COVID‐19 pandemic, farming households' food and nutrition security, and response strategies in Ghana, West Africa

• Published date: 01 November 2023
• Author: Neville N. Suh,Richard A. Nyiawung,Ernest L. Molua,Canan F. Abay
• Date: 01 November 2023
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/wfp2.12060

RESEARCH ARTICLE

COVID-19 pandemic, farming households’food

and nutrition security, and response strategies

in Ghana, West Africa

Neville N. Suh

1,2

|Richard A. Nyiawung

2,3

|

Ernest L. Molua

4,5

|Canan F. Abay

1

1

Department of Agricultural Economics,

Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

2

KiKENG, NGO, Buea, Cameroon

3

Department of Geography, Environment

and Geomatics, and Guelph Institute of

Development Studies, University of

Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

4

Department of Agricultural Economics

and Agribusiness, University of Buea,

Buea, Cameroon

5

Centre for Independent Development

Research (CIDR), Buea, Cameroon

Correspondence

Neville N. Suh, Department of Agricultural

Economics, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.

Email: suhneville@gmail.com

Abstract

We explored the association between COVID-19 dis-

ruptions and food and nutrition security, including the

various coping strategies adopted by farming house-

holds in Ghana. The different COVID-19 shocks experi-

enced and coping strategies implemented by farming

households are identified through focus group discus-

sions. A multistage random sampling method was used

to survey 252 farming households, and data were ana-

lyzed using different regression techniques. We observe

no significant differences in the food and nutrition

security status of male- and female-headed households,

while the COVID-19 disruptions affected male-headed

households more than female-headed households. Our

data shows a higher vulnerability of urban households

to food and nutrition insecurity than rural households,

with the COVID-19 disruptions affecting urban house-

holds more than rural households. We find that the

COVID-19 disruptions pushed households to reduce

their frequency of food consumption, consume less

diverse diets, and hinder their adoption of coping strat-

egies. Hence, responses that aim to strengthen farming

households’frequency of consumption of essential food

groups and access to nutritional and healthy diets are

crucial to either help maintain or improve farming

households’food and nutrition security during shocks

such as COVID-19 in Ghana.

Received: 24 May 2023Accepted: 27 June 2023

DOI: 10.1002/wfp2.12060

154 © 2023 Policy Studies Organization.World Food Policy. 2023;9:154–180.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/wfp2

KEYWORDS

COVID-19, food and nutrition security, Ghana, response strategies,

urban and rural households

1|INTRODUCTION

Food and nutrition insecurity remains a thorny intractable issue, bedeviling many countries at

different socioeconomic and political development stages (Barrett et al., 2022; Moseley &

Battersby, 2020). At the global, regional, or national level, governments are ramping up efforts

to ensure communities always have physical and economic access to sufficient food to meet die-

tary needs for a productive and healthy life (Aberman et al., 2014; FAO, 2021a). External envi-

ronmental, political, or health-related shocks reinforce the challenge of food and nutrition

insecurity (Barrett et al., 2022; Moseley & Battersby, 2020). Moreover, natural disasters and cri-

ses like earthquakes, droughts, disease epidemics, floods, and conflict are becoming more com-

mon worldwide (Aberman et al., 2014).

After almost a decade of progress in the world, there has been a gradual increase in the

number of people exposed to hunger, driven by diverse environmental stressors and systemic

shocks (WFP, 2021). In 2019, the COVID-19 outbreak spread rapidly worldwide, posing severe

food and nutrition security threats. In 2020, about 2.37 billion people lacked access to adequate

food, an increase of about 320 million people in just 1 year (FAO, 2021b; World Bank, 2022).

The situation worsened in 2021, with an estimated 161 million persons experiencing “crisis”

levels of acute food insecurity, a nearly 4% rise over the previous year (World Bank, 2022). In

addition, nearly 227 million people experienced “stressed”acute food insecurity, one step away

from being declared a “crisis”in 2021, with over 7% more than the previous year (World Bank,

2022).

Agriculture is one of the major sectors crucial in stabilizing African economies (Ball, 2016).

During the onset of the pandemic, agriculture was generally declared an “essential”activity,

which, together with food reserves and the current harvest, helped maintain a steady supply of

food in the African continent (FAO, 2020a). However, the persistent widespread of the virus led

to a disruption in the food supply as countries imposed stringent restrictions to protect domestic

consumption and limit the spread of the virus (Hodey & Dzanku, 2021; Laborde et al., 2020).

This had a dent in national incomes with macroeconomic implications, particularly because

about 32% of Africa’s GDP is generated from the agricultural sector, with subsistence farming

employing over half its population (Ball, 2016). In attempts to resist and adapt to the COVID-19

containment measures, smallholder farming households resorted to either cope with a loss of

income and livelihoods or embraced the risk of exposure to the virus (UNHCR, 2020).

Ghana is an archetypical agrarian economy that battled with the onslaught of COVID-19.

The agricultural sector of Ghana employs nearly 67% of the population (Anthony et al., 2015),

provides 54% of the national GDP, and sustains over 90% of its food needs (FAOSTAT, 2018). In

mid-February 2020, Africa recorded its first COVID-19 case (Nolte et al., 2022). By April 2020,

Ghana had 636 active cases and was among West Africa’s top three most affected nations

(WFP, 2020a). The implementation of lockdown measures to contain the COVID-19 outbreak,

which first emerged in Ghana in March 2020, seriously affected the country’s food and nutrition

security and food systems (APRA, 2021; WFP, 2020b).

SUH ET AL.155