Journal of
Development and Agricultural Economics

  • Abbreviation: J. Dev. Agric. Econ.
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2006-9774
  • DOI: 10.5897/JDAE
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 556

Article in Press

Tackling Expected Poverty among Maize Farmers in Northern Ghana: The Role of Weedicide Adoption

Afful Benedict

  •  Received: 30 April 2021
  •  Accepted: 16 June 2021
The study investigated the effect of weedicide adoption on households’ chances of being transiently and chronically poor, using a panel data from the three rounds of the Northern Region maize farmers’ survey undertaken in 2009, 2010 and 2011 by the Innovation for Poverty Action. A sample of 1017 households was used for this study. The ex-ante mean and variance consumption were estimated by applying the three-stage Feasible Generalized Least Squares technique, and later correlated random-effect probit was used to estimate the effect of weedicide adoption on expected poverty. The results revealed that separated head of household, higher years of education, higher dependency ratio, larger farm size, weedicide adoption, and higher farm income reduces expected poverty; whereas male headed household, older household head and larger household size increases expected poverty. To aid reduction in expected poverty among maize farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana, policy directions in the region should include subsidization of weedicide, set-up of agro-chemical shops close to the peasant farmer, and improvement in educational qualification of the farmers.

Keywords: Expected, Poverty, Weedicide, Adoption, Neoliberal, Vulnerability