Considering gender differences in measuring household food insecurity in northern Ghana

ABSTRACT

This study compares estimates of household food insecurity between men and women living within the same household (n = 866) to assess whether there is a gender bias in reporting. The main research question is, do household food insecurity scores and prevalence categories differ between male and female spouses within households in the sample? Findings indicate that men's household food insecurity estimates were lower on average at 3.49, than women's estimates at 5.06. There is also a statistically significant decrease in men's estimates when compared to women's. Overall, these findings question the reliability of household-level food insecurity measures that rely on heads of households' estimations by pointing to discrepancies found in this reporting between husbands and wives within the same household. Since this study sampled married women and men within the same household, gender differences found are also more directly attributable to gender than in most other studies that compare male and female-headed households' food insecurity reporting. Though further assessments across other cases are needed, more reliable measures of household food insecurity could include averaging estimates of multiple individuals within households. Qualitative research into the gendered dynamics could also improve sampling and the interpretation of findings from surveys on household-level measures.

KEYWORDS:

• Gender
• prevalence
• food security
• household food insecurity access scale
• intra-household
• survey
• Ghana
• sub-saharan Africa

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Editorial Team and reviewer for their thoughtful comments and feedback on drafts of this manuscript. Most of all, the authors would like to show appreciation to those at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in Ghana and all of the farmers and others who assisted with this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the International Development Research Centre, Canada, and the University of Western Ontario.

Notes on contributors

Siera Vercillo

Siera Vercillo is an Adjunct Professor and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow at the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) in the Faculty of Environment at the University of Waterloo. She is a feminist geographer with research interests in critical approaches to gender analysis, agricultural development, rural livelihoods, food security, and political ecology in sub-Saharan Africa, specifically northern Ghana. She has also been working in agricultural extension and cooperative development in West Africa for the past 10 years and regularly translates her research for international assistance advocacy, policy, and practice. Siera holds degrees from the University of Western Ontario, the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, and the University of Toronto.

Cameron McCordic

Cameron McCordic is an Assistant Professor at the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. His research interests focus on urban sustainable development and the systems that give rise to both compounding vulnerability and sustainable progress in cities. In pursuit of this research interest, he has partnered with researchers, policymakers, private industry leaders, and local communities on investigations into sustainable urban development across North America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia. Cameron is currently working with Sustainable Development Solutions Network Canada to develop an index of Sustainable Development Goal achievement in Canadian cities.

Bruce Frayne

Bruce Frayne is Director of the School of Environment, Enterprise, and Development (SEED) and Professor in the Faculty of Environment, University of Waterloo. Bruce is an Urban Planner and Geographer who teaches in the International Development programme. His research interests fall within the broad ambit of sustainable cities, and encompass the three related areas of human migration, urbanisation, and food security. In addition to leading the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Canadian Cities Index project, Bruce works in sub-Saharan Africa and cities of the Global South.