MODELING THE CHOICE OF IRRIGATION TECHNOLOGIES OF URBAN VEGETABLE FARMERS IN ACCRA, GHANA

Irrigation is seen as the means of ensuring food security in a water-scarce urban economy such as the Accra Metropolitan Area of Ghana. The use of modern, advanced and resource efficient irrigation technologies is vital to increase farm output and take people out of poverty. The informal irrigation system is what is common among the urban vegetable producers in Accra. The study modeled the choice of informal irrigation technologies of urban vegetable farmers in Accra using the multinomial logit modeling Approach. A sample of 107 respondents provided information for the analyses. Farmers who have access to credit, frequently contact extension agents, operate larger farm size, have high labour cost of farm operations and use river as key source of irrigation water were likely to use the motorized pump with hose irrigation technology. It was suggested that extension agents should intensify education of the farmers on the benefits of modern irrigation technologies such as the motorized pump with hose. Also credit should be made available to the farmers by the government and other development partners so as to be able to invest in such water-saving and resource efficient irrigation technologies.