By Edzorna Francis Mensah
The Quarterly Reports from the 2022 Annual Household Income and Expenditure Survey (AHIES), conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service has revealed that among persons in the labour force (15 years and older) about 380,000 are triple burdened that is to say that, they are simultaneously food insecure, multidimensionality poor, and unemployed.
This finding was revealed by the Government Statistician, Professor Samuel Kobina Annim, during the presentation of the findings to release the report on Thursday, September 1, 2022, further revealed that the “Savannah Region has the highest percent of triple burdened persons” (8.2%) which is more than twice the national average of 3.2%.
There were highlights on multidimensional poverty, food insecurity, and labour statistics from the first and second quarters. The statistics revealed that between the first and second quarter of 2022, food insecurity dropped by 7.0 percentage points while multidimensional poverty dropped by 2.6%. Unemployment rate increased by 0.5 percentage points.
The release was chaired by Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Senior Advisor to the Vice President who doubles as Director for Monitoring and evaluation at the same office.
In his remarks, he commended the Ghana Statistical Service for conducting the AHIES, which generates timely and relevant data for policy and planning. He concluded, “as a country, we have great challenges and great opportunities. I am in no doubt that the comprehensive quarterly labour force, food insecurity, and multi-dimensional poverty report obtained will support Government in evidence-based decision-making and policy design of its programmes and projects for development and a more robust outlook of the Ghanaian economy.”
For his part, the Senior Economist with the World Bank, Paul Andres Corral Rodas, acknowledged, “collecting survey data is not a simple task. This is especially true during a global health crisis” and “the importance of this survey cannot be stressed enough,” he said.
According to him, “this survey represents an important milestone as it will be the first survey to evaluate welfare in the country since the 2016/17 GLSS 7. The Annual Household Income and Expenditure is the first survey after the start of the pandemic that will give the government, the development partners, the civil society and citizens a glimpse of the living conditions of Ghanaians.”
Mr. Corral Rodas noted that the survey is a part of a larger effort by the GSS to provide representative statistical information at the national and regional level on expenditures and living conditions of the population.
He said the report will provide information necessary to understand and monitor living conditions in Ghana and will present a unique picture of the labour force, food security, and poverty situation of Ghana’s population throughout a very turbulent year where many Ghanaians are experiencing high inflation and a loss of purchasing power.
“This is why the report being launched today, produced by GSS staff, is so timely and of much interest to policy decision makers. I’m very keen to have the opportunity to sit down and learn from the report once I’m back at the office,” he added.