Cocoa health and extension division’s programmes and sustainable cocoa production in Ghana: A case of Ahafo Ano Cocoa District

Abstract

The study set out to investigate the influence of the Cocoa Health and Extension Division’s Programmes (CHED) on Sustainable Cocoa Production in Ghana using Ahafo Ano Cocoa District as the setting. CHED extension services were measured with five variables – Teaching and Learning Methods, Facilitating the Adoption of Technology, Formation of Farm Groups, Information Management, and Linkage with Stakeholders. The researcher employs a quantitative research design and utilized Slovin's formula to determine the sample size, resulting in the distribution of survey questions to 399 cocoa farmers within the Ahafo-Ano North Municipality. Due to the nature of the population, the non-probability sampling technique specifically convenient sampling was used to select the respondents. The researcher used descriptive and inferential statistics for the analysis with the help of SPSS version 20. The cocoa farmers expressed their level of agreement on all the Five variables that happens to be the activity areas of CHED and their influence on sustainable cocoa production. The study indicated four out of the five extension activities – Teaching and Learning Method, Facilitating the Adoption of Technology, Formation of Farm Groups, and Linkage with Stakeholders influence Sustainable Cocoa Production in the study area. The researcher made necessary recommendations for future researchers and policymakers in Ghana and abroad.