Spatial and regression analyses of climate shocks and household food insecurity in Ghana

Close to half the population of Ghanaians (about 15.1 million people) experience some degree of food insecurity, with 12.3% of them experiencing severe food insecurity. Ghana’s growing population also faces elevated threats from climate change. This research uses the 2016/17 wave of the nationally representative Ghana Living Standards Survey to examine the spatial nature of climate shocks and food insecurity in Ghana and investigate how climate shocks are associated with different levels of food insecurity (mild, moderate, severe). Descriptive, spatial and regression analyses techniques are employed to address these research objectives. Spatial analyses highlight varied locational relationships between climate shocks and household food insecurity across the country. In addition to climate shocks, regression analyses highlight other important predictors of food insecurity in Ghana- resilience factors comprise male household headship and education, while risk factors for food insecurity in Ghana include large household sizes, unemployment, involvement in fishing and farming activities, as well as poverty. Interestingly, the odds of food insecurity are lower for poor households that have experienced climate shocks, likely due to the presence of social safety nets like the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) social programme, among other factors.