Evaluating Agricultural Policy Impacts in Ghana: The Case of Food Crop Development Project in Ejura-Sekyedumase

Abstract

A Government of Ghana development project known as The Food Crop Development Project (FCDP) was introduced in Ghana with the aim of improving farm incomes, household food and nutrition security and reducing poverty among small-scale farmers. This study sought to find answers to the questions of whether participation in the FCDP improved maize output, household income and food security status. Applying endogenous switching regression (ESR), while accounting for self-selectivity bias, the findings indicate that access to extension and credit services significantly influenced households’ participation in FCDP and by extension adoption of improved practices. The results also reveal significant selectivity correction terms in the choices of both participation and non-participation, indicating that accounting for selection bias is a prerequisite for unbiased and consistent estimation. The findings also indicate participation and adoption of improved maize production technologies increase maize output and households’ incomes, while non-participation exerts the opposite effect. The policy implication of these findings is that subsidized agricultural input projects like the FCDP, have the potential to improve food security and farm incomes of peasant households.

Keywords: Self-selectivity, endogenous switching regression (ESR), Ejura-Sekyedumase, food security.