Climate and Food Insecurity Risks: Identifying Exposure and Vulnerabilities in the Post-Food Production System of Northern Ghana

Abstract

Evidence shows how food system activities, from production to consumption, underpin food security. However, studies exploring climate impacts on food security in northern Ghana have overly focused on production systems, neglecting post-production activities that loom large in food security. This paper addresses the research need to comprehensively analyze how climate change and weather variabilities affect post-production activities and exacerbate food insecurity risks in northern Ghana. It analyzes data on climate hazards, impacts, and food system vulnerabilities using questionnaires and participatory engagement with farming households in northern Ghana. Results show that climate-induced food insecurity risks in northern Ghana are not just products of persistent exposure to climate hazards and their impacts on food production in the region. Instead, risks are inextricably connected to the vulnerability contexts within which food is harvested, processed, stored, and marketed. Specifically, the results reveal that climate hazard events such as floods, extreme temperatures, and droughts damage stored grain, disrupt food supply to the market, and cause seasonal volatilities in food prices. However, these impacts are not solely externally generated circumstances. The food system is highly vulnerable; most households lack access to threshing and grinding machines, warehouse storage, post-harvest management information, and transportation services. These underlying characteristics of the post-food production system of northern Ghana, which is ultimately quite remote from climate change and weather variabilities, exacerbate household-level food insecurity risks.