Seedling production and choice among cashew farmers in Ghana: a profitability analysis

Abstract

PurposeThe unavailability and inadequate use of cashew seedlings for propagation are part of the challenges facing the cashew sub-sector in Ghana. However, promoting investment into cashew seedling production should be based on the analysis of the profitability and viability of such a venture as well as the respective determinants of farmers' demand for the planting material.Design/methodology/approachThis study used gross margin/contribution, net margin and contribution ratios to analyse the profitability of cashew seedling production under four different business models. Also, the determinants of choice of planting material for cashew plantation among farmers was analysed via a multinomial probit regression.FindingsThe study revealed that cashew seedling production is profitable with a gross margin of $8,474, $2,242, $1,616 and $1,797 and contribution to sales of 31–53% for the various business models. The positive determinants of the use of cashew seedlings were off-farm job participation and extension contact, whereas farm size and age of plantation negatively influenced the use of seedlings. Land acquisition method also influenced the use of both seedlings and seeds negatively.Practical implicationsThe findings provide empirical evidence of the viability and profitability of cashew seedling production as a viable business venture and off-farm opportunity in rural areas. The information from the study will help major stakeholders in cashew production to understand the type of farmers who use seeds and seedlings as well as the reasons for using or otherwise.Originality/valueSignificant research in the cashew value chain had focussed on the profitability of cashew plantation with little literature on profitability and viability analysis of cashew seedling production. Similarly, this study provides a significant value chain job opportunity as well as literature on the choice of cashew seedlings among current and prospective end-users.

Forestry insurance preference among tree growers in the Ashanti Region of Ghana: a tobit and multi-nomial regression approach

“…Adding the three (3) probabilities given in Eqs ( 5)-( 7) will give a value of 1, as it should, in the study, have three mutually exclusive choices. Albeit according to Bannor et al (2020), the MLM assumes the independence of irrelevance assumption (IIA), our data appear not to have violated the IIA (i.e. choices were independent of other alternatives).…”

Land tenure system and harvesting time’s influence on the marketing behaviour of cashew farmers in the Bono Region of Ghana

“…Tain District was selected for this study because of the upsurge in the production and marketing of cashew, which threatens the land tenure regime and food security in the District. The upsurge is because it shares borders with well-known cashew-growing areas ( Ghana Statistical Service, 2014 ), such as Jaman North and South and Wenchi Municipal ( Bannor et al., 2019 , 2020 ). Lessons emanating from this could guide land tenure policy and practice in other cashew emerging areas in Africa and, in particular, Ghana (for instance, the Volta Region).…”

An analysis of the effect of fall armyworm on the food security status of maize-producing households in Ghana

“…The detailed unit cost with their respective items and activities are presented in Table 4. Following Bannor et al (2020), GM was modeled by finding the differences between total revenue (TR) and total variable cost (TVC). The empirical model is stated as follows:…”

“…Thus, GM is essential in this instance because it reveals if the sales from the maize production under FAW and non-FAW situations are sufficient to cover production costs. As a result, it is widely used for annual crops production's investment appraisal (Bannor et al, 2020 andDemir andGozubuyuk, 2020).…”