Food insecurity grips 12.5million Ghanaians, Ghana Statistical Service reports

Despite a marginal recent improvement, food insecurity in Ghana has risen significantly since 2024, with 12.5 million people—representing 38.1% of the population—struggling to access adequate food, according to the latest official data.

Presenting the Quarterly Food Insecurity Report in Accra, Government Statistician Professor Alhassan Iddrisu described the situation as a critical development challenge. “Food insecurity is not just a social issue,” he stated. “It affects household welfare, child health, labour productivity, business confidence, and national development.”

The report, which tracks data from the first quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025, reveals a volatile trend. National prevalence rose from 35.3% in early 2024 to a peak of 38.6% in mid-2025, before easing slightly to the current 38.1%. In absolute terms, the number of affected individuals grew from 11.2 million to a peak of 13.4 million, before declining by nearly 900,000 to 12.5 million in the last quarter.

Professor Iddrisu noted that while the recent decline is positive, the overall upward trend is concerning. “Given that in the third quarter of 2025 the number of people who are food insecure is 12.5 million, that number is still very, very significant,” he said.

Deep Regional and Gender Divides

The data exposes stark inequalities across the country. The Upper West Region is the hardest hit, with 55.9% of its population food insecure, followed by the Volta Region (50.1%) and the North East Region (45.9%). In contrast, the Oti Region recorded the lowest prevalence at 18.4%.

A persistent gender gap is also evident, with female-headed households consistently facing higher levels of moderate food insecurity. The disparity widened to 6.2 percentage points in the latest quarter, which Professor Iddrisu linked to “structural factors such as income differences, employment opportunities, and caregiving responsibilities.”

Rural households and those with both children and elderly members are disproportionately affected, with food insecurity rates exceeding 44%. The link to child nutrition is particularly alarming; among rural, female-headed households with underweight children, food insecurity exceeded 80% in the third quarter of 2025.

Education as a Key Buffer and a “Triple Burden”

The report identifies education as one of the strongest protective factors. Households with no formal education face food insecurity rates of about 50%, compared to roughly 15% for households with tertiary education.

A worrying overlap of challenges—termed a “triple burden”—was also highlighted. The number of people simultaneously experiencing food insecurity, multidimensional poverty, and unemployment increased by 9.4% between the second and third quarters of 2025.

While Ghana’s 38.1% prevalence rate is lower than several regional neighbours—including Nigeria (74.8%) and Kenya (73.9%)—it remains a pressing national concern. The Ghana Statistical Service recommends targeted interventions in high-burden regions, nutrition-sensitive social protection, job-creation links, and continued investment in education and rural resilience to address the crisis.