From a technology focus to innovation development The management of cocoa pests and diseases in Ghana E. N. A. Dormon Supervisors: Prof. Dr. Ir. Cees Leeuwis Hoogleraar Communicatie en Innovatie Studies Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. Ir. A rnold van Huis Persoonlijk hoogleraar bij de leerstoelgroep E ntomologie Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. Daniel Obeng-Ofori Professor of Entomology, University of Ghana Dr. Owuraku Sakyi-Dawson Department of Agricultural Extension, University of Ghana Promotiecommissie: Prof. Dr. Ir. Paul C. Struik, Wageningen Universiteit Prof. Dr. Kwame Offei, University of Ghana Dr. Felix Y.M. Fiadjoe , University of Ghana Prof. Dr. A Niehof, Wageningen Universiteit Dit onderzoek is uitgevoerd binnen de onderzoeksschool CERES From a technology focus to innovation development The management of cocoa pests and diseases in Ghana E. N. A. Dormon Proefschrift Ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit, Prof. Dr. M.J. Kropff, in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 16 oktober 2006 des namiddags te 15.00 uur in de Great Hall, University of Ghana, Legon E. N. A. Dormon From a technology focus to innovation development: the management of cocoa pests and diseases in Ghana Thesis Wageningen – with summary in Dutch ISBN-nr. 90-8504-439-1 To the cocoa farmers in Achiansah, Ntumkum and Adarkwa Acknowledgements During the last few weeks of my MSc course in Wageningen, I divided my attention between writing my thesis and hunting for opportunities to pursue a PhD programme. The project Convergence of Sciences provided this opportunity but it was not straight forward. Prof. Niels Röling was the examiner for my MSc thesis, and having read it, he gave me a mark of 8 out of 10, a good mark by any standard. Because I had an average mark of 8.4 for my course work, I needed 9 out of 10 to make a ‘distinction’. Niels suggested that instead of graduating in January, I could defer my graduation to March and work on the weaknesses, and hopefully have my 9. After a brief reflection, I decided to stay in Wageningen until the end of March, but instead of spending the time to change an 8 to a 9, I preferred to focus on entering a PhD programme. Without any hesitation, Niels advised me to talk to Prof Arnold van Huis, because there may be a chance. The next day I started the tortuous process of getting on board the Convergence of Sciences pr ogram. It seems like a rather long story, but I hope this reflects my appreciation for what Niels did for me. There are many other professors, farmers, colleagues, family, friends, and institutions who have contributed in several ways to this work and as much as I would have wished to mention all of them I cannot do so due to constraints of space. I am most grateful to Prof. Cees Leeuwis and Prof. Arnold van Huis for accepting to promote me as their student. Having the two, with different academic backgrounds in innovation studies and entomology respectively, shaped the course of this thesis immensely. Managing the sharp “keep it short and concise” – Arnold; and the “explain this a bit more in detail” – Cees, was a challenge I learnt to live with but they were both very patient and tolerant, and allowed me to find my own level somewhere between their positions. I am grateful to Prof. Daniel Obeng-Ofori and Dr Owuraku Sakyi-Dawson, my co- promoters for their guidance, especially during my fieldwork. I apprec iate Dr Ramatu Al- Hassan’s comments and suggestions on the early draft of my introductory chapter. My special thanks go to Dr Felix Fiadjoe who visited all the three villages several times and offered very useful advice, especially in my attempt to scale out to Ntumkum and other villages. I also like to express my sincere gratitude to all the lecturers and professors involved in the CoS project who contributed through questions, critical comments and suggestions during the numerous ii seminars and inter -country meetings in Ghana and Benin. I thank Dr Noelle Aarts for her constant encouragement and efforts to keep our stress level low with a nice weekend treat to the African museum in Nijmegen and a nice dinner. For his hard work and the friendship we developed during my field work, I like to thank Mr Samuel Adjei-Boateng, my research assistant. I thank Mr S. Y. Dotse, the District Director of Agriculture for Suhum-Kraboa-Coaltar, as well as the two extension agents in the villages where I worked, Messrs Felix Ahu and Seidu Gariba for their support and cooperation. I am very grateful to Jelle Duindam for his collaboration in trying to determine relatively low levels of neem extracts that could control capsids. I am particularly grateful; for his tireless efforts at entering my data in SPSS. I like to thank Marthy, the Secretary to the International Coordinator of the CoS program for her constant reminders to ensure that deadlines were met and her invaluable role in many of the organisational and administrative proc esses, without which this research could not have been completed within the timeframe it was done. To the Secretaries at Communication and Innovation studies group Maarit, Mirjam, Sjoukje , I like to say thank you for your cooperation and support. I am grateful to Mr Ezekiel Narh, the Administrative Officer of the project in Ghana for his support in administrative matters. For work of this nature, you constantly interact with colleagues, friends and family who keep encouraging you when your strength sinks. In this regard I thank my colleagues in the CoS project, with who I shared the difficult times along this academic journey, Samuel, Suzanne, Godwin, Comfort, Antonio, Aliou, Afio and Pierre. I am also grateful to John Kuwornu for his constant encouragement and assistance with the SPSS analysis. In the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, several colleagues and my superiors provided encouraging words at different times. I cannot mention all of them here but I like to mention Mr Franklin Donkoh, Dr Kwame Amezah, Mrs Julianna Dennis, Mr Osei-Frimpong, Gabriel Owusu, Kofi Kutame, Kofi Darko, Peter Asibey-Bonsu, and Fred Boadi-Asamoah. I also like to acknowledge the constant interest and encouragement by Prof. Owusu-Bennoah, who in the last two years never ended any discussions with me without probing to know my progress or any difficulties that I might be facing with my research work. iii Acknowledgements..........................................................................................................................................................ii Chapter One General introduction and overview.................................................................................................8 1.1 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................8 1.2 Fluctuations in levels of cocoa production ....................................................................................................9 1.2.1 Areas under cultivation..................................................................................................................................9 1.2.2 Producer prices and production levels ......................................................................................................10 1.2.3 Productivity...................................................................................................................................................12 1.2.4 Pests and diseases .........................................................................................................................................12 1.3 Government attempts at increasing cocoa production..............................................................................13 1.4 The research problem and overall objective of this thesis ........................................................................16 1.5 Theoretical framework ....................................................................................................................................19 1.5.1 A systems perspective..................................................................................................................................19 1.5.2 Innovations, learning, and actor oriented sociology within a systems perspective...........................23 1.6 The overall research approach ......................................................................................................................24 1.6.1 The Convergence of Science Project ........................................................................................................24 1.6.2 The research area..........................................................................................................................................26 1.6.3 Participatory action research ......................................................................................................................27 1.6.4 Research methods.........................................................................................................................................28 1.7 Structure of the thesis ......................................................................................................................................29 Chapter Two Causes of low productivity of cocoa in Ghana: farmers’ perspectives and insights from research and the socio-political establishment...................................................................................38 Abstract .........................................................................................................................................................38