“Ghana not facing nationwide food crisis, but rising vulnerabilities need urgent attention” — Government Statistician

Government Statistician, Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu has stated that although Ghana is not experiencing a nationwide food crisis, the country is dealing with deep, concentrated, and growing vulnerabilities that require immediate policy attention.

Speaking at the launch of the Mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping (mVAM) Survey Report on food insecurity vulnerability in Accra on Thursday, the Government Statistician said the findings show that while many households remain resilient, millions of others continue to struggle with poor or borderline food consumption.

According to him, the report revealed that nearly 30 million people have acceptable food consumption levels, but about three million people remain vulnerable and face increasing hardship.

Dr. Iddrisu noted that many households are adopting harmful coping strategies such as reducing meal quality, borrowing money to survive, selling productive assets, and cutting spending on health and education.

He stressed that these trends are unsustainable and warned that delays in responding could worsen the situation.

The Government Statistician further explained that vulnerability is concentrated in parts of northern Ghana, particularly the North East, Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions, where a significant number of households face food insecurity.

He called for better targeting of interventions, expansion of social protection programmes, improved market access, and stronger investments in climate-smart agriculture and resilient food systems.

Dr. Iddrisu reaffirmed the commitment of Ghana Statistical Service to provide timely and credible data to guide decision-making, saying better data would lead to better action and stronger outcomes for the country.

Story by: Joshua Kwabena Smith and Hawa Abubakar