William Quarmine - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by William Quarmine

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Sep 1, 2007

THE GHANA STRATEGY SUPPORT PROGRAM (GSSP) BACKGROUND PAPERS ABOUT GSSP GSSP is a research, commun... more THE GHANA STRATEGY SUPPORT PROGRAM (GSSP) BACKGROUND PAPERS ABOUT GSSP GSSP is a research, communication, and capacity-strengthening program to build the capabilities of researchers, administrators, policymakers, and members of civil society in Ghana to develop and implement agricultural and rural development strategies. With core funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)/Ghana and a mandate to develop a multi-donor-funded Program, IFPRI launched GSSP as a partnership between Ghana and its development partners. IFPRI is working with these stakeholders to generate information, improve dialogue, and sharpen decisionmaking processes essential for effective formulation and implementation of development strategies. GSSP informs stakeholders on the role of agriculture and rural development in the broader economic and policy context in line with the emphasis placed on agriculture in Ghana's Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy. GSSP supports the development and implementation of a system to monitor and evaluate progress toward achieving Ghana's growth and poverty reduction targets and the Millennium Development Goals.

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2007

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, Jun 5, 2014

It is generally hypothesized in the innovation systems literature that institutions can create pr... more It is generally hypothesized in the innovation systems literature that institutions can create production incentives for farmers. This paper examines whether the introduction in 1984 of the Producer Price Review Committee (PPRC) in Ghana's cocoa sector has improved the transmission of world prices to farmers. We test how fast and to what extent world prices have been transmitted, and also address the stability of the prices received by cocoa farmers. For the period 1960-2011, the results were as follows: (1) the production of cocoa beans depended positively on the prices farmers received and negatively on price variance; (2) the establishment of the PPRC provided higher prices for farmers; and (3) the PPRC's use of the flexible freight on board (FOB) price-setting rule resulted in a better price transmission than the employed cost-plus-margin approach. However, under the FOB pricesetting rule, producer price variance rose sharply. We conclude that, although FOB pricing mechanisms are often recommended for markets where prices are institutionally determined, stabilization policies should be factored in to protect farmers against international price fluctuations.

Climate Resilience and Sustainability

Climate vulnerability could be influenced by transforming demographic, technological, cultural, p... more Climate vulnerability could be influenced by transforming demographic, technological, cultural, political and economic factors, which cuts across global, regional, national and local scales. Such social transformations result in positive and negative outcomes, with implications for the adaptive capacities of resource‐poor households, especially those headed by women. However, these transformations are usually not integrated in climate vulnerability assessments. Based on insights from a stakeholders’ brainstorming workshop and the synthesis of information from traditional literature review, this paper contributes to better understanding of the intersections of social transformation with climate vulnerabilities in the Upper West Region of Ghana. The review indicates that the region is experiencing social transformation triggered by technological, demographic and cultural factors, with implications for climate resilience building. For example, compared to the last decade, there is now ...

The programme is based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK (www.ids.ac.uk), with re... more The programme is based at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK (www.ids.ac.uk), with regional hubs at the Centre for frican Bio-Entrepreneurship (CABE), Kenya,

This thesis is credited to my name but, in reality, it is the product of the collective effort of... more This thesis is credited to my name but, in reality, it is the product of the collective effort of many people from diverse backgrounds. I am indebted to all of them for bringing me a step closer to my childhood dream of becoming a Ghanaian academic. In 2008, I almost convinced myself that I had no future in academia. I am grateful that Dr. Owuraku Sakyi-Dawson, my mentor, convinced me not to give up and to compete for places in the PhD programme 'Convergence of Sciences-Strengthening Innovation systems' (COS-SIS). A special word of thanks must go to my four supervisors. In alphabetical order, Arnold van Huis, Daniel Obeng Ofori, Felix Asante and Rein Haagsma. Supervising a student like me can be hard work, but they did not give up on me. Rein, in particular, did a fantastic job at clarifying my thoughts and getting me to deliver. Felix seamlessly blended critical analyses of my work and words of encouragement. Daniel visited my field site, looked critically at my data and gave sound and key scientific input. Arnold would read my work faster than any one and provided critical input, which went a long way to improve the chapters. A PhD of this nature requires a lot of field assistance from several people who deserve much appreciation. Richard Adu-Acheampong, entomologist at the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana was the Research Associate (postdoc) of the cocoa domain of the CoS-SIS programme in Ghana. He opened several windows of opportunity for me, in order to obtain data, for which I am grateful. Felix Awu of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Suhum, was instrumental in setting up and managing all my field experiments. Of course, I was assisted by many other people who either joined my experiments or were survey respondents. These included farmers; officers of Cocoa Board; and Licensed Buying Companies, staff of Cocoa Research Institute across the country. I appreciate every little help they offered me. This PhD path was costly and could not have been possible without the financial support from the COS-SIS Program. Special mention must be made of the fruitful interaction I had with the large COS-SIS community throughout these last four years. Especially from Prof. Niels Röling, Prof. Janice Jiggins, and Dr. Dominique Hounkounou. To my colleagues of the COS-SIS program-Charity

Journal of Energy and Natural Resource Management, 2018

This article discusses the predictors of Ghanaian cocoa producers’ intention to continue adopting... more This article discusses the predictors of Ghanaian cocoa producers’ intention to continue adopting a recommended cocoa beanfermentation technology in the future. The analyses is carried out within the framework of the theory of planned behaviour.Three hundred and twenty-one cocoa producers were interviewed. Consistent with literature, attitudes, subjective norms andpast behaviour were significant predictors of fermentation intentions. Positive attitude relate to beliefs about ease of use oftechnologies and existence of non-financial rewards. Negative attitudes relate to lack of direct financial rewards. PurchasingClerks, Chief Farmers and society at large were found to be the salient social referents who shape producers’ fermentationintentions. Recommendations included improving implementation of current producer incentive regimes, promoting trust betweenproducers and purchasing clerks and strengthening producer association to increase the sphere of influence of the Chief Farmers.

Cahiers Agricultures, 2016

The experiences synthesised in this article indicate how significant effects in two agricultural ... more The experiences synthesised in this article indicate how significant effects in two agricultural domains have been achieved by creating pathways for interdependent socio-technical and institutional changes, at a range of levels of action, governance and policy-making. The synthesis emphasizes the importance of colearning, experimentation, and critical reflection among a wide network of 'champions' of transformational change on behalf of smallholder farmers and processors. It shows that innovation processes may involve actors along entire value chains, industry leaders at national level, or local level actors seeking to widen the space for change beyond their immediate circle of direct influence. While the research and development initiatives of the domains are shown to have been critical in identifying the constraints and opportunities of smallholders, and also to the effects documented, this was largely because the research effort converged around empirically grounded problems and opportunities identified. The information sought, and the solutions found useful, were determined by the members of innovation platforms that drove the processes of change. Keywords: institutional innovation / cross-scale agricultural transformations / innovation platforms / cocoa / oil palm / Ghana Résumé-La recherche pour l'innovation aux bénéfices des besoins sociaux au sein des systèmes de recherche nationaux : une nouvelle façon de faire. Cet article montre comment des résultats significatifs ont été atteints dans deux secteurs agricoles par la mise en place de trajectoires de changement sociotechnique et institutionnel, dans les champs des actions de développement, de la gouvernance et des politiques publiques. Cette synthèse met l'accent sur l'importance du co-apprentissage, de l'expérimentation, et de la réflexion critique dans un large réseau de professionnels de l'innovation agissant en faveur des petits producteurs. Elle montre que le processus d'innovation doit impliquer les acteurs de toute la filière, des industriels agissant au niveau national aux petits producteurs locaux soucieux de promouvoir le changement au-delà de leur village. Si les travaux de recherche et de développement sectoriels ont été efficaces pour identifier les contraintes et les opportunités des petits producteurs et pour documenter les effets des innovations, c'est largement parce que les efforts de recherches se sont concentrés sur des problèmes de terrain et sur des opportunités clairement identifiées. Les informations à mobiliser et les solutions à rechercher, ont été identifiées par les membres des plateformes d'innovation qui ont conduit le processus de changement.

International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 2014

NJAS: Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 2012

This paper investigates the institutional factors that constrain farmers' incentives to enhance t... more This paper investigates the institutional factors that constrain farmers' incentives to enhance the quality of cocoa beans in Ghana. Data were collected at three levels of aggregation in the cocoa bean value chain: village, district, and national level. Multi-stage cluster sampling was employed to sample 120 farmers and 12 purchasing agents of licensed buying companies from 12 villages in Assin Foso, Suhum, Dormaa and Wasa Akropong cocoa districts. Convenience sampling was used to sample key informants from relevant organizations and service providers at district and national levels. The study revealed that, even though quality is important to all categories of actors in the cocoa sector, interactions among them are hampered by problems of information asymmetry that result especially in farmers evading recommended practices. While cocoa sector policies ensure the export of premium quality cocoa, policies have not sufficiently alleviated the information problem especially in the relation between farmers and cocoa purchasing agents. It explains why Ghanaian farms have not been able to reach their full potential to produce more than 1,000,000 metric tons of premium quality cocoa annually. Amongst other options, self-selection policies, such as quality testing with price premiums, are recommended for testing as potential incentive mechanisms that address information asymmetry.

Cahiers Agricultures

Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana.... more Cocoa is a major source of employment, smallholder farmers' incomes, and export revenue in Ghana. However, by 2010 institutional constraints throughout the value chain were failing to sustain bean quality and cocoa production. A national-level innovation platform, comprising key public and private actors in the cocoa sector, was established in 2010 to analyse and act to address this concern. The members' initial inquiries revealed that: farmers indirectly were paying for the national mass spraying and Hi-Tech input programmes, both provided free at the point of delivery. As the largest components in the cost structure, these programmes to a large extent accounted for the low price paid to farmers for their beans; a volatile exchange rate regime meant that often the prevailing rate was not equal to its equilibrium level; policies that heavily taxed cocoa were destroying farmers' expectation of long-term profitability. This paper draws on data recorded from the beginning 2009 to end 2013 by means of theory-guided process tracing (TGPT), to show how the platform contributed to increased prices for farmers, to subsequent reform of the input supply arrangements, and to changes to the mass spraying programme. The key causal mechanisms identified are policy learning and progressive amendment of existing institutions. The paper concludes by drawing lessons for the role of an innovation platform.