Inadequate knowledge of silvicultural practices still a major hindrance to tree plantation development

Inadequate knowledge of silvicultural practices still a major hindrance to tree plantation development

Ghana - 22 October, 2015

More than half of Ghanaian farmers involved in tree plantation development still find inadequate knowledge of silvicultural practices a major hindrance to their businesses in spite of the fact that 84 percent of them have already benefited from extension services being offered by several organisations including the Forestry Commission (FC) of Ghana.

In a research conducted by Tropenbos International (TBI) Ghana, 54 percent of farmers identified poor silvicultural practices as a major challenge for them which is an indication that current and past methods of extension services delivery have not enhanced their knowledge of silvicultural practices.

Access to planting materials, which scored 25 percent was identified as the second most challenging factor while only eight percent of farmers identified land acquisition as a major hindrance. Merely six percent of farmers found pest control to be a major problem.

The research therefore recommended that a Forestry Extension Secretariat should be institutionalised within the FC and governed by a well-defined policy to make it effective. While field officers of the FC should be given formal training in extension services to improve upon their delivery methods in order to make the desired impact on the activities of tree plantation farmers.

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The research which was conducted under the Landscape Restoration Project (LRP) was carried out in nine communities in three forest districts; namely, the Nkoranza South Forest District, the Offinso South Forest District and the Upper Denkyira West Forest District. The findings were made available to TBI Ghana on October 13, 2015.

It was aimed at accessing the successes and weaknesses of the mode of delivery of past and present methods of extension services being rendered to farmers so as to come out with recommendations that would help strengthen future extension services being offered by the FC to make them more beneficial to farmers.

The research found out that the FC accounted for over 56 percent of extension services rendered to tree plantation farmers followed by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), which rendered 18 percent, and the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD)) which rendered over 11 percent. Non –governmental organisations and other forestry oriented institutions together rendered over 14 percent of total extension services to farmers.

On examining the types of extension services rendered to farmers, the research discovered that the major extension type delivered was Technical Extension Services which accounted for 53 percent, followed by Farmers Association Extension Services which accounted for 19 percent. Marketing Extension Services accounted for over 13 percent and Emerging Purposes Services accounted for five percent.
Most of these services were delivered through group contact which accounted for over 68 percent of the mode of delivery, followed by individual contact which accounted for 25 percent while mass contact accounted for 12 percent of delivery methods.

When questioned as to what method was most suitable for them, over 60 percent of the farmers said they preferred the group method, 25 percent said they preferred the individual method while nine percent said they preferred mass contact.

The study recommended that a hybrid delivery model of field extension services between the one offered by the FC and the NGO model should be adopted to improve upon the impact of extension services on the activities of tree farmers in view of the fact that most farmers are still not conversant with modern silvicultural practices despite the fact that the majority of them have benefited from extension services.