The level of food insecurity in Ghana presently stands at 11.7 percent, implying a food insecure population of 3.6million people; officials of the
The level of food insecurity in Ghana presently stands at 11.7 percent, implying a food insecure population of 3.6million people; officials of the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) have disclosed.
Per the 2020 nationwide Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA) covering 260 administrative districts, 1.6 million people out of the above-mentioned total food insecure population representing 5.2 percent are severely food insecure whiles 2.0 million representing 6.5 percent are moderately food insecure.
Some 2.8 million people out of the total the 3.6million live in rural areas whereas 0.8million people are located in urban areas.
The 2020 CFSVA gives further details that the rural areas have a higher prevalence of food insecurity than the urban.
About two in 10 (18.2 percent) of Ghana’s rural population are food insecure, of which 7.3 percent are severely food insecure and 10.9 percent are moderately food insecure.
About 5.5 percent of Ghana’s urban population are food insecure, of which 3.2 percent are severely food insecure and 2.3 percent are moderately food insecure.
“Three regions at the moment are on record to have the highest food insecure population. They are the Upper East region having 0.6 million populations, Northern region 0.6 million and 0.5 million in Ashanti region.
Two out of Ghana’s 16 Regions- Eastern and Volta have implied food insecurity populations ranging between 200,000 and 300,000. Ten Regions- Upper West, North East, Greater Accra, Bono East, Western North, Bono, Western, Savannah, Central and Ahafo have implied food insecure populations ranging between 100,000 and 200,000.
“Oti is the sole region with a food insecure population of less than 100,000,” CFSVA report revealed.
Dr. Peter Takyi Peprah, Head of Survey, GSS disclosed the above in his presentation at the Zonal Dissemination of the 2020 Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis held in Kumasi on Wednesday 29th June 2022.
He brought to light that there is a higher prevalence of food insecurity among male-headed households than female-headed households.
He noted that the pattern is repeated in rural and urban settings.
He said that in rural areas, the prevalence of food insecurity among male-headed households stands at 20.1 percent, compared with 16.0 percent among female-headed households. In urban areas, prevalence among male-headed households stands at 6.5 percent, compared with 4.8 percent among female-headed households.
Speaking at the event, Ms. Anna Mukiibi-Bunnya, WFP Deputy Country Director described the CFSVA research as the first of its kind, saying “this CFSVA is a comprehensive comparative analysis at district and regional levels throughout the country, compared to 2012 which was limited to northern Ghana and 2009 which was conducted at the regional level only.”
She indicated that the use of the report as a baseline to assess the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war on Ghana’s food security is extremely relevant today.
She said in an earlier statement in her address that “growing concerns regarding food availability, accessibility, utilization and stability are well founded as these factors constitute the widely accepted definition of food and nutrition security.”
She added, “Against their global backdrop, Ghana along with the rest of the world was on a recovery path from the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Ukraine crisis has slowed this recovery and negatively exacerbated economic conditions that may question achieving Zero Hunger by 2030.”
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