A new study has revealed that women involved in vegetable farming are declining, a situation that can affect increased vegetable production in Ghana.
The revelation was contained in a research report published in the Agricultural and Food Science Journal of Ghana and was conducted by researchers at the Crops Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
Only 18 out of 300 farmers above age 15 years who were sampled in Kumasi were engaged in vegetable farming.
Vegetable producers are mostly small-holder farmers, with a land size of between 0.1 and 3.2 hectares, the study found.
Lead researcher, Dr Solomon Darkey, acknowledges that the daunting nature of vegetable production is the cause of the low women involvement.
Processes like vegetable care, pesticide application and nursery care are cumbersome.
The researchers note respondents with SHS 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,” he said.
Researchers again found vegetable producers are vulnerable to exploitation by middlemen.
The study focused on production and marketing challenges of vegetable farming within Kumasi.
The researchers recommend the formation of farmer-based organisations to address these challenges.
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