Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana

Alhassan Bawa; Denis Asampambila

doi:doi:10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana

Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila

Published in Science Development (Volume 3, Issue 3)

Received: 1 March 2022 Accepted: 26 May 2022 Published: 15 August 2022

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Abstract

Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.

Published in	Science Development (Volume 3, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
Page(s)	110-116
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Food Security, Garu District, Household Members, Maize Farmers, Ghana

References

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[2]	FAO (2001). Dimensions of need-An Atlas of Food and Agriculture Staple Foods” What do people eat? Food and Agricultural Organization Corporate Document Repository. Produced by Agriculure and Consumer Protection.
[3]	MoFA (2007). Food and Agriculture Sector Policy Framework. Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Government of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
[4]	Bailey, K. D. (1987). Methods of Social Research, the Free Press, New York.
[5]	Fraenkel, J. R. and Wallen, N. E. (2000). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education, 4^th Ed. McGraw Hill Inc., USA.
[6]	Bell, J. (1993. Doing your Research Project: A guide for first time researchers in education and social science, Open University Press, UK.
[7]	Sarantakos, S. (1993). Social Research, Macmillan Education Pty Ltd., Australia.
[8]	Romer, P. (1986). “Increasing Returns and Long Run Growth”. Journal of Political Economics 94: 1002-1037.
[9]	Lucas, R. (1988). “On The Mechanics of Economic Development”. Journal of Monetary Economics 22: 3-42.
[10]	Jamison, D. and Lau, L. (1982). “Farmer Education and Farm Efficiency”. Washington, DC, World Bank.
[11]	Ogwumike, F. O. (2001). Current state of knowledge on poverty in Nigeria. In: Afonja, S., Adelekan, D., Soetan, F., Alimi, T. and Ayanwale, B. (Eds). Research and policy directions on poverty in Nigeria. Nigeria: Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies; 2001. p. 24–34.
[12]	Quisumbing, A. R., Payongayong, E., Aidoo, J. B. and Otsuka, K. (2001). Women’s land rights in the transition to individualized ownership: implications for tree resource management in Western Ghana. Econ Dev Cult Change, 50 (1): 157–82.
[13]	Bawa, A. (2019). Agriculture and Food Security in Northern Ghana. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics and Sociology 31 (2): 1-7. DOI: 10.9734/ajaees/2019/v3li230127.
[14]	Abu, G. A. and Soom, A. (2016). Analysis of factors affecting food security in rural and urban farming households of Benue State, Nigeria. Int. J. Food Agric. Econ. 4, 55–68. doi: 10.22004/ag.econ.231375.
[15]	Hauck, J. and Youkhana, E. (2008). Histories of water and fisheries management in Ghana.

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APA Style

Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila. (2022). Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Science Development, 3(3), 110-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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Alhassan Bawa; Denis Asampambila. Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Sci. Dev. 2022, 3(3), 110-116. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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AMA Style

Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila. Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Sci Dev. 2022;3(3):110-116. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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@article{10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15,
  author = {Alhassan Bawa and Denis Asampambila},
  title = {Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana},
  journal = {Science Development},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {110-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.scidev.20220303.15},
  abstract = {Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.},
 year = {2022}
}

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TY - JOUR
T1 - Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana
AU - Alhassan Bawa
AU - Denis Asampambila
Y1 - 2022/08/15
PY - 2022
N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
DO - 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
T2 - Science Development
JF - Science Development
JO - Science Development
SP - 110
EP - 116
PB - Science Publishing Group
SN - 2994-7154
UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
AB - Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.
VL - 3
IS - 3
ER -

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Author Information

Alhassan Bawa

Department of Sustainable Agriculture, Faculty of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Tamale Technical University, Tamale, Ghana
Denis Asampambila

Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies, Bolgatanga, Ghana

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APA Style

Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila. (2022). Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Science Development, 3(3), 110-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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ACS Style

Alhassan Bawa; Denis Asampambila. Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Sci. Dev. 2022, 3(3), 110-116. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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AMA Style

Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila. Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Sci Dev. 2022;3(3):110-116. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15

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@article{10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15,
  author = {Alhassan Bawa and Denis Asampambila},
  title = {Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana},
  journal = {Science Development},
  volume = {3},
  number = {3},
  pages = {110-116},
  doi = {10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.scidev.20220303.15},
  abstract = {Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.},
 year = {2022}
}

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