The rearing of small ruminants plays a major role in the farming system of the people of the Tolon-Kumbungu District of the Northern Region of Ghana. Small ruminant production is a major source of livelihood to over 70% of the inhabitants of the District. However, poor husbandry practices have often served as a major constraint to achieving production and productivity increases. This implies that small ruminant farmers need to adopt innovations in order to promote and sustain small ruminant production. This paper assesses the extent to which innovations introduced to the farmers in the study area are adopted, especially the role of farmer socio-economic characteristics in influencing the innovations adoption levels of small ruminants. A total of 120 small ruminant farmers were selected for the study using simple random sampling, and questionnaires and personal observations employed for the data collection. Twelve communities were randomly selected from four Ministry of Food and Agriculture operational zones. Data were analyzed using SPSS computer software package and descriptive statistics computed based on the data. Cross tabulation and other test statistics were used to determine the relationship between adoption levels and the variables studied. The findings show that, socio-economic characteristics such as extension contacts and credit access showed significance with respect to adoption of most of the innovations. Therefore, if adoption level is to be enhanced, attention should be focused more on training of more agriculture extension agents (AEAs) to increase their number in the area, as well as making affordable credit available and accessible to the farmers to expand their farms.

This study principally assessed the impact of fertilizer subsidy programme on maize income in the Northern Region. Sample sizes of 400 respondents were interviewed using questionnaires. Secondary data was also collected for the study and the results analyzed. Simple random sampling techniques was used in selecting respondents. The data was analyzed using appropriate descriptive statistics and Propensity Score Matching (PSM). The study revealed that majority of smallholder participated in the fertilizer subsidy programme. High level of participation in the fertilizer subsidy programme among smallholder farmers can be partly due to high poverty level in Northern region of Ghana. In establishing the relationship between smallholder farmers' participation in fertilizer subsidy programme and maize income. The propensity scores matching results revealed a significant effect between smallholder farmers' participation in the fertilizer subsidy programme and maize income of participants. The study calls for more investment and expansion of the subsidy Programme to other agricultural inputs such as improve seed, pesticides and insecticides as the subsidy have the ability of increasing smallholder income levels.

Low technology adoption continues to affect the production of maize in Ghana, including the Yendi municipality, which is one of the high maize producing areas. The study examined the factors influencing the adoption of improved maize farming technologies in the Yendi municipality. Data was collected from 154 randomly selected maize farmers using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. Descriptive statistics and Poisson Regression Model were used to analyze the demographic characteristics of maize farmers as well as the socioeconomic factors influencing the adoption of improved maize farming technologies. The study revealed that 59% of the maize farmers had no contact with agricultural extension agents, which could negatively affect adoption of improved maize farming technologies. The Poisson regression analysis showed that education, farm size, credit and extension contact significantly influenced the adoption of improved maize farming technologies in the area. Maize farmers therefore need to be adequately trained on the technologies to understand their full benefits to enable them adopt them fully. The study recommends that Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) together with Development Partners (DPs) should facilitate farmers’ access to credit and provide more logistics to facilitate access to extension services.

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