Household food insecurity, living conditions, and individual sense of security: A cross-sectional survey among Burkina Faso refugees in Ghana

• Published in: PloS one 2025, Vol.20 (1), p.e0317418
• Main Authors: Inusah, Abdul-Wahab, Brackstone, Ken, Ahmed, Tahiru Issahaku, Nartey, David Tetteh, Boxall, Jessica L, Heinson, Ashley I, Head, Michael, Ziblim, Shamsu-Deen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accommodation; Adolescent; Adult; At risk populations; Biology and Life Sciences; Burkina Faso; Cross-Sectional Studies; Data collection; Decision making; Displaced persons; Earth Sciences; Extreme values; Family Characteristics; Female; Food; Food Insecurity; Food security; Food supply; Food Supply - statistics & numerical data; Ghana; Households; Human settlements; Humanitarianism; Humans; Living conditions; Male; Malnutrition; Medicine and Health Sciences; Middle Aged; Nutrition research; People and Places; Refugees; Refugees - statistics & numerical data; Refugees, African; Regression analysis; Rural areas; Rural Population - statistics & numerical data; Sample size; Sampling techniques; Social aspects; Social Sciences; Surveys; Surveys and Questionnaires; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0317418

Food insecurity and achieving adequate nutrition is a major global challenge, especially in vulnerable groups such as refugee communities. In West Africa, thousands of Burkina Faso refugees have crossed the border into northern Ghana due to conflict and instability in their home country. We conducted a one-off cross-sectional survey to assess household food insecurity, living conditions, and sense of security among Burkina Faso refugees currently residing in the Upper East region of Ghana. Study data was collected over 14-21 October 2022 from 498 refugee households, via registered refugee households who were contacted with the help of the community refugee focal persons. We used the validated USAID household food insecurity questionnaire, analysed using Rasch modelling, with descriptive statistics, and linear regression analyses (with significance at p < 0.05) to assess food insecurity. Results revealed that 100% of households experienced food insecurity, with 95.2% defined as moderate or severe, and 70.4% as experiencing severe food insecurity. Refugees from rural areas were less insecure compared to urban refugees (β = -4.25 [CI: -5.79 --2.71], p < .001). Refugees residing in host communities experienced lower food insecurity than those in designated refugee camps (β = -1.56 [CI: -2.74 --0.39,] p = .009). Further, refugees who were dissatisfied with their accommodation size were more likely to experience food insecurity (β = 2.96 [CI: -0.06-2.47], p = .060). Most refugees (73.5%) felt safe and welcomed by host communities. Our results highlight the extremely high prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity in this vulnerable refugee population. We provide evidence to support the need to improve food distribution logistics, prioritising suitable accommodation, and facilitating access to healthcare. Follow-up research, such as repeated community surveys, can track this evolving situation to continuously inform decision-making for refugee support.