Diversification into agritourism by cocoa farmers in Ghana as an alternative source of income

Purpose - The authors investigate cocoa farmers' willingness and motivation to participate in agritourism entrepreneurship in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach - Primary data were obtained from 583 cocoa farmers. Contingent valuation method, ordered probit and truncated regressions were employed. Findings - Cocoa farmers' willingness to participate in agritourism was high. The minimum fee farmers were willing to charge per tourist per day ranged from US$0.870 to US$6.957. Agritourism products farmers were willing to offer to tourists are interaction with rural folks, indigenous cuisine, quality locally stored drinking water, indigenous primary healthcare and on-site restrooms. Cocoa farmers' motivations to participate in agritourism are income generation, alternative livelihood strategy and education. Education, being a native, farm size, motorable roads to farm, and distance to farm influence minimum fee farmers were willing to accept to participate in agritourism. Research limitations/implications - Agritourism could be considered in rural and tourism development policies of developing countries. Originality/value - The authors investigate cocoa farmers' participation in agritourism, motivations and determinants of willingness to participate.