Participation in “Planting for Food and Jobs” Programme and Commercialization among Maize Farm Households in Savelugu Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

Ghana’s “Planting for Food and Job” programme aims to improve farmers’ access  to farm inputs. The idea is that through improved access to quality seed varieties,  fertilisers and good agronomic practices, output would increase leading to an  increased market surplus. This study sought to investigate whether engagement  in ‘Planting for Food and Job’ (PFJ ) programme influences farm households’ maize  commercialization level in Savelugu Municipality, in the Northern Region of Ghana. To correct for selectivity bias, unobserved endogeneity and avoid the problems  associated with weak instrumentation, the conditional mixed process (CMP) method  was used. The results revealed that participation in the PFJ programme and maize  yield positively influenced maize commercialization. However, commercialisation  was negatively influenced by gender of the farm household's head, household size  and membership of community based organisations (CBOs). Participation in the PFJ  programme itself was enhanced by education, marital status, increased farm size,  farm ownership, membership of farmer-based organization (FBOs) and non-farm  engagement. Government and all relevant stakeholders should step up efforts at  promoting the PFJ programme and maize commercialisation through access to  formal education, farmland and other productivity enhancing inputs and services.