African Forest-Fringe Farmers Benefit from Modern Farming Practices despite High Environmental Impacts

Abstract

Agricultural expansion has led to a significant loss of habitat and biodiversity in Ghana and throughout West Africa and the tropics generally. Most farmers adopt both organic and inorganic inputs to boost production, with the potential to slow agricultural expansion, but with relatively little consideration of related environmental impacts. In Ghana, where high-input modern farming is rapidly overtaking traditional organic agricultural practices, we examined five stakeholder groups in regard to their perceptions of the environmental, economic, and social costs and benefits of modern, mixed-input, and traditional farming systems. The stakeholder groups included farmers adopting different agricultural practices, as well as governmental and non-governmental natural resource managers. Our findings indicate that the overall perceived costs of modern farming, attributable to large quantities of inorganic inputs, are higher than the overall perceived benefits. Farmers are, however, still motivated to practice modern farming because of perceived higher returns on investment, regardless of environmental impacts, which they tend to discount. Traditional farmers do not use inorganic inputs and instead rely on swidden ‘slash-and-burn’ practices, resulting in declining productivity and soil fertility over time. Since traditional farmers are ultimately forced to encroach into nearby forests to maintain productivity, the perceived environmental sustainability of such farming systems is also limited. Mixed-input farming is not significantly different from modern farming with respect to its perceived environmental and economic traits, because it incorporates agro-chemicals alongside organic practices. Stakeholders’ perceptions and the apparent environmental outcomes of different farming systems suggest that reducing the use of inorganic inputs and promoting the adoption of organic inputs could minimise the negative impacts of agro-chemicals on the forest environment without necessarily compromising productivity. Campaigns to promote low-input or organic agriculture on environmental grounds in West Africa may falter if they fail to recognise farmers’ relatively favourable perceptions of the environmental implications of modern farming practices.

Seed for the Future: Agricultural Advancement and Innovation for Sustainability Food Systems in Tanza, Cavite

“…The preference could result from the control and comfort that come with human activities compared to the idea that machines are less demanding or intimate. Furthermore, it is well known that organic and chemical-free farming methods are prioritized in traditional farming systems, which is consistent with ecological sustainability principles (Acheampong et al, 2022) [1] . On the other hand, Livestock farming as part of agricultural farming is where different kinds of animals have been taken care of including pigs, cows, chickens and carabaos.…”

“…Traditional and Organic Farming: Organic farming is an environmentally friendly and sustainable agricultural practice that supports health, resource conservation, protecting the environment, and product quality improvement (Parajuli et al, 2020) [33] . However, because of their natural advantages and less harmful effects, traditional farming practices are frequently employed by farmers searching for environmentally beneficial methods (Acheampong et al, 2022) [1] . Based on these studies, both traditional and organic farming is widely used in agriculture to preserve resources, maintain the environment, and enhance output.…”

Can Farmland Transfer Reduce Fertilizer Nonpoint Source Pollution? Evidence from China

“…Firstly, the provinces were categorized into primary grain-producing areas, primary grain-marketing areas, and areas of grain balance [79]. The results are displayed in model (10), model (11), and model ( 12) in Table 6. Farmland transfer exhibits a significant pollution reduction effect in primary grain production areas.…”

“…Notably, fertilizer's marginal contribution rate is gradually declining [8]. Excessive fertilizer inputs not only escalate the economic costs of agricultural production [9] but also lead to severe fertilizer nonpoint source pollution (denoted as FNSP) [10,11], posing significant threats to food security and the sustainable development of agriculture [12][13][14]. Recognizing the gravity of fertilizer pollution, the Chinese government has issued policy documents such as the "Action Plan for Zero Growth of Fertilizer Use by 2020" to guide the reduction in fertilizer application.…”