How Green in the New Green Revolution?

Over the years there has been continual transformation in the agrarian sphere which has impacted on different social groups in different ways. Agricultural development to increase production and productivity through modern technology (such as mechanization, high-yielding seeds, synthetic agrochemicals etc.) is one of the key elements pioneering this transformation in the agrarian sphere. Many studies have shown that among the social groups who have been affected from this transformation are peasant farmers. The quest to increase agricultural productivity engendered modern agricultural inputs (high-yielding seeds, mechanisation, fertilizers etc.) which sparked up “Green Revolution” ideology in Asia in 1960s. However, this revolution rendered more peasant farmers to disadvantageous position (dispossession, displacement, Proletarianization, environmental degradation etc.) than good. Today under the “New Green revolution” (NGR) agriculture path, peasant farmers are encouraged to enhance production and productivity for the market through adoption of modern inputs. This study therefore aimed to ascertain and highlight the effects of agricultural development based on modern inputs under the NGR on peasant farmers in Murugu village in Savannah region of Ghana. Using the moral economy’s concept to examine how this development has impacted on the social relations particularly inter-household relations and traditional farming practices. A qualitative interview was employed to gather data on the above relations, before and after the knowledge of modern inputs. Through this concept the study found that Murugu peasants once lived in solidarity and reciprocal manner where households depended on each other for various support (labour-exchange, seed sharing etc.). The study also found that this community-bounding relations are disappearing among peasant households today and the promotion and adoption of the modern inputs have contributed to this relational shift. It was discovered that modern inputs use is also serving as an opportunity for some farmers to increase their farm sizes enhancing productivity from their farm. Murugu farmers are becoming dependent on these inputs however, some farmers are subjected to the use because hired labour is expensive to access as well as the disappearance of labour-exchange mechanism. It was further discovered that capitalistic relation is replacing the traditional community-bounding relations. As such, individualistic interest seeking of peasant’s household members is overriding the formal group interest thereby effecting the traditional social and economic nature of rural sphere. By situating the study in Northern Ghana, a region that has traditionally been neglected because of its low productivity, this study is well-placed to understand the unfolding of the impact of the modern agricultural inputs imposed in a top-down manner on traditional farming practices and social relations.