The effects of urbanisation pressures on smallholder staple food crop production at the fringes of African cities: Empirical evidence from Ghana

Abstract

Urban fringe food production plays a critical role in bridging the urban demand-supply gap by reducing the distance between the markets and farms, making food affordable in cities. Studies show that urbanisation is hampering agriculture activities at the fringes of African cities due to the intense competition for land between developers and farmers. However, the interface between staple food crop production at the urban fringes and urbanisation has not been given sufficient scholarly attention in Ghana. This study draws evidence from Wa, Ghana to examine how urbanisation pressures affect staple food crop production using the mixed research method approach. Data were collected from 408 farmers supported by key informant interviews involving chiefs, family heads, lead farmers, leaders of women groups, and relevant officials of relevant state institutions, while pictures were taken to validate participants’ claims. The quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics, cross tabulation, and the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test, whereas key informant interviews were subjected to thematic analyses. The findings show that urbanisation pressures have adversely affected staple crop production through declining land availability, low crop harvest, and the dropping of some crops. Therefore, the farmers resorted to cultivating on isolated patchy plots, intercropping, sub-division of small plots, and fertiliser applications to sustain production. However, high inputs cost, climate change, and land tenure insecurity limited food production. Planning schemes should make provision for food crop production, while the Municipal Assembly liaises with NGOs and the Department Agriculture Department to assist farmers to prepare organic fertiliser using local materials to boost production.

Keywords

• African cities
• Ghana
• staple food
• urbanisation
• urban food supply