CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION

            Background of the Study

Food security is a fundamental human right. Enshrined in Article 12 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana is the protection of right to life. Food then becomes an important basic human need for survival, growth and good health. Jensen (2002) argued that the maintenance of peace and political stability in a country can be obtained through the provision of adequate and nutritious food whereas poor health and malnutrition in children are attributes of food insecurity.

An FAO report estimated that a total of about 842 million people of the world population suffered various forms of hunger, malnutrition and food insecurity (FAO, 2013). Relatively, the FAO 2013 report projected a reduction in absolute numbers of malnourished and food insecure people from a high of 868 million people over the 2010-12 period. This reduction according to Royal Society, (2009) is the outcome of both intensifications related with green revolution and the extension of farm activities unto previously uncultivated lands (Green et al., 2005; Ramankutty et al., 2008).

The World Summit on Food Security in 1996 prioritized the reduction of hunger and food insecurity as key component of its international development agenda. This resulted in defining food security as a situation where all the people at all times have economic and physical access to safe, nutritious and sufficient food required to satisfy their dietary requirement and food preference for an active and healthy life. According to Babatunde et al., (2007) this definition implies that, for individuals of or within a household to meet their specific dietary need, there must be sufficient physical supply or aggregate food availability, and households through own production, market

(provided there is adequate purchasing power) or other sources should have access to food for effective utilization.

Sanusi et al., (2006) also noted that, food security status at the household and individual level is influenced by basic factors such as the household resource endowments and socio-economic characteristics. Meanwhile, Kuwornu et al., (2013) pointed out that smallholder farming households in Africa suffer worse forms of malnutrition, poverty and food insecurity.

Wiggins and Keats (2013) reported that the main cause of the problems smallholder farmers face is due to the fact that they buy more food than they sell in other words, smallholder farmers are unable to produce enough food to adequately feed them throughout the year. This may be due to adverse weather conditions including variation in rainfall pattern and a range of agronomic challenges such as low soil fertility, lack of irrigation facility, lack or misapplication of pesticides and fertilizer which eventually culminate into crop failure.

Given the number of mouths that are fed by smallholder farmers, the role of ensuring food security globally, nationally and at the household level by smallholder farmers cannot be under estimated. Prakash-Mani (2013) estimated that about 25 percent of global food supplies are produced from Asia, Latin America and Africa by smallholder farmers. Research has shown that smallholder farms account for about 80 percent of aggregate food consumption in many unindustrialized countries within sub-saharan Africa and Asia (FAO, 2014). However, it is anticipated that farmers’ incomes and living standards can improve while reducing hunger in their households and localities if smallholder farming is developed and given requisite attention (Prakash-Mani, 2013). The food security situation in Ghana is not different from the experiences in other developing countries. Poverty and malnutrition borne out of poor agricultural practices, natural disasters, illiteracy, hikes

in food prices and global financial crisis have been noted as major factors impacting negatively on the food security status of many households in Ghana (Boakye et al., 2012).

A 2009 report of the World Food Programme shows that about 1.2 million persons representing 10% of people in Ghana (approximately 5 percent (5%) of Ghanaians) rated to be suffering from insufficient access to nutritious food come from northern (savanna zones of) Ghana. Further, households that produces food crops in northern sector of Ghana are largely considered food insecure (Biederlack and Rivers, 2009).

In taking cognizance of the key role agriculture plays in maintaining food security, the Government of Ghana launched a number of agricultural related development programmes and projects with the objective of increasing growth of the agricultural sector and improving the food supply situation in the country. Some of the policies and programmes include: Savanna Accelerated Development Authority (SADA) in 2010, Food and Agriculture Sector Development Policy (FASDEP I & II) in 2002 and 2007 respectively, Medium Term Agriculture Sector Investment Plan (METASIP) in 2005, Northern Rural Growth Project (NRGP) in 2009, Resilient and Sustainable Livelihood (RESUL) in 2014 and the Ghana Agricultural Sector Investment Programme (GASIP) in 2015.

The food security challenge of northern Ghana has been attributed to seasonal and unstable domestic production as a result of the erratic rainfall pattern, soil infertility, inflation (food price hikes), low income levels and prevailing high unemployment level (Nyanteng and Assuming, 2003). Kuwornu et al., (2013) also noted that, smallholder farm households are often exposed to severe food security challenges mainly due to over reliance on rain-fed agriculture and variation

in climatic conditions. WFP (2012) also identified persistent rise in prices of staple as a constraint to household food security status.

According to the 2010 population census data, about 82.5% of households in the Upper West Region lives in the rural areas, where the literacy rate is 40 percent for the 15 years and above age group, relatively lower than the national literacy rate of 72% (GSS, 2013). Similarly, the 2012 CFSVA report indicated that Upper West region plays host to about 36% of food insecure households in the northern belt of the country. The highest food insecurity prevalence in the region was found in Wa West (42.2%) with the least being Sissala East (2.3%). This has inspired a research to ascertain the determinants responsible for the current state of food security among smallholder farming households of Upper West Region.

Generally, food insecurity in the Upper West Region is linked with poverty. The means by which households obtain their diet may vary, but whether the households are rural farmers or urban dwellers, their food security status is commensurate with the improvement in household wealth.

            Problem Statement of the Study

The GSS 2013 report documented that about 75% of rural dwellers in Ghana are engaged in smallholder agriculture. Statistics on food production in Ghana has shown an upward trend since 2010 thus, increasing food sufficiency levels of selected crops by an average of 1% per annum (MoFA, 2016). Conversely, these impressive statistics does not mirror the food sufficiency situation of smallholder farming households in the country (GSS, 2014).

Reviewed literature has shown that food insecurity as a condition is not only seen as the failure of agriculture to produce sufficient food at the national level but as a failure of livelihoods to guarantee access to sufficient food at the household level (Devereux, 2001). That means the

problems of food insecurity are closely linked to the general problem of livelihoods (Akadugu et al., 2012).

Out of the estimated 1.8 million persons engulfed in extreme poverty (food consumption poverty) in the rural areas of Ghana, smallholder farming households’ in the rural savannah contributes more than 40 percent to this quota (GSS, 2014). Policy interventions has been made by successive governments, the World Bank and several stakeholders (NGO’s) to address the menace of food insecurity and poverty but the problem of food insecurity is still a major challenge in the country particularly in the Upper West Region.

Luginaah et al., 2009 noted that despite the positive national food sufficiency outlook farming households in the Upper West Region suffered food insecurity and poverty. This is evident in the last ranking where the region recorded the highest poverty incidence score of 70.7% (GSS, 2014). The region also recorded the minimum average annual per capita income of GH¢3,015.7 as against the national average of GH¢5,346.9 (GSS, 2014). This implies that the households have low incomes to maximize food production which is cardinal in addressing food insecurity in the Upper West Region.