Perceptions and performance of conservation agriculture practices in northwestern Ghana

Conservation agriculture (CA) has been introduced to Ghana as a means to mitigate erosion while increasing yields, yet adoption remains low. This paper seeks to determine whether farmer knowledge or farm economics limits adoption of CA. To do so, the researchers compared knowledge evolution of farmers that attended a farmer field school, and those that did not. A baseline survey to evaluate farmer perception and knowledge of CA was conducted before implementation of the farmer field school project. Farmers could choose to participate in farmer field schools and on-farm adaptation studies. After two years, a second survey was conducted to compare the evolution of CA knowledge and perceptions of participating and non-participating farmers. Partial on-farm budgets were developed with participating farmers to compare the roles of economics and knowledge in influencing adoption. The authors conclude that farmer training and farmer-to-farmer communication are effective for CA knowledge diffusion.