Agric mechanisation still low - Agric census

The 2017 / 2018 Ghana Census of Agriculture (GCA), has exposed the lack of commitment by governments to actualise their pledge to mechanise the agriculture sector in the country to improve yields.

For instance, the study revealed a low mechanised agriculture practice as the use of modern equipment such as tractors, shellers and meat processing equipment were lacking.

It emerged that only few smallholder farmers used tractors while an insignificant proportion owned the tractors.

The report showed that traditional methods of farming were predominantly practised in the country compared to modern methods, with most farmers depending on rain for cropping.

Also, the use of fertiliser was relatively low compared to pesticide, especially among tree crop farmers.

Consequently, knapsack sprayer and mist blower were tools mostly used by holders because majority of holders used pesticides.

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Shocking revelation                                                                                                                                         

“Most holders use agricultural equipment that they do not own. Majority of holders use knapsack (73.0 per cent). Other equipment mostly used by holders include tractor (24.7 per cent) and mist blower (22.0 per cent),” the report said.

“About 10 times as many smallholders use their own animal traction. Substantially, a high number of smallholders use tractors (534,190) compared to the number who own tractors (7,454),” the report said.

In terms of sex-disaggregated data, generally, higher proportions of males than females owned and used agricultural equipment. The proportion of male smallholders who owned knapsack was more than twice as high (38.1 per cent) compared to females (15.2 per cent).

Again, the proportion of male smallholders who used tractor, knapsack and mist blower were higher than their female counterparts by 11.1, 5.5 and 3.3 percentage points respectively. This general pattern is also observed in both urban and rural areas.


Livestock equipment

According to the study,equipment was hardly used by livestock holders and that of the four main equipment associated with livestock rearing, meat processing equipment was found to be mostly owned or used by holders.

Only 1.3 per cent of livestock holders used meat processing equipment and less than one per cent of the holders used other livestock equipment.

Relatively higher proportions of holders in urban areas compared to those in rural areas used livestock equipment. Ownership of equipment followed a similar pattern.

Also, more male livestock holders owned or used livestock equipment than their female counterparts.


Recommendation

The report recommends that as a measure to enhance production efficiency and yield in agriculture, agricultural mechanisation and modernisation is key for sustainable food security and industrial growth.

It outlines some features of agriculture in Ghana—limited ownership and use of modern equipment, over reliance on rain, preponderance of small-scale farming, and farming on land without security of tenure as militating against its advancement.

Consequently, the report said there was the need to establish mechanisation centres in all major agricultural areas to ensure access to different equipment along the value chain; ensure effective implementation of the yield improvement programme; and reinvigorate extension services and promote appropriate and affordable and modern irrigation technologies.


Methodology

The 2017/18 Ghana Census of Agriculture (GCA), which is the fourth to be carried out in the country after 1950, 1970 and 1984/85, was a collaboration between the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.

Unlike the previous censuses, the current one under review, was an electronic census that deployed tablets and the Computer Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) technique to collect nationwide information on households and institutions engaged in agricultural activities.

The data collection consisted of two broad phases. Phase One- the Listing Phase -entailed listing of all structures to identify all agricultural households and institutions. Phase Two consisted of the administration of the core and community modules, and the collection of data on all agricultural households and institutions identified in Phase One.