Abstract:Background: Food security has been observed to be severe in northern Ghana than any other area of the country. Though this has been acknowledged, few attempts have been made to curb the situation. One of such intervention areas resides in providing policy-based evidence to guide efforts in fighting this problem. This study employs an ordered probit model using data set from the baseline survey of the USAID's Feed the Future programme in Ghana to estimate the determinants of food security in northern Ghana. We … Show more
“…These food security variations are influenced by economic factors (farm inputs, access to credit and markets, crop diversity, land size, type of agro-ecological zone), demographic factors (household size, education, gender), income and remittances, household assets, and social factors which have been shown to be associated with smallholder farmers food security [4, 7,16]. The direction and magnitude of the relationship between these factors and food security vary across studies [17][18][19][20][21]. However, there is limited knowledge on the variations across value chains, information that would best inform target (value chain)-based interventions and strategies.…”
Smallholder farmers and pastoralists produce the largest proportion of food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they remain among the food insecure populations. This paper explores the food (in)security among smallholder farmers and pastoralists using a sample of 175 households in three agro-food value chains of wheat, dairy, and beef in the north-west Mt. Kenya region. The study seeks to answer if a farmer’s participation in a particular agro-food value chain determines his/her food security situation. We use the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and two Poisson regression models, parsimonious and full, to assess the household food security status and determinants of food security among the smallholder farmers and pastoralists. The results show that 61% of the households were either mildly, moderately, or severely food insecure. Households in the beef value chain experienced relatively higher incidences of food insecurity compared to households in the wheat and dairy value chains. The HFIAS scores revealed a wide gap between households with minimum and maximum score. Household size, income and income-related variables (ability to save and borrow to meet family needs), transport assets, membership in farmers’ associations, and household energy were significant in determining household food security, while access to credit and to extension services was not. Strategies that focus on boosting smallholder farmers’ incomes, building strong and resilient farmers associations to improve inclusive and equitable value chains have the potential to get smallholder farmers out of recurrent food insecurity.
“…These food security variations are influenced by economic factors (farm inputs, access to credit and markets, crop diversity, land size, type of agro-ecological zone), demographic factors (household size, education, gender), income and remittances, household assets, and social factors which have been shown to be associated with smallholder farmers food security [4, 7,16]. The direction and magnitude of the relationship between these factors and food security vary across studies [17][18][19][20][21]. However, there is limited knowledge on the variations across value chains, information that would best inform target (value chain)-based interventions and strategies.…”
Smallholder farmers and pastoralists produce the largest proportion of food consumed in sub-Saharan Africa. However, they remain among the food insecure populations. This paper explores the food (in)security among smallholder farmers and pastoralists using a sample of 175 households in three agro-food value chains of wheat, dairy, and beef in the north-west Mt. Kenya region. The study seeks to answer if a farmer’s participation in a particular agro-food value chain determines his/her food security situation. We use the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) and two Poisson regression models, parsimonious and full, to assess the household food security status and determinants of food security among the smallholder farmers and pastoralists. The results show that 61% of the households were either mildly, moderately, or severely food insecure. Households in the beef value chain experienced relatively higher incidences of food insecurity compared to households in the wheat and dairy value chains. The HFIAS scores revealed a wide gap between households with minimum and maximum score. Household size, income and income-related variables (ability to save and borrow to meet family needs), transport assets, membership in farmers’ associations, and household energy were significant in determining household food security, while access to credit and to extension services was not. Strategies that focus on boosting smallholder farmers’ incomes, building strong and resilient farmers associations to improve inclusive and equitable value chains have the potential to get smallholder farmers out of recurrent food insecurity.
“…This increase is a global concern in achieving the second sustainable development goal, which calls for a commitment to end hunger, reduce food insecurity, and improve nutrition by 2030 [1]. The majority of food-insecure populations reside in Africa, which is home to the largest number of the poorest and most poverty-stricken countries in the world [2]. Zambia is not spared, as the global hunger index report (GHI) ranks Zambia under the category of alarming levels of hunger [3].…”
Food security is a global challenge and threatens mainly smallholder farmers in developing countries. The main aim of this paper is to determine factors that are associated with food security in Zambia. This study utilizes the household questionnaire survey dataset of 400 smallholder farmers in four districts conducted in southern Zambia in 2016. To measure food security, the study employs two food security indicators, namely the food consumption score (FCS) and the household hunger scale (HHS). Two ordered probit models are estimated with the dependent variables FCS and HHS. Both the FCS and HHS models’ findings reveal that higher education levels of household head, increasing livestock income, secure land tenure, increasing land size, and group membership increase the probability of household food and nutrition security. The results imply that policies supporting livestock development programs such as training of farmers in animal husbandry, as well as policies increasing land tenure security and empowerment of farmers groups, have the potential to enhance household food and nutrition security.
“…This leaves an estimated 5% of the population food insecurity and over two million becoming vulnerable to hunger (Darfour and Kurt, 2016). The hardest hit places in Ghana are the three northern regions, namely Upper West, Upper East and the Northern Regions (Nkegbe et al., 2017). In the Upper West Region in particular, smallholders are hampered by low soil fertility, low level of fertilizer usage, over-reliance on rain–fed agriculture, limited operation and access to market (Ministry of Food and Agriculture [MoFA], 2015).…”
This paper assesses the participation of formal sector employees in urban agriculture and their contributions to food supply in the Wa Municipality, north-western Ghana. A cross-sectional research design was employed with survey as the data collection method. Respondents were randomly selected from various public sector agencies within the Municipality. Logistic regression was employed to identify the factors influencing participation in agriculture. The findings revealed that majority (62.1%) of the respondents were not participating in agriculture. Respondents who participate in urban agriculture practice food crop farming or animal rearing or both. The probability of a formal sector worker participating in agriculture is influenced by sex, age, education, household size, finance and formal workload. Participation in agriculture contributes to household food supply through physical availability of food, income earning and savings. Providing formal sector workers with information about the significance of urban agriculture could be a way of encouraging their participation.
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