Political Economy of Food Insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa: Structural Barriers and Empirical Insights from Ghana
Alhassan Mohammed 
, Musah Ibrahim Mordzeh-Ekpampo & Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari
Issue: Vol.6 No.9 Article 32 pp. 2185 – 2201
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.20256932 | Published online 28th August, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
This study examined the economic and political governance dynamics of food insecurity in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with a focus on Ghana. The study problematised the political and economic governance power structure, as well as the effects of agricultural development policies and their implementation on food insecurity in Ghana. Employing an exploratory case study design, the study drew on both field and textual data from primary and secondary data sources. Drawing on textural and content analysis, the results established that politics and economic governance power in Ghana often determine access to state resources in terms of food security, under certain conditions in the country. Also, the results established that there is a political economy of agricultural development and food production policy inconsistencies and implementation gaps contributing to the political economy of food insecurity that has bedevilled the country. The key conclusion from the findings is that policy-driven accountability measures for the political economy of food security are desperately needed. Besides, the government of Ghana should meet the need to generate and diversify livelihoods, particularly in the innovative food production value chain in the country. Therefore, for food security, there is a need for pragmatism in the political and economic governance power structure balance, to emphasize the full participation of all in the political economy of the agricultural development agenda and food production possibilities frontier in the country.
Keywords: Economics, Politics, Food, Government, Policy, Insecurity, Sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana
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Mohammed Alhassan is a Sociologist and a lecturer at the Department of Sociology and Social Work, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana. He is an alumnus of the University of Ghana, where he obtained both a Bachelor’s degree and an MPhil in Sociology. His areas of research interests include political economy of development, governance of development, religion and traditional cosmology, development Sociology, and rural development. Mohammed Alhassan has published a few studies in leading peer-reviewed journals and has also contributed chapters to some edited book volumes, and is still counting.
Musah Ibrahim Mordzeh-Ekpampo (Ph.D.) is a Geographer and a Development Planner. He is a Lecturer at the Department of Planning and Land Administration, University for Development Studies, Tamale, Ghana. His areas of research interest include development studies, regional studies, planning, and cities’ development. He has published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals and has also contributed chapters to several edited book volumes.
Gbensuglo Alidu Bukari (PhD) is a Political Economist and a Senior Political Science Lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences, University for Development Studies. He is an alumnus of DAAD Centres for African Excellence and did his Post-Doctoral Research Fellowship at the Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA). He is a quantitative researcher, and his areas of research span the fields of political economy, democratic studies, development studies, and defence studies. His research interests include: political economy, the political economy of elections, the political economy of development, the political economy of governance, democracy, comparative politics, economic policy, public policy, elections, politics, defence management, defence intelligence, and security. He has published widely in leading peer-reviewed journals and has also contributed chapters to several edited book volumes. He is the sole author of the book entitled: ‘Political Economy of Elections and Voting Behaviour in Ghana’s Fourth Republic: Empirical Evidence.’ Cambridge (2023).
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
