Farmers’ Assessment of the Government Spraying Program in Ghana

Abstract

The study assessed the effectiveness of the Government spraying program which was introduced to eradicate cocoa pests and diseases in Ghana. One hundred and twenty (120) cocoa farmers were randomly selected from six communities in the Wassa Amenfi West District of the Western Region of Ghana and interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Effectiveness of the spraying program was assessed using descriptive statistics while the Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was used to analyze the constraints facing the program. The study showed that 14.2% of farmers never benefitted from the spraying program since its inception in 2001. In addition, the study found that the spraying program in the district did not follow the recommended spraying regime with 68.3% of farmers expressing dissatisfaction with the performance of the spraying personnel. Inadequate supply of chemicals and inadequate spraying personnel were the most critical constraints. Timely provision of chemicals and supervision of the spraying personnel were recommended.

Keywords: Cocoa, CODAPEC, constraints, government spraying program, pests and diseases