The Ministry of Food and Agriculture should set  statistical targets for food inflation and food insecurity, to be pursued by using national metrics, in the government’s flagship programme, Planting for Food and Jobs Phase II.

All stakeholders of food security should also avoid simply comparing the different food insecurity  statistics, based on different measurement approaches, but rather explore drivers and consequences.

The calls were part of an eight-point communiqué after stakeholders met at the instance of the Ghana  Statistical Service (GSS) for the maiden release of the district-level multidimensional poverty report.

The two-day hybrid national convening in Accra on June 19 and 20, deliberated on the theme: “Status of Poverty and Food Insecurity Measurement,  Statistics and Policy in Ghana”.

The recommendation comes at a time when it has become evidently clear that stakeholders in the agricultural sector, particularly the sector ministry seem to plan and churn out figures without any scientific data.

Analysts believe that like many other ministries of state, projections seem to be made out of pure conjecture and over reliance on intent and not existing data.

Communiqué details

While requesting that well-being and food insecurity stakeholders should consider the issues raised in the communiqué to ensure better lives for persons in Ghana which will be measured with the reach of zero poverty and no hunger, the communiqué further urged the Ghana  Statistical Service to designate different terminologies than the one currently used to refer to food insecurity  statistics based on the varying measurement approaches by the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation.

It also urged the GSS to further engage all stakeholders in determining dimensions, indicators, and weights (importance) for measuring multidimensional poverty and food insecurity.

“The Ghana  Statistical Service through the United Nations Statistical Commission should ensure that the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation jointly provide guidance on the production and use of the different measures of food insecurity.

“All stakeholders, through their respective accountability and responsibility mandates, need to ensure that the poverty and food insecurity targets are reflected in international, continental, national, sub-national and sector policies,” the communiqué added.

It further noted that academia, in collaboration with the Ghana  Statistical Service, should create a platform to regularly share good practices, correct misconceptions, build capacities and improve communication on the production, use and accountability of multidimensional poverty and food insecurity  statistics.

“All stakeholders are encouraged to commit to sustaining this national dialogue and broaden the scope to encompass other sectors of the economy, notably the Ministries of Education and Health,” the communiqué said.

Participation

The gathering brought together local and international participants.

Ghana government agencies represented included the Ministries of Food and Agriculture; Gender, Children and Social Protection; Finance, Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development and Ghana  Statistical Service.

Academia was represented by the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).

The composition of development partners were the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), World Bank and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data (GPSDD).