ISSN 2736-1624
Frontiers of Agriculture and Food Technology Vol. 1 (10), pp. 110-117, October, 2013. International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Food safety circumstances in northern Ghana, associated constraints and coping strategies
Kashez Asiamah
Food Research Institute, Ashesi University, P.O.Box 3256, Berekuso, Accra, Ghana. Email: [email protected]
Email: [email protected]
Accepted 04 September, 2013
Abstract
This paper looks at the food security situation in three most deprived and poverty-stricken regions in the Northern parts of Ghana and examines how farmer households cope during food insecure periods. The study concludes that although farmers in these regions cultivate purposely for household consumption and sell the surplus, food was not available throughout the year in the farmer households interviewed. On the average staple foods produced lasted for seven months. Coping mechanisms during months of inadequate household food provision included migration to southern Ghana for wage labor, support from relatives and friends outside the regions, sales from livestock and household valuables as well as reduction of food intake and consumption of less preferred food. Erratic rainfall patterns, high cost of agrochemicals, lack of knowledge on improved farming and post harvest practices as well as lack of production credit and markets for farm produce were some of the constraints militating against increased production and improvement in food security. Measures to remove these constraints will therefore go a long way to improve the household food security situation in Northern Ghana.
Key words: Farming households, food security, constraints, coping strategies, Ghana.