Post on 12-Jul-2015
J E S S I C A H A M ,
U N I V E R S I T Y O F G E O R G I A
Worried sick: investigating the linkages among food insecurity, mental health, and productivity in the Ghanaian savannah
Does poor mental health affect human biology and health?
If so, do these effects feed back into food insecurity?
Upper West GhanaWhy food insecurity, why here?
33% of the population in the north is food insecure
6% of the population in the south is food insecure
42% of the Wa West district is food insecure
2009; 2012 WFP
Setting the scene
Upper West Livelihoods
Women: charcoal, sheanuts, firewood, beer brewing, trading
Men: day labor (farm and market), security guard
Shea fruit Charcoal
Sorghum Maize
Community 1
Community 2
Household Food Insecurity Access Survey
8 Questions (1 month recall)Adapted from the Food and Nutritional Assistance—FANTA survey
3 domains Perception of food accessibility Perception of quantity of food
consumed Perception of quality of food
consumed
Frequency of occurrence Never Rarely (1-2x) Sometimes (3-10x) Often (>10x)
Food Insecurity March
Mean Score 1: 4.4
Mean Score 2: 13.1
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
FI 1 FI 2 FI 3 FI 4 FI 5 FI 6 FI 7 FI 8
Pe
rc
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t P
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itiv
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eCommunity 1
Community 2
Food Insecurity July
Mean Score 1: 3.4
Mean Score 2: 6.7
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
FI 1 FI 2 FI 3 FI 4 FI 5 FI 6 FI 7 FI 8
Community 1
Community 2
Food Insecurity October
Mean Score 1: 0.79
Mean Score 2: 2.4
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
FI 1 FI 2 FI 3 FI 4 FI 5 FI 6 FI 7 FI Q8
Community 1
Community 2
Mean Food Insecurity Scores
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
March July October
Community 1
Community 2
Mental Health Survey
14 symptoms5 psychological (too much thinking)
8 somatic (heart pounding)
2 cognitive (easily forgetting)
Frequency of occurrence Never
Rarely (1-2x)
Sometimes (3-10x)
Often (>10x)
Mental Health March
Mean Score 1: 10.5
Mean Score 2: 14.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
MH
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Pe
rc
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t P
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itiv
e R
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po
ns
e
Community 1
Community 2
Mental Health July
Mean Score 1: 7.0
Mean Score 2: 10.5
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
MH
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Community 1
Community 2
Mental Health October
Mean Score 1: 4.9
Mean Score 2: 8.0
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
MH
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Community 1
Community 2
Mean Mental Health Scores
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
March July October
Community 1
Community 2
What is going on with the food insecurity and mental health scores?
“In anthropological terms, people are at one and the same time embedding their decisions in both short and long term frameworks, in which present consumption or expenditure decisions express, confirm, or create a potential claim over the longer term. The optimal solution meets both sets of expectations and predictions”
(Guyer 1997)
Worries
Integrating the WEAI
Biological Outcomes: blood pressure and cortisol
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
March July October
Community 1
Community 2
“Can’t work like you want to”
Worry sickness
Measuring Productivity
Agricultural yields for 2013 and 2014
15 weeks of labor allocation surveys
Iterated structured interviews on income earned and income allocated
Illness, days of missed work