There is no food in the house: the gap between food security policy and practice in Ghana

The purpose of this paper was to examine whether food security policy has been effectively translated into practice. To investigate this, the programs at a childhood undernutrition rehabilitation centre in a food insecure district in Ghana were compared with international food security policy. It was found that the policy recommendations were generally not reflected in practice. In the few instances where practice complied with policy, similarities were superficial and food insecurity was inadequately addressed. These findings are consistent with the rhetoric-action gap that has been noted between food security policies and action to reduce food insecurity on the ground. One of the major challenges identified in transforming policy to practice is that national governments are charged with primary responsibility for policy implementation. This approach is impractical considering capacity limitations of low-income countries and disregards moral obligations of other parties who influence the inequitable global system in which food insecurity persists.