Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.
| Published in | Science Development (Volume 3, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15 |
| Page(s) | 110-116 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Food Security, Garu District, Household Members, Maize Farmers, Ghana
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APA Style
Alhassan Bawa, Denis Asampambila. (2022). Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Science Development, 3(3), 110-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
ACS Style
Alhassan Bawa; Denis Asampambila. Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana. Sci. Dev. 2022, 3(3), 110-116. doi: 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15,
author = {Alhassan Bawa and Denis Asampambila},
title = {Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana},
journal = {Science Development},
volume = {3},
number = {3},
pages = {110-116},
doi = {10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.scidev.20220303.15},
abstract = {Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre.},
year = {2022}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - Maize Production and Food Security in Garu District of Upper East Region, Ghana AU - Alhassan Bawa AU - Denis Asampambila Y1 - 2022/08/15 PY - 2022 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15 DO - 10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15 T2 - Science Development JF - Science Development JO - Science Development SP - 110 EP - 116 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2994-7154 UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.scidev.20220303.15 AB - Background and Objectives: Agriculture, as the main economic activity in the Garu district, employs over 95 percent of households. Yields of maize in the district are however low, probably as a result of intermittent drought, low soil fertility, diseases and pests infestation, and the use of inappropriate agronomic practices. The objective of the study was to assess the impact of maize production on food security in Garu district of the Upper East region of Ghana. Methodology: The purposive sampling technique was used to select the Garu district out of the thirteen districts in the Upper East region of Ghana. The purposive sampling technique was also used to select 10 maize-farming communities within the Garu district. The stratified sampling technique was used to select respondents from the ten communities, while simple random sampling was used to select Agricultural Extension Agents for the study. A total of 124 respondents were selected for the study. Results: The study showed that over 50% of household members had enough maize to feed on throughout the 12-month period of the year. The research also established that most households made good use of maize as their main diet and nutrition throughout the year. Conclusions: Building the capacities of farmers on good agronomic practices and improved methods of farming should be intensified for increased maize productivity and improved food security. The Department of Agriculture should ensure effective extension services delivery to increase yields of maize from the average of 4-6 100kg bags per acre to 10 bags per acre. VL - 3 IS - 3 ER -
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