ABSTRACT

In recent times, urban agriculture, which is the practice of growing crops and rearing animals in and around urban centers has gained much prominence especially in developing countries. This may be attributed to the rapid population increase in most urban centers resulting in high unemployment with its attendant negative effects particularly on household welfare. This study provides evidence on the impacts of urban agriculture on household welfare in Ghana. The study also examines the extent as well as the determinants of urban agriculture in Ghana. Data for empirical analysis is obtained from the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey (GLSS 6) conducted in 2012/2013. The study employs a logit regression technique to investigate the factors that determine a household’s participation in urban agriculture. The analysis reveals that about 30.9 percent of urban households participate in some form of urban agriculture. Characteristics of the household head such as age, gender, education and employment status as well as household characteristics such as household size, ownership of agricultural land and participation in nonfarm activities are found to influence participation in urban agriculture. The propensity score matching (PSM) technique is adopted to analyze the impacts of urban agriculture on household welfare. The analysis reveals that participation in urban agriculture has a positive impact on household welfare. However, though not significant, this positive impact should serve to suggest that the usefulness of urban agriculture cannot be entirely ruled out.