Food security, sweet potato production, and proximity to markets in northern Ghana

dc.creatorGlenna, L.L.
dc.creatorBorlu, Y.
dc.creatorLarson, J.
dc.creatorRicciardi, V.
dc.creatorAdam, R.
dc.date2018-01-12T23:02:11Z
dc.date2018-01-12T23:02:11Z
dc.date2017
dc.date.accessioned2023-07-17T20:01:52Z
dc.date.available2023-07-17T20:01:52Z
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/10883/19139
dc.identifier10.1139/facets-2017-0027
dc.identifier.urihttps://repositorioslatinoamericanos.uchile.cl/handle/2250/7511061
dc.descriptionDebates concerning how to achieve food security tend to fall into one of two camps. The first is that high-technology, market-oriented approaches promise to enhance agricultural productivity and improve food security. The counterargument is that low-technology approaches, when combined with building social and physical infrastructure, are more effective at meeting people’s food needs. Using a survey of 540 farm households in northern Ghana, we assess the level of food security for smallholders by analyzing the influence of a low-technology and low-external-input approach, such as sweet potatoes, and that of the production of an improved, commercially produced crop, such as rice. We also measure the influence of market access. Our results indicate that sweet potato producers are more likely to be food secure than commercial rice producers. However, the proximity to and interaction with markets is also associated with farmer food security, even when controlling for measures of prosperity. These findings suggest that low-technology approaches and high-technology, market-oriented approaches should not be treated as diametrically opposed to each other. Enhancing smallholder production of low-technology staple crops like sweet potatoes is likely to improve well-being. At the same time, interventions to build the physical and social infrastructure necessary to enable market participation would also be likely to enhance smallholder well-being.
dc.description919-936
dc.formatPDF
dc.languageEnglish
dc.publisherCanadian Science Publishing
dc.rightsCIMMYT manages Intellectual Assets as International Public Goods. The user is free to download, print, store and share this work. In case you want to translate or create any other derivative work and share or distribute such translation/derivative work, please contact CIMMYT-Knowledge-Center@cgiar.org indicating the work you want to use and the kind of use you intend; CIMMYT will contact you with the suitable license for that purpose.
dc.rightsOpen Access
dc.source2
dc.sourceFacets
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
dc.subjectPrivatization
dc.subjectSocial and Physical Infrastructure
dc.subjectAGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT
dc.subjectINFRASTRUCTURE
dc.subjectMARKETS
dc.titleFood security, sweet potato production, and proximity to markets in northern Ghana
dc.typeArticle
dc.coverageNORTHERN GHANA
dc.coverageOttawa, Canada


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