The Nature, Extent and Effect of Diversification on Livelihoods of Farmers: A Case Study of the Cocoa Farmers in Ghana

2017

English

Livelihood diversification has become a critical part of the economic and social life of farmers. However, the extent, nature and the factors that affect farmers’ decisions to diversify have received little attention. This study applied a multi-stage sampling technique to interview a total of 184 cocoa farmers to examine the extent of diversification and how it affects their livelihoods. The results show that although about 70% of the farmers were diversifying into either farm, non-farm or both farm and non-farm activities, the extent of diversification by the farmers is not high, with about 30% not diversifying at all. Farmers diversifying their income in non-cocoa farm activities received much income than those who pursued on-farm diversification.

Owusu-Amankwah, R.; Ruivenkamp, G.; Essegbey, G.; Frempong, G.