Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities

Understanding highly pragmatic ways of improving the quality of life of farming households by way of ensuring food security among these households has been a topical issue among many researchers. Closely linked to this technique is the participation in nonfarm activities. For a farming household, pa...

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Main Authors: Eli Andrew Akosikumah, Hamdiyah Alhassan, Paul Adjei Kwakwa
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-02-01
Series:Heliyon
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402500876X
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author Eli Andrew Akosikumah
Hamdiyah Alhassan
Paul Adjei Kwakwa
author_facet Eli Andrew Akosikumah
Hamdiyah Alhassan
Paul Adjei Kwakwa
author_sort Eli Andrew Akosikumah
collection DOAJ
description Understanding highly pragmatic ways of improving the quality of life of farming households by way of ensuring food security among these households has been a topical issue among many researchers. Closely linked to this technique is the participation in nonfarm activities. For a farming household, participation in such activities serves as a hedge against the risk associated with farming and by far a potential for addressing food insecurity. This study assesses the impact of participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities on household food security in Ghana using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey 7 (GLSS 7). Multinomial Endogenous Treatment Effect was used to estimate the determinants of households' decision to engage in nonfarm activities and household food security. PSM was further used to evaluate the impact of participation in nonfarm activities on household food security. Overall, the study documents that participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities increases per capita consumption expenditure by 10 % and 9.7 % respectively. Nonfarm participation is a sure means of reducing household food insecurity shocks and improving household wellbeing. Policymakers in Ghana should therefore pay attention to nonfarm activities as a means of improving households’ welfare.
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issn 2405-8440
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publishDate 2025-02-01
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spelling doaj-art-ec8c270b3b594bd8843bb8a9d3f3a07c2025-02-12T05:31:23ZengElsevierHeliyon2405-84402025-02-01114e42496Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activitiesEli Andrew Akosikumah0Hamdiyah Alhassan1Paul Adjei Kwakwa2Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University for Development Studies, Tamale, GhanaDepartment of Economics, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana; Corresponding author.School of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani, GhanaUnderstanding highly pragmatic ways of improving the quality of life of farming households by way of ensuring food security among these households has been a topical issue among many researchers. Closely linked to this technique is the participation in nonfarm activities. For a farming household, participation in such activities serves as a hedge against the risk associated with farming and by far a potential for addressing food insecurity. This study assesses the impact of participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities on household food security in Ghana using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey 7 (GLSS 7). Multinomial Endogenous Treatment Effect was used to estimate the determinants of households' decision to engage in nonfarm activities and household food security. PSM was further used to evaluate the impact of participation in nonfarm activities on household food security. Overall, the study documents that participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities increases per capita consumption expenditure by 10 % and 9.7 % respectively. Nonfarm participation is a sure means of reducing household food insecurity shocks and improving household wellbeing. Policymakers in Ghana should therefore pay attention to nonfarm activities as a means of improving households’ welfare.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402500876XSecurityNonfarmEmploymentHouseholdSustainable livelihood
spellingShingle Eli Andrew Akosikumah
Hamdiyah Alhassan
Paul Adjei Kwakwa
Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
Heliyon
Security
Nonfarm
Employment
Household
Sustainable livelihood
title Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
title_full Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
title_fullStr Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
title_full_unstemmed Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
title_short Improving farm households’ economic status to address food security in Ghana: The role of participation in nonfarm activities
title_sort improving farm households economic status to address food security in ghana the role of participation in nonfarm activities
topic Security
Nonfarm
Employment
Household
Sustainable livelihood
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402500876X
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AT hamdiyahalhassan improvingfarmhouseholdseconomicstatustoaddressfoodsecurityinghanatheroleofparticipationinnonfarmactivities
AT pauladjeikwakwa improvingfarmhouseholdseconomicstatustoaddressfoodsecurityinghanatheroleofparticipationinnonfarmactivities