Spatial and Gendered Linkages Between Non-Farm Diversification and Farm Productivity in Ghana

This chapter uses both household panel and cross-sectional data to examine the relationship between non-farm diversification and farm labour productivity; is asks whether the gender of the diversifier matters for the relationship. The full sample results provide no evidence that non-farm earning has any effect on farm labour productivity. Region-specific nuances exist, however. The chapter finds that increasing non-farm earnings reduces average farm productivity in poor regions but not in rich regions. The data also provide support for the hypothesis that the gender of the non-farm diversifier matters. Even so, there are spatial nuances: in agro-ecologically more dynamic regions, farm labour productivity is significantly decreasing with women’s non-farm earnings but increasing with men’s, whereas in less dynamic regions only men’s non-farm earnings exert a significant negative effect on farm labour productivity. The chapter concludes that the relationship between non-farm diversification and farm labour productivity is context-specific.