TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparing measures of urban food security in Accra, Ghana
AU - Tuholske, Cascade
AU - Andam, Kwaw
AU - Blekking, Jordan
AU - Evans, Tom
AU - Caylor, Kelly
N1 - Funding Information:
The U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Earth Research Institute at the University of California, and NSF grant number #1801251 provided the primary funding for this paper. Financial support for Kwaw Andam came from USAID through funding for the Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) and the Food Security Policy (FSP) project, as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Maps of Accra, generously provided by San Diego State University, were produced in part by grant number R01 HD054906 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (?Health, Poverty and Place in Accra, Ghana,? John R. Weeks, Project Director/Principal Investigator). Additional funding was provided by Hewlett/PRB (?Reproductive and Overall Health Outcomes and Their Economic Consequences for Households in Accra, Ghana,? Allan G. Hill, Project Director/Principal Investigator). The 2003 Women?s Health Study of Accra was funded by the World Health Organization, USAID, and the Fulbright New Century Scholars Award (Allan G. Hill, Principal Investigator). The Health and Welfare Study of Accra (HAWS) was funded in part by a grant from the Department of Economics, Harvard University. Finally, the authors would like to thank the Ghanian?enumerators and field manager who conducted the field surveys. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official of the NICHD (or its parent organization the National Institutes of Health), PIM, IFPRI, CGIAR, or USAID.
Funding Information:
The U.S. Borlaug Fellows in Global Food Security Program, funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Earth Research Institute at the University of California, and NSF grant number #1801251 provided the primary funding for this paper. Financial support for Kwaw Andam came from USAID through funding for the Ghana Strategy Support Program (GSSP) and the Food Security Policy (FSP) project, as well as the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (PIM) led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). Maps of Accra, generously provided by San Diego State University, were produced in part by grant number R01 HD054906 from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) (“Health, Poverty and Place in Accra, Ghana,” John R. Weeks, Project Director/Principal Investigator). Additional funding was provided by Hewlett/PRB (“Reproductive and Overall Health Outcomes and Their Economic Consequences for Households in Accra, Ghana,” Allan G. Hill, Project Director/Principal Investigator). The 2003 Women’s Health Study of Accra was funded by the World Health Organization, USAID, and the Fulbright New Century Scholars Award (Allan G. Hill, Principal Investigator). The Health and Welfare Study of Accra (HAWS) was funded in part by a grant from the Department of Economics, Harvard University. Finally, the authors would like to thank the Ghanian enumerators and field manager who conducted the field surveys. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official of the NICHD (or its parent organization the National Institutes of Health), PIM, IFPRI, CGIAR, or USAID.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, The Author(s).
PY - 2020/4/1
Y1 - 2020/4/1
N2 - The urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to expand by nearly 800 million people in the next 30 years. How this rapid urban transition is affecting household-level urban food security, and reverberating into broader food systems, is poorly understood. To fill this gap, we use data from a 2017 survey (n = 668) of low- and middle-income residents of Accra, Ghana, to characterize and compare the predictors of household-level food security using three established metrics: the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS); the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP); and the Food Consumption Score (FCS). According to HFIAP, 70% of sampled households are food insecure, but only 2% fall below acceptable thresholds measured by FCS. Only one household reported sourcing food from modern supermarkets and fewer than 3% produce food for consumption through gardening, farming, or fishing. Instead, households rely on purchased food from traditional markets, local stalls and kiosks, and street hawkers. Results from a suite of general linear models show that household assets, education, and demographic characteristics are significantly associated with food security outcomes according to HFIAS and HFIAP. The poor correlation and weak model agreement between dietary recall such as FCS, and experience-based food security metrics, like HFIAS and HFIAP, highlight limitations of employing historically rural-centric food security measurement approaches within the urban context. Given that Sub-Saharan Africa’s future is urban, our results add empirical evidence in support of the growing chorus of scholars advocating for comprehensive urban-oriented food security research and policy agendas across Sub-Saharan Africa.
AB - The urban population in Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to expand by nearly 800 million people in the next 30 years. How this rapid urban transition is affecting household-level urban food security, and reverberating into broader food systems, is poorly understood. To fill this gap, we use data from a 2017 survey (n = 668) of low- and middle-income residents of Accra, Ghana, to characterize and compare the predictors of household-level food security using three established metrics: the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS); the Household Food Insecurity Access Prevalence (HFIAP); and the Food Consumption Score (FCS). According to HFIAP, 70% of sampled households are food insecure, but only 2% fall below acceptable thresholds measured by FCS. Only one household reported sourcing food from modern supermarkets and fewer than 3% produce food for consumption through gardening, farming, or fishing. Instead, households rely on purchased food from traditional markets, local stalls and kiosks, and street hawkers. Results from a suite of general linear models show that household assets, education, and demographic characteristics are significantly associated with food security outcomes according to HFIAS and HFIAP. The poor correlation and weak model agreement between dietary recall such as FCS, and experience-based food security metrics, like HFIAS and HFIAP, highlight limitations of employing historically rural-centric food security measurement approaches within the urban context. Given that Sub-Saharan Africa’s future is urban, our results add empirical evidence in support of the growing chorus of scholars advocating for comprehensive urban-oriented food security research and policy agendas across Sub-Saharan Africa.
KW - Food security
KW - Ghana
KW - Sub-Saharan Africa
KW - Urban food security
KW - Urbanization
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85078340983&partnerID=8YFLogxK
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U2 - 10.1007/s12571-020-01011-4
DO - 10.1007/s12571-020-01011-4
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85078340983
VL - 12
SP - 417
EP - 431
JO - Food Security
JF - Food Security
SN - 1876-4517
IS - 2
ER -