Bright O. Asante, Renato A. Villano and George E. Battese
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of crop-livestock diversification among smallholders in the forest-savannah agroecological zone of Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the characteristics of crop-livestock diversification among smallholders in the forest-savannah agroecological zone of Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses a stochastic input distance function to investigate the evidence of economies of diversification and its effect on determining diversification decisions of smallholders in Ghana. Furthermore, this study also explores evidence of scale economies in integrated crop-livestock systems among smallholder farmers.
Findings
The empirical results show that economies of diversification are significant in determining diversification decisions of smallholders. The economies of scale are evident in integrated crop-livestock systems in Ghana, suggesting that opportunities exist to expand crop-livestock outputs without employing additional inputs or improved production technologies. Crop-livestock diversification is a desirable strategy for improving overall farm productivity among smallholders in Ghana. Economies of diversification were found to be significant among the output combinations, maize with other crops and other crops with livestock, in integrated crop-livestock production systems.
Research limitations/implications
This study is based on a cross-sectional data set. Hence, the findings may be subject to some limitations; however, the authors have sought to minimise such limitations.
Practical implications
The results imply that crop-livestock diversification is a desirable strategy for improving overall farm productivity. Therefore, the findings are useful for policymakers to design appropriate strategies for enhancing the production of specific output combinations in crop-livestock diversification systems among smallholders in Ghana. Specifically, such policies should promote the production and integration of crops such as legumes with other crops, and livestock with other crops in diversified farming systems to enhance overall farm productivity. This will reduce food insecurity and poverty among rural farm households and the entire rural population.
Originality/value
These results indicate that to improve crop-livestock productivity through diversification, and reduce the effect of climate variability, it is imperative to provide the enabling environment that will facilitate and encourage production of these output combinations among smallholders in Ghana. The empirical results enhance the literature by providing empirical evidence of the complementary synergies and economies of diversification in integrated farming systems and, hence, make recommendations for improving these farming systems.
Peer review
The peer review history for this paper is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-04-2019-0274.
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Bright Owusu Asante, Stephen Prah, Kwabena Nyarko Addai, Benjamin Anang and John N. Ng’ombe
This paper aimed to examine the impacts of agricultural services on welfare of rural farmers in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aimed to examine the impacts of agricultural services on welfare of rural farmers in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Using data from 1431 rural maize farmers, we employ multinomial endogenous switching regression and multivalued inverse probability weighted regression adjustment to assess the impacts.
Findings
Results show that 19.8%, 9.7% and 3.42% of farmers adopted solely irrigation, extension and mechanization, respectively. Furthermore, utilizing a range of agricultural services significantly improves maize yields, gross income and per capita food consumption.
Research limitations/implications
This study recommends strategies that target the adoption of combinations of agricultural services to enhance rural farmers’ welfare in Ghana and other developing countries.
Originality/value
While agricultural services are claimed to improve agricultural production and peasants’ welfare, their impacts are not studied exhaustively. This paper contributes by providing empirical evidence of the impacts of agricultural services on farmers’ welfare.
Peer review
The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-11-2022-0745.
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Stephen Prah, Bright Owusu Asante, Godfred Holaena Dagbatsa, Camillus Abawiera Wongnaa, Seth Etuah and John N. Ng’ombe
This paper examines the nexus between input credit access, farm performance and food nutrition in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines the nexus between input credit access, farm performance and food nutrition in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a random sample of 239 smallholder rice farmers, we utilized the endogenous switching regression model to address the self-selection issue and estimate the impact of input credit access on farm performance and food nutrition and further analyze the heterogenous impacts.
Findings
The results show that socioeconomic (age, education, sex, off-farm activity and farm size), institutional (extension contact and farmer-based organizations) characteristics and location variable significantly influence the decision to access input credit. After adjusting for both observed and unobserved factors, our findings reveal that access to input credit significantly improves rice yield, net profit and food nutrition of smallholder rice farmers in Ghana. Furthermore, results reveal that the effects of input credit access on rice yield, net profit and food nutrition are heterogeneous and subject to farmers’ propensity to access input credit. Specifically, we find that those with a higher inclination to access input credit experience larger positive impacts, indicating a positive selection process.
Research limitations/implications
Access to agricultural input credit is essential for the adoption of modern and climate-smart technologies in agricultural production. However, the persistent lack of access to input credit hampers agricultural productivity and constrains investment in farm input resources in Sub-Saharan Africa. Our study calls for proper targeting of input credit interventions to incentivize the uptake of farm input credit such as improved seeds and fertilizers to improve overall crop production and achieve food security.
Originality/value
The study utilized rigorous econometric methods to analyze the impact of input credit access on smallholder rice farmers' farm performance and food nutrition in Ghana. The findings provide valuable guidance for policymakers and future research on agricultural development in Ghana.
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Disraeli Asante-Darko, Bright Adu Bonsu, Samuel Famiyeh, Amoako Kwarteng and Yayra Goka
There is an existing relationship among shareholders, boards of directors and management of companies. Corporate governance practices of companies are expected to ensure that this…
Abstract
Purpose
There is an existing relationship among shareholders, boards of directors and management of companies. Corporate governance practices of companies are expected to ensure that this relationship maximises the wealth of shareholders. Differences exist among corporate governance of companies listed on the Ghana Stock Exchange. Companies, for purposes of liquidity, hold cash, but cash holdings also add to the cost of financing, according to working capital theories. The study, thus, sought to examine the relationship between corporate governance practices, ownership structure, cash holdings and firm value.
Design/methodology/approach
The study deployed the seemingly unrelated regression to reduce the problem of multicollinearity resulting from the strong relationship between cash reserves and some control variables.
Findings
The study found no significant relationship between board size and firm value. Similar findings were also made on the relationship between proportion of non-executive directors on the board and firm value. However, firms audited by the big four audit firms are valued higher by the capital market. Cash holdings of firms negatively affect performance, and this is statistically significant. A positive relationship arises between a firm’s cash holdings and its value as a result of debt financing, even though this is not significant.
Originality/value
The study is the first of its kind that deploys Tobin’s Q as a measure of firms’ value to reflect investors’ valuation of firms in Ghana. The study is also the first of its kind to test the interactive effect of debt financing and cash holdings on firm value in Ghana.
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Bright Owusu Asante, Jonas Osei-Adu, Kingsley Osei, Stella Ama Ennin, Beatrice Aighewi and Monica Opoku
This paper aims to investigate how awareness influences the adoption of positive selection (PS) technology among smallholder yam farmers in West Africa. PS has the potential of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate how awareness influences the adoption of positive selection (PS) technology among smallholder yam farmers in West Africa. PS has the potential of increasing yield and reducing disease incidence and severity in yam production.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies the average treatment effect (ATE) methodology to estimate the rates of awareness and adoption of the PS technology and associated factors using data from 678 smallholder seed yam farmers in Ghana and Nigeria.
Findings
The results indicate that the actual adoption rates of PS technology are 58 and 55%, while the potential adoption rates are estimated at 89.5 and 79.3% for Ghana and Nigeria, respectively, if the PS technology was fully disseminated. This leads to adoption gaps of 31.7 and 24.8%, respectively, for Ghana and Nigeria stemming from incomplete awareness of the PS among the population of yam growing farmers. The PS adoption is high among the educated young farmers who are members of farmer based organizations and participate in demonstrations.
Practical implications
Promotional efforts for enhancing awareness and adoption of PS should target educated youth willing to participate in field demonstrations and should focus on scaling up of PS technology to ensure quality farmer saved seed yams and enhance yam productivity in West Africa.
Originality/value
The introduction of PS in seed yam production is quite recent also its introduction to seed yam farmers in West Africa. Subsequently, a better understanding of what the adoption status would be should everyone in the population of yam farmers are aware of PS is vital for policy, research and development.
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Osama El-Ansary and Hatem Fouad Hamza
This paper aims to discover the underlying mechanisms by which corporate financial policies, cash holdings, capital structure and dividend payouts, transmit their effects on firm…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to discover the underlying mechanisms by which corporate financial policies, cash holdings, capital structure and dividend payouts, transmit their effects on firm value in the “Middle East and North Africa” (MENA) emerging markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors employ a novel integration of path modelling with parallel multiple mediation analysis to empirically test the hypothesised indirect effects through the mechanisms represented by the value of financial flexibility (VOFF) and agency costs.
Findings
The authors do not find any evidence of the association between cash holdings, dividend payouts, and firm value when the mechanisms through the VOFF and agency costs are considered. While these two forces, i.e. the VOFF and agency costs, have balanced mediation effects on the relationship between cash holdings and firm value, they represent equivalent and complementary mechanisms by which dividend payouts transmit their positive impact on firm value. Moreover, we document a significant negative partial mediation effect of agency costs on the relationship between leverage and firm value; however, we do not find any evidence supporting the mediation effect of the VOFF on such a relationship.
Originality/value
This paper sheds new light on the forces that govern the nature of the relationships between corporate financial policies and firm value.
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Kwadwo Antwi-Wiafe, Grace Nkansa Asante and Paul Owusu Takyi
This paper aims to examine whether financial technology is complementing the performance of domestic financial institutions or substituting their performance in Ghana.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine whether financial technology is complementing the performance of domestic financial institutions or substituting their performance in Ghana.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper used data from the Bank of Ghana Payment System Statistics and Time Series Data of the Bank of Ghana from 2012 to 2021, by using autoregressive distributive lags estimation technique.
Findings
The results showed that in both the long run and short run, financial technology has a significant negative impact on bank performance, indicating that fintech serves as substitutes rather than complements for Ghanaian banks. These results suggest that there must be a critical review on the interoperability policy in Ghana and that banks should take advantage of the financial technology to increase profit.
Originality/value
Based on the authors’ study, no empirical work has been extensively done in the Ghanaian context by examining how financial technology serves as either a complement or substitute for domestic banking institutions. This paper focuses on exploring the key definition of financial technology in Ghana and how transactions through these media are affecting or improving the performance of banks.
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Ephrem Negash Shebeshe and Dhiraj Sharma
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on both competitive advantage (CA) and organizational performance (OP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of sustainable supply chain management (SSCM) practices on both competitive advantage (CA) and organizational performance (OP) in the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia.
Design/methodology/approach
Data for the study were collected from a sample of 221 manufacturing companies operating in the four manufacturing groups/sectors in Ethiopia. In addition, data analysis was performed using the partial least squares method, which is a variance-based Structural Equation Modeling approach in the Smart-PLS software version (SmartPLS 4.0).
Findings
Based on the statistical analysis of the collected data, it demonstrates that SSCM has a significant and positive impact on both competitive advantage and organizational performance. Furthermore, statistical findings offer proof of the clear connection between competitive advantage and organizational performance. Moreover, competitive advantage indirectly mediates the relationship between SSCM and OP.
Research limitations/implications
The primary limitation of this research is its reliance on a cross-sectional design. The generalizability of the findings obtained from the present study may be hindered. The variable under investigation in this research assessed organizational performance, a concept that is widely acknowledged to be extremely dynamic.
Practical implications
The study provides managers and researchers with valuable information on Sustainable Supply Chain Management strategies and how they influence competitive advantage and organizational performance in commercial and industrial environments.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the body of knowledge by providing new data and empirical insights into the relationship between SSCM practices and the performance of manufacturing companies in Ethiopia.
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James W Peltier, Andrew J Dahl, Lauren Drury and Tracy Khan
Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead…
Abstract
Purpose
Conceptual and empirical research over the past 20 years has moved the social media (SM) literature beyond the embryotic stage to a well-developed academic discipline. As the lead article in the special issue in the Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing on Cutting-Edge Research in Social Media and Interactive Marketing, this review and agenda article has two key goals: (1) to review key SM and interactive marketing research over the past three years and (2) to identify the next wave of high priority challenges and research opportunities.
Design/methodology/approach
Given the “cutting-edge” research focus of the special issue, this review and research agenda paper focused on articles published in 25 key marketing journals between January 2021 and March 2024. Initially, the search request was for articles with “social media, social selling, social commerce” located in the article title, author-selected key words and journal-selected keywords. Later, we conducted searches based on terminology from articles presented in the final review. In total, over 1,000 articles were reviewed across the 25 journals, plus additional ones that were cited in those journals that were not on the initial list.
Findings
Our review uncovered eight key content areas: (1) data sources, methodology and scale development; (2) emergent SM technologies; (3) artificial intelligence; (4) virtual reality; (5) sales and sales management; (6) consumer welfare; (7) influencer marketing; and (8) social commerce. Table I provides a summer of key articles and research findings for each of the content areas.
Originality/value
As a literature review and research agenda article, this paper is one of the most extensive to date on SM marketing, and particularly with regard to emergent research over the past three years. Recommendations for future research are integrated through the paper and summarized in Figure 2.
Social implications
Consumer welfare is one of the eight emergent content areas uncovered in the literature review. Specific focus is on SM privacy, misinformation, mental health and misbehavior.