Abstract
Sustainable manufacturing practices consist of various practices that promote resource efficiency, reduce waste, and reduce negative externalities including climate change and pollution from manufacturing processes resulting in economic, social, and environmental benefits. For a firm that wants to adopt these practices, certain internal and external factors influence their adoption. This study sought to assess the factors that influence the adoption and implementation of sustainable manufacturing practices by agro-processing industries in Ghana. A mixed-method approach was used to collect and analyse data obtained from firms and implementing agencies through structured and semi-structured questionnaires. The questionnaires were analysed using IBM-SPSS and both deductive and inductive content analysis. The analysis indicated that the most adopted sustainable manufacturing practices in this sector are waste management and energy conservation. The internal factors that influence firms to adopt sustainable manufacturing practices are the technological infrastructure within the firm, the availability of skills and competencies, the resources in terms of finance, capabilities, and knowledge, and the benefit of cost savings. The external factors are laws and regulations, and competition and the value chain of the industry. The challenges identified are lack of technical skills and competencies to adopt and implement these practices, lack of financial resources, lack of external support, and lack of awareness among small and medium-scale enterprises...
M.Phil. (Industrial Policy)