Abstract
BackgroundCrop yields are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa compared to other regions, and this is true even for such an important staple crop as maize. Persistence of patches of low crop vigour side-by-side to patches with healthier maize crops has been shown to significantly contribute to low yields on smallholdings. Farmers' perspectives on the presence of such poor patches are important as far as their on-farm investment attitudes are concerned. We analyse maize yield levels and farmers’ perspectives of their production levels in two farming communities in rural Ghana.ResultsWe find substantial potential for yield improvements; while local attainable yields (average of the yields attained by the top 10% of farmers in each village) were 4.4 t/ha and 3.6 t/ha, average crop cut yields were 2.0 t/ha and 2.4 t/ha for Asitey and Akatawia, respectively. As much as 62% of the maize fields in both study locations were unable to reach the respective average village yield level. From the photo-elicitation interviews, the general attitude of smallholders to the presence of poor patches is that of indifference. We find contradictions in farmers’ perceptions and attitudes towards low yields. While more than half (54%) perceived they were getting adequate yields relative to their expectations, an even greater proportion (88%) of farmers interviewed aver that their plots could yield much more. Similarly, a significant majority (63%) did not attempt to remedy the poor patches even though the same proportion perceive that it is worth it to invest in yield-improving inputs.ConclusionsFarmers in such contexts view investments in fertilizers on their farms as too risky. As alternatives, they would rather invest their already limited resources in non-farm ventures. Farmers opt for yield optimization rather than maximization and this has important implications for diversification off the farm. These findings have important implications for smallholder households’ ability to meet their subsistence needs and for efforts to reduce yield gaps on small farms particularly in resource-poor contexts.
Highlights
A major challenge confronting sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is what has been termed the food security conundrum [1]
Risk aversion leading to diversification from the farm We argue here that smallholders’ preference for stabilized, rather than maximized yields is due to their risk aversion in the face of high levels of uncertainty
More than half of the sampled farmers applied some level of fertilizers, though their levels of fertilization are far below recommended rates for yield gap closure
Summary
A major challenge confronting sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) is what has been termed the food security conundrum [1]. This conundrum relates to the twin challenge of. While some agricultural regions in the Global North are producing close to the maximum attainable, most regions in SSA still contend with large yield gaps [6, 7]. The existence of such large yield gaps means these areas have the highest potential to contribute to needed future production increases [8]. We analyse maize yield levels and farmers’ perspectives of their production levels in two farming communities in rural Ghana
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