Analysis of factors influencing farmers' voluntary participation in reforestation programme in Ghana

Abstract

Policy-makers consider participatory reforestation and forest resource management to be the key to reducing the problems of deforestation and forest degradation. In this regard, the government of Ghana introduced a modified taungya system as a mechanism to restore degraded forest reserves under the National Forest Plantation Development Programme to allow landless farmers access to land for temporary crop production and secured tree tenure rights. However, there is an information gap concerning the role of individual farmers residing in the off-reserve areas that are dominated by agricultural landscapes in this national reforestation drive. The objective of this paper is to determine the socioeconomic factors influencing farmers' decisions to participate in voluntary tree planting projects in rural communities in Ghana. Two hundred twenty farm households from four communities in Wenchi District, Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression modelling was employed to understand the socioeconomic factors influencing a farmer's decision to participate in voluntary tree planting. The results suggest that secured land tenure rights, large landholdings and on-farm conservation of remnant forest tree species by farmers and the dynamics of soil erosion are key variables that significantly and positively influence farmers' decision to engage in voluntary tree planting. However, large household size and increasing cultivated land area under crop production decrease the likelihood that a farmer will be involved in voluntary tree planting in the target communities. Thus, policy-makers, planners and project designers should incorporate these findings into participatory forest management strategies in Ghana.

Keywords::

• ecosystem services
• reforestation
• logit model

Acknowledgements

The author thanks Masters Kwamina Ernest Frimpong and George Frimpong for conducting the enumeration or interviews on the field and to Lydia Bosoma-Yeboah Danquah (Mrs.) for data processing. Thanks also go to various Honorable Assembly Members for acting as facilitators in the communities where the study was conducted, notable Boachie. This work was supported by Government of Ghana, through Ministry of Education (Universities Lecturers Book and Research Allowance).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

Financial support for this research work came from Government of Ghana, through Ministry of Education. Universities Lecturers Book and Research Allowance.