The Contours of Poverty in Northern Ghana: Policy Implications for Combating Food Insecurity

2010 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
JA Yaro ◽  
J Hesselberg
Keyword(s):  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Northern Ghana

Framing Community Resilience Through Mobility and Gender

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 554-562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kei Otsuki ◽  
◽  
Godfred Seidu Jasaw ◽  
Victor Lolig ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Ecological Resilience ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Commercial Activities ◽  
And Gender ◽  
External Forces ◽  
The Impact

The study of community resilience observed in times of crisis has conventionally focused on the impact of external forces on sedentary and homogeneous communities embedded in specific ecological systems. Drawing on a qualitative case study of a rural community in northern Ghana, this paper reports that, even in a community of mostly small farmers, diversifying livelihoods is apparently a main coping strategy. This paper focuses on two, often overlooked, dimensions that underpin this livelihood diversification: mobility and gender. Mobility, the first dimension, indicates the work of livelihoods that develop outside the community such as the so-called “settler farming,” a variety of trading activities, and outmigration to cities. Gender, the second dimension, indicates cropping and commercial activities carried out differently by men and women. Both mobility and gender characterize diverse livelihood strategies, which evolve by enriching social relationships and extending networks. This paper argues that shedding light on social relationships and networks helps us to reframe the concept of community resilience from the community-based capacity of self-organization to the capacity of a flexible social system for being able to mobilize a wide variety of resources. Future research agendas must advance this understanding of resource mobilization in relation to ecological resilience and must clarify its technological and policy implications.

Assessing the risk of seasonal food insecurity with an expert-based Bayesian Belief Network approach in northern Ghana, West Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 53-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janina Kleemann ◽  
Enrico Celio ◽  
Benjamin Kofi Nyarko ◽  
Marcos Jimenez-Martinez ◽  
Christine Fürst
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Bayesian Belief Network ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Network Approach ◽  
Belief Network

What Informs Farmers’ Choice of Output Markets? The Case of Maize, Cowpea and Livestock Production in Northern Ghana

2021 ◽  
pp. 097300522199442
Author(s):  
Abdulai Adams ◽  
Livingstone Divine Caesar ◽  
Nana Yamoah Asafu-Adjaye
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
New Production ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Output Market ◽  
Main Determinants ◽  
Marketing Methods

This study analyses the main determinants of output market choices by rural farmers in northern Ghana amidst growing concerns of lack of lucrative markets for smallholder farmers. Using recent survey data collected from 448 households, the study applied the multinomial logistic regression (MLR) model with village markets as the base outcome. The findings revealed that association membership, access to storage facilities, openness to new production and marketing methods, access to financial services, knowledge of sustainable intensification (SI) practices, access to guaranteed market, availability of quality market services and distance to output market would likely influence the choice of a farmer to sell at a farm gate over village markets. Access to extension services was found significant in influencing farmers’ decisions to sell by the roadside. Also, gender, association membership, access to processing facilities, availability of quality market services and distance to output market would likely influence the choice of a farmer to do private sales. Furthermore, association membership, access to processing facilities, access to extension services and market information significantly influences the decision of farmers to use other market outlets (e.g., regional/district markets). The study concludes that the choice of market outlet used by farmers depends much on institutional and channel-specific characteristics. These findings have policy implications for the development of market policies, providing rural market infrastructure services, promoting SI practices and strengthening extension service delivery.

scholarly journals Determinants of dietary diversity and its relationship with the nutritional status of pregnant women

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahama Saaka ◽  
Sofo Mutaru ◽  
Shaibu Mohammed Osman
Keyword(s):  
Nutritional Status ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Household Wealth ◽  
Northern Region ◽  
Urban Setting ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional

Abstract There is little information regarding factors that determine dietary diversity among pregnant women in Ghana. The present study, therefore, sought to assess the independent predictors of dietary diversity and its relationship with nutritional status of pregnant women in the Northern Region of Ghana. The present study was an analytical cross-sectional survey involving 423 pregnant women in different stages of gestation. The 24-h dietary recall method was used to assess minimum dietary diversity for women (MDD-W), and nutritional status was assessed using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurements. Binary logistic regression was performed to assess the association between maternal dietary diversity and maternal thinness and a P value of <0⋅05 was considered statistically significant. Of the 423 women, 79⋅9 % (95 % CI 76⋅1, 83⋅7) met the MDD-W and the prevalence of undernutrition among the pregnant women was 26⋅0 %. The analysis showed that women of low household wealth index were 48 % less likely (AOR 0⋅52, CI 0⋅31, 0⋅88) of meeting the MDD-W, whereas women from households of poor food insecurity were 88 % less likely (AOR 0⋅12, CI 0⋅05, 0⋅27) of achieving the MDD-W. Women of low household size were three times more likely of meeting the MDD-W (AOR 3⋅07, CI 1⋅13, 8⋅39). MDD-W was not associated with maternal underweight during pregnancy. In conclusion, the results of the present study showed that food insecurity and not low MDD-W, associated with mothers’ thinness (underweight) during pregnancy in peri-urban setting of Northern Ghana.

scholarly journals The Effect of International Trade on Food Security at Southeast Asian Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Trade ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Southeast Asian ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Southeast Asian Countries

For decades, although the world has made significant progress in the fight against hunger, food insecurity has been considered as the top concern of countries, especially developing countries. In this study, we use panel data of 10 Southeast Asian countries for the period from 2000-2015 to evaluate the effect of international trade on food security. Applying panel data regression methods such as fixed effects model (FE), random effects model (RE), and feasible generalized least squares model (FGLS), the results show the positive impact of international trade on food security on all three aspects of food availability, stability, and access at each country. Besides, other factors such as agricultural productivity, the share of agricultural land over the total land area, percentage of farmers in total population, and inflation also affect to food security of Southeast Asian countries on several aspects. Based on the results, we propose some policy implications for Southeast Asian countries to deal with food insecurity problems.

scholarly journals Agriculture and Food Security in Northern Ghana

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Alhassan Bawa
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Insecurity ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Northern Ghana ◽  
Food Utilization ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Subsistence Level ◽  
Agricultural Growth ◽  
Agriculture Sector

In the northern part of Ghana, about 97.9 percent of households are engaged in crop farming such as maize, rice, sorghum, soy beans, cowpea, cassava, yam, cotton and vegetables, with few households engaging in poultry, livestock and pig rearing. Agricultural production is therefore the main activity in the northern sector of Ghana and is practiced mainly on seasonal and subsistence level. The Gross Domestic Product of the country has recorded an annual growth rate of about 4 to 8 percent within the past decade. Agricultural growth has been the major driver of poverty reduction. The agriculture sector is the largest source of employment for the people of northern Ghana, and is dominated by smallholder farmers. The challenges in the agriculture sector include human resource and managerial skills, natural resource management, technology development and food insecurity. Food security is a phenomenon resulting from multiple causes which are food availability, food accessibility, food utilization and food stability. About 5% of Ghanaian populace are food insecure. Additionally, about 2 million Ghanaian people are vulnerable to become food insecure. Growth in the agricultural sector has been more rapid as compared to that of the non-agricultural sectors in recent years, expanding by an average annual rate of 5.5%, compared to 5.2% for the economy as a whole. Agricultural growth however, depends mainly on rainfall patterns and land expansion. The objective of this paper was to review literature on food security in Ghana, agricultural contribution to food security in northern Ghana and some policy measures put in place by successive governments to reduce food insecurity in northern Ghana.

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