Demographic and socio-economic characteristics of cassava farmers influencing output levels in the Savannah Zone of Northern Ghana

The research studied the effects of demographic and socio-economic characteristics of cassava farmers on output levels in the Savannah Zone of Northern Ghana. One hundred and fifty cassava farmers were sampled randomly. The data were collected through a structured questionnaire from respondents. The farmers were drawn from three regions that fall under the Savannah Zone. Six districts were purposively selected from the regions. One hundred male cassava farmers and fifty  female cassava farmers were considered for the study. An econometric model was specified to determine the relationship between the socio-economic characteristics and cassava output levels. The estimated linear regression model revealed that gender, education, experience, farm size and primary occupation of farmers were statistically significant. Other factors as marital status and land ownership of producers were found to be negative. The findings showed that producers whose primary occupations were not farming do not realise as much output as their counterparts who consider farming as their profession. Key words: Demographic, socio-economic characteristics, smallholder farmer, cassava, savannah zone, Ghana.