LAUNCH OF FIRST NATIONWIDE FOOD SECURITY ANALYSIS IN GHANA

Accra – The United Nations World Food Programme, in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service and other partners, launched today the findings of the Comprehensive Food Security and Vulnerability Analysis (CFSVA), the first nationwide food security baseline survey in Ghana. The findings indicate that about 1.2 million people (about 5 percent of the population) are food insecure with limited access to sufficient and nutritious food throughout the year.

“The survey provides an in-depth picture of food insecurity in Ghana which will guide and inform UN agencies, NGOs, development organizations and government partners, on appropriate measures to take to support the most vulnerable people in the country”, said Ismail Omer, the WFP Representative in Ghana.

The Upper West Region where 34 percent of the population are food insecure, is the most affected area, followed by the Upper East Region with 15 percent and the Northern Region with 10 percent.

Throughout Ghana, about 2 million people are at risk of becoming food insecure during the lean season or at the onset of a shock, natural or man-made disaster. In the rural areas of the three northern regions some 500,000 people were found to be at risk, whilst up to 1.5 million people living in the remaining seven regions face a similar fate (Brong-Ahafo 11 percent, Eastern 9 percent and Volta 7 percent).

On a national level, the most food-insecure people are the small holder food crop farmers who represent a quarter of the population and have an average daily income per capita below the minimum daily wage of GH¢2.65 and the poverty threshold of GH¢1.48. The main causes of food insecurity in the country are: poverty, reliance on

traditional and often inefficient agricultural practices, limited markets for farm produce, high food prices, lack of education, and other hazards such as adverse weather conditions.

The survey recommends immediate interventions to address current malnutrition and ill-health among children and women, the expansion of preventive healthcare interventions, the strengthening of existing monitoring measures to detect deterioration in people's welfare and food security at an early stage, and the strengthening of community resilience to climate change related natural disasters. With the help of these findings, WFP will launch later this year a recovery operation with innovative approaches such as food-for-work activities and nutrition interventions, to help some 500,000 vulnerable people in northern Ghana.