The Role of Rural Women in the Attainment of Household Food Security in Ghana: A Case Study of Women-Farmers in Ejura-Sekyeredumasi District (original) (raw)
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Journal of environment and earth science, 2013
The study examines the contribution of women in food production and its impact on food security in the Kassena Nankana district of the upper east region of Ghana. The specific objectives are: to examine the socio-economic characteristics of women farmers in the area, the challenges they face in food production The study utilizes both primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through questionnaire administration and direct observation in the study area. 160 questionnaires were administered purposively to 160 women who are into food production and live stock production while the secondary sources were obtained from review of related literature on the subject matter. Data collected were analysed through descriptive statistics. Results revealed that majority of the women are into food production in the area than their male counterparts, it also revealed that women are discriminated when it comes to decision making with regards to land acquisitions and credit facilities. Th...
ABSTRACT The r u r a l sector in many developing countries is increasingly characterized by the prevalence of poverty and food insecurity (FAO, 1990b: 2) In a qualitative and quantitative study of 160 women, 93% reacted positively towards awareness of Government Policies interventions to ensuring food security in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality. On the issue of women involvement in agricultural production, 84.4 percent representing 135 of the respondents stated they were into food production. 83.8% of the 160 respondents indicated that they undertake crop farming which was consistent with the findings of Akpabio (2005). Out of the 160 women participarts, 81.25% mentioned that they cultivated groundnut. Also 75.63% indicated that they cultivated rice. The study further revealed that 76.25% and 65.63% of the respondents are into beans and maize production respectively. Only 20% were into other crops not stated. 82% were engaged in animal production. Respondents indicated that 43% engaged in food processing, 37% engaged in farm labour and 20% engaged in trading of farm produce. The main methods of processing of food crops were threshing, winnowing, milling and drying and this conform to the findings of Kabeen (1994). The main constraint facing women in Kasena-Nankana Municipality towards achieving food security is the non inclusion of women in decision- making process, such as distribution of farm lands and the sale of family lands. Keywords: Government, Policies, Food, Security, Women, Household, intervention.
2014
Women play a very vital role in household food security in most developing countries including Ghana. However, they are constrained by a variety of socio-cultural and economic as well as institutional barriers. This study therefore seeks to assess women's contribution to household food security in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality. Descriptive survey design was adopted, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews, key informant interviews and questionnaires were used as primary data, and other relevant data, as secondary sources, were used to gather relevant information for analysis and discussions. Purposive sampling was used to select 160 participants from 2,049 women in six communities for the study. The findings of the study revealed57.3% reacted positively towards contribution to household food security while 84.4% were into agricultural production. Almost all (83.8%) of the respondents indicated that t...
Women play a very vital role in household food security in most developing countries including Ghana. However, they are constrained by a variety of socio-cultural and economic as well as institutional barriers. This study therefore seeks to assess women's contribution to household food security in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality. Descriptive survey design was adopted, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews, key informant interviews and questionnaires were used as primary data, and other relevant data, as secondary sources, were used to gather relevant information for analysis and discussions. Purposive sampling was used to select 160 participants from 2,049 women in six communities for the study. The findings of the study revealed57.3% reacted positively towards contribution to household food security while 84.4% were into agricultural production. Almost all (83.8%) of the respondents indicated that they undertake crop production. A little more than eighty percent (81.25%) mentioned that they cultivate groundnut. More than three-quarters (75.63%) indicated that they cultivate rice. The study further revealed that 76.25% and 65.63% of the respondents were into beans and maize production respectively. Eighty-two(82%) were engaged in animal production. Respondents (43%) indicated they engaged in food processing, 37% engaged in farm labor and 20% in trading of farm produce. The main methods of processing of food crops, from the study, were threshing, winnowing, milling and drying. Constraints facing women were found to include their non-involvement in traditional rituals, non-inclusion in the decision-making process. The women however were successful in their quest to achieve food security. About 93% were aware of government policies in place to enhance women participation in food security.Therefore, in order to improve the household food security and upgrade women's roles in this regard, the prevailing problems in the Kasena Nankana Municipality need concerted efforts from all concerned bodies.
WOMEN ROLES IN FOOD SECURITY IN THE KASENA NANKANA EAST MUNICIPALITY, GHANA
ABSTRACT Women play a very vital role in household food security in most developing countries including Ghana. However, they are constrained by a variety of socio-cultural and economic as well as institutional barriers. This study therefore seeks to assess women’s contribution to household food security in the Kassena-Nankana East District. Descriptive survey design was adapted applying both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews, key informant interviews and questionnaires were used as primary data and other relevant data as secondary sources were used to gather relevant information for analysis and discussions. Purposive sampling was used to select 160 participants from 2049 women in six communities for the study. The findings of the study showed 57.3% reacted positively towards contribution in household food security while 84.4% are into agricultural production. Almost all (83.8%) of the respondents indicated that they undertake crop production. About 81.25% mentioned that they cultivate groundnut. Also 75.63% indicated that they cultivate rice. The study further revealed that 76.25% and 65.63% of the respondents are into beans and maize production respectively. Only 20% were into other crops not stated. About 82% were engaged in animal production. Respondents also indicated that43% engaged in food processing, 37% engaged in farm labour and 20% engaged in trading of farm produce. The main methods of processing of food crops were threshing, winnowing, milling and drying. The constraints facing women were non- involvement of women in traditional rituals, no inclusion in decision- making process. The women however were successful in their quest to achieve food security. About 93% were aware of government policies in place to enhance women participation in food security.Therefore, in order to improve the household food security and up-grade women’s roles in this regard the prevailing problems in the Kassena Nankana East District need concerted efforts to be considered in gender approach from all concerned bodies.
ABSTRACT Women play a very vital role in household food security in most developing countries including Ghana. However, their contribution in this constrained by a number of socio-cultural and economic barriers. This study therefore seeks to assess women’s contribution to household food security and determine the barriers that are checking their optimum output in the Kassena-Nankana Municipality. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews, and questionnaires were used as primary data collection tools. Other relevant data from secondary sources such as documentaries from the Tono irrigation project, journals articles and books were used to gather historical information for the analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select 160 participants and respondents from 2049 women in six communities for the study. The findings of the study showed that 57.3% to contribute to household food security out of this 84.4% are into agricultural production. About 84% (83.8%) of the respondents indicated that they undertake crop production, with 81.25% of this cultivating groundnut. Also 75.63 indicated that they cultivate rice. The study further revealed that 76.25% and 65.63% of the respondents were into beans and maize production respectively. Only 20% were into other crops not stated. About 82% were engaged in animal production as well. Forty three percent (43%) were engaged in food processing, 37% in farm labour services and 20% in trading in farm produce. The constraints facing women were non- involvement of women in traditional rituals, none inclusion in community decision- making process. The contribution of women was however, significant achieving food security. About 93% were aware of government policies in place to enhance women participation in food security. Women farmers in the Municipality produce more than three-quarters of the District’s basic food, manage some two-thirds of marketing and at least one half the activities required for storing food and raising animals. Relevant bodies may therefore be encouraged to intensify advocacy in this regard. Keywords: Agro-Pastoral, Challenge, Economic, Food Security, Women
Women play a very vital role in household food security in most developing countries including Ghana. However, they are constrained by a variety of socio-cultural and economic as well as institutional barriers. This study therefore seeks to assess women's contribution to household food security in the Kasena-Nankana Municipality. Descriptive survey design was adopted, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies. Observations, focus group discussions, interviews, key informant interviews and questionnaires were used as primary data, and other relevant data, as secondary sources, were used to gather relevant information for analysis and discussions. Purposive sampling was used to select 160 participants from 2,049 women in six communities for the study. The findings of the study revealed57.3% reacted positively towards contribution to household food security while 84.4% were into agricultural production. Almost all (83.8%) of the respondents indicated that they undertake crop production. A little more than eighty percent (81.25%) mentioned that they cultivate groundnut. More than three-quarters (75.63%) indicated that they cultivate rice. The study further revealed that 76.25% and 65.63% of the respondents were into beans and maize production respectively. Eighty-two(82%) were engaged in animal production. Respondents (43%) indicated they engaged in food processing, 37% engaged in farm labor and 20% in trading of farm produce. The main methods of processing of food crops, from the study, were threshing, winnowing, milling and drying. Constraints facing women were found to include their non-involvement in traditional rituals, non-inclusion in the decision-making process. The women however were successful in their quest to achieve food security. About 93% were aware of government policies in place to enhance women participation in food security.Therefore, in order to improve the household food security and up-grade women's roles in this regard, the prevailing problems in the Kasena Nankana Municipality need concerted efforts from all concerned bodies.
Determinants of Household Food Security in the Sekyere-Afram Plains District of Ghana
The study was carried out to assess the determinants of household food security among rural households in Sekyere-Afram Plains District of Ghana. Data were collected from 100 randomly selected households through the use of structured questionnaires. Analytical techniques employed included descriptive statistics to analyze the characteristics of respondent households, and logistic regression model to examine the determinants of food security among the households surveyed. Among the variables considered in the model, household size, farm size, off-farm income, credit access, and marital status were found to significantly influence household food security. Consistent with apriori expectation, larger households were found to be food insecure compared with households with smaller sizes, ceteris paribus. Also, consistent with findings from previous empirical studies, farm size, off-farm income and credit access were found to have significant positive effect on household food security.The study, therefore, recommended improved access to credit for rural households and diversification of household economic activities to include off-farm income generating businesses to improve food security at the household level.
While much work has been done on women's roles in Agricultural activities, little has been done on their level of contribution to household food security, particularly in Doko district of Lavun local government area of Niger State. The major objective of this paper is to determine the level of women contribution to house hold food security, ascertain the percentage of their income spent on consumption and to determine the degree of influences of constraints faced by women in contributing to household food security. Following a survey conducted using 239 randomly selected respondents. The study revealed that about 74% of the respondents have small household size and. about 60.7% of the respondents spends up to 60% of their total income on purchasing food items for their household and about 64%of the respondents use their personal farm produce mainly for household consumption. Up to 89.1% of the respondents indicated that they are in dear need of more food and about 77.8% of the responding strongly agreed that increased/decrease in income usually affect food availability and quality of their household diet. The chi-square analysis revealed that there is no significant relationship between the constraints faced by the women and there level of contribution to household food security (x 2 1.155; p>0.05). It was recommended that there should be a deliberate effort in enhancing women activities in the study areas so that they can contribute meaningfully to household food security and national food security.
This study is aimed at finding out the contributions of rural women in household food security in the Northern Agro-ecological Zone of Cross River State. Four research questions guided the study and four hypotheses were tested in the study. The study adopted the survey research design. The target population for this study was 310 respondents comprising 273 rural women farmers and 37 agricultural extension agent. The instrument for data collection was a 24-item structured questionnaire tagged Rural Women Farmers and Household Food Security Questionnaire (RWHFS). The instrument was face validated by three experts; one each from Agricultural Education and Home Economics Units and Crop Science Department of the University of Calabar. The data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions and independent t-test statistics to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance and 308 degree of freedom. The result showed that rural women contribute significantly in the production of food crops; preservation of biodiversity; processing of food; and ensuring food availability/accessibility. The hypotheses tested revealed that rural farmers and extension agents did not differ significantly in their responses on the contributions of rural women in the production of food crops; preservation of biodiversity; processing of food; and ensuring food availability/accessibility in Northern agro-ecological zone of Cross River State. It was recommended among others that women should be given full recognition in agricultural production and efforts consciously made to remove all forms of gender discrimination in agricultural production.