Adoption Rates of NERICA Innovation among Rice Farmers in Northern Ghana

Abstract

Adoption rates of the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) have been generally low across Africa, indicating that the innovation has not been well accepted on the African continent, including Ghana. The adoption rates of the innovation were determined in Northern Ghana to ascertain the extent to which farmers have accepted to grow the ‘magic’ crop in curbing food insecurity, poverty, unemployment, and rice importation. However, the adoption rates so determined were too low, due to incomplete diffusion. The current paper aimed at determining the rates of adoption of NERICA in Northern Ghana from 2015 to 2018, to verify the findings and predictions of previous researchers. Simple random sampling technique was accordingly used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data from 346 rice farmers. The data were analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using logistic regression as well as descriptive statistics. The study revealed a low average adoption rate of 25% with a high standard deviation of 44.03%, indicating an uneven spread out of the adoption rates over the period under study. However, the specific adoption rates of the innovation were 91.04%, 3.18%, 2.89% and 2.89% for 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 farming seasons respectively, confirming that the rates rose to 91% but fell drastically in subsequent years as predicted by previous researchers. Farmers' educational level, perception of NERICA, family size and rice farming significantly affected adoption of NERICA. The persistent low adoption rates showed that the innovation was unsuccessful in the study area. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture should therefore intensify her innovation dissemination/diffusion campaigns in the study area to revamp its adoption; by providing ready jobs to the youth and market for the commodity through the flagship programs, Planting for Food and Jobs, and the National Food Buffer Stock Company.