Determinants of adoption and disadoption of cage tilapia farming in southern Ghana

Abstract

Ghana's national annual fish deficit was 550,000 tons in 2018 leading to persistent increase in fish importation. However, capture fisheries have been declining over the years. Adoption of Aquaculture technologies has the potential to improve fish productivity, but the decision to adopt new technologies by fish farmers is rather complex and influenced by factors including socioeconomic and institutional factors. The introduction of cage fish farming on the Lake Volta is a means of improving fish productivity. However, low adoption and disadoption of the technology raises reservation about its appropriateness, especially among smallholder farmers. This study therefore analysed determinants of adoption and disadoption of cage tilapia aquaculture. The study was conducted in Eastern and Greater Accra regions of Ghana. Three districts and 11 communities along the Lake Volta known for cage fish farming were selected. Multistage sampling was used to select 206 respondents. Data was obtained through face to face interview with semi-structured questionnaires. The Heckprobit model was employed to identify determinants of adoption and disadoption of cage tilapia aquaculture. The selection equation of the Heckprobit results revealed that access to credit, policy information and extension services increased the likelihood of adopting cage tilapia aquaculture. On the other hand, the outcome equation results showed that age of the respondent and distance from the Lake Volta positively correlated with disadoption of cage tilapia farming. Further, market price of tilapia, membership of farmer groups and high cost of fingerlings reduced the likelihood of disadopting cage tilapia farming. The study recommends supporting policies leading to input reduction and training of fish farmers. Enhancement of access to aquaculture policy information is required to improve adoption of cage tilapia aquaculture. Improvement in the extension services is required to enhance the capacity of extension programs to efficiently support fish farmers. Fish farmers should be encouraged to form farmer associations to facilitate access to information and credit facilities.