Akosikumah Eli Andrew, Alhassan Hamdiyah, Kwakwa Paul Adjei
Department of Agricultural and Food Economics, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Department of Economics, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana.
Heliyon. 2025 Feb 5;11(4):e42496. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2025.e42496. eCollection 2025 Feb 28.
Understanding highly pragmatic ways of improving the quality of life of farming households by way of ensuring food security among these households has been a topical issue among many researchers. Closely linked to this technique is the participation in nonfarm activities. For a farming household, participation in such activities serves as a hedge against the risk associated with farming and by far a potential for addressing food insecurity. This study assesses the impact of participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities on household food security in Ghana using data from the Ghana Living Standard Survey 7 (GLSS 7). Multinomial Endogenous Treatment Effect was used to estimate the determinants of households' decision to engage in nonfarm activities and household food security. PSM was further used to evaluate the impact of participation in nonfarm activities on household food security. Overall, the study documents that participation in formal and informal nonfarm activities increases per capita consumption expenditure by 10 % and 9.7 % respectively. Nonfarm participation is a sure means of reducing household food insecurity shocks and improving household wellbeing. Policymakers in Ghana should therefore pay attention to nonfarm activities as a means of improving households' welfare.
通过确保农户粮食安全来理解提高农户生活质量的高度务实方法，一直是众多研究人员关注的热点问题。与这项技术密切相关的是参与非农业活动。对于农户来说，参与此类活动可作为防范与农业相关风险的一种手段，而且是解决粮食不安全问题的一种潜在途径。本研究利用加纳生活水平调查7（GLSS 7）的数据，评估参与正规和非正规非农业活动对加纳农户粮食安全的影响。采用多项内生处理效应来估计农户参与非农业活动决策和农户粮食安全的决定因素。倾向得分匹配法（PSM）进一步用于评估参与非农业活动对农户粮食安全的影响。总体而言，该研究表明，参与正规和非正规非农业活动分别使人均消费支出增加了10%和9.7%。参与非农业活动是减少农户粮食不安全冲击和改善农户福祉的可靠手段。因此，加纳的政策制定者应将非农业活动作为改善农户福利的一种手段予以关注。
