Towards a Framework for Appropriate Conservation Agriculture Mechanization of Smallholder Rice Production in Ghana, 2022-2023

While Conservation Agriculture (CA) provides agricultural practices that offer a sustainable means to increase productivity, the drudgery in production will simply increase without effective mechanisation. This research project is formed on the premise that mapping the factors that affect farmers’ choice of machinery will aid in developing a framework for promoting gender-transformative access to and control of machinery within farming communities. Focusing on smallholder farmers in Asutsuare, a local rice production community in Ghana, who do not have fully mechanised production, the project explores the factors influencing farmers’ choice of CA-compliant machinery or a particular mechanisation model, the effect of gender norms on the choice of machinery, and how the choice of machinery influences farm productivity and sustainability. The data for this study was meticulously collected from the farmers using a mixed-method approach, including questionnaires, focus-group discussions, and key informant interviews. The Theory of Planned Behaviour was then employed to develop the ‘choice’ construct within the framework, and econometric models were used to evaluate the impact on the productivity of the smallholder farmers’ (men, women, and youth) individual machinery choices. This rigorous process ensures the reliability and validity of our findings. Given the study’s gathering of relatively sensitive data on smallholder farmers’ choices (underpinned by their attitudes and perceived norms), the emphasis is placed on ethical data management and safeguarding. The study promotes effective CA mechanisation in Ghana, advancing the United Nations' sustainable development goals and supporting national agricultural intensification targets.