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Urban and peri-urban agriculture and its implication on food and nutrition insecurity in northern Ghana: a socio-spatial analysis along the urban–rural continuum

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Abstract

Food and nutrition insecurity remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa. Several studies have examined food and nutrition insecurity in urban or rural areas but have not captured the whole continuum. Between November and December 2013, 240 households were surveyed along the urban–rural continuum in Northern Ghana. The study objective was to understand the socio-spatial dynamics of household food and nutrition insecurity and to investigate the role played by urban, peri-urban and rural agriculture. The study found that there was more involvement in agriculture in rural areas compared to peri-urban areas and urban areas. Households from urban areas were more food insecure (HFIAS > 11) compared to their counterparts in peri-urban and the rural areas. Stunting increased by 3.4 times (p = 0.048) among households located in the peri-urban area. Wasting was reduced by 0.16 times among household that produced staple food or vegetables (p = 0.011). Overweight was reduced by 0.04 times among households that produced livestock (p = 0.031). The results reveal a socio-spatial dimension of food and nutrition insecurity that is related to agricultural activities.

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Notes

  1. Central Gonja, East Gonja, Mion, Sagnarigu, Savelugu-Nanton, Tamale Metropolitan and Tolon

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Acknowledgements

We thank the village chiefs and all the authorities in the surveyed areas for their cooperation in data collection. The authors wish to thank all those who participated in the survey, especially the women and children. We thank the field assistant, student assistants and data entry clerks for their dedication to this study. Particular thanks go to Dr. Pay Drechsel for his support during the sampling strategy development process.

Funding

This work was carried out as part of the UrbanFoodPlus Project, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) under the initiative GlobE–Research for the Global Food Supply, grant numbers 031A242-B and 031A242-D.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Freiburg, Institute of Environmental Social Sciences and Geography, Schreiberstraße 20, 79085, Freiburg, Germany

    Takemore Chagomoka, Rüdiger Glaser, Johannes Schlesinger & Hanna Karg

  2. Seed Co – The African Seed Company, Accra, Ghana

    Takemore Chagomoka

  3. University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, Institute of Geography, Wetterkreuz 15, 91058, Erlangen, Germany

    Axel Drescher

  4. Ruhr-University Bochum, Institute of Geography, Universitätsstr. 150, 44803, Bochum, Germany

    Bernd Marschner

  5. Department of Community Nutrition, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box 1883, Tamale, Ghana

    Abdul-Razak Abizari

  6. Community Medicine Department, College of Health Sciences, University of Zimbabwe, P.O Box A 178, Avondale, Harare, Zimbabwe

    George Nyandoro

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  1. Takemore Chagomoka
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  2. Axel Drescher
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Correspondence to Takemore Chagomoka.

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This study was approved by the ethics committee of Department of Community Nutrition, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University for Development Studies in Ghana.

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Chagomoka, T., Drescher, A., Glaser, R. et al. Urban and peri-urban agriculture and its implication on food and nutrition insecurity in northern Ghana: a socio-spatial analysis along the urban–rural continuum. Popul Environ 40, 27–46 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-018-0301-y

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