Tomato farmers’ behaviour in face of markets influences and climate change events: A comparative case study between Morocco and Ghana
Through a comparative case study, this project assesses the behaviour of tomato farmers in Morocco and Ghana to adjust to market influences and climate risks. While Morocco’s tomato production is predominantly destined for the European market, Ghana’s tomato production serves the domestic demand. Thus, the key question of this study is: “Is export driven agricultural production more sustainable compared to domestic driven production?” This project is supported by a Swiss Excellence Scholarship and the project period is from September 2016 to August 2019.
Key research questions:
- Which factors drive local market prices for tomato?
- How does the use of agro-inputs influence farmers’ income?
- How are tomato farmers reflecting price uncertainty and increasing risk from drought in their production practices? And how can farmers enhance the resilience of their tomato production?
Research approach
The three research questions are split into three project components which are assessed subsequently. The first question uses methods of volatility analysis to compare price fluctuations of local market data in Morocco and Ghana. The second component analyses survey data from tomato farmers about their use of inputs and component three applies system dynamics and game theory to enhance their resilience to climate risks.
