About three million people remain vulnerable to food insecurity despite broadly stable national consumption levels, Government Statistician Dr. Alhassan Iddrisu said, citing new high-frequency data that points to rising financial stress among households.
Speaking at the launch of the Mobile Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping survey in Accra, Dr. Iddrisu said the country is not facing a nationwide food crisis but is grappling with “deep concentrated and rising vulnerabilities” that require targeted policy responses.
“At the national level, there is some resilience,” he said. “In fact, about 91% of households… have acceptable food consumption.” “That is not the full story though,” he added. “Beneath this average, about 3 million people remain vulnerable, facing poor or borderline food consumption.”
The survey, conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in collaboration with the World Food Programme, used phone-based interviews to reach 9,000 households across all 16 regions between October and December 2025, providing near real-time insights into food security trends.
The data cites a growing reliance on coping mechanisms, with about one in three households adopting medium to high stress strategies and nearly one in four already in crisis or emergency conditions.
“This is not sustainable,” Dr. Iddrisu said. “It means many households are managing today by sacrificing tomorrow.” Households are reducing meal quality, borrowing to survive and, in some cases, selling productive assets or cutting spending on health and education, according to the findings.
Vulnerability is concentrated in the northern regions, including the North East, Northern, Upper East and Upper West, where nearly 40% of households report poor or borderline food consumption. Structural factors such as low education levels, reliance on small-scale agriculture and limited market access are also driving risk disparities.
“Households with no formal education are up to 10 times more vulnerable than those with tertiary education,” Dr. Iddrisu said, adding that smallholder farmers face significantly higher exposure to shocks.
The findings shows gaps in social protection, with only about 1.5% of households reporting receipt of assistance, suggesting limited coverage relative to need.
The survey comes as Ghana contends with elevated food prices, climate shocks and global supply disruptions, which have strained household budgets and deepened inequality in access to food.
“To respond effectively, we need data that is timely, that is precise and that’s actionable,” Dr.Iddrisu said. “The mVAM survey changes that.”
The government and its partners are expected to use the data to improve targeting of interventions, scale up social protection and invest in resilience measures such as climate-smart agriculture and diversified livelihoods.
“Ghana is not facing nationwide food crisis, but we are confronting deep concentrated and rising vulnerabilities that demand attention,” he said.
The initiative is supported by development partners including the African Development Bank and the government of South Korea, reflecting growing emphasis on data-driven policymaking to address food insecurity and support economic stability.
