Gender inequality in livestock asset ownership: implication for food security in the Wa West District, Ghana

Abstract

Food security is a complex phenomenon involving sociocultural and economic factors. This study examines gender inequality in livestock assets ownership on household food security in the Wa West District of Ghana. Data were collected from 400 households based on a cross-sectional survey and a multistage sampling of the respondents. Gender disparity in livestock assets distribution among men and women within the household was ascertained using the Gini index, while the household food consumption score technique was employed to determine household food security status. A binary logit regression model was used to assess the effect of gender inequality in livestock assets on household food security. The results indicated that, on average men owned 1.72 TLU compared to an average of 0.22 TLU owned by women. Livestock contribution to household food security was estimated at 16% of annual household food expenditure, with a composition of 0.90%, 6.04%, and 9.14% jointly owned, women owned, and men owned. Also, 33% of households were food insecure, while 67% of households were food secure at the time of the survey. The empirical results showed that a unit increase in the Gini index of livestock assets distribution in favour of men has a negative effect on household food security. The results further showed that household ownership of livestock, farm size, and education negatively influence household food insecurity, whereas household size, female-headed households, and dependency ratio positively affect household food insecurity in the study area. The study recommends that development programmes should target women’s economic empowerment and education to bridge the gender livestock assets gap to improve food security.