Analysis of factors influencing farmers' voluntary participation in reforestation programme in Ghana

摘要

Policy-makers consider participatory reforestation and forest resource management to be the key to reducing the problems of deforestation and forest degradation. In this regard, the government of Ghana introduced a modified taungya system as a mechanism to restore degraded forest reserves under the National Forest Plantation Development Programme to allow landless farmers access to land for temporary crop production and secured tree tenure rights. However, there is an information gap concerning the role of individual farmers residing in the off-reserve areas that are dominated by agricultural landscapes in this national reforestation drive. The objective of this paper is to determine the socioeconomic factors influencing farmers' decisions to participate in voluntary tree planting projects in rural communities in Ghana. Two hundred twenty farm households from four communities in Wenchi District, Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana were randomly selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Logistic regression modelling was employed to understand the socioeconomic factors influencing a farmer's decision to participate in voluntary tree planting. The results suggest that secured land tenure rights, large landholdings and on-farm conservation ofremnant forest tree species by farmers and the dynamics of soil erosion are key variables that significantly and positively influence farmers' decision to engage in voluntary tree planting. However, large household size and increasing cultivated land area under crop production decrease the likelihood that a farmer will be involved in voluntary tree planting in the target communities. Thus, policy-makers, planners and project designers should incorporate these findings into participatory forest management strategies in Ghana.