CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0 Introduction

This chapter introduces the study. It presents the background to the study, the problem statement, the purpose and objectives of the study, the research questions and hypotheses, the significance of the study, its scope and limitations, the definition of key terms, and the organisation of the thesis.

1.1 Background to the Study

Livestock keeping is an important part of smallholder farming in Ghana. Animals provide food, income, manure and a store of wealth for farm households, and they fit into mixed farming systems in which crops and livestock support each other. Asante et al. (2021) note that integrated crop-livestock management practices play a vital role in food security and in the welfare of smallholder households. The same authors also observe that studies of how Ghanaian farmers adopt such practices are scarce. The productivity of livestock depends largely on how animals are housed, fed, watered, protected from disease and bred. Improved livestock management practices are therefore the means through which research findings are turned into better herd performance on the farm.

Adoption of improved practices is usually low and slow. In Northern Ghana, Ansah et al. (2015) reported that adoption of improved livestock production technologies was low, slow and uncertain, even though the region has the largest number of livestock producers in the country. Their study of 150 livestock farmers linked low adoption to low awareness of the technologies and found that extension contact, record keeping, education, gender and herd size, among other variables, explained the likelihood of adoption. Rogers (2003) explains why awareness matters. In his diffusion of innovations framework, a farmer moves from knowledge of a practice, through persuasion and decision, to implementation and confirmation, and communication channels such as extension agents are central at the early stages.

Agricultural extension is the main public channel for supplying this information. Anderson and Feder (2004) describe extension as a public investment whose performance differs widely between systems, and Davis (2008) reviews the many extension models that have been tried in sub-Saharan Africa. In Ghana, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) has improved the ratio of agricultural extension agents to farmers from 1:1,906 in 2016 to 1:709 in 2020, but access to extension remains limited (Ninson & Ninson, 2026). Evidence from Ghana points to a positive role for extension in adoption. Asante et al. (2021) found that extension contact was among the factors that influenced the adoption of integrated crop-livestock management practices among 638 smallholder farmers. Acheampong et al. (2021) found that farmers with access to extension services adopted more agricultural practices, while almost two-thirds of the adopters and non-adopters in their sample had no access to extension. Damba et al. (2020) reported from Northern Ghana that a well-designed combination of dissemination approaches was likely to be the most effective way to promote technology uptake.

Livestock farmers may not receive the same attention as crop farmers. Hagan (2020) argues that extension technologies and information in Ghana are biased towards crop production rather than animal production. Ouma et al. (2023) add that rural producers in Northern Ghana had poor access to veterinary services and inputs and that there was a shortage of veterinary personnel and diagnostic laboratories. These observations suggest that livestock farmers may depend heavily on the few extension and veterinary officers who are available to them.

Afigya-Kwabre South District is one of the 43 districts in the Ashanti Region, with its capital at Kodie. The 2021 Population and Housing Census recorded 234,667 people in the district. Its closeness to Kumasi has made it a dormitory district with a high population growth rate of 2.7 per cent and growing pressure on land and services (Afigya Kwabre South District Assembly, 2026). In such a setting, livestock keepers must manage their animals on limited space close to settlements, which makes good management practices such as housing, hygiene and disease control especially important. The district is therefore a suitable place to study how extension services influence the adoption of improved livestock management practices.

1.2 Problem Statement

Improved livestock management practices can raise productivity and reduce losses, but many smallholder farmers in Ghana do not use them. Adoption of livestock production technologies has been described as low, slow and uncertain (Ansah et al., 2015), and studies of the adoption of integrated crop-livestock practices in Ghana remain few (Asante et al., 2021). Extension is expected to close this gap, yet access to extension is limited (Ninson & Ninson, 2026), and extension information is said to favour crops over animals (Hagan, 2020).

Afigya-Kwabre South is a fast-growing peri-urban district in which land is under pressure (Afigya Kwabre South District Assembly, 2026). Little published evidence was found on the extension services that reach livestock farmers in the district, on which improved management practices they have adopted, or on whether extension contact explains the differences in adoption between farmers. Without this evidence, MoFA and the District Assembly cannot tell whether existing services are making a difference to livestock management or where they should be improved. This study was therefore designed to examine the influence of agricultural extension services on the adoption of improved livestock management practices among livestock farmers in Afigya-Kwabre South District.

1.3 Purpose and Objectives of the Study

The purpose of the study is to examine the influence of agricultural extension services on the adoption of improved livestock management practices among livestock farmers in Afigya-Kwabre South District, Ashanti Region. The specific objectives are to:

(i) describe the socio-economic characteristics of livestock farmers in the district;

(ii) identify the extension services (sources, methods and frequency of contact) available to and used by the farmers;

(iii) determine the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices among the farmers;

(iv) determine the influence of extension services on the adoption of improved livestock management practices; and

(v) identify the constraints to accessing extension services and adopting improved livestock management practices.

1.4 Research Questions

The study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the socio-economic characteristics of livestock farmers in Afigya-Kwabre South District?

2. Which extension services are available to and used by the farmers, and how often do they receive them?

3. What is the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices among the farmers?

4. How do extension services influence the adoption of improved livestock management practices?

5. What constraints limit access to extension services and the adoption of improved livestock management practices?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

The following hypotheses will be tested at the 5% level of significance:

H0₁: There is no significant relationship between frequency of extension contact and the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices.

H1₁: There is a significant relationship between frequency of extension contact and the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices.

H0₂: The socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, sex, education, herd size, farming experience and income) have no significant influence on the adoption of improved livestock management practices.

H1₂: The socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, sex, education, herd size, farming experience and income) have a significant influence on the adoption of improved livestock management practices.

H0₃: There is no significant difference in the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices between members and non-members of farmer-based organisations.

H1₃: There is a significant difference in the level of adoption of improved livestock management practices between members and non-members of farmer-based organisations.

1.6 Significance of the Study

The findings will benefit livestock farmers in the district by showing which extension services help them and which practices they still need support to adopt. They will help MoFA, the District Directorate of Agriculture and veterinary services to plan the content, methods and frequency of extension and veterinary support for livestock keepers, in a setting where extension has been said to favour crops (Hagan, 2020).

The Afigya-Kwabre South District Assembly and other policy makers will obtain local evidence for planning agricultural programmes in a district under urban pressure. The study will also add to the small body of Ghanaian literature on the adoption of livestock practices and will serve as a reference for students and researchers in agricultural extension and animal science.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

Geographically, the study is limited to Afigya-Kwabre South District in the Ashanti Region. The respondents are farmers who keep cattle, sheep, goats or pigs. Poultry and aquaculture are not covered. In terms of content, the study focuses on extension services (sources, methods and frequency of contact) and on the adoption of improved management practices, namely housing, feeding and watering, disease prevention and treatment, breeding and record keeping. The data relate to the most recent production year.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

Time and financial constraints limited the sample size and the number of communities that could be visited. Many farmers keep no written records, so information on herd size, the number of extension contacts and the practices used depends on recall and may not be exact. Because farmers who adopt practices may also be the ones who seek out extension officers, the study can show association but cannot on its own prove cause and effect. As a case study of one district, its findings should be applied to other areas with care. The researcher tried to reduce these limitations by using a structured questionnaire, by asking about a short and clearly defined period, and by explaining questions in Twi where necessary.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Agricultural extension services: Activities through which extension agents and other sources provide farmers with information, advice and training, such as farm visits, demonstrations, group meetings and media programmes.

Extension contact: A direct meeting between a farmer and an extension or veterinary officer, counted in this study as the number of contacts in the last production year.

Improved livestock management practices: Recommended practices for keeping animals, including proper housing, feeding and watering, vaccination and deworming, breeding and record keeping.

Adoption: The regular use of a recommended practice by a farmer after learning about it and trying it (Rogers, 2003).

Livestock farmer: A person who keeps cattle, sheep, goats or pigs for income, food or both.

Farmer-based organisation (FBO): A group of farmers formed to work together on production, marketing or access to services.

1.10 Organisation of the Study

The thesis has five chapters. Chapter One introduces the study. Chapter Two reviews the relevant theoretical and empirical literature and presents the conceptual framework. Chapter Three describes the study area and the research methodology, including the research design, population, sampling, data collection and analysis. Chapter Four presents and discusses the results. Chapter Five summarises the findings, draws conclusions and makes recommendations.

REFERENCES

Acheampong, E. O., Sayer, J., Macgregor, C. J., & Sloan, S. (2021). Factors influencing the adoption of agricultural practices in Ghana's forest-fringe communities. Land, 10(3), 266. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10030266

Afigya Kwabre South District Assembly. (2026). Composite budget for 2026–2029: Programme based budget estimates for 2026. Ministry of Finance, Ghana. https://www.mofep.gov.gh/sites/default/files/composite-budget/2026/AR/Afigya_Kwabre_South.pdf

Anderson, J. R., & Feder, G. (2004). Agricultural extension: Good intentions and hard realities. The World Bank Research Observer, 19(1), 41–60.

Ansah, I. G. K., Eib, D., & Amoako, R. (2015). Socioeconomic determinants of livestock production technology adoption in Northern Ghana. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 5(3).

Asante, B. O., Koomson, I., Villano, R. A., & Wiredu, A. N. (2021). Adoption of integrated crop-livestock management practices (ICLMPs) among men and women smallholder farmers in Ghana. Gender, Technology and Development, 25(2), 163–192. https://doi.org/10.1080/09718524.2021.1911021

Damba, O. T., Ansah, I. G. K., Donkoh, S. A., Alhassan, A., Mullins, G. R., Yussif, K., Taylor, M. S., Tetteh, B. K. D., & Appiah-Twumasi, M. (2020). Effects of technology dissemination approaches on agricultural technology uptake and utilization in Northern Ghana. Technology in Society, 62, Article 101294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101294

Davis, K. E. (2008). Extension in sub-Saharan Africa: Overview and assessment of past and current models, and future prospects. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, 15(3), 15–28.

Hagan, M. A. S. (2020). Challenges of poultry farmers at Ejisu Municipality, Ghana. Asian Journal of Agricultural Extension, Economics & Sociology, 38(1), 63–77. https://doi.org/10.9734/AJAEES/2020/v38i130299

Ninson, J., & Ninson, D. (2026). Are agricultural extension services accessible to Ghanaian farmers? Probabilities and expectations from corner solution responses. Applied Studies in Agribusiness and Commerce, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.19041/APSTRACT/2026/1/10

Ouma, E. A., Kankya, C., Dione, M., Kelly, T., Enahoro, D., Chiwanga, G., Abukari, Y., Msoffe, P., Kayang, B. B., & Zhou, H. (2023). Poultry health constraints in smallholder village poultry systems in Northern Ghana and Central Tanzania. Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 10, Article 1159331. https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1159331

Rogers, E. M. (2003). Diffusion of innovations (5th ed.). Free Press.