Can farmer organization membership improve household food security and nutrition? Evidence from Northern Ghana

Abstract

<p>We examine the impact of farmer organization(FO) membership on food and nutrition security among rural rice farmers, using cross-sectional data from a household survey from Ghana. We employ an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model to account for selection bias from observed and unobserved factors. Our findings show that participation in FOs significantly increases household dietary diversity by 10.56% and reduces food insecurity by 9.7%. The residualized quantile regression model results are consistent with the ESR model across both outcome variables. Policymakers should consider promoting FO membership as a strategy to enhance food and nutrition security among smallholders in developing countries.</p>