Effect of Land Tenure on the Adoption of Sawah Rice Production Technology in Nigeria and Ghana

This paper examined effect of land tenure on the adoption of sawah rice production technology in Nigeria and Ghana. A simple random sampling was used to select 80 farmers (45 adopters and 35 non-adopters) in Nigeria and 70 farmers (40 adopters and 30 non-adopters) in Ghana. Data were collected in December 2008 with a structured questionnaire in villages where sawah rice production technology had been introduced. The results show that in Nigeria, majority of the farmers are about 42 years of age, have quranic education, belong to farmers group, have 12 years farming experience, with inheritance as the main land tenure system. In Ghana, the mean age is about 45 years, having primary school education and the land tenure system is based on lease and sharecropping. In Nigeria, the percentages of fields in the categories of secured tenure (inheritance) were high among those fields where sawah technology was adopted while in Ghana, the percentages of fields in the categories of insecure tenure (lease, renting and sharecropping) were high among adopters. The results from the probit model showed that significant. variables include Purchase land (t=5.02) Inherit land (t=2.77) Tenancy period (t=-1.93) and Rent paid (-3.29) in Nigeria, and Ghana. It therefore implies that the issues of land tenurial right must properly be ascertained by farmers in order to enhance continuous adoption and sustained profit from sawah technology.