Farmers’ attitude towards the use of genetically modified crop technology in Southern Ghana: The mediating role of risk perception

Abstract

Food and agricultural policy research is often challenged with the issue of commercializing the application of transgenic technology in food production. There is a need for an enhanced understanding of how risk and benefit information influence the general attitudes of farmers towards genetically modified (GM) technology. This paper contributes to existing literature by studying the various adoption factors that influence Ghanaian farmers’ attitudes toward GM crop technology by using risk perception as a mediating tool. An empirical choice of methodology which is structural equation analysis was incorporated in this study. We report that, after conducting a survey among 325 respondents, Ghanaian farmers’ negative attitudes toward GM technology is as a result of the influence of risk perception on the attributes of the innovative technology (relative advantage, trialability, mass media, and interpersonal relations). We employ a conceptual framework that incorporates Innovation Diffusion Theory (IDT) and Risk analysis to assess the relationships between the attributes and attitudes towards GM technology. It was revealed in the structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis that, risk perception exerts a significant influence on the effects of the attributes of GM technology adoption thus reflecting a negative attitude towards the adoption of the related technology. We further discussed the implications for emphasizing the need for a positive attitude toward the acceptance and adoption of GM technology in Ghana.