Evaluation of the impact of Ghana’s planting for food and jobs program on small-scale farmer market linkage/ access in the Volta region

Abstract

Purpose of the study: The Ghana’s Planting for Food and Jobs (PFJ) program, seeks to among other objectives address market access barriers faced by small-scale rural farmers by strengthening marketing linkages. This study evaluated the program's effectiveness in ensuring small-scale rural farmer marketing linkages and market access. Methodology The study adopted a sequential mixed-method research design, incorporating quantitative and qualitative components. The sample size for the quantitative part of the study was 500, while the qualitative component involved 20 participants. A close-ended survey questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data while in-depth interviews were used for collecting qualitative data. Key findings Market information, logistics support, farmer organizations, community market days, processing centres, and farmer field days and trade fairs emerged as key elements promoting market access and linkage. Information services was found to be crucial for providing market-related data that facilitate market access. On the other hand, high exportation costs, lack of storage, and inability to access regional markets poor infrastructure, low farm aggregation and limited access to credit stands as significant barriers. Market access and marketing linkages were found to have significant impact on economic performance while participation in PFJ increases farm profitability. Based on these findings, specific recommendations are provided for enhancing the effectiveness of the PFJ and similar programs. Similarly, recommendations for future research and the contribution of the study to policy, practice and theory are provided in the appropriate sections of the report.