Prospects of Using Improved Intermediate Means of Transport in Ghanaian Agriculture: A Survey

ABSTRACT In recognition of the vital role of agriculture in Ghana's economy, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture initiated the Rural Transport Infrastructure Project, with a key objective to promote use of Intermediate Means of Transport (IMT), especially donkey-drawn carts, bicycle-trailers and power tillers, among rural farming communities. A survey was conducted to understand and document the socio-economic characteristics of selected rural farming communities regarding the adoption and diffusion of the three IMT technologies as part of the pilot phase of the project. The survey covered the main agro-ecological areas of the country, which are the transition, forest, coastal and Guinea savanna zones. Two findings did not support the conventional thinking among policymakers. First, women managed fewer but larger individual farms (2.11 ha on average) compared to men (1.38 ha on average), although the aggregate of farmfields were generally larger for men. Second, mono-cropping (as opposed to inter-croppin...