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This paper examined the factors influencing the participation of rice processors in short supply chains and the participation impact on the amount of rice processed, per capita expenditure of household and value of sales.

The Seemingly Unrelated Regression and Doubly Robust Augmented Inverse Probability Weighting Model (AIPW) were used to analyse the determinants of short supply chain participation and the impact of short supply.

From the results, the mean value of rice processed was GH₵18385 (US$ 3,069.28), with the minimum value being GH₵ 25 (US$ 4.17) and the maximum GH₵ 67200 (US$ 1,1218.70) per annum. Processed rice aroma and grade characteristics positively influence the value of processed rice sold via short supply chains as well as the expertise rate of the processor, Farmer-Based Organisation membership, and marketing information availability. Women rice processors' per capita expenditure, total sales value and the value of processed rice was positively influenced by the short supply chain participation.

Even though the sample size was appropriate, a larger sample size could further support the study's finding since a limited geographical area with predominant domestic rice processors was studied. Again, future studies should consider behavioural theories, such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour, amongst others, in understanding the reasons for the choices of short supply chains compared to other sales outlets.

Although there is a growing body of literature on rice, most of the studies focussed on the marketing outlet of rice producers, rice processing, constraints and opportunities faced by rice farmers and processors and an out-grower scheme involving rice processors amongst rice producers with none of these on the choice of short supply chains amongst women processors. Also, amongst all the studies on rice producers, none applied a theory; however, the Women in Development (WID) Theory was used to analyse the impact of the short supply chain on the impact on household per capita expenditure (poverty), the value of sales and amount of rice processed, a modest theoretical contribution of the paper to literature.

With the empirical evidence on the purchase behaviour of tinned tomatoes, food labelling and the safety consciousness of consumers in Ghana were examined.

Primary data were obtained from 130 consumers. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and multinomial probit analysis were applied.

Consumers use tinned tomatoes for cooking because of its easy accessibility in nearby shops, guaranteed constant supply, attractive package, it being affordable/cheaper, its better colour, advertisement/promotion, and longer shelf life. There is a low level of food safety consciousness among consumers since only one-fifth read labels on tinned tomatoes very often, and one-fifth do not read labels at all. Consumers frequently check on tinned tomatoes' most essential information: brand/type, manufacturing and expiry dates, and weight/volume. Age, residential status, contact information, nutritional benefits and affordability influence the choice of retail brand of tinned tomatoes. The health label consumer segment and conventional label consumer segment were identified, with the majority being the former.

The sample size used for the study could be improved in terms of number and geographical coverage. This is because the study was limited to only one main urbanised area in Ghana. Therefore, it will be worthwhile for a further study to be conducted by comparing urban and rural consumers in Ghana and other countries within Africa, to either validate or reveal a different trajectory of consumer behaviour relevant to marketing, policy and practice.

Tomato paste (tinned tomatoes) is consumed in almost all homes in Africa, but there are food scare concerns about tinned tomatoes due to reported cases of adulteration with unhealthy materials such as starch and food colour, leading to negative health implications on consumers. This makes the reading of tinned tomato labels very crucial. Thus, it is of policy relevance to investigate consumers' reading behaviour of label information on tinned tomatoes in Ghana. However, previous studies on food labelling focussed on food and nutrition labelling and implications of food labelling on consumers' purchase behaviour, with most of them outside Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors influencing the choice and the amount of cocoa beans sold to public and private licensed buying companies in the Western North of Ghana.

The study was conducted in the Western North of Ghana. Cragg’s Double Hurdle model was used to examine the factors influencing the choice of licensed buying company (LBC) whereas Kendall’s coefficient of concordance was employed in analysis of the marketing challenges.

The results showed that non-price incentives determine the choice and the amount cocoa beans sold to an LBC. Specifically, education, years of experience in cocoa farming and timely payment of sold cocoa beans positively influence the choice of public LBC. However, off farm job participation, provision of credit facilities and extension services affect the choice of private LBC as marketing outlet. Perceived low price of cocoa beans, inadequate credit support, and adjustment of scales used in weighing of cocoa beans were identified as the most important challenges confronting farmers.

The research provides important information on non-price incentives influencing cocoa marketing outlet decision as well as the marketing challenges faced by farmers which can contribute to improving internal marketing efficiency of the cocoa industry in Ghana. Besides, this study also extends the frontiers in terms of methodological approach by adopting Cragg’s Double Hurdle Model in addressing the research question.

The research provides important information on non-price incentives influencing cocoa marketing outlet decision as well as the marketing challenges faced by farmers which can contribute to improving internal marketing efficiency of the cocoa industry in Ghana. Besides, this study also extends the frontiers in terms of methodological approach by adopting Cragg’s Double Hurdle Model in addressing the research question.

Credit is essential in the farm business because it facilitates the adoption of productive technologies such as irrigation. However, access to credit remains a significant hurdle for sub-Saharan Africa, including Ghanaian farmers. Therefore, the authors assessed credit utilization and the intensity of borrowing by irrigated rice farmers in the Upper East region. In addition, how extension moderates the amount borrowed was analysed.

The multistage sampling approach was used in the study. The Tono and Vea irrigation schemes were purposively selected. Proportionally, 318 rice farmers were sampled from the Tono irrigation scheme and 159 from the Vea irrigation scheme. Cragg's double hurdle and moderation analysis were used.

It was uncovered that gender, age, years of farming, total farm size, rice farm size, contract farming and off-farm employment explain farmers' decision to borrow. On the other hand, the intensity of borrowing was influenced by gender, age, years of farming, rice farm size, contract farming and the number of extension contact. The moderation analysis revealed that extension contact improves the amount borrowed by farmers.

While there are irrigated rice farmers in other regions of Ghana, this study was limited to rice farmers under the Tono and Vea Irrigation schemes in the Upper East region.

This study investigated the moderating role of extension contact on amount borrowed in Ghana. This makes a modest addition to the limited literature on the moderating role of extension and credit access.

This paper examined tax compliance and its impact on agrochemical traders in Ghana.

Based on the registered agrochemical lists obtained from the Plant Protection and Regulatory Service Department, 92 agrochemical traders were sampled for data collection. Probit regression was used to estimate determinants of tax compliance, whereas the Inverse Probability Weighted Regression Adjustment Model was employed to evaluate the impact of tax compliance on business performance.

The results revealed that age and gender relate positively to enforced tax compliance, while education positively impacts voluntary tax compliance. Nonetheless, tax rate, trust and monthly sales positively affect voluntary tax compliance but negatively impact enforced tax compliance. Inversely, while authorities’ power negatively impacted voluntary compliance, it positively influenced enforced tax compliance confirming the Slippery Slope Framework.

To the best knowledge of the authors, this paper is the first to investigate tax compliance determinants and impact among agrochemical traders, despite the tremendous growth of the agrochemical sub-sector in Africa and Ghana. Therefore, this study makes a modest contribution to empirical studies that validate the Slippery Slope Framework in promoting tax compliance in the agricultural and agribusiness sectors of a developing country. Similarly, it also unearths the impact of tax compliance on agribusiness growth which has yet to be highlighted in the extant literature.

This paper aims to examine the factors that influence rural women’s participation in Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) and the savings contribution in the Kassena-Nankana West District of Ghana. The study also analysed the impact of VSLA participation on off-farm income and on poverty.

In total, 120 rural women were selected for this study. The probit and heteroskedasticity linear regression models were used to examine the factors that influence VSLA participation and the savings made by members, respectively. The propensity score matching technique, coupled with Rosenbaum Sensitivity analysis, were used to analyse the impact of VSLA on off-farm income and poverty.

Demographic and livelihood factors such as human, natural, financial, physical and social capitals have different influences on the participation and the savings contribution in the VSLA. Moreover, VSLA has a significant impact on off-farm income; however, it did not affect poverty.

Despite the numerous studies on VSLA, there is little evidence of literature of its impact on off-farm income of rural women in West Africa, specifically, Ghana. Thus, this paper expands the frontiers of the existing literature on VSLA impact assessment and the factors that influence the savings made by women in the association.

The purpose of this paper was to analyse the demographic, crop choice, institutional and environmental factors that will influence the vegetable growers in Bono and Ahafo regions of Ghana to produce organic vegetables. The study also assessed the knowledge level of vegetable growers on organic certification processes.

Primary data were collected with the help of a structured questionnaire from 120 vegetable growers via a multistage sampling technique. The Heckman selection model was used to analyse the factors that influence farmers' willingness to adopt organic production as well as the intensity of adoption.

In this study, pepper (Capsicum spp) production, residential status, knowledge of organic certification processes, perceived negative environmental effect of conventional farming on the soil, and climate change positively influenced willingness to produce organic vegetables. Likewise, pepper production perceived negative environmental effect of conventional farming on the soil positively influenced the intensity of adoption. Household headship status, garden egg (Solanum integrifolium) production, perceived knowledge on grading and standards of vegetables, as well as the perception that only pesticides can be used to control vegetable pests negatively influenced the willingness to produce organic vegetables however perceived expertise of the farmer on grades and standards influenced intensity of adoption negatively.

In Ghana, even though most vegetable farmers do not have the requisite knowledge in the safe handling of pesticides, usage is widespread. Subsequent to this, is a health risk to farmers, consumers and the environment. As a result, there is a growing awareness that organic agriculture has a role to play in addressing problems associated with agrochemical use and over usage. However, most studies are consumer oriented with limited empirical research on the willingness to produce organics by farmers.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2019-0723

The unavailability and inadequate use of cashew seedlings for propagation are part of the challenges facing the cashew sub-sector in Ghana. However, promoting investment into cashew seedling production should be based on the analysis of the profitability and viability of such a venture as well as the respective determinants of farmers' demand for the planting material.

This study used gross margin/contribution, net margin and contribution ratios to analyse the profitability of cashew seedling production under four different business models. Also, the determinants of choice of planting material for cashew plantation among farmers was analysed via a multinomial probit regression.

The study revealed that cashew seedling production is profitable with a gross margin of $8,474, $2,242, $1,616 and $1,797 and contribution to sales of 31–53% for the various business models. The positive determinants of the use of cashew seedlings were off-farm job participation and extension contact, whereas farm size and age of plantation negatively influenced the use of seedlings. Land acquisition method also influenced the use of both seedlings and seeds negatively.

The findings provide empirical evidence of the viability and profitability of cashew seedling production as a viable business venture and off-farm opportunity in rural areas. The information from the study will help major stakeholders in cashew production to understand the type of farmers who use seeds and seedlings as well as the reasons for using or otherwise.

Significant research in the cashew value chain had focussed on the profitability of cashew plantation with little literature on profitability and viability analysis of cashew seedling production. Similarly, this study provides a significant value chain job opportunity as well as literature on the choice of cashew seedlings among current and prospective end-users.

This study examined consumer preference and willingness to pay a premium price for indigenous chicken products in Ghana.

Data were obtained from 240 consumers in Ghana through the administration of a structured questionnaire. Probit regression was used to examine the factors influencing consumer preference for indigenous chicken products in Ghana. Ordered probit regression was employed to examine the factors influencing the percentage premium price a consumer is willing to pay for indigenous chicken products whereas the cluster analysis was used to segment the consumers.

Different sets of factors were identified to have influenced the decision to purchase indigenous chicken products and the willingness to pay for a premium price. In total, four market segments were identified in this study: shopper consumer segment, the conventional or ethnocentric consumer segment, the privilege consumer segment and the pleasure-seeker consumer segment.

The important factors to learn from this study are the following: examining the critical success factors for the promotion of indigenous chicken products in Ghana is an excellent opportunity for future research. Second, the choice of locally-produced exotic breeds/strains of chicken meat has not been examined in this study. Therefore, a comparative study of consumer preference of the locally-produced exotic breeds/strains of chicken in Ghana is another great opportunity for further research.

Regardless of the seemly opportunities in regional marketing, Ghana has not leveraged on this to promote a regional marketing brand for its local products – like indigenous chicken products – over imported chicken products. Besides, regionalism studies on agricultural products have received less attention in Ghana; therefore, this study contributes to a better understanding of consumer choice of indigenous chicken products, potentially, and the marketing of regional food products in Ghana.

The authors assessed the certification of street food retailers in Ghana in terms of awareness, training, willingness to be certified, determinants, agreement with certification requirements and impacts on performance.

Primary data was sourced from 200 street food retailers. Descriptive statistics, Likert scale, mean comparison test, heteroskedastic probit, inverse-probability-weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA), inverse probability weights (IPW) and augmented inverse-probability weighting (AIPW) were applied.

Most uncertified retailers were willing to be certified. Awareness about certification was high. Most of the certified retailers had been trained on certification, while most uncertified retailers had not been trained. Being a female, being educated, being a migrant vendor, possessing experience in retailing, training in certification, trust in the local certification process, the amount spent in preparing food and the number of customers are crucial variables that increase the probability of being certified among street food vendors. Street food retailers agreed to all the requirements for certification. Certification boosts the performance of street food retailers in terms of the number of customers and contracts received. Training on certification is recommended for street food retailers.

The limitation of this study is mainly due to the type of food retailers selected. Street food vending in Ghana is done among those who cook food for selling, those who sell processed products such as drinks and those who sell vegetables and other uncooked agriproducts. Meanwhile, the authors selected unorganised retailers who primarily cook local and regional dishes for sale in this study. Thus, the study did not include organised food retailers such as restaurants. Therefore, generalising the study results for street food vendors should be made with caution.

Several studies have been conducted on street food retailing across the globe on knowledge of food-safety practices, risk practices, bacterial contamination of street retailing food, toxicological hazards of street foods and compliance with technical and hygienic requirements by street food retailers, among others. However, empirical studies on the certification/licensing of street food retailers and its impact have been given little attention. As a result, this study investigates the certification of street food retailers and its impacts on retailers' performance in Ghana.