POVERTY AND LAND DEGRADATION NEXUS: THE CASE OF ASUNAFO, GHANA

Abstract

Abstract: Clarification of poverty-land degradation nexus is essential for finding solutions to the twin problems. Indigenous farmer perspective is sought through analysis of eleven indicators which are suggestive of poverty and land degradation via the application of pairwise ranking based on LSD (5%). The study reveals that the average scores of three indicators: food/feeding of farmer family, quality of farmer clothing/appearance and the tendency of borrowing money to make ends meet were higher than the calculated LSD. Also, the farmers felt the pinch of poverty more painfully in June than any other month. In response, government and NGOs are providing building materials and free-for-all-farmers agrochemical spraying of cocoa farms among other strategies to curb the twin menace. The paper reveals that the notion of rich cocoa farmer no longer holds for majority of farmers in the cocoa growing areas of Ghana