An Impact Assessment of Farmer Participation on Food Security in Northwestern Ghana

This paper employed Arnstein’s typology of participation to examine the impact of participation on subsistence farmers’ food security. The study compared differences in the nature and impact of participatory approaches used by two NGOs involved in implementing a food security programme in the Upper West Region of Ghana. Two beneficiary villages were sampled from the operational area of each NGO, with a fifth village as a control group. Using an exploratory sequential mixed method design, in-depth interviews were conducted with project officers and focus group discussions done with farmers. The data was analysed thematically to understand the type of participation used in each NGO’s programmes. In addition, 350 structured questionnaires (250 beneficiaries and 100 non-beneficiaries) were administered to individual farmers and the data analysed using difference-in-differences estimation to assess the impact of participation on food security. The results indicate that more robust forms of participation significantly impact beneficiaries’ food security. The study therefore supports the use of meaningful participatory approaches in interventions to improve food security.