i Parkia biglobosa - School of Forest Resources & Environmental ...

Farming Systems
The traditional farming system is shifting cultivation. Resources were
effectively managed in an area of low soil fertility and limited external outputs by leaving
land fallow. Increasing population pressures have supplanted this type of farming
system. In Kandiga, many factors influence the type of farming system and its success.
External factors such as location of roads and markets, access to improved seeds,
fertilizers and internal factors such as available farm size, inherent soil fertility, labor
force are all determinants of a favorable farming system. Critical aspects of the success
of the farming system in this area are the soil fertility, risks involved (uncertain rainfall,
crop and animal diseases, credit) and availability of labor (Ker 1999).
Viehe (2000) identified three major farming systems in the Upper East Region of
Ghana. The types identified consisted of pure arable, pure livestock, and mixed systems.
An example of pure arable land use is a cash crop farm producing cotton. A pure
livestock system involves land use devoted to intensive cattle production. Quansah
(1990) reported that overstocking of cattle was common throughout the Upper East
Region and Upper West Region. In the Bolgatanga and Navrongo Districts, cattle
population density was 103 per 100 hectares, dramatically exceeding the estimated
carrying capacity of one cow for 10 to 20 hectares. However, the most common and
widespread farming system is this area is the compound farming system. This system is a
mixed system of field crops and livestock: poultry, goats, sheep, and some cattle or
donkeys.
The compound house is comprised of related families, for example a father and
mother, their sons and the sons’ wives and children. In a typical compound house in
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