Is there any economics in smallholder cocoyam production? Evidence from the forest agro-ecological zone of Ghana

Table 3 Descriptive statistics of socio-economic characteristics of cocoyam producers

Variable	District	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	SD	CV (%)^a	Test statistic F (2, 147)
Age (years)	AAS	20	67	44.86	9.83	21.91	3.10**
	AN_D	22	73	49.24	13.59	27.6
	F_D	30	70	50.24	9.78	19.47
	Pooled	20	73	48	11.5	23.96
Years in formal education	AAS	4	15	9.20	2.57	27.93	2.57
	AN_D	2	12	8.07	2.73	33.83
	F_D	3	15	9.34	2.76	29.55
	Pooled	2	15	8.92	2.71	30.38
Household size	AAS	1	12	6.04	2.43	40.23	2.93
	AN_D	1	15	6.67	3.52	52.77
	F_D	1	20	7.73	2.65	34.28
	Pooled	1	20	6.85	3.01	43.94
Cocoyam farm size (hectares)	AAS	0.25	0.59	0.38	0.14	36.84	2.61
	AN_D	0.36	1.1	0.77	0.29	37.66
	F_D	0.39	1.5	0.84	0.38	45.24
	Pooled	0.25	1.5	0.55	0.21	38.18
Total agricultural land (hectares)	AAS	0.61	8.10	3.23	1.68	52.01	2.56
	AN_D	0.53	8.91	4.49	3.20	66.81
	F_D	0.81	12.15	4.79	2.59	54.07
	Pooled	0.53	12.15	4.17	2.62	62.83
Total cultivated land (hectares)	AAS	0.61	4.05	2.09	1.49	71.29	1.92
	AN_D	0.53	8.10	3.48	2.60	74.71
	F_D	0.81	10.12	3.37	2.91	86.35
	Pooled	0.53	10.12	2.98	2.17	72.82
Cocoyam farming experience (years)	AAS	2	30	9.57	8.24	86.1	2.40
	AN_D	2	53	16.69	13	77.89
	F_D	2	50	19.76	11.40	57.69
	Pooled	2	53	15.31	11.84	77.34
N (Pooled) = 150; N (AAS) = 50; N (AN_D) = 50; N (F_D) = 50

AAS Asante Akyem South, AN_D Asunafo North, F_D Fanteakwa
** p < 0.05
^aCoefficient of variation (CV) is a measure of relative dispersion calculated by expressing standard deviation (SD) as a percentage of the mean (X), i.e. \({\text{CV}} = {\text{SD}}/\bar{X}\)

ISSN: 2048-7010