Factors Influencing the Adoption of Organic Cocoa Premiums: A Case Study of the Fairafric Organic Premium Model in Suhum, Ghana

Bachelor of Science Christopher Tawiah, BSc

Diplomová práce

Abstract:

This study examined the determinants of organic cocoa adoption under the Fairafric–Serendipalm private premium scheme in Asuom, Kwaebibirem District, Ghana. Despite offering a confirmed organic premium of GHS 160 per bag, a 6% addition on top of the COCOBOD producer price, substantially exceeding premiums documented under third-party certification schemes, adoption among eligible smallholder farmers remained incomplete. Using an integrated framework combining Diffusion of Innovations and the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the study investigated how socio-economic characteristics, institutional factors, farm-level conditions, and financial incentives jointly shaped adoption decisions. Primary data were collected through structured questionnaire surveys administered to 240 farmers (105 adopters, 135 non-adopters) across four Serendipalm delivery-centre communities. Binary logistic regression was employed, with average marginal effects calculated to express the practical significance of each predictor. Four variables were statistically significant (all p-values < 0.01). Extension service contact was the strongest positive predictor: each additional quarterly visit increased the probability of adoption by 50 percentage points. Conversion-period liquidity concern was the dominant barrier, reducing the probability of adoption by 40 percentage points, independent of general credit access, confirming that the binding constraint was the temporal mismatch between compliance costs and premium receipts. Cocoa tree age was positively associated with adoption, consistent with an income-stabilisation logic in which farmers on ageing, declining-yield farms used the premium as a recovery mechanism. Perceived premium amount was also significant but captured information asymmetry as much as financial incentive: non-adopters reported a mean perceived premium of only GHS 38 per bag while adopters overestimated at approximately GHS 201 per bag, confirming a bidirectional information failure. All four socio-economic variables were uniformly insignificant, a pattern consistent with the interpretation that cooperative mediation equalised adoption barriers across demographic groups. The model achieved 88.3% correct classification (McFadden pseudo-R² = 0.52). Adoption under this scheme was primarily a knowledge and transition-financing problem. Recommendations included a structured premium communication programme targeting non-adopters and a conversion-period financing facility to bridge the three-year income gap before premium payments begin.

Keywords

Ghana, organic cocoa adoption, private premium scheme, Diffusion of Innovations, Theory of Planned Behaviour, conversion-period liquidity, binary logistic regression

Jazyk práce: angličtina

Datum vytvoření / odevzdání či podání práce: 27. 4. 2026

Obhajoba závěrečné práce

• Obhajoba proběhla 2. 6. 2026
• Vedoucí: Ing. Jiří Hejkrlík, Ph.D.
• Oponent: Haiyan Sulaiman, Ph.D.

Česká zemědělská univerzita v Praze

Fakulta tropického zemědělství

Magisterský studijní program:
International Development and Agricultural Economics