Site Selection for Africa RISING in Northern Ghana Christopher Legg (IFPRI) Asamoah Larbi (IITA)

Site Selection for Africa RISING in Northern Ghana

Christopher Legg (IFPRI)Asamoah Larbi (IITA)

1. Define programme areas (“Mega-Sites”) based on farming systems and geographic region

2. Select smaller administrative areas within programme areas in order to cover full spectrum of biophysical and human factors

3. Randomly select action site communities within selected districts, avoiding areas of poor market access and ensuring that geographic distribution permits reasonable separation between action sites and counterfactual communities

Selection process - stages

Project areas

Three main project areas were defined following discussion between donors and implementing agencies

The potential extrapolation zone of the Ghana/Mali project area covers large areas of West Africa

West Africa project areas

Quick-win sites

The area is stratified using the following data

1.Agricultural suitability (rainfall and elevation)

2.Population density

3.Livestock density

4.Cropping system

5.Market access

District selection – stratification criteria

POPULATION DENSITYELEVATIONRAINFALLMARKET ACCESS

District selection – market access

District stratification

•Northern Region. Savelugu/Nanton, Tolon/Kundungu, Yendi•Upper Western Region. Wa, Nadowli•Upper Eastern Region. Kassena-Nankana

•Northern. Savelugu, Tolon, Mion•Upper West. Wa Municipal, Wa West, Nadowli

During field work, it was decided to add one site each in Bongo and Bawku West districts to cover areas of very dense rural population

Selected districts

Selected districts

Selection of communities within districts

Map of all villages in district prepared from digital data or printed maps

Market access map superimposed to eliminate inaccessible villages

Potential action sites and controls selected to ensure geographic separation but without reference to any other data on communities

Following field visits to all potential sites, some are eliminated and others added

Action sites and controls

In Mion District, due to the small number of villages, only four communities were selected instead of the planned five

Action sites and controls: Northern region

One community in each of Bongo and Bawku West districts was added in order to cover densely populated maize-growing areas. These sites have not yet been field-checked

Action sites and controls: Upper East

Potential sites in Upper Western Region could not be visited before the workshop, and thus must be regarded as provisional. They will be field-checked very soon

Action sites and controls: Upper West

1. Communities selected as action sites cover the full range of biophysical and human environments in Northern Ghana.

2. All have maize as a major crop, but livestock, rice, root-crops and legumes are also important, as are vegetables.

3. The sites present the opportunity for multi-disciplinary focussed intervention by groups of researchers from different organisations to promote sustainable intensification

Conclusions

Africa Research in Sustainable Intensification for the Next Generation

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