Impact of Ghana's Agricultural Mechanization Services Center Program

40 Pages Posted: 27 Mar 2014

See all articles by Samuel Benin

Samuel Benin

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

Date Written: March 2014

Abstract

Use of mechanization in African agriculture has returned strongly to the development agenda, particularly following the recent high food prices crisis. Many developing country governments — including Ghana, the case study of this paper — have resumed support for agricultural mechanization, typically in the form of providing subsidies for tractor purchase and establishment of private-sector-run agricultural mechanization service centers (AMSECs). The aim of this paper is to assess the impact of Ghana’s AMSEC program on various outcomes, using data from household surveys that were conducted with 270 farmers, some of them located in areas with the AMSEC program (treatment) and others located in areas without the program (control).

Keywords: Ghana, West Africa, Africa South of Sahara, Africa, mechanization, productivity, agricultural development, agricultural policies, propensity score matching

Suggested Citation

Benin, Samuel, Impact of Ghana's Agricultural Mechanization Services Center Program (March 2014). IFPRI Discussion Paper 01330, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2413946 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2413946

Samuel Benin (Contact Author)

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) ( email )

1201 Eye St, NW,
Washington, DC 20005
United States

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