Agricultural expansion and trade-off decision making using analytic hierarchy process in Ghana

Abstract

The current study sought to investigate the factors influencing the conversion of forest lands to agricultural areas, which is primarily a result of agricultural expansion. This phenomenon is recognized as a significant driver of land use and land cover change in Ghana. Data was collected from land managers (commercial and subsistence farmers) who are major decision-makers on accelerated farm land expansion in districts known for large-scale food and tree crop production. The method used for data collection was the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). APH was used to assess factors that influence farmers' decisions to expand their farms. These are economic, environmental, social, and policy factors that were weighted to determine the most important factors of agricultural expansion. Study results showed that economic factors were weighted above other factors in terms of importance when it came to making decisions on farm expansion. Environmental and social factors were second and third, respectively, while policy factors were weighted as the least important factors. The study provides valuable insight into key factors that influence land managers farm expansion decisions and how land-use change can be addressed. The study concludes that the Analytic Hierarchy Process is a useful method for analyzing multiple factors considered by farmers when expanding their farms, despite its limitations.