Social and Institutional Change in Agricultural Development

Eric Kumeh Mensah

Biography

Eric Kumeh Mensah is a Ghanaian national, who has obtained a B.Sc in Agroforestry and an M.Sc. and Natural Resource Governance from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana.

As a former development worker, Eric has won and implemented several projects, including some funded by the FAO, the EU, the Dutch Ministry for Foreign Affairs (DGIS) and the Norwegian Development Agency (NORAD).

Next to his position as a PhD Candidate (DAAD scholar), Eric is the founder and manager of Breakout Africa, a blog for young people on good governance and economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

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PhD Research Project: Moving towards deforestation-free cocoa and food security in Ghana

Ghana is the second-largest producer of cocoa in the world. However, as cocoa crops are using up more and more farm land, farmers encroach protected forests to sustain their livelihoods and attain food security. This project aims to uncover the dynamics that are involved with this challenge and to explore under which conditions deforestation-free cocoa and food security are attainable so as to inform academic and policy discourses and encourage debate on sustainable cocoa production. 

Selected Publications

2020 Omulo, G and Kumeh, E. M. Farmer-to-farmer digital network as a strategy to strengthen agricultural performance in Kenya: A research note on ‘Wefarm’ platform. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 158: 120120. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120120

2019 Kumeh, E. M. and Abu, D.K. A reality check: unveiling the unseen faces of SRA compliance in Ghana. International Forestry Review, 21(4): 446-459. https://doi.org/10.1505/146554819827906843

2019 Kumeh, E. M. and Omulo, G. Youth’s access to agricultural land in Sub-Saharan Africa: A missing link in the global land grabbing discourse. Land Use Policy, 89: 104210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2019.104210

2019 Kumeh, E. M., Kyereh, B., Oduro, K. A., Brobbey, L. K. and Nketiah, S. K. Transparency in the governance of landscape restoration finance: A case study of Ghana's Forest Plantation Development Fund. Scientific African, 6: e00185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2019.e00185