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Investigating Annual Household Food Budget Shares in Ghana: A Micro-Level Empirical Update

Published in Economics (Volume 14, Issue 4)
Received: 23 October 2025     Accepted: 5 November 2025     Published: 9 December 2025
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Abstract

This study examines Ghana's annual household food expenditures and their Engel food curve using the latest data from the 2017-2018 seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, which covered 14,009 household and lasted for one-year. Household demographics and specific variables influencing annual household food budget decisions in Ghana were examined, including income, household size, educational status of household head, household location, and household connectivity to electricity. The study establishes an inverse relationship between the share of the household food budget and the increase in household income, and a high annual household food expenditure elasticity with 0.49 pesewas out of every one cedi serving as an annual household marginal food budget share in Ghana, on average and ceteris paribus. The study provides additional statistical evidence that characterizes food as a necessity in Ghana and placed the country in the medium food insecurity zone. Economic development in Ghana means achieving food security at all times, which calls on the country to redouble its efforts to meet SDG Goal 2 and the AU Agenda 2063 household food security targets.

Published in Economics (Volume 14, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13
Page(s) 101-107
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Ghana, Household, Food Budget Share, Engel Food Curve, Food Security

References
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Addai, I. (2025). Investigating Annual Household Food Budget Shares in Ghana: A Micro-Level Empirical Update. Economics, 14(4), 101-107. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13

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    ACS Style

    Addai, I. Investigating Annual Household Food Budget Shares in Ghana: A Micro-Level Empirical Update. Economics. 2025, 14(4), 101-107. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13

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    AMA Style

    Addai I. Investigating Annual Household Food Budget Shares in Ghana: A Micro-Level Empirical Update. Economics. 2025;14(4):101-107. doi: 10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13,
      author = {Isaac Addai},
      title = {Investigating Annual Household Food Budget Shares in Ghana: A Micro-Level Empirical Update},
      journal = {Economics},
      volume = {14},
      number = {4},
      pages = {101-107},
      doi = {10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.eco.20251404.13},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.eco.20251404.13},
      abstract = {This study examines Ghana's annual household food expenditures and their Engel food curve using the latest data from the 2017-2018 seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, which covered 14,009 household and lasted for one-year. Household demographics and specific variables influencing annual household food budget decisions in Ghana were examined, including income, household size, educational status of household head, household location, and household connectivity to electricity. The study establishes an inverse relationship between the share of the household food budget and the increase in household income, and a high annual household food expenditure elasticity with 0.49 pesewas out of every one cedi serving as an annual household marginal food budget share in Ghana, on average and ceteris paribus. The study provides additional statistical evidence that characterizes food as a necessity in Ghana and placed the country in the medium food insecurity zone. Economic development in Ghana means achieving food security at all times, which calls on the country to redouble its efforts to meet SDG Goal 2 and the AU Agenda 2063 household food security targets.},
     year = {2025}
    }
    

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    AB  - This study examines Ghana's annual household food expenditures and their Engel food curve using the latest data from the 2017-2018 seventh round of the Ghana Living Standards Survey, which covered 14,009 household and lasted for one-year. Household demographics and specific variables influencing annual household food budget decisions in Ghana were examined, including income, household size, educational status of household head, household location, and household connectivity to electricity. The study establishes an inverse relationship between the share of the household food budget and the increase in household income, and a high annual household food expenditure elasticity with 0.49 pesewas out of every one cedi serving as an annual household marginal food budget share in Ghana, on average and ceteris paribus. The study provides additional statistical evidence that characterizes food as a necessity in Ghana and placed the country in the medium food insecurity zone. Economic development in Ghana means achieving food security at all times, which calls on the country to redouble its efforts to meet SDG Goal 2 and the AU Agenda 2063 household food security targets.
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