A total of 12.5 million Ghanaians were food insecure as of the third quarter of 2025, according to the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) Quarterly Food Insecurity Report.
The report, covering the period from the first quarter of 2024 to the third quarter of 2025, indicates that the number of food insecure people rose from 11.2 million in Q1 2024 to 12.4 million in Q2 2025, before slightly increasing to 12.5 million in Q3 2025.
However, the incidence of food insecurity declined to 38.1% in Q3 2025, down from 41.1% in Q2 2025. Severe food insecurity also fell nationally, from 5.1% in Q2 2025 to 4.1% in Q3 2025.
Dr Alhasan Iddrisu, the Government Statistician, who released the report in Accra, highlighted that food insecurity is not merely a social issue but one that affects household welfare, child health, labour productivity, business confidence, and national development. He noted that the report supports Ghana’s National Development Agenda and Sustainable Development Goal 2, which aims to end hunger, improve nutrition, and promote sustainable food systems.
The data were generated using the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES), an internationally recognised tool that measures household experiences related to food access over a three-month period.
According to the report:
- National food insecurity prevalence rose from 35.2% in Q1 2024 to 38.1% in Q3 2025, peaking at 41.1% in Q2 2025, demonstrating the volatility of food insecurity in response to economic conditions, seasonal patterns, and food price movements.
- In terms of population, food insecurity peaked at 13.4 million in Q2 2025, before declining by about 900,000 to 12.5 million in Q3 2025.
- Compared to 2022, Ghana has seen nearly 3.7 million people exit food insecurity, though the current figures remain a concern.
The report also revealed significant gender disparities, with female-headed households consistently more food insecure than male-headed households. In Q3 2025, 44.1% of female-headed households were food insecure, compared to 38.7% of male-headed households, a gap of 6.2 percentage points, reflecting income gaps, employment challenges, and caregiving responsibilities.
Regionally, the Upper West Region recorded the highest prevalence at 55.9%, followed by Volta (50.1%) and North East (45.9%), while Oti Region had the lowest prevalence at 18.4%, widening the regional gap to 37.5 percentage points.
The report also found that rural households were more vulnerable than urban households, particularly in worrying about food availability and consuming less than required. Vulnerability was highest among households with both children and elderly members, as well as those with malnourished children.
Education also plays a critical role: households headed by persons with tertiary education had the lowest prevalence of food insecurity at 15%, compared to nearly 50% among households with no formal education.
By Kingsley Asare
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