Population and other Determinants of Food Crop Production in the Dry and Derived Savannah Zones of Ghana

Samuel N.A Codjoe, University of Ghana

After Malthus, theories accounting for food production have centred on two key conditions, viz., demographic pressure (Boserup) and market price incentives (Schultz). This paper examines determinants of food crop production in Ghana, placing these two theories and other mediating conditions (environmental, techno-managerial, political economic and institutional) at the heart of the discussions. Information from a household survey undertaken in 2001 among 1,568 farmers in 504 households in 24 rural localities in the dry and derived savannah zones is used. Results show that population is playing a significant role in determining food crop production in the derived and not the dry savannah. This is expected because most of the arable land is already being used for production and bushfires have also taken their toll on arable lands in the dry savannah.