Utilizing Value Chain Analysis to Understand the Challenges of Tomato Farmers in Ghana: a Case Study of Matsekope
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Department of Political and Economic Studies University of Helsinki Finland UTILIZING VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS TO UNDERSTAND THE CHALLENGES OF TOMATO FARMERS IN GHANA: A CASE STUDY OF MATSEKOPE Chantal den Broeder ACADEMIC DISSERTATION To be presented and publicly discussed, by due permission of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Helsinki, at the University Main Building, Auditorium XII (Unioninkatu 34) on Friday, January 19, 2018 at 12 o’clock noon. Helsinki 2018 Copyright © Chantal den Broeder Publications of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Helsinki: ISSN 2343-273X (print) ISSN 2343-2748 (web) Dissertation series number 66/2018 in Development Studies ISBN 978-951-51-3287-1 (printed books) ISBN 978-951-51-3288-8 (PDF file) Unigrafia, Helsinki 2017 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would please like to give immense thanks to the entire community of Matsekope, and particularly all those who took the time to speak with me about the daily challenges that they face when farming. I would like to especially thank Betty Sackey for her generosity in time and for introducing me to not only many of the farmers, but also other members of the Matsekope community. Of course a big thank you to everyone that I interviewed for this thesis, including those in Ghana that were not located in Matsekope, but in other key tomato- producing parts of the country and the capital. Everyone was keen to meet and discuss the questions that I posed to them. Traveling to the different regions in Ghana gave me a better understanding of the country itself and some of the key every-day challenges encountered in the agricultural sector. A sincere thank you to professor Koponen for his patience with me over all the years and his keen insights on how to continually develop and improve my ideas, research and writing. His guidance throughout has been imperative and I am truly grateful. Thank you to the pre-examiners Dr. Agnes Atia Apusigah (University of Development Studies in Tamale) and Dr. Colman Msoka (University of Dar es Salaam) for their careful review, comprehensive assessments and constructive criticisms, which have been key in helping me successfully complete this project. A deep-hearted thank you to my dear husband Peter and loving family (especially my parents, Larisa, Noel, Thomas and Loou) for all their love and encouragement throughout the years - when many times I was sure that I could never finish the task. And a very special thank you to Lucy for her unconditional support and love. Chantal den Broeder Helsinki 2018 3 ABSTRACT The first objective of this dissertation is to identify and analyze the challenges encountered by Ghanaian tomato farmers when they cultivate and sell their crop. Set within the context of low, national productivity in the tomato sector, this dissertation focuses on a case study of the village of Matsekope, located in one of the three main tomato-producing regions in Ghana. Both the cultivation and selling processes are analyzed because they are interlinked - tomatoes are cultivated in order to be sold, while markets provide the incentive for and possibly influence cultivation practices. This research utilizes value chain analysis (VCA) - input, output, geographical destination, governance and institutions - since it allows for a detailed study about the development of a commodity from the initial stages of production or cultivation to the eventual sale on the market. By utilizing VCA, this research also addresses a second objective, which is to contribute to the current debate concerning the parameters of VCA research. In other words, to see if every process and actor from input to the end-use product ought to be included in VCA, or if rather only specific segments and actors along the chain can be analyzed. While information on input, output and the geographical destination of tomatoes proved to be integral parts to this value chain, the governance and institutions portion of the analysis (utilizing the Kaplinsky and Morris model) was key to obtaining a better understanding about how and why the value chain was operating as it was, and more specifically why farmers were encountering certain challenges. These challenges were namely obtaining access to credit, farming irrigation, input supply (tractor services) and improved cultivation practices, as well as difficult price negotiations with traders, limited access to markets, and price fluctuation throughout the season. The overall picture that evolved was a complex set of relationships between actors and their respective rules or legislation. In addition, utilization of VCA in this research also demonstrated that it can be used as an 4 analytical framework to focus on a specific segment and set of actors within a larger value chain, and that the departing point of analysis does not necessarily have to be the global firm. Keywords: value chain analysis, governance, Ghana, farmers, tomato sector 5 TIIVISTELMÄ Tämän tutkielman ensimmäisenä tavoitteena on tunnistaa ja analysoida Ghanan tomaatinviljelijöiden sadon kasvattamiseen ja myyntiin liittyviä haasteita. Maan tomaatintuotannon tuottavuus on alhainen, ja sitä taustaa vasten tässä tutkielmassa keskitytään Matsekopen kylän tapaustutkimukseen. Kylä sijaitsee yhdellä Ghanan kolmesta suuresta tomaatintuotantoalueesta. Tutkielmassa analysoidaan sekä viljely- että myyntiprosessia, koska ne kytkeytyvät toisiinsa: tomaatteja viljellään myyntiin, ja toisaalta markkinat muodostavat kannustimen viljelykäytännöille ja mahdollisesti myös vaikuttavat niihin. Tutkimuksessa käytetään arvoketjuanalyysia (VCA) – panos, tuotos, maantieteellinen määränpää, hallintotapa ja instituutiot – sillä tällä menetelmällä saadaan yksityiskohtainen kuva hyödykkeen kehityksestä tuotannon tai viljelyn alkuvaiheista aina sen lopulliseen myyntiin markkinoilla. Arvoketjuanalyysin ansiosta tällä tutkimuksella edistetään myös toista tavoitetta, joka palvelee osaltaan arvoketjuanalyysin tutkimuksen parametreista parhaillaan käytävää keskustelua. Toisin sanoen tarkastellaan sitä, olisiko arvoketjuanalyysiin sisällytettävä jokainen prosessi ja toimija aina panoksesta lopputuotteeseen, vai voidaanko analysoida vain tietyt, ketjuun sijoittuvat segmentit ja toimijat. Tiedot panoksesta, tuotoksesta ja tomaattien maantieteellisestä määränpäästä osoittautuivat erottamattomaksi osaksi kyseistä arvoketjua, mutta hallintotapaa ja instuutioita koskeva analyysin osuus (käyttäen Kaplinskyn ja Morrisin mallia) avasi tien parempaan ymmärrykseen siitä kuinka ja miksi arvoketju toimi niin kuin se toimi ja etenkin miksi viljelijät kohtasivat juuri niitä haasteita kuin he kohtasivat. Nämä haasteet nimittäin koskivat luotonsaantia, kasteluviljelyä, panosten tarjontaa (traktoripalvelut) ja parempia viljelymenetelmiä sekä kauppiaiden kanssa käytäviä vaikeita hintaneuvotteluja, rajoitettua markkinoille pääsyä ja viljelykauden aikaista hintojen vaihtelua. 6 Kokonaiskuvaksi jäi monimutkainen suhteiden verkosto toimijoiden ja heitä koskevien sääntöjen ja lainsäädännön välillä. Arvoketjuanalyysin käyttö tässä tutkimuksessa osoitti niin ikään, että analyysi soveltuu pitkähkön arvoketjun yksittäisen segmentin ja toimijajoukon analyyttiseksi viitekehykseksi ja ettei analyysin lähtökohtana tarvitse välttämättä olla maailmanlaajuisesti toimiva yhtiö. Asiasanat: arvoketjuanalyysi, hallintotapa, Ghana, maanviljelijät, tomaattien tuotanto 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures 10 List of Tables 11 Abbreviations and Acronyms 13 Introduction 16 Chapter 1: The Value Chain Analysis Framework 23 1.1. The Nuts and Bolts of VCA 23 1.2 Upgrading 30 1.3 The Governance Debate 31 Chapter 2: The International, Regional and National Policy Context 36 2.1 International Policy Context 36 2.2. Regional Policy Context 49 2.3 National Policy Context 52 2.4 Convergence of Policies 65 Chapter 3: Methods 67 3.1 Research Strategy 67 3.2 Data Collection 69 3.3 Data Analysis 73 3.4 Quality of Research 74 Chapter 4: The Tomato Sector in Ghana 77 4.1 Tomato Producing Regions in Ghana 78 4.2 Sourcing Difficulties 87 4.3 The Basics of Cultivation 90 Chapter 5: The Matsekope Tomato Sector - Input, Output and Geographic Destination 96 5.1 Input 98 5.2 Output 110 5.3 Geographic Destination 118 5.4 Farmers and Gender within the Tomato Sector 130 5.5 The Intra and Inter Household Relations of Farmers 131 8 5.6 Being a part of the Informal Economy 133 Chapter 6: A Producer or Buyer-Driven Value Chain? 141 Chapter 7: Uncovering Multiple Forms of Governance 151 7.1 Credit Policy 152 7.2 Land Policy 157 7.3 Product Standards Policy 166 7.4 Access to Markets 184 Chapter 8: Conclusions 198 8.1 Value Chain Analysis 198 8.2 The Challenges of Smallholder Tomato Farmers 206 8.3 What’s Next? 211 8.4 Concluding Remarks 217 References 219 Appendix 1: Individual Interviews with Farmers - Questions 253 Appendix 2: Group Interviews with Farmers – Questions 256 9 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: General framework of analysis for Global Commodity Chains 26 Figure 2: Example of various input supplies available on the local market 76 Figure 3: Seasonality of tomato production in Ghana 79 Figure 4: Map of Ghana – Regions 80 Figure 5: Map of the Greater Accra Region 86 Figure 6: Basic cultivation stages of tomatoes 91 Figure 7: Seedling stage 93 Figure 8: Harvest stage 93 Figure 9: Highway sign to Matsekope 96 Figure 10: Example of seed bought on the local market (not labeled) 101 Figure 11: Land depression in Matsekope (with rainwater) 102 Figure 12: Example of a crate of tomatoes at the farm-gate 123 Figure 13: Some members of the Matsekope