The way economic studies conceptualize and measure resilience is very heterogeneous. This does not only challenge scientific progress, but also raises the question of whether they measure one identical concept with different methods or whether they measure different understandings of resilience. This paper provides a review of concepts, methodological approaches and empirical evidence on resilience from a food security perspective, focusing on socio-economic research. We perform a systematic literature search to identify recent publications that analyze resilience from the perspective of household food security. We examine the historical evolution of concepts and methods used for measuring resilience and synthesize the evidence. We find that conceptual and analytical models have evolved over time, with important technical adjustments. Studies initially focused on measuring resilience as an end in itself, but more recently resilience is understood as a means to an ultimate end, hence resilience capacity is measured instead. Also, resilience was initially measured as an indicator of food security. Currently it is measured distinctly from food security. Multivariate techniques are found to be frequently used to quantify resilience. The empirical evidence suggests that households with higher resilience capacity tend to have less child malnutrition and better food security. We find that causal pathways through which resilience capacity affects food security in a microeconomic framework are barely explicitly considered in empirical analyses. Therefore, we suggest a model which explicitly addresses these pathways.

Agriculture-based livelihoods in developing countries are often challenged by a multitude of unforeseeable shocks, but economic research mostly focuses on single shocks. This paper investigates how climate, health, pest and price shocks individually and in combination relate to farm households’ coping strategy choices. First, we use binary probit models to examine how interactions from coinciding shocks relate to coping strategy choices. Next, we assess how coping strategies relate to household food security in a recursive framework. We find that when shocks are considered individually, the nature of shocks and their duration affect the likelihood of using savings. However, when climate shocks interact with health, pest or price shocks, there are incremental effects that increase the probability of depleting household assets to cope. Our findings suggest that governmental and non-governmental organizations should support rural farm households in managing the effects of multiple shocks through the provision and enhancement of markets for labour, insurance and outputs as well as formal safety nets. This support will help them to protect their assets and foster long-term wealth creation for escaping chronic poverty and food insecurity.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumers’ concern for food safety and income levels influence vegetable consumption patterns and expenditure in Tamale, Ghana. Design/methodology/approach: Using data from a survey of 300 urban consumers, quantile regression analyses are used to examine how food safety consciousness, income and other factors influence vegetable expenditure across different quantiles. Findings: Whereas protein-rich foods take smaller proportion, vegetables and cereals take more than half of the household food budget. Poor households spend greater proportion of income on food relative to wealthier households, although absolute amounts spent on food takes the opposite direction. Engel’s law applies to composite food expenditure and individual food classes. Bennett’s law applies to various food groups, with high-income households showing high dietary diversity than middle- and low-income households. Food safety consciousness and income groupings significantly influence vegetable expenditure at various quantiles. Expenditure of food safety conscious and high-income consumers are positioned on higher quantiles. Research limitations/implications: The findings suggest a potential for agribusiness investors to develop safer vegetable niche markets in the study area. Originality/value: The study is the first to analyze vegetable consumption in Ghana with a focus on food safety consciousness, income levels and consumers’ location.

An objective interpersonal comparison of wellbeing requires that people’s capabilities are considered. This paper operationalises Sen’s capability concept in maize-based farming systems and assesses how it influences farmers’ participation in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme in the Bunkpurugu-Yunyoo District of the Northern Region, Ghana. We used data from 315 households collected through multi-stage sampling procedure. Capability was quantified using factor analysis, while its determinants were identified through multiple linear regression analysis. Afterwards, an instrumental variable probit model was used to examine the effect of capability on programme participation. We identified two attributes of capability, which were labelled as human capability and institutional capability. T hese capability attributes are significantly enhanced by availability of markets and good roads. Our results provide evidence that the two attributes of capability influence farmers’ participation in the Planting for Food and Jobs programme. The findings indicate that, for effective participation in agricultural interventions, farmers’ capabilities need to be enhanced. This could be achieved through the provision of, and/or improvement in infrastructure, including roads and markets in remote production centres.