Exploring the potential for green revolution: a choice experiment on maize farmers in Northern Ghana

Conventional modelling approaches to understand farmers’ adoption preferences tend to ignore the range of choices farmers face, as well as the trade-offs among various possibilities to improve crop yield. To address this deficiency, this study employs the choice modelling approach to examine famers’ valuation of various attributes under a Green Revolution package to improve crop yield. It was found that the use of chemical fertilisers and drought-resistant seed varieties was highly valued by farmers in the two regions of Northern Ghana. Information on farmers’ willingness to pay for chemical fertilisers is a useful tool for reducing the current high fertiliser subsidy. Food-insecure farmers, on the other hand, valued organic fertilisers and drought-resistant seeds, while femaleheaded households among food-secure farmers had a preference for organic fertiliser. Legume intercropping to fix soil fertility has some potential for promotion among farmers, but it was less valued than chemical fertilisers. Farm households did not appear to be interested in using seed varieties that vary in time to maturation, which have potential benefits in the face of current climate variability and future climate change. More in-depth study is required to better understand these issues