely.
quired adequate funds to develop their enterprises.
Following the presentation of results on adequacy of services
including inputs supply in general, Table 4 shows the degree of 3.6. Efficiency of the monitoring and evaluation of extension activities
availability of specific inputs used in production as perceived by
the participating crop farmers. The results show that only seeds/ Table 5 also shows the means and standard deviations of farm-
planting materials and hand tools were highly available. The other ers’ opinions on the extent to which the NGOs carried out their
inputs were barely available or not available. These other inputs in- monitoring and evaluation activities. Monitoring and evaluation
cluded fertilizers/manure, agro-chemicals, tillage equipment, stor- activities are essential to establish the overall reliability of a ser-
age and preservation facilities and market facilities. For vice. The various activities are arranged in descending order of
fishsmokers or fishmongers, market facilities and storage/preser- means of responses. As shown in Table 5, overall respondents per-
vation facilities were deemed to be easily available. However, they ceived the extent of monitoring and evaluation to be between
indicated that fuel wood, packaging materials, ovens, trays and average and high quality based on the overall mean score of 3.39
water containers were not easily available. The results shown in with a standard deviation of 0.34 and overall low average CV of
Tables 3 and 4 suggest that farmers’ perceptions of adequacy of in- 0.10. In fact for all the 18 activities being assessed, except for the
puts were related to availability of inputs supplied by the NGOs. processing of produce, respondents considered the efficiency of
 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26 25

Table 5 achieve desired societal outcomes, other alternatives are explored

Means, standard deviations (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV) of Farmers’ ranking by society through the institutions of the Community and the State
of the quality of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of extension activities undertaken
by NGOs in the two municipalities in Ghana. Source: Survey Data, 2007.
(Hayami, 2009).
The failure of the individual farmer to generate adequate
M&E activity N Means SD CV amounts of income may lead to interventions by the Community
Ensure correct spacing 151 4.08 0.91 0.22 and/or the State to reduce levels of poverty and human degrada-
Ensure early planting 151 3.9 1.04 0.27 tion. The Community represents non-State actors which operate
Ensure farmer get info. regularly 158 3.78 1.06 0.28
Ensure timely weed control 147 3.75 0.96 0.26
in a society and are often voluntary associations such as FBOs
Ensure good land preparation 150 3.74 0.94 0.25 and NGOs, and semi-voluntary structures linked through blood ties
Ensure collection of yield data 93 3.49 0.79 0.23 such as extended families, clan lineages and traditional chieftaincy
Ensure fertilizer/manure application 104 3.46 0.84 0.24 institutions. Community organizations may extend assistance to
Ensure adequacy of inputs 239 3.36 0.89 0.26
individual farmers on a reciprocal basis or through some form of
Ensure inputs arrive on time 241 3.32 0.92 0.28
Ensure training objectives are achieved 169 3.31 1.00 0.3 moral obligation. At the other hand is the State or government
Ensure storage and preservation 106 3.27 1.32 0.4 which possesses coercive taxation powers that allows it to gener-
Ensure disease control 97 3.27 0.92 0.28 ate and raise funds for general development of a country as part
Ensure credit recovery 236 3.12 0.87 0.28 of its core functions. Thus a government may provide agricultural
Ensure availability of market facilities 104 3.12 1.13 0.36
extension services as ‘‘free’’ or ‘‘subsidized’’ services to correct
Ensure pest control 103 3.1 0.89 0.29
Ensure credit is used for right purpose 226 3.04 0.86 0.28 the market failure exhibited by individual farmers exemplified by
Ensure timely credit delivery 234 3.00 0.96 0.32 less than desired levels of production and incomes necessary to
Ensure processing of produce 99 2.93 0.85 0.29 eliminate extreme poverty.
Overall mean – 3.39 0.34 0.1
Our study analyses the contribution of four NGOs, which are
Notes: (1) N denotes the total number of valid responses. (2) The Likert scale used essentially community organizations, in correcting the market fail-
for this assessment is as follows: 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = average, 4 = high, ure arising from inadequate availability and supply of agricultural
5 = excellent.
extension services to farmers in the two municipalities in Ghana
and essentially deals with the second and fourth types of capital
described above. Despite the geographical limitation of the study,
monitoring and evaluation was at least of average quality. The five the results are applicable to other parts of Ghana and other devel-
top highly-ranked activities (with average score of at least 3.75) oping countries. We show that farmers’ perceptions of adequacy of
were (1) ensuring correct spacing, (2) ensuring early planting, (3) inputs are related to availability of inputs supplied by the NGOs.
ensuring that farmers get information regularly, (4) ensuring This implies that NGOs need to expand their service provision of
timely weed control, and (5) ensuring good land preparation. In a inputs to include more inputs needed by farmers. In order to im-
summary, monitoring and evaluation activities were generally per- prove availability, we suggest that the NGOs could supply inputs
ceived to be of reasonably good quality. directly to farmers where feasible and/or advise input agencies of
the actual supply situation in the field and anticipated demand
4. Discussion and implications and thereby co-ordinate supply with the needs of farmers. This
would ensure more ready availability of inputs to farmers.
From a human system perspective, the small scale farmer, the One area of concern that needs to be addressed is the delivery of
subject of this study, operates in an economic and social environ- expanded credit to farmers. Our study established that the level of
ment that also provides legal and cultural rules for his/her opera- credit made available to farmers was inadequate and this inade-
tions. This farmer combines his/her labour with capital to quacy seemed to affect the operations of the farmers. Related to ac-
produce farm goods and services for subsistence use with the sur- cess to credit is the linkage to the access to micro-insurance
plus sold in available markets generating cash income (Anaman, services for farmers. We suggest that NGOs should expand their
1988). Labour on the farm can be supplied by the farmer or pur- linkages and partnership work with local financial institutions to
chased from available labour markets. Capital inputs used by the increase cash credit support to farmers to enable them to purchase
farmer can be categorized into six main types as follows: (1) phys- required inputs and undertake various cultural practices in antici-
ical capital such as seeds and equipment, (2) financial capital such pation of better returns and incomes. According to Iheduru (2002),
as farmer’s own cash or borrowed monies including credit from timelines of loan disbursement is crucial when loans are being
financial institutions, (3) human capital through means such as used for seasonal activities such as agriculture. Farmers who ben-
health and educational improvement of the farmer, (4) information efit from timely delivery of loans can undertake their activities
and improved knowledge, (5) environmental capital through im- when they wish to and this may enhance the prospects of repay-
proved environmental support system, and (6) social capital that ments. Our study shows that for the credit delivery, timeliness
defines the institutional networks and organizations that support was generally adequate though it could still be improved.
the work of the farmer, for example, FBOs or cooperatives. It is important to note that despite the proliferation of NGO
The six forms of capital are not used as mutually exclusive in- activities in agricultural extension delivery in Ghana and in other
puts as they can be complementary inputs. For example, informa- developing countries, public agricultural extension services remain
tion and improved knowledge can be complementary with the important and are not likely to be replaced entirely. Therefore a
other five types of capital. Inadequate amounts of the six capital policy implication arising from the study is the need to replicate
forms and/or labour markets lead to the inability of the farmer to the quality of monitoring and evaluation of extension activities
produce adequate amounts of goods and services and income de- achieved by NGOs in the two municipalities of the Central Region
spite abundance of labour. Economists call this phenomenon mar- to the public agricultural extension services in the Central Region
ket failure which means that the free market, where everyone is and other parts of Ghana. Farmers in the study areas were gener-
left to fend for himself or herself, does not achieve the outcomes ally content with the monitoring and evaluation of planned exten-
desired by society in general. Market failure is illustrated by the sion activities of the NGOs. Our finding that the quality of
farmer inability to generate adequate amounts of income to sup- monitoring and evaluation by NGOs was effective in the two dis-
port himself/herself and family, and unless corrected can lead to tricts suggests that measures used to achieve this effectiveness in
persistent poverty and human degradation. When markets fail to monitoring and evaluation by NGOs could be examined by public
26 D.K. Buadi et al. / Agricultural Systems 120 (2013) 20–26

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