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To help address the problem of imperfections in the performance of cowpea markets in Ghana, the study sought to understand the costs and benefits associated with different market outlets and factors influencing farmers' choice of these outlets.

A two-stage sampling technique was adopted to collect data from 300 cowpea farmers through purposive sampling of communities and simple random selection at the farmer level in Ejura Sekyedumasi municipality of Ghana. Analytical methods including profitability measures such as gross margin, net margin, return on investment and multinomial logistic (MNL) regression model were used to analyze the data.

The results showed that production and marketing of cowpea is profitable with farmers who trade in wholesale markets recording the highest gross margin (Gh₵1245.85 (US$227.76)), net margin (Gh₵1029.37 (US$188.18)) and return on investment (ROI) of 63%. Important nonfarm-related factors including household size, farming experience, membership of farmer-based organization and extension contact were found to significantly influence the choice of marketing outlets in the study area. In addition, market attributes such as produce selling price, volume of cowpea sold and post-harvest value addition were also key determinants of cowpea market outlet choices.

The results of the study are vital to agricultural administrators in devising efficient cowpea market systems for smallholder farmers in Ghana. Likewise, the study provides important information to smallholder farmers in the choice of market outlets that maximizes their returns.

Previous studies on marketing of cowpea in Ghana emphasized on direct retail or consumer marketing to maximize farmers' returns. Meanwhile, there are claims to suggest that the sale of cowpea grains in the country are carried out through varied market outlets which come with differing costs and benefits implications for smallholder farmers. Therefore, the present study comprehensively compared associated costs and benefits in all available cowpea market outlets so as to settle the confusion surrounding most profitable and efficient marketing channel for smallholder farmers toward poverty reduction.

The objectives of this paper are to analyze the drivers of smoked marine fish prices and examine the challenges along the value chain to inform policy.

The study relies on cross-sectional data from 158 fish smokers, 100 wholesalers, and 120 retailers in Ghana. The challenges faced by the actors along the chain are identified and ranked using Kendall's coefficient of concordance. The three-stage least square estimation approach is employed to control for endogeneity resulting from the simultaneous equations for prices of different fish types and their substitutes.

The results reveal that marketing experience, the extent of competition, price of substitutes, payment terms, and variable cost items, such as transportation cost and storage charges, are key determinants of smoked fish prices along the value chain. Lack of access to credit is the main constraint to the marketing of smoked marine fish, irrespective of the actor or the fish type.

Many studies have established the linkages between fish consumption, prices, and food security in the literature. However, there is a dearth of information on the responsiveness of fish prices to changes in the market and seller-specific factors to drive policy to stabilize prices along the value chain.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-09-2021-0566

This study aims to analyse consumers' preferences for domestic chicken cut parts and the premium they are willing to pay for the various parts using data from a contingent valuation survey of individual chicken meat consumers in the Kumasi Metropolitan Area of Ghana.

The willingness to pay premiums are obtained using the double-bounded dichotomous choice approach. Determinants of the consumers' willingness to pay amounts are identified through a multivariate Tobit regression analysis.

The study finds that the wing is the most preferred chicken part by the consumers followed by the thighs. All consumers who express interest in a particular domestic chicken cut part are willing to pay a premium. Age, sex, years of formal education, household size and income level of the consumers as well as convenience, product availability and perceived wholesomeness of the product are identified as the key factors that influence the willingness to pay amounts.

The findings and recommendations of this study could serve as a guide to domestic poultry meat producers and investors in Ghana and other developing countries on how to process or package the meat for the market or consumers. This could further contribute to policy formulation regarding the development of the domestic poultry meat industry.

The uniqueness of this study is seen in the contributions it makes to the literature on consumer preferences and willingness to pay for chicken cut parts from a developing country perspective where the market for these products is virtually non-existent.

The main purpose of this study was to assess constraints and determinants of pineapple farmers' choice of certification schemes in Ghana.

A multistage sampling method was used to solicit data from 345 pineapple farmers from Eastern and Central regions of Ghana. Analytical techniques including descriptive statistics, four-point Likert scale index and multinomial logistic regression model (MNL) were used to analyze the data.

The four-point scale index shows that high renewal fee for certification schemes is the most important constraint facing certified farmers before high labor cost of production. The MNL model shows that both off-farm income and age negatively influenced farmers' choice of GlobalG.A.P scheme. However, household size had significant positive influence on farmers' choice of GlobalG.A.P and Organic schemes. Likewise, formal education had significant positive relationship with the choice of Fairtrade and Organic certification schemes while farming experience positively influenced organic scheme choice. On the other hand, premium price and extension services positively influenced the likelihood of choosing all the three certification schemes. Lastly, regional dummy only negatively influences the choice of organic certification schemes.

This study contributes to the literature on certification schemes adopted by smallholder by analyzing the determinants and constraints of choice of scheme(s).

The study brings to bear the issues confronting smallholder pineapple farmers in the employment of certification schemes in developing countries, specifically Ghana.

The paper aims to examine impact of adopted maize seed technology on farm profitability. It assesses both the revenue and cost implication of the adopted technology on farmers' welfare. The study aims to expand the domain of farm investment assessment analysis by including a broader range of production outcome indicators than is normally found in the adoption impact on farm profitability literature.

The paper opted for an empirical study using field survey data. A structured questionnaire was used to interview 400 maize farmers across four regions of Ghana. The survey was complemented with focus group discussions in each region with participants representing male and female farmers cultivating maize on a commercial basis. The data captured detail household level (i.e. demographic and socioeconomic characteristics) as well as farm-level information on maize production (i.e. input use and farm output).

The paper provides empirical insights about maize farmers' perception on the adopted maize seed technology and the factors influencing adoption. It also shed light on the fact that maize farmers do not base their adoption decisions solely on farm output and revenue indicators alone, but mainly on the return on their investment and the cost associated with the maize seed technology adopted.

Because of data limitation, the influence of some important actors (market power) could not be directly captured in the analysis; this may lead to over simplification of a very complex situation in the maize sector. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to future investigate the influence of such important phenomenon on farm profitability.

Improving maize productivity and farm profitability across the sectors is important in order to improve farmer income. This study, therefore, highlights the effect of adopted seed technology and its impact on farm profitability.

This paper fulfils an identified need to study how investment cost in maize seed technology affect farm profitability.

This study investigates implications of crop and income diversifications on consumption expenditure (welfare) of rice-producing households in Ghana. It further compares diversification by three rice production systems: two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice production.

Primary data were sourced from 225 rice farmers. Margalef index and three-stage least-squares were employed.

Majority of rice-farming households in Ghana diversify livelihoods. The extent of livelihood diversification differs among two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice-producing households. Credit, distance to district capitals, production purpose and number of farming seasons influence crop and income diversifications, and consumption expenditure of rice-producing households. While crop diversification reduces consumption expenditure, income diversification increases it. Crop and income diversifications positively influence each other. Consumption expenditure reduces crop diversification but increases income diversification.

Policy should be directed towards the promotion of more livelihood activities to boost rice farmers' welfare. There should be awareness creation and training programmes to enable rice farmers realize different economic activities within and outside the agricultural value chain.

Crop and income diversifications were measured as continuous response variables, unlike previous studies that used a binary response variable. The authors established a synergy among crop and income diversifications, and consumption expenditure (welfare). The authors further compared crop and income diversifications by three rice production systems: two-season rain-fed, two-season irrigated and one-season rain-fed rice production systems.