Abstract Serious attention should be given to the low adoption rates of what appears to be relatively simple sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) that have the potential to protect the environment, enrich soil nutrients, restrict the depletion of essential ecosystem resources and increase farm productivity. Using primary data from 320 sampled agricultural households in two districts of Northern Ghana, multivariate probit (MVP) and zero-truncated Poisson models were applied to identify the determinants of SAP adoption and adoption intensity, respectively. From the MVP analysis, the study found that some SAP components are complementary, while others are substitutes. Furthermore, the results of the MVP regression indicate that non-farm income, livestock ownership, pest and disease prevalence, farmers' experience of erosion, farmers’ perception of poor soil fertility, participation in field demonstration, membership of saving groups, access to agricultural credit, plot ownership, and distance to the agricultural input market are important determinants of adoption of SAP. With zero-truncated Poisson, the study found that factors such as farm size, participation in field demonstration, ownership of livestock and access to agricultural credit significantly influenced the intensity of SAP adoption. The study therefore recommended that policies should target institutional and plot-specific characteristics to improve and intensify the adoption of SAPs as they condition the need for adoption and the extent of adoption.

中文翻译：

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加纳小农采用相互关联的可持续农业实践

摘要 应该认真关注看似相对简单的可持续农业实践 (SAP) 的低采用率，这些实践具有保护环境、丰富土壤养分、限制基本生态系统资源枯竭和提高农业生产力的潜力。使用来自加纳北部两个地区的 320 个抽样农业家庭的原始数据，应用多元概率 (MVP) 和零截断泊松模型分别确定 SAP 采用和采用强度的决定因素。从 MVP 分析中，研究发现一些 SAP 组件是互补的，而其他组件则是替代品。此外，MVP 回归的结果表明，非农收入、牲畜所有权、病虫害流行、农民的侵蚀经历、农民对土壤肥力差的看​​法、田间示范的参与、储蓄团体的成员资格、获得农业信贷的机会、土地所有权以及与农业投入市场的距离是采用 SAP 的重要决定因素。通过零截断泊松，研究发现农场规模、参与田间示范、牲畜所有权和获得农业信贷等因素显着影响了 SAP 采用的强度。因此，该研究建议政策应针对制度和特定地块的特征，以改善和加强 SAP 的采用，因为它们决定了采用的必要性和采用的程度。和农业投入市场的距离是采用 SAP 的重要决定因素。通过零截断泊松，研究发现农场规模、参与田间示范、牲畜所有权和获得农业信贷等因素显着影响了 SAP 采用的强度。因此，该研究建议政策应针对制度和特定地块的特征，以改善和加强 SAP 的采用，因为它们决定了采用的必要性和采用的程度。和农业投入市场的距离是采用 SAP 的重要决定因素。通过零截断泊松，研究发现农场规模、参与田间示范、牲畜所有权和获得农业信贷等因素显着影响了 SAP 采用的强度。因此，该研究建议政策应针对制度和特定地块的特征，以改善和加强 SAP 的采用，因为它们以采用的必要性和采用的程度为条件。