Date of Graduation
8-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Agricultural Economics (MS)
Degree Level
Graduate
Department
Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness
Advisor/Mentor
Durand-Morat, Alvaro
Committee Member
McFadden, Brandon
Second Committee Member
Nalley, Lawton
Keywords
Cocoa farmers; COCOBOD; Ghana; Low cocoa price; Poverty; Simple Poverty Scorecard
Abstract
Cocoa farmers in Ghana face numerous challenges that undermine their incomes and living standards, including high labor costs, fluctuating cocoa prices, high cost and limited access to inputs, lack of credit, illegal mining, weather risks, small farm sizes, outdated farming and drying technologies, and inadequate extension services. These issues reduce productivity, lower incomes, and perpetuate poverty. This study examined farmers’ perceptions about the importance of these challenges and assessed possible differences across regions and farm households’ socioeconomic status. In the summer of 2024, data were collected from 400 cocoa farmers in major cocoa-producing areas of Ghana’s Eastern and Ashanti regions. The Best-Worst Scaling (BWS) approach was used to rank the challenges and, thus, identify key poverty drivers. The analysis revealed that farmers perceive labor cost, low cocoa prices, high cost and limited access to inputs, lack of credit, and illegal mining as the top five drivers of poverty. Differences in the ranking of poverty drivers were observed across regions and farm sizes.
Citation
Boamah, F. A. (2025). Farmers’ Perceptions About Drivers of Poverty: A Case Study of Cocoa Farmers in Ghana. Graduate Theses and Dissertations Retrieved from https://scholarworks.uark.edu/etd/5907
