scholarly journals Fish Consumption Behaviour and Perception of Food Security of Low-Income Households in Urban Areas of Ghana

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (19) ◽  
pp. 7932
Author(s):  
Edward E. Onumah ◽  
Elizabeth A. Quaye ◽  
Anderson K. Ahwireng ◽  
Benjamin B. Campion

This paper assesses fish consumption behaviour and perception of fish food security of low-income households using three season survey data from 839 interviews in Ghana. The study profiles the types of fish consumed and employs a modified Cobb–Douglas function to examine the determinants of household expenditure on fish consumption, whilst adopting a 1–5 Likert scale to analyze the perception of fish food security. The results confirm that poor households prefer cheaper and small pelagic fish. The mean expenditure on fish consumption per week is estimated to be GHS 31.15 (Euro 4.94 ≅ 0.16). Additionally, it is demonstrated that marital status, religion, occupation, proximity to local market, and city of residence have a positive and significant influence, whilst level of income, seasonality of fish, and the interaction of religion and seasonality of fish demonstrate a negative and significant influence on fish expenditure. Finally, the paper reveals that the majority of households have the perception that fish is readily available and can be obtained throughout the year in good quality. However, households have varied opinions on accessibility of fish. The paper recommends that the government should support and enhance the value chains of small pelagic fish species since they are preferred by poor households.

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5294
Author(s):  
Boglárka Anna Éliás ◽  
Attila Jámbor

For decades, global food security has not been able to address the structural problem of economic access to food, resulting in a recent increase in the number of undernourished people from 2014. In addition, the FAO estimates that the number of undernourished people drastically increased by 82–132 million people in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. To alleviate this dramatic growth in food insecurity, it is necessary to understand the nature of the increase in the number of malnourished during the pandemic. In order to address this, we gathered and synthesized food-security-related empirical results from the first year of the pandemic in a systematic review. The vast majority (78%) of the 51 included articles reported household food insecurity has increased (access, utilization) and/or disruption to food production (availability) was a result of households having persistently low income and not having an adequate amount of savings. These households could not afford the same quality and/or quantity of food, and a demand shortfall immediately appeared on the producer side. Producers thus had to deal not only with the direct consequences of government measures (disruption in labor flow, lack of demand of the catering sector, etc.) but also with a decline in consumption from low-income households. We conclude that the factor that most negatively affects food security during the COVID-19 pandemic is the same as the deepest structural problem of global food security: low income. Therefore, we argue that there is no need for new global food security objectives, but there is a need for an even stronger emphasis on poverty reduction and raising the wages of low-income households. This structural adjustment is the most fundamental step to recover from the COVID-19 food crises, and to avoid possible future food security crises.


2015 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Chamhuri Siwar ◽  
Abu N.M. Wahid ◽  
Basri Abdul Talib

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (11) ◽  
pp. 2079-2089 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel P Miller

AbstractObjectiveAlmost no previous research has examined the impact of the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Summer Food Service Program and related Seamless Summer Option, which provide meals and snacks to low-income children over the summer. The present study investigated whether geographic accessibility of summer meals programme sites (a proxy for programme participation) was associated with food insecurity for low-income households.DesignThe study used data from the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and administrative data on summer meals sites in California. Geocoding was used to calculate driving time between CHIS households and nearby summer meals sites. Geographic accessibility was measured using a gravity model, which accounted for the spatially distributed supply of and demand for summer meals. Food insecurity and very low food security were measured using a standard six-item measure from the USDA.SubjectsLow-income families with children (n5394).SettingA representative surveillance study of non-institutionalized households in California.ResultsGeographic accessibility was not associated with food insecurity. However, geographic accessibility was associated with a significantly lower probability of very low food security in the full sample and among households with younger children and those living in less urban areas.ConclusionsThe USDA’s summer meals programme may be effective at reducing the most severe form of food insecurity for low-income households with children. Expanding the number of summer meals sites, the number of meals served at sites and sites’ hours of operation may be effective strategies to promote nutritional health over the summer months.


2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 877-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Abu N.M. Wahid ◽  
Chamhuri Siwar

Purpose Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. It is expected that the patterns of household resilience factors and adaptation practices have a strong linkage with household food security. The purpose of this paper is to seek an effective technique of adaptation for food security and the required types of support for adaptation to food insecurity among the poor and low-income households in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach This study was based on primary data that were collected in July-October 2012 through a questionnaire survey among 460 poor and low-income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu states of Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on a two-stage cluster random sampling technique. The study considered household food security as household food availability and food accessibility, and ran ordinal regressions to find out the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security. Findings The study concludes that several resilience factors and adaptation practices were statistically significant to household food security, and several external supports were statistically and significantly needed to ensure household food security. Therefore, to ensure sustainable household food security in Malaysia, the food security programs need to be integrated with sustainable development goals (SDGs) and climatic changes adaptation programs, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders are crucial. Originality/value This study is a pioneer work based on primary data that empirically measured the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security in Malaysia. This study also discussed some issues related to the climate change linkage, which would help future climate change research. The findings of the study will be beneficial for all the stakeholders, including policy makers related to the food security and climate change adaptation.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md. Mahmudul Alam ◽  
Chamhuri Siwar ◽  
Abu N.M. Wahid

Purpose: Sustainable food security at the household level is one of the emerging issues for all nations. It is expected that the patterns of household resilience factors and adaptation practices have a strong linkage with household food security. The aim of this study was to seek an effective technique of adaptation for food security and the required types of support for adaptation to food insecurity among the poor and low income households in Malaysia.Design/methodology/approach: This study was based on primary data that were collected in Jul-Oct 2012 through a questionnaire survey among 460 poor and low income households from the Pahang, Kelantan, and Terengganu states of Malaysia. The samples were selected from E-Kasih poor household database based on a two-stage cluster random sampling technique. The study considered household food security as household food availability and food accessibility, and ran ordinal regressions to find out the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security.Findings: The study concludes that several resilience factors and adaptation practices were statistically significant to household food security, and several external supports were statistically and significantly needed to ensure household food security. Therefore, to ensure sustainable household food security in Malaysia, the food security programs needs to be integrated with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and climatic changes adaptation programs, and the involvement of relevant stakeholders are crucial.Originality/value: This study is a pioneer work based on primary data that empirically measured the linkages of household food security with household resilience factors, adaptation practices, and expected support for adaptation to food security in Malaysia. This study also discussed some issues related to the climate change linkage, which would help future climate change research. The findings of the study will be beneficial for all the stakeholders, including policy makers related to the food security and climate change adaptation.


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