Determinants of Adoption of Improved Maize Varieties in ZabzuguTatale Districts in the Northern Region of Ghana: A Case Study of Obaatanpa Variety

Low yield of maize continue to affect the livelihood of smallholder farmers in the Zabzugu-Tatalearea despite the introduction of a high yielding Obatanpa maize variety. The study used a cross-sectional survey design with 240 randomly sampled household heads growing maize to examinedeterminants of adoption of Obatampa varieties (IMVs) by farmers in the Zabzugu-Tatale area in the Northern Region of Ghana. A binary logistic model was used to examine the factors that determine the adoption of Obatanpa maize variety by farmers in Zabzugu-Tatale. The results showed a high (58.8%) level of adoption of Obatanpa in the study area. The logistic regression analysis shows that sex, household size, number of years of education of the household head, membership to FBOs, farm size, farmers’ awareness of Obatanpa, access to credit and access to extension service had positively significant relationship with adoption of Obatanpa maize variety. Age, however, had inversely significant relationship with adoption of Obatanpa maize variety. The paper recommends that MoFA should mandate the formation of FBOsto enhance farmers’ access to resources. MoFA needs to also work with private partners to increase farmers’ access tocredit facilities at low interest.