Under farmers’ eyes: understanding differential access to subsidized fertilizers in Ghana

In this study, we show that, although policy actors perceive the fertilizer subsidy package in Ghana as part of the enabling environment to facilitate the scaling of subsidized fertilizers, not all farmers have equal access to the intervention. There is quantitative evidence, based on cross-sectional surveys, of the factors that correlate with access to subsidized fertilizers, but it is unclear what dynamic mechanisms are at play in shaping this differential access (i.e., some types of farmers have better access to the scheme than others). The study is based on a qualitative narrative approach, using focus group discussions with farmers in the northern region of Ghana. We found that the differential access was (re)produced by an interplay of various dynamic mechanisms relating to gender, land tenure, wealth, distance, as well as procedural standards, service delivery, credit, and trust. These mechanisms constrain access to subsidized fertilizers because farmers’ social differentiations and their structural disadvantages and constrained agency are neglected. In view of this, we argue that ensuring equitable access to agricultural interventions is complex and requires new institutional set-ups, relationships, implementation strategies, and infrastructure. In the case of agricultural subsidies, such rearrangement aimed at facilitating equitable access may involve implementing supportive policy instruments that enhance the dominant patrilineal land tenure institutions (to favor women’s access to land), decentralize delivery systems, strengthen extension services, and revise eligibility criteria for subsidy distributors.