This review describes a range of physical and socio-economic scientific methods and field activities that will be implemented in a proposed research project to develop a better understanding of the extent and patterns of flooding and the potential of flood-recession agriculture. These activities will allow the hydrological characteristics of the river to be matched to crop-livestock systems of flood recession agriculture that are well suited to the study communities and their organizational and institutional frameworks in order to support sustainable growth of such systems. This detailed study will provide recommendations on the technical, economic, institutional and policy measures needed to achieve sustainable intensification of flood recession agriculture in northern Ghana, while complementing efforts undertaken to promote other types of water management systems. Options for out-scaling of flood recession agriculture beyond the study area to other suitable areas will also be explored. The expectation is that the proposed project will improve food security by enhancing knowledge on effective flood recession practices, enhance rural incomes through expanded dry-season farming with new opportunities for rural employment, and improve adaptation to climate change by building more resilient farming communities. To achieve these expected outcomes, proactive policies that clearly identify flood recession agriculture as an alternative farming practice and provide institutional mandates to irrigation support services to promote it through training, demonstration, and outreach programs will be equally valuable.

"Currently, almost 33 percent of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are undernourished and is the only region of the world where hunger is projected to worsen over the next two decades. According to the World Food Program, over 2 million people were most vulnerable of becoming food insecure throughout Ghana in 2012. The issues of food security in northern Ghana has gained a top priority in many areas of policy making. However, the prevalence of food inadequacy as a result of insufficient resources to access food among individual household has led to increasing food insecurity in the country. By using the sixth round of Ghana Living Standard Survey (GLSS) data conducted from 2012/2013, the study aimed at analysing food security status across farming households in Eastern region and compare it to the Northern region of Ghana. The food security index generated from Cost-of-Calorie method was adopted and the recommended daily requirement was used to determine the household food security status. The factors influencing household food security status was then examined using logistic regression model. The analysis indicates that almost half of the sampled farming households in Eastern region (42.7%) and Northern region (46.0%) were food insecure. The depth of food insecurity indicates that farming households in Eastern region consumed 34% less than their daily calorie requirement while farming households in Northern region consumed 40% less than the requirement. The logistic result shows that monthly household income, off-farm activities and total quantity of own farm production positively and significantly influenced households' food security in Eastern region. It was revealed that household size negatively and significantly affected food security in Eastern region. Further, monthly household income, total quantity of own farm production and dependency ratio positively and significantly affected households' food security in Northern region. The factors that were negatively and significantly affecting household food security in Northern region included the size of households and the number of years spent in education. Policies which targeted to increase income of farmers through the provision of other activities aside farming, to help boost total yields of farming households, and intensive family planning awareness raising programs have key roles to play in these areas in order to improve households' food security in Ghana. The study recommends special training that relate to agriculture so that farmers can utilize whatever knowledge or skills acquired in their production activities to achieve food security in the future." --

We analyze the linkages between irrigation and nutrition using data from irrigators and non-irrigators in Northern Ghana. The results show that (i) there is a modest difference in the overall household dietary diversity score between irrigators and non-irrigators, (ii) there are significant differences in the consumption of animal source foods between irrigators and non-irrigators, (iii) there are significant differences in the consumption of fruits and vegetables as well as sugar and honey between irrigators and non-irrigators, and (iv) the sources of food consumption differ between irrigators and non-irrigators. The analysis shows strong association between households’ nutritional status and their access to irrigation, with evidences suggesting that the irrigation-nutrition linkages play out both through the income and production pathways in Northern Ghana.

Global estimates show over half a billion people go hungry (FAO, 2020) and close to 2 billion people are either obese or overweight with another 2 billion of the world’s population suffering from micronutrient deficiencies (Micha et al., 2020, Fresco et al., 2017). Inarguably, the world faces significant malnutrition problem (including micro- and macro-nutrient deficiencies, obesity, and diet related non-communicable diseases). This is evident in a recent analysis pointing out that effort in achieving the Global Nutrition Targets is likely to be missed. The observed malnutrition threat is accompanied by climate change, which is influencing food production and consumption trends, and thereby leading to undernutrition and affecting overall development. In addition, there are growing incomes, accelerated urbanization, and expanding middle classes which are also causing significant changes in consumer behaviour and nutritional choices, necessitating both public and private expenditures for better food market integration. As a result, there is a pressing need to examine our food systems to guarantee food and nutrition security and to advance sustainable development. It is likely that the COVID-19 impact may further exacerbates the worsening food insecurity and nutritional status of the most vulnerable groups including women, children and adolescents, refugees and displaced people, smallholders in rural areas, and the urban poor.

On top of a decade of exacerbated disaster loss, exceptional global heat, retreating ice and rising sea levels, humanity and our food security face a range of new and unprecedented hazards, such as megafires, extreme weather events, desert locust swarms of magnitudes previously unseen, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agriculture underpins the livelihoods of over 2.5 billion people – most of them in low-income developing countries – and remains a key driver of development. At no other point in history has agriculture been faced with such an array of familiar and unfamiliar risks, interacting in a hyperconnected world and a precipitously changing landscape. And agriculture continues to absorb a disproportionate share of the damage and loss wrought by disasters. Their growing frequency and intensity, along with the systemic nature of risk, are upending people’s lives, devastating livelihoods, and jeopardizing our entire food system. This report makes a powerful case for investing in resilience and disaster risk reduction – especially data gathering and analysis for evidence informed action – to ensure agriculture’s crucial role in achieving the future we want.

The concept of sustainable food systems gained prominence in the food security discourse as evidence from the 2007-2008 and 2010 world food and financial crisis suggested that food systems were under stress. The concept calls for a move from the production centered notion of food security towards a more socially and ecologically sensitive notion which is interested in addressing a complex array of problems that have rendered the food system ineffective. Given the continued prevalence of poverty and food insecurity in northern Ghana, this study assesses the attempts of international development agencies to improve food security in the region using the notion of sustainable food systems as the assessment criteria. Through triangulation, the study uses a combination of qualitative interview data and documentary analysis to answer the research questions. Various discourses of sustainability and concepts are used to deepen the understanding of the concept, leading to the identification of eight practical goals towards achieving sustainable food systems. Using the practical goals of achieving sustainable food systems as the assessment criteria, the study reveals that the food system in northern Ghana is unsustainable due to three categories of impediments (natural, cultural and economic, and institutional). The assessment of the World Food Programme development assistance in northern Ghana shows that international development operations remain ineffective in addressing the impediments to achieving sustainable food systems in the region. WFP's interventions failed to achieve its potential due to institutional inefficiencies of the agency and its partners. The study contributes to development policy and practice in northern Ghana by establishing the need for development partners to improve institutional efficiency and coordination, empower marginalized groups to access their rights, and prioritize agricultural irrigation in the region.

This report is the final outcome of various knowledge products and training material, usually labelled as “printed eAtlas”, which have been developed and shared with Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) under the Voice for Change Partnership (V4CP) programme.