Abstract
BackgroundAchieving food security is a global priority and a concern for most African countries, including Ghana. Food systems providing varied and healthy diets without compromising the natural resource base, such as integrated crop–livestock diversification, are important for development planning and policy. Using cross-sectional data obtained from 1284 smallholder households in northern Ghana, we used a double-censored Tobit model in a conditional mixed-process (CMP) framework to estimate the impact of crop diversification on household food security.ResultsThe results showed that household-specific, socioeconomic, and institutional factors influence crop–livestock diversification and food security in northern Ghana. Moreover, we found that higher intensity of crop–livestock diversification translates into a greater probability of achieving food security.ConclusionsCrop–livestock diversification is essential to Ghana’s pursuit of the zero-hunger global agenda as it enhances food security without adversely affecting biodiversity and ecosystem health. Therefore, it should be incorporated into Ghana’s ongoing agricultural programme dubbed, planting and rearing for food and jobs.
Highlights
Achieving food security is a global priority and a concern for most African countries, including Ghana
Xi represents a vector of variables explaining the changes in Household Dietary Diversity Score (HDDS), α measure the impact of crop–livestock diversification on food security, ηi is the unobserved heterogeneity assumed to be uncorrelated with the explanatory variables Xi, and εi is the error term
This was expected in agrarian economies like Ghana, where agriculture is the primary source of income for the majority of households
Summary
The results showed that household-specific, socioeconomic, and institutional factors influence crop–live‐ stock diversification and food security in northern Ghana. We found that higher intensity of crop–livestock diversification translates into a greater probability of achieving food security
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.