Advances in Food Science and Technology

Advances in Food Science and Technology Vol. 1 (3), pp. 035-042, March, 2013. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

State of Affairs in Northern Ghana with respect to Food security, coping strategies and related constraints

Kashez Asiamah

Food Research Institute, Ashesi University, Berekuso, Accra, Ghana. Email:[email protected]

Accepted 28 February, 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.