Determinants of household food insecurity and coping strategies in Northern Ghana

Household food insecurity is gradually being acknowledged as a public health issue in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the actions that food insecure households take in a food crisis. We used ordered probit, count data, and Tobit models to investigate the drivers of food insecurity and the extent of household food coping mechanisms in the face of food deficit. The food consumption score and food insecurity experience scale indicators were used to measure food insecurity in Northern Ghana, while the coping strategy index was used to estimate the extent of food coping mechanisms in the midst of food shortfall. The primary coping techniques used by the sampled households included eating fewer favorite meals, lowering the number of meals eaten per day, and reducing the size of the meals eaten. The severity of a household's food insecurity status was determined by a variety of household demographic factors, asset accumulation and policy-driven factors. Households with a high number of assets, participation in non-farm activities, and access to extension services, used less approaches to overcome food shortages. Those with a large number of wards in school used more coping strategies during food shortages. Households should be encouraged to diversify their income sources, and create both capital and social assets in order to increase their resilience to food insecurity.