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

Abstract

Abstract We explored the association between COVID‐19 disruptions and food and nutrition security, including the various coping strategies adopted by farming households in Ghana. The different COVID‐19 shocks experienced and coping strategies implemented by farming households are identified through focus group discussions. A multistage random sampling method was used to survey 252 farming households, and data were analyzed 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 households 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 strategies. 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.