QUIETLY BEARING THE BRUNT OF AUSTERITY IN SCHOOL: A QUALITATIVE STUDY INTO CHILDREN’S EXPERIENCES OF FOOD INSECURITY IN GHANA

Abstract

The dominant food security literature that reports on chil dren’s experiences of food insecurity rely on adult/parent proxies. Nevertheless, studies have shown that adult narra tions of children’s experiences might not always accurately reflect children’s experiences. Furthermore, other studies have also shown that in many cases, children are the best reporters of their experiences. Against this background, this paper sets out to explore, from school children’s own perspectives, their lived experiences of food insecurity in school under the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP). This research is impor tant because the latest round of austerity programmes in Ghana has compelled the service providers of the GSFP to resort to several coping strategies (such as rationing services, compromising the quality and quantity of meals served, and occasionally skipping service delivery) which can have sig nificant effects on children’s nutrition. Findings from group discussions and one-on-one semi-structured interviews with 21 primary school children aged 8 to 15 highlight school chil dren’s experiences of food insecurity. By exploring children’s experiences of food insecurity in school, this paper presents evidence that shows that research about children’s experi ences can and should be based on children’s accounts and not adult proxies