Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective
Ghana is predominantly an agricultural country with a clear majority of its population depending partly or fully on agriculture for their livelihoods. Pork consumption in Ghana is on the increase and the livestock industry is a key sector of alternative agri-business for farmers looking for profitab...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-09-01
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| Series: | Systems |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/6/4/35 |
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| author | Kwamina E. Banson Nam C. Nguyen Daowei Sun Daniel Kwasi Asare Samuel Sowah Kodia Isaac Afful Jasmine Leigh |
| author_facet | Kwamina E. Banson Nam C. Nguyen Daowei Sun Daniel Kwasi Asare Samuel Sowah Kodia Isaac Afful Jasmine Leigh |
| author_sort | Kwamina E. Banson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Ghana is predominantly an agricultural country with a clear majority of its population depending partly or fully on agriculture for their livelihoods. Pork consumption in Ghana is on the increase and the livestock industry is a key sector of alternative agri-business for farmers looking for profitable business ventures and household income. The growth of Ghana’s domestic piggery industry has been impeded by several constraints such as inadequate information, lack of improved breeding stock, land limitations, rising feed cost and water availability. In this research, systems models provide an understanding of the interconnectedness and relationships present within the piggery industry of Ghana. The Industry’s problems were pooled together and key factors identified, whose behavior over time causes problems by developing various individual two-loop system archetypes coupled with a list of sustainable management strategies. Also, the individual variables affecting the industry were consolidated to obtain a causal loop structure and behavior-over-time graph of the piggery industry. The system archetype developed here is generic enough to explain any productivity decline and business rivalry behavior of any agribusiness industry. The proposed archetype can also help farm managers and producers to make various decisions. The system archetypes contribute effectively to understanding the root cause of challenges rather than providing quick fixes ‘now’ which gives rise to a much bigger problem to fix ‘later’. Application of CLDs models and system archetypes can help farmers and policy makers understand the behaviour of the entire complex piggery systems that will aid in more clarity and consistency in decisions and policy objectives. This will close the gap of inadequate information both to farmers and policy makers and governance. Through the archetypes and the CLDs, it has been identified that using a systemic approach in addressing the problems could lead to the provision of adequate data and management strategies for effective decision making for improving the piggery/livestock industry. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:08:22Z |
| format | Article |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-8954 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T14:08:22Z |
| publishDate | 2018-09-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Systems |
| spelling | doaj.art-a350b05bb7dd429ca73ac0b93b484c5e2022-12-22T04:19:49ZengMDPI AGSystems2079-89542018-09-01643510.3390/systems6040035systems6040035Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking PerspectiveKwamina E. Banson0Nam C. Nguyen1Daowei Sun2Daniel Kwasi Asare3Samuel Sowah Kodia4Isaac Afful5Jasmine Leigh6Socio-Economic and Commercialisation Unit, BNARI/GAEC. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, GhanaMalik Institute, Geltenwilenstrasse 16, 9000 St. Gallen, SwitzerlandThe New South Wales Department of Primary Industries, 21888 Wee Waa Road, Narrabri, NSW 2390, AustraliaSocio-Economic and Commercialisation Unit, BNARI/GAEC. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, GhanaSocio-Economic and Commercialisation Unit, BNARI/GAEC. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, GhanaSocio-Economic and Commercialisation Unit, BNARI/GAEC. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, GhanaSocio-Economic and Commercialisation Unit, BNARI/GAEC. Box LG 80, Legon, Accra, GhanaGhana is predominantly an agricultural country with a clear majority of its population depending partly or fully on agriculture for their livelihoods. Pork consumption in Ghana is on the increase and the livestock industry is a key sector of alternative agri-business for farmers looking for profitable business ventures and household income. The growth of Ghana’s domestic piggery industry has been impeded by several constraints such as inadequate information, lack of improved breeding stock, land limitations, rising feed cost and water availability. In this research, systems models provide an understanding of the interconnectedness and relationships present within the piggery industry of Ghana. The Industry’s problems were pooled together and key factors identified, whose behavior over time causes problems by developing various individual two-loop system archetypes coupled with a list of sustainable management strategies. Also, the individual variables affecting the industry were consolidated to obtain a causal loop structure and behavior-over-time graph of the piggery industry. The system archetype developed here is generic enough to explain any productivity decline and business rivalry behavior of any agribusiness industry. The proposed archetype can also help farm managers and producers to make various decisions. The system archetypes contribute effectively to understanding the root cause of challenges rather than providing quick fixes ‘now’ which gives rise to a much bigger problem to fix ‘later’. Application of CLDs models and system archetypes can help farmers and policy makers understand the behaviour of the entire complex piggery systems that will aid in more clarity and consistency in decisions and policy objectives. This will close the gap of inadequate information both to farmers and policy makers and governance. Through the archetypes and the CLDs, it has been identified that using a systemic approach in addressing the problems could lead to the provision of adequate data and management strategies for effective decision making for improving the piggery/livestock industry.http://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/6/4/35systems thinkingpiggery industrypiggery managementlivestock managementpork consumptionKetu Pig FarmersBNARI piggery |
| spellingShingle | Kwamina E. Banson Nam C. Nguyen Daowei Sun Daniel Kwasi Asare Samuel Sowah Kodia Isaac Afful Jasmine Leigh Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective Systems systems thinking piggery industry piggery management livestock management pork consumption Ketu Pig Farmers BNARI piggery |
| title | Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective |
| title_full | Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective |
| title_fullStr | Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective |
| title_full_unstemmed | Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective |
| title_short | Strategic Management for Systems Archetypes in the Piggery Industry of Ghana—A Systems Thinking Perspective |
| title_sort | strategic management for systems archetypes in the piggery industry of ghana a systems thinking perspective |
| topic | systems thinking piggery industry piggery management livestock management pork consumption Ketu Pig Farmers BNARI piggery |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2079-8954/6/4/35 |
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