Background
Ghana’s agriculture sector has contributed significantly to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) over the past decades even though there has been persistent decline of about 12.8% in the last 7 years. It decreased from 31.8% in 2009 to merely 19% as of September 2015, a period of 7 years. In spite of these trends, sustainable agriculture has been observed to be a game changer in agricultural development and growth globally. Sustainable agriculture is partly dependent on the attitude of the present agriculture students who represent the potential officers to impart sustainable agriculture knowledge to farmers. It is therefore relevant to assess the perception of students toward the concept of sustainable agriculture on climate change to inform policy decisions and interventions.
Methods
To assess the perception of students’ toward sustainable agriculture, this study sampled 120 final year undergraduate students’ in the School of Agriculture at the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. The study used a well-structured questionnaire to solicit students’ perception for sustainable agriculture, its’ adoption barriers and perceived strategies to address the barriers in Ghana.
Results
Findings indicated that students’ perception for sustainable agriculture is positive. Majority of the students (78.00%) were of the view that sustainable agricultural practices would help protect the environment and our natural resources, therefore could mitigate adverse effects of climate change on agricultural activities.
Conclusions
Students ranked perceived barriers to sustainable agriculture adoption as; economic costs, lack of knowledge and land tenure constraints. Strategic ways to address the barriers were identified as farmer-to-farmer education, provision of financial incentives, developing training and partnership programs, and participatory learning.
This study assessed the factors which influenced households' choice of waste disposal methods using cross-sectional data of 547 households from seven districts in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana. Indiscriminate dumping of solid wastes in open spaces by households was the pivotal method of disposal of solid wastes that was analysed using economic theories related to consumption behaviour. We established that large household sizes were associated with increased likelihood of open dumping of solid wastes. Increased likelihood of open dumping of solid wastes by households was also linked to the lack of formal education or schooling of the household head, the availability of electricity inside the premises of the house, which encouraged production activities within the household, and open defecation. Urban households were less likely to engage in open dumping of solid wastes as compared to rural households. The other factors that reduced the likelihood of open dumping of solid wastes were generally in the area of quality of ABOUT THE AUTHORS Theophilus Tweneboah Kodua holds a Bachelor's degree in Development Studies (Economics & Entrepre. option) from University for Development Studies, Ghana and a Master's degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Ghana. He is currently pursuing a PhD degree in Agricultural Economics and Policy at the College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana. His research interests include rural and agricultural development, production, resource and environmental economics and agricultural trade and market access.
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