More Women In Urban Centers Shy Away From Vegetable Farming

Many women are happy about nurturing the greens but only a few are said to find vegetable farming fascinating.

That’s a revelation in a research report published in the Agricultural and Food Science Journal of Ghana.

Researchers at the Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research conducted the study.

Only 18 out of 300 farmers above age 15 who were sampled in Kumasi were engaged in vegetable farming.

Vegetable producers are mostly small-holder famers, with land size of between 0.1 and 3.2 hectares.

Lead researcher, Dr. Solomon Darkey, acknowledges the daunting nature of vegetable production is the cause.

Processes like vegetable care, pesticide application and nursery care are cumbersome.

The researchers note respondents with Senior High School or higher education formed nine percent of people sampled.

“This is equally lower than the value reported in the Ghana Living Standard Survey’s figure of 13.6 percent.”

Researchers again found vegetable producers are vulnerable to exploitation by middle men.

The study focused on production and marketing challenges of vegetable farming within Kumasi.

The researchers recommend formation of farmer-based organizations to address these challenges.