Research On The Bilateral Agricultural Cooperation Potential Between China And Ghana Based On The "Belt And Road Initiative"

In order to assess the possibility and ensure sustainability of bilateral agricultural projects in Africa,this study analyzed the structure of the Ghanaian agricultural industry,its contribution to the national economy as well as challenges facing crop producers,especially the smallholders.The study also assessed challenges,interests and priorities of farmers and identified factors that may influence their decisions to take part in bilateral agricultural projects employing a probit regression model.Primary and secondary data were employed in this study.The primary data was gathered in Ghana in 2018 using structured questionnaires and the probit regression model while secondary data was obtained from relevant institutions.The findings showed that the Ghanaian crop production sector is largely male dominated and concentrated in the rural areas.Over 80% of rural population engaged in agriculture while only about 27% of urban dwellers engage in agriculture with about 41% of participation of women in both the rural and urban areas.Most crop cultivation is done under rain fed with the irrigation sector contributing less than 5% of total area cultivated.Farmers heavily rely on private businesses for supply of crop production inputs which is sometimes not available.Agriculture contributed about 78% and 74% of total annual income of farmers in the north and south respectively.The findings also showed that,technical and input challenges of Ghanaian farmers were ranked as: inadequate access to irrigation facilities > inadequate training on processing > inadequate access to machinery > inadequate training on modern production technology;marketing and supply challenges were ranked as: low prices of products > inadequate storage facilities > low yields > lack of effective markets > poor road infrastructure;while managerial challenges were ranked: inadequate access to credit > inadequate financial and credit management skills > inadequate record keeping skills.Hope of yield improvement,and access to machinery and irrigation facilities positively and significantly influenced farmers? decision to participate in a project(p < 0.01),while production of cash crop also showed highly significant and positive influence(p < 0.05).Number of years of farming experience and age of farmer negatively influenced farmers? decision to participate in an agricultural project(p < 0.1).Future project components in Ghana should ensure access to irrigation and machinery,training,and access to input and output markets through hire purchase agreements of small machinery and accessories,and through contract farming procedures where entrepreneurial farmers would make these services available and accessible to smallholder farmers.