FARMER BASED ORGANISATIONS IN NORTHERN REGION OF GHANA INTENTION TO ADOPT GM CROP: EMPIRICAL APPLICATION OF THEORY OF PLANNED BEHAVIOUR

Abstract

Following the passage of Ghana Biosafety Act, 2011, (Act, 831) and the Plant Breeders’ Protection Bills being currently under consideration stage in Parliament, there has been intense debate in many media platforms, on the safety and appropriateness of applying GMO technology in commercial agriculture. As such a lot of information is being chained out in the public domain with potential effect on farmers’ prospective adoption decision. This paper presents findings of a study investigating factors predicting farmers’ adoption intention from a survey of 305 members of Farmer Based Organizations in Northern Region of Ghana. A probit regression analysis was used in identifying factors which significantly predict farmers’ adoption decision. The study found more than two –third of the farmers surveyed intending to adopt the cultivation of Genetically Modified crops. Results of the probit model estimates indicate that farmers’ ‘basic knowledge about Genetically Modified crops’, ‘crops income as a ratio of household annual income’ and ‘mistrust of government policy on GM crops’ are significant in predicting farmers’ adoption decision. It is recommended that Ministry of Food and Agriculture, agricultural biotechnology research institutions and other relevant organizations, should help provide farmer education on the benefits of applying Genetically Modified Organisms technology in agriculture