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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 paper aims to examine fall armyworm's (FAW) effect on Ghana's farming households' income and food security status.

A sample of 225 farmers, including FAW-infested households and non-FAW-infested households, were interviewed. Gross margin (GM) analysis was used to estimate farmers' farm revenues, and the Household Food Insecurity Access Scores (HFIAS) was employed to measure the food security status of the households. The seemingly unrelated regression (SUR) was adopted to investigate the effect of FAW infestation on gross income and food security.

From the study, FAW attack is predominant during the vegetative stage of the maize plant. The empirical results revealed that FAW-infested farms incur loss, whereas non-FAW-infested farmers gained profit. Also, FAW-infested households were mildly food insecure, while non-FAW-infested households were food secured. The results of SUR analysis reveal that FAW infestation decreased farmers' income from maize production and rendered them food insecure.

One limitation of this study is that it largely depended on a survey; however, future studies can combine both survey and experimental data from the farmers' fields during minor and major growing seasons of maize.

Given the negative consequences of FAW, studies have been conducted across Africa and globally. However, most of these studies concentrated on using geographic information system (GIS) and descriptive statistics without necessarily quantifying the effect of FAW on food security and the profit margins of farming households. Therefore, this study adds to the little literature on the effect of FAW on food security and GM from maize production, which has received less attention in Ghana to the authors' best knowledge.

This study aims to focus on the nexus between off-grid systems and impacts on islands and remote villages in Ghana by investigating the sources and cost of energy, willingness to pay for electricity and impacts of off-grid energy on the local economy, education, health, social activities, the environment and migration.

Data were obtained from 110 households; heterogeneous impact analysis of off-grid technologies, average treatment effect by inverse probability weights (IPW) and inverse probability weighted regression adjustment (IPWRA) models were used to analyse the data.

The sources of energy are gas, kerosene, wood fuel and dry-cell battery. All households in communities with neither electricity nor off-grid system were willing to pay for electricity. Households without off-grid systems (US$8.1) were willing to pay higher amounts per month for electricity. The off-grid technologies improve the local economy, social activities, security, the environment, education and health as well as reduce out-migration.

Most of the literature on mini-grid/off-grid systems have been from the engineering and the technical perspective, with a few on the socioeconomic impacts of the systems and consumer engagements. Besides, methods including descriptive statistics, energy technology sustainability framework and qualitative analysis were used in these studies. Nevertheless, the authors used a more rigorous method of the doubly robust inverse probability weighted regression adjustment model and a heterogeneous method to model the impact analysis of off-grid systems.