Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana
Inland valleys (IVs) in West African countries have increasingly been used for crop production, including rice cultivation. Though it is widely assumed that IVs have a high potential to contribute to food security of West African countries, a comprehensive assessment of farming systems addressing ag...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | Inglés |
| Published: |
Frontiers Media
2022
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126143 |
| _version_ | 1855522082548350976 |
|---|---|
| author | Alemayehu, T. Assogba, G.M. Gabbert, S. Giller, Kenneth E. Hammond, James Arouna, A. Dossou-Yovo, Elliott Ronald Ven, G.W.J. van de |
| author_browse | Alemayehu, T. Arouna, A. Assogba, G.M. Dossou-Yovo, Elliott Ronald Gabbert, S. Giller, Kenneth E. Hammond, James Ven, G.W.J. van de |
| author_facet | Alemayehu, T. Assogba, G.M. Gabbert, S. Giller, Kenneth E. Hammond, James Arouna, A. Dossou-Yovo, Elliott Ronald Ven, G.W.J. van de |
| author_sort | Alemayehu, T. |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Inland valleys (IVs) in West African countries have increasingly been used for crop production, including rice cultivation. Though it is widely assumed that IVs have a high potential to contribute to food security of West African countries, a comprehensive assessment of farming systems addressing agricultural, institutional, food security, poverty, and ecosystem indicators is still lacking. This study characterizes IVs' smallholder farm households at the regional and farm type level using Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) data collected from 733 randomly selected farm households in four agro-ecological regions, i.e., Bouaké and Gagnoa in Cote d'Ivoire, and Ahafo Ano North and Ahafo Ano South in Ghana. A farm typology is developed, and farm households are characterized with regard to demographic, agricultural, economic, and institutional indicators. Furthermore, farm households' food security and poverty status, and the importance of rice in the portfolio of crops, is assessed. Finally, farmers' awareness of different ecosystem services (ES) for their food security is examined. Four farm types are identified, i.e., farmers who rent all the land cultivated, farmers who own some land and rent extra land, farmers who own and cultivate all their land, and farmers cultivating only a part of the land they own. We find that the variation in farm households' demographic, economic, and institutional characteristics is greater between regions than within regions. Crop production, either for direct consumption or marketing, especially rice production, is the main contributor to daily energy intake, followed by wild food consumed. Still, a substantial percentage of the farm households (16–38%) in all regions cannot meet minimum daily energy requirements. Farmers of all farm types, and in all regions, attach high relevance to IVs' provisioning ES, particularly the ability to provide food. A majority of farmers in all regions highlighted the relevance of regulating ES, including climate regulation, water storage, and groundwater values for their wellbeing. In contrast, farmers attached relatively lower relevance to cultural ES. Interventions to improve national rice production need to acknowledge and preserve the diversity ES that IVs provide to smallholder farm households. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace126143 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2022 |
| publishDateRange | 2022 |
| publishDateSort | 2022 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media |
| publisherStr | Frontiers Media |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1261432025-12-08T10:29:22Z Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana Alemayehu, T. Assogba, G.M. Gabbert, S. Giller, Kenneth E. Hammond, James Arouna, A. Dossou-Yovo, Elliott Ronald Ven, G.W.J. van de farming systems food security poverty Inland valleys (IVs) in West African countries have increasingly been used for crop production, including rice cultivation. Though it is widely assumed that IVs have a high potential to contribute to food security of West African countries, a comprehensive assessment of farming systems addressing agricultural, institutional, food security, poverty, and ecosystem indicators is still lacking. This study characterizes IVs' smallholder farm households at the regional and farm type level using Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) data collected from 733 randomly selected farm households in four agro-ecological regions, i.e., Bouaké and Gagnoa in Cote d'Ivoire, and Ahafo Ano North and Ahafo Ano South in Ghana. A farm typology is developed, and farm households are characterized with regard to demographic, agricultural, economic, and institutional indicators. Furthermore, farm households' food security and poverty status, and the importance of rice in the portfolio of crops, is assessed. Finally, farmers' awareness of different ecosystem services (ES) for their food security is examined. Four farm types are identified, i.e., farmers who rent all the land cultivated, farmers who own some land and rent extra land, farmers who own and cultivate all their land, and farmers cultivating only a part of the land they own. We find that the variation in farm households' demographic, economic, and institutional characteristics is greater between regions than within regions. Crop production, either for direct consumption or marketing, especially rice production, is the main contributor to daily energy intake, followed by wild food consumed. Still, a substantial percentage of the farm households (16–38%) in all regions cannot meet minimum daily energy requirements. Farmers of all farm types, and in all regions, attach high relevance to IVs' provisioning ES, particularly the ability to provide food. A majority of farmers in all regions highlighted the relevance of regulating ES, including climate regulation, water storage, and groundwater values for their wellbeing. In contrast, farmers attached relatively lower relevance to cultural ES. Interventions to improve national rice production need to acknowledge and preserve the diversity ES that IVs provide to smallholder farm households. 2022-07-01 2022-12-21T08:03:19Z 2022-12-21T08:03:19Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126143 en Open Access Frontiers Media Alemayehu, T., Assogba, G.M., Gabbert, S., Giller, K.E., Hammond, J., Arouna, A., Dossou-Yovo, E.R. and van de Ven, G.W.J. 2022. Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems 6:892818. |
| spellingShingle | farming systems food security poverty Alemayehu, T. Assogba, G.M. Gabbert, S. Giller, Kenneth E. Hammond, James Arouna, A. Dossou-Yovo, Elliott Ronald Ven, G.W.J. van de Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title | Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title_full | Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title_fullStr | Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title_short | Farming systems, food security and farmers' awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys: A study from Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana |
| title_sort | farming systems food security and farmers awareness of ecosystem services in inland valleys a study from cote d ivoire and ghana |
| topic | farming systems food security poverty |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/126143 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT alemayehut farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT assogbagm farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT gabberts farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT gillerkennethe farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT hammondjames farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT arounaa farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT dossouyovoelliottronald farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana AT vengwjvande farmingsystemsfoodsecurityandfarmersawarenessofecosystemservicesininlandvalleysastudyfromcotedivoireandghana |