Food and Nutrition Insecurity and Farming Household Resilience to COVID-19 Shocks in Ghana

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic affected farming households in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a case in point, we examine farming households’ resilience to food and nutrition insecurity in Ghana under the COVID-19 shocks. Focus group discussions were initially conducted with farming household heads to identify households’ sources of resilience and the different COVID-19 shocks. A multi-stage random sampling technique was then used to survey 252 farming households. We used different econometric modelling techniques, that is, the multiple indicators multiple causes modelling procedure, ordinary least square, and multinomial probit model, for data analysis. Our results provide supportive evidence affirming that COVID-19 shocks undermine farming households’ resilience and food and nutrition security. Urban and male-headed households experience more food and nutrition insecurity than rural and female-headed households. Farming households’ adaptive capacity significantly contributed to household resilience and food and nutrition security. The findings suggest that lessons learned from the current pandemic can help policymakers, governments, and international organisations build adequate responses and interventions that strengthen and support farming households’ resilience to food and nutrition security and systemic shocks such as COVID-19 in Ghana.