Environmental impact of organic pineapple production in Ghana: a comparison of two farms using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach

This LCA analysed and compared the environmental impact of producing 1 kg of organic pineapples on farm A to 1 kg on farm B. Environmental impact categories considered were Global Warming Potential (GWP); Acidification Potential (AP); Eutrophication Potential (EP) and Erosion Potential (ErP). Results indicate that farm B was more environmentally friendly than farm A with respect to all impact categories. The environmental impacts per kg product for farm A were between 12% (GWP) and 85% (EP) higher. It is suggested that farm A could improve its environmental performance by (i) replacing its organic fertiliser imported from the Netherlands by locally produced composts and (ii) increasing its yield per hectare. More than 50 percent of the impacts in the categories GWP, AP and EP were due to energy-related emissions. Thus, energy use should be considered when designing certification schemes or assessing the environmental soundness of agriculture production systems.