Shashidhara Kolavalli

Mechanization in Ghana: Searching for sustainable service supply models:

This paper assesses the sustainability of the current supply network for mechanization, given government policy. Stylized models of mechanization supply are developed based on experience in Bangladesh, China, and India during similar stages of agricultural transformation. Ghana’s supply network is then analyzed in light of key lessons from the Asian experience. The analysis focuses on two policy issues: (1) whether the current model promoted by the government has left enough room for the private sector to develop the supply chain, including machinery imports and trade, and (2) whether this model can better link smallholders’ demand for mechanized services to its supply, such that supply can further induce demand and mechanization can broaden its role in agricultural transformation.

Dynamics of Transformation: Insights from an Exploratory Review of Rice Farming in the Kpong Irrigation Project

Agriculture in African South of the Sahara (SSA) can be transformed if the right public support is provided at the initial stage, and it can sustain itself once the enabling environment is put in place. Successes are also specific to the location of projects. In Ghana, interesting insights are obtained from the successful Kpong Irrigation Project (KIP), contrasted with other major irrigation projects in the country. Through an exploratory review, we describe how a productive system evolved in KIP and how public support for critical aspects (accumulation of crop husbandry knowledge, selection and supply of profitable varieties, and mechanization of land preparation) might have created a productive environment that the private sector could enter and fill in the market for credit, processing, mechanization of harvesting, and other institutional voids that typically have constrained agricultural transformation in the rest of SSA.

Agricultural mechanization in Ghana: Is specialization in agricultural mechanization a viable business model?

The Government of Ghana (GoG) since 2007 has been providing subsidized agricultural machines to individual farmers and private enterprises established as specialized Agricultural Mechanization Services Enterprise Centers (AMSECs) to offer tractor-hire services to small-scale farmers across the country. Current demand in the country is primarily focused on land preparation services, especially plowing. This paper assesses whether AMSEC enterprises are a viable business model attractive to private investors. Using firm investment theory and field-based data on costs, revenues, and tractor efficiency, this research examines the profitability of specialized agricultural mechanization service provision with a focus on land preparation. Findings suggest that the AMSEC model is not a viable business model, even with the current level of subsidy. Low operational scale is the most important constraint to the profitability of investment in specialized agricultural mechanization service provision. With such a low operational scale, it is essential to consider various options for introducing low-cost, small tractors suited to the current farming scale in the country. Also, a used tractor model is one of the options available for policymakers in the country. Tractor-hire services can play an important role in transforming smallholder agriculture, but with heavy subsidies on big and costly tractors, the subsidy policy can distort supply chain development. As a result, many better-suited and lower-cost machines are unlikely to be introduced into local markets.

The Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Program as a Collective Institution

A number of factors favor a collective strategy for African countries to build their reputation regarding improved governance and commitment to agriculture. These include negative spillover effects of poor governance (for example, obstacles to developing regional markets), improved bargaining power of African governments vis-A -vis the donor community, long-standing political efforts to build a positive African identity, and a donor interest in reducing transaction costs by interacting with African countries though regional organizations rather than individually. While realizing these potentials, the CAADP effort to build collective rather than individual reputation involves the classical free-rider problem of collective action: Countries may not honor their commitments after having received increased aid—a strategy that will harm all member countries since it undermines the collective reputation. Since CAADP involves a collective commitment by the donor community as well, donors face similar problems of collective action. They, too, may fail to honor their commitments or revert to individual rather than harmonized approaches to support African agriculture. The paper discusses the strategies that CAADP can use to overcome these collective action challenges.

Changes in Ghanaian Farming Systems: Stagnation or a Quiet Transformation?

This research was designed to understand better the patterns of agricultural intensification and transformation occurring in Africa South of the Sahara using the Ghanaian case. The paper examines changes in farming systems and the role of various endogenous and exogenous factors in driving the conversion of arable lands to agricultural uses in four villages within two agroecologically distinct zones of Ghana: the Guinea Savannah and Transition zones. Using essentially historical narratives and land-cover maps supplemented with quantitative data at regional levels, the research shows that farming has intensified in the villages, while farmers have increased their farm size in response to factors such as population growth, market access, and changing rural lifestyle. The overall trend suggests a gradual move toward intensification through increasing use of labor-saving technologies rather than land-saving inputs—a pattern that contrasts with Asia’s path to its Green Revolution. The findings in this paper provide evidence of the dynamism occurring in African farming systems; hence, they point toward a departure from stagnation narratives that have come to prevail in the debate on agricultural transformation and intensification in Africa South of the Sahara. We conclude that it is essential for future research to expand the scope of this work, while policies should focus on lessons that can be learned from these historical processes of genuine change.

Strengthening Capacity for Agribusiness Development and Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

In sub-Saharan Africa, agribusiness has a major role to play in the transformation of the agricultural sector. The demand for high-value food products is increasing, creating an opportunity for the production and export of these goods. To capture the benefits of this trend and capitalize on this for long-term agricultural growth, the capacity for agribusiness must be strengthened at all levels. To effectively build the necessary capacities, the skills built by agribusiness education and training must correspond to the needs of the agribusiness sector. This article examines what capacities are needed for agribusiness development and management in sub-Saharan Africa at the individual, organization, and policy process levels. By reviewing the current agribusiness education offerings, this article identifies capacity gaps that must be filled for agribusiness development and wider agricultural transformation.

Understanding food policy change in Ghana

Evidence-based policy-making has become a critical aspect of development strategy in developing countries. Yet the assumption that policymakers will automatically use available evidence may not be valid in all contexts. To influence positive policy change requires an understanding of the unique policy process and drivers of policy change in the context of a particular country and sector. Strengthening the capacity of key agricultural policy stakeholders can facilitate evidence-informed policy-making. This article documents an approach to strengthening the capacity of parliamentarians in Ghana. It attempts to measure to what extent such investments could lead to informed policy-making to promote poverty reduction. Lessons are drawn from a group of Ghanaian parliamentarians following an exposure and learning visit to India.