Agricultural Training in Ghana
Agriculture
The Farmer and Enterprise Training in Commercial Agriculture Activity, part of the Ghana compact, is designed to expand yields, sales, and ultimately income of farmer groups. The activity will include an intensive, multi-phase commercial training program offered to Farmer Based Organizations (FBO) to significantly improve their skills in management, business planning, technology applications and marketing. The impact assessment will seek to answer the following:
- Does the FBO training program encourage farmers to adopt new technologies or techniques, such as using land more intensively and efficiently, choosing crops that are more competitive, or optimizing the use of inputs, including labor?
- What is the magnitude of spillover from the trained farmers on proximate farmers and those in the trained farmers' social networks?
- Does the FBO training program cause farmers to expand yields and sales, and generate higher incomes and enhance access to social services?
Evaluation Description
The evaluation method to address these questions involves random assignment of qualified farmer groups into training cohorts over a three year period (2008-2010). By the end of the program all qualified FBOs will receive training, but not all groups can be trained at once. This allows for comparison of variables of interest (e.g., yields) across like groups over time. For example, yields of similar groups trained in year 1 will be compared to peers trained in year 2, and similarly for groups trained in years 2 and 3. Additionally, the evaluation will examine spillover using data collected on social networks of FBO members
Data Collection
The Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University of Ghana will conduct a survey of approximately 6,000 FBO members. In assessing spillover effects, the evaluation will use data from FBO survey and the Ghana Living Standards Survey 5+, a nationally representative household survey.
Timeline
