Unleashing the power of mechanization

As in most of Africa, agricultural mechanization in Ghana has been slow to develop, either in the form of animal or tractor power. But this has changed markedly since the early 2000s, and today about one third of all Ghana’s farmers report using some form of mechanization, mostly tractors for land p...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Diao, Xinshen, Cossar, Frances, Houssou, Nazaire, Kolavalli, Shashidhara
Formato: Capítulo de libro
Lenguaje:Inglés
Publicado: International Food Policy Research Institute 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146036
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author Diao, Xinshen
Cossar, Frances
Houssou, Nazaire
Kolavalli, Shashidhara
author_browse Cossar, Frances
Diao, Xinshen
Houssou, Nazaire
Kolavalli, Shashidhara
author_facet Diao, Xinshen
Cossar, Frances
Houssou, Nazaire
Kolavalli, Shashidhara
author_sort Diao, Xinshen
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description As in most of Africa, agricultural mechanization in Ghana has been slow to develop, either in the form of animal or tractor power. But this has changed markedly since the early 2000s, and today about one third of all Ghana’s farmers report using some form of mechanization, mostly tractors for land preparation, as do over half the farmers with five or more hectares of cropped land. However, policymakers often are skeptical of the role played by the private sector in providing mechanization services and worry that supplyside issues may be constraining its uptake, especially amongst smaller-sized farms. With this in mind, the government recently started to directly engage in the importation and subsidization of tractors, and has established a network of subsidized agricultural mechanization service centers around the country (Diao et al. 2014). The government program operates in direct competition with an already established private sector supply system, and this raises a number of important questions. In particular, is the government program overcoming some inherent market failure problems or is it introducing market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior and possibly crowding out more efficient private suppliers? If the latter, then as suggested in Chapter 6, the program may be an unnecessary and costly addition to the financial burden of the public sector.
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spelling CGSpace1460362025-11-06T04:15:21Z Unleashing the power of mechanization Diao, Xinshen Cossar, Frances Houssou, Nazaire Kolavalli, Shashidhara supply chains economic development agricultural development mechanization governance As in most of Africa, agricultural mechanization in Ghana has been slow to develop, either in the form of animal or tractor power. But this has changed markedly since the early 2000s, and today about one third of all Ghana’s farmers report using some form of mechanization, mostly tractors for land preparation, as do over half the farmers with five or more hectares of cropped land. However, policymakers often are skeptical of the role played by the private sector in providing mechanization services and worry that supplyside issues may be constraining its uptake, especially amongst smaller-sized farms. With this in mind, the government recently started to directly engage in the importation and subsidization of tractors, and has established a network of subsidized agricultural mechanization service centers around the country (Diao et al. 2014). The government program operates in direct competition with an already established private sector supply system, and this raises a number of important questions. In particular, is the government program overcoming some inherent market failure problems or is it introducing market distortions in machinery prices, encouraging rent-seeking behavior and possibly crowding out more efficient private suppliers? If the latter, then as suggested in Chapter 6, the program may be an unnecessary and costly addition to the financial burden of the public sector. 2019-08-10 2024-06-21T09:05:39Z 2024-06-21T09:05:39Z Book Chapter https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146036 en Open Access application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Oxford University Press Diao, Xinshen; Cossar, Frances; Houssou, Nazaire; and Kolavalli, Shashidhara. 2019. Unleashing the power of mechanization. In Ghana’s economic and agricultural transformation: Past performance and future prospects. Diao, Xinshen; Hazell, Peter B.R.; Kolavalli, Shashidhara; and Resnick, Danielle (Eds.). Chapter 9 Pp. 241-256. New York, NY: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and Oxford University Press. https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146036
spellingShingle supply chains
economic development
agricultural development
mechanization
governance
Diao, Xinshen
Cossar, Frances
Houssou, Nazaire
Kolavalli, Shashidhara
Unleashing the power of mechanization
title Unleashing the power of mechanization
title_full Unleashing the power of mechanization
title_fullStr Unleashing the power of mechanization
title_full_unstemmed Unleashing the power of mechanization
title_short Unleashing the power of mechanization
title_sort unleashing the power of mechanization
topic supply chains
economic development
agricultural development
mechanization
governance
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/146036
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