Analysis of Food Security among Cocoa Producing Households in Ghana

Abstract: This study was conducted to determine food security status and analyze factors that influence food security status among cocoa producing households in the Wassa Amenfi West District in Ghana. Using data from 320 randomly selected cocoa producing households, the results show that 67% of the sample households were food insecure indicating high level of food insecurity among cocoa producing households. In particular, female-headed households were found to be more food insecure than male-headed cocoa producing households. The results from a logit model showed that factors including the gender of household heads, age of households' heads, household size, years of schooling, annual cocoa output, and household non-agricultural income significantly influence food security status among cocoa producing households in Ghana. The results suggest that policies to improve cocoa productivity would be particularly useful due to the high impact this has on household food security.