Poverty Dimensions of Public Governance and Forest Management ...

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economy may also have unforeseen consequences on policy. (An example of this is the way the
development of a modern agricultural infrastructure also encouraged migrations of networks of
farmers and labourers into the region in the post-independence period. This in turn opened up
new avenues of agricultural intensification based on hired labour, which had not existed before
the creation of an infrastructure based on modern inputs, and new forms of commercial market
production which did not exist before the creation of state farms and extension services.)
4.1.15 Adaptive strategies of farmers
Over the years, farmers have adapted their farming systems in response to a number of factors.
For example:
Ecological adaptation
Ecological adaptations include the matching of crops to specific micro-environments. Variations
occur both by species and variety. With ecological modifications brought about by climatic
changes and soil transformation under ploughing, different crops are modifying their ranges (a
case in point being groundnuts, cultivation of which is extending southwards into grassy
environments within dominant forest mosaics, as well as into degraded soils and soils
impoverished by ploughing).
Impact of agricultural policy and infrastructure on farming practices
The development of a modern state agricultural sector and of a supporting agricultural
infrastructure have had an important effect upon the farming systems in Brong Ahafo in both
northern parkland and southern high forest fringe communities. However, such modern
agricultural infrastructure has had variable, but often limited, impact on farming systems.
Proximity to former state farms and other lands transformed by ploughing is influential, though
these developments are not typical of high forest fringe area, where most farmers use no
fertilisers and hire manual labour rather than invest in labour saving technologies such as tractor
ploughs.
Table 4.7 shows the extent of usage of inputs and modern agricultural technologies on the various
farm plots cultivated by farmers in the various settlements in the survey. Table 4.8 shows the
proportion of farmers that use some fertiliser on any of their farm plots and table 4.9 shows the
proportion of farmers who hire tractor services in the context of investments in hired labour.
Large numbers of farmers throughout the survey area invest in hiring labour for weeding and
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