Open AccessThe effect of smallholder livestock production on income of farm households in Northern Ghana
Author(s) -
Samuel Tawiah Baidoo,
Hadrat Yusif,
Umar Anwar
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of the university of science and technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 0855-0395
DOI - 10.4314/just.v36i3.2
Subject(s) - livestock , production (economics) , household income , poverty , dependency ratio , agricultural economics , farm income , flock , socioeconomics , business , economics , agricultural science , geography , economic growth , forestry , environmental science , paleontology , population , demography , archaeology , sociology , biology , macroeconomics
This paper investigates the effect of smallholder livestock production on income among farm households in northern Ghana. Questionnaires were administered to 300 household heads and ordinary least squares estimation technique was applied to the dataset. The dependent variable was income and measured by total annual income received from farm and non-farm activities by household heads. The independent variable of interest was tropical livestock unit measured by flock size. We also included farm size, household size, gender, age, educational level, distance to market, dependency ratio and access to formal credit as control variables. We found that smallholder livestock production and farm size increase income whilst distance to market and dependency ratio reduce income. Based on evidence of the positive relationship between livestock production and household income in this paper, it is recommended that policies to promote smallholder livestock production should be embarked upon to increase income. This is likely to improvelivelihood and reduce poverty among the poor rural folks in the northern regions of Ghana.Keywords:Livestock production, farm households, income, poverty, Northern Ghana