Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyze determinants of farmers’ participation and credit rationing in microcredit programs using survey data from Ghana.Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the Garrett Ranking Technique to analyze farmers’ reasons for participation or non-participation in credit programs, a probit regression model to estimate factors influencing farm households’ participation, and the Heckman’s sample selection model to identify factors influencing farm households’ probability of being credit rationed by microcredit programs.Findings: The results reveal that farm households participate in credit programs because of improved access to savings services and agricultural loans. Fear of loan default and lack of savings are reasons for non-participation in credit programs. Furthermore, membership in farmer-based organizations (FBOs) and the household head’s formal education are positively associated with farmers’ participation in credit programs. The likelihood of farmers being credit rationed (i.e. their loan applications were either rejected or the amount of credit they applied for was reduced) is less likely among higher income farmers and members of FBOs such as farmer cooperatives and savings clubs.Practical implications: The findings suggest that policy strategies aiming to improve access to savings and credit services should educate farmers and strengthen FBOs that could serve as entry points for financial service providers. Such market smart strategies have the potential to improve farmers’ access to financial services and reduce rural poverty.Originality/value: Although existing studies have examined farmers’ participation in credit markets and credit rationing separately, the unique contribution of this paper is the analysis of participation in microcredit programs as well as the likelihood of farmers being credit rationed in Ghana.

Modern productivity-enhancing strategies (MPES) are considered to be some of the best adaptation options available to communities in the face of changing climatic conditions. The adaptive capacity of communities living around two protected areas (Kogyae Strict Nature Reserve and Muni-Pomadze Ramsar Site) in Ghana were assessed in relation to MPES by investigating household accessibility to human, social, natural, financial and physical capital. Information was collected from 249 and 250 respondents in Kogyae and Muni respectively. A logit model was used to find out whether adaptive capacity affected adoption of MPES. In both study areas, indigenous coping strategies such as use of simple farm tools, processing of root/tubers and grains and social grouping were practiced. The MPES practiced included application of fertilizers and other agrochemicals, use of high technology machinery and bunding in rice fields. The mean level of adaptive capacity of farm households was low in both areas; 0.30 and 0.27 in Kogyae and Muni respectively. The adoption of MPES was influenced positively by the level of human and physical capacities and farm size and location of protected area, and negatively by farmers’ participation in off-farm activities. Farmers located in Kogyae were more likely to adopt productivity-enhancing strategies than their counterparts in Muni. Considering that access to the resources within the protected areas is restricted and not legally available to support livelihoods of the fringe communities, we conclude that enhancing access to both human and physical capitals is the way forward for climate change adaptation for these two communities.

As conflict, climate shocks, and land/water degradation—the “triple challenge”—continue to exert increasing pressure upon fishing and farming livelihoods in many developing countries, a need exists to better understand how differential vulnerabilities undermine or amplify food security outcomes. In this study, we investigate how vulnerability to the “triple challenge” affect food security using an in-depth case study approach that merges social statistics and quantitative data analysis. We frame vulnerability using a combination of sensitivity, exposure, and adaptive capacity, and operationalize food security using the FAO Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), which is an experience-based measure capturing the food access dimension of food security. We draw on survey data from 252 fishing and 251 farming households in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria and quantify the different components of vulnerability, deriving specific livelihood-related vulnerability scores. By merging and analyzing differential food security variables and vulnerability scores using ordered logistic models, we find that vulnerability to the “triple challenge” increases the probability of being in a severe food insecure state, particularly for households with a high dependency ratio. Parallel to this finding, we note that access to social capital and opportunities for livelihood diversification could drive gains in income, enhancing the capacity of households to attain a food-secure status in the face of recurrent instabilities. This study advances vulnerability literacy in food-insecure contexts and reveals ways to support populations on the frontline of interacting conflict, climate, and environmental crises.

In a context of more involvement of the private sector in the provision of agricultural extension services as policy option in Burkina Faso, and since policy evidence is needed to better inform policy makers; a study was conducted to assess the perception of farmers under private and public extension systems about the quality of their services. Four services were assessed: facilitation of access to credit, facilitation of input provision, technical support and facilitation of access to market. Two groups of farmers were selected in the South Central Region of Burkina Faso; the groups included 136 farmers who received services from the public extension system; and 135 farmers selected from three localities covered by private extension services. A Likert scale was used to collect data on farmers’ perceptions and analysed with descriptive statistics. It was found that both two groups of farmers were satisfied with the quality of services provided. However, farmers under private extension system rated the quality of services they received better than farmers under public extension did. Therefore, government can promote private participation in extension delivery by creating a good business environment for the private systems to operate.

The importance of climate information services (CIS) for farm decision-making is known worldwide. Its use is widely recommended by academics, governments, and development partners, especially in Africa. However, the supply of commercial CIS in Africa remains very low. Considering that the commercial CIS suppliers are business-oriented, the lack of supply is mainly due to the lack of evidence on the demand for it. The specific objectives of the review were to assess the demand for CIS, the key characteristics of the demanded CIS. and the key drivers for the demand for CIS in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Through a systematic review, 123 articles were identified on the SCOPUS and Google Scholar databases and 52 papers were included in the study. The models of assessment done by the majority of authors were a simple description based on needs assessments and econometrics modelling to identify the key drivers. The results show that 68% of the farmers in ECOWAS demanded CIS. The average willingness to pay for CIS is estimated to be USD 2.01 for daily forecasts. The usability of CIS, daily forecasts and geolocalized CIS, and customized CIS are the key characteristics farmers are looking for in the ECOWAS region. The main drivers of CIS demand are price, income, vulnerability to climate variability, beliefs and religion, complementary services, gender, type of crops, and farm size. According to the consumer theory, information such as elasticity of price and income, ranked substitutes of CIS, which are still lacking, are key for understanding the CIS demand. However, the review showed that little research work has been conducted in this area. The review also shows the importance of determining among which type of goods CIS should be classified. Knowing whether CIS is a necessity good is vital for suppliers’ decision-making.

Shea is an important resource that support livelihoods and food security in northern Ghana. This study assesses the contribution of shea’s contribution to collectors’ income and food security. Shea income contributes about 21% to total income. Using The Food Consumption Score (FCS) to determine household food security status of shea collector households, majority of households (75.3%) were found to lack high food security. The Ordered Logit Regression (OLR) model was used to estimate the effect of shea income on household food security. The effect of shea income on food security was minimal. Income obtained from combining shea collection, farming and butter production has the highest effect on household food security. Other factors found to positively affect food security were attainment of basic education, farm size, picking nuts from family field, number of household’s food contributors while household size had an inverse effect on food security. The study recommends the encouragement of positive gender relations that allow women to have access to shea resources and advocates training to build capacity of collectors in other livelihood activities.