Table 1 Background characteristics of caregivers in northern Ghana from the Africa RISING project in 2012 (N = 522)
Characteristics | Regions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern (n = 113) n (%) | Upper West (n = 271) n (%) | Upper East (n = 138) n (%) | Total (N = 522) n (%) | |
Sex of household head | ||||
Female | 5 (4.4) | 112 (41.3) | 56 (40.5) | 173 (33.1) |
Male | 108 (95.6) | 159 (58.7) | 82 (59.5) | 349 (68.2) |
Age (years) | ||||
15–19 | 2 (1.8) | 18 (5.9) | 3 (1.5) | 23 (3.9) |
20–29 | 35 (31.0) | 71 (26.4) | 28 (20.4) | 134 (25.8) |
30–39 | 38 (33.6) | 73 (27.1) | 51 (37.2) | 162 (31.2) |
40–49 | 25 (22.1) | 51 (19.0) | 29 (21.2) | 105 (20.2) |
≥ 50 | 13 (11.5) | 58 (11.2) | 27 (19.7) | 98 (18.9) |
Educational level | ||||
None | 106 (93.8) | 147 (54.2) | 112 (81.2) | 365 (69.9) |
Primary | 4 (3.5) | 54 (19.9) | 11 (8.0) | 69 (13.2) |
Junior high/middle school | 1 (0.9) | 49 (18.1) | 15 (10.9) | 65 (12.5) |
Senior high school + | 2 (1.8) | 21 (7.7) | 0 (0.0) | 18 (4.5) |
Marital status | ||||
Single | 12 (10.6) | 26 (9.6) | 14 (10.1) | 52 (10.0) |
Married | 95 (84.1) | 177 (65.3) | 112 (81.2) | 384 (73.6) |
Divorced | 1 (0.9) | 6 (2.2) | 0 (0.0) | 7 (1.3) |
Separated | 0 (0.0) | 5 (1.8) | 2 (1.4) | 7 (1.3) |
Widowed | 5 (4.4) | 57 (21.0) | 10 (7.2) | 72 (13.8) |
Household size | ||||
≤ 5 | 17 (15.0) | 119 (43.9) | 45 (32.6) | 181 (34.7) |
6–10 | 39 (34.5) | 130 (48.0) | 79 (57.2) | 248 (47.5) |
≥ 10 | 57 (50.4) | 22 (8.1) | 14 (10.1) | 93 (17.8) |
Occupation | ||||
Farming | 63 (55.8) | 184 (67.9) | 98 (77.8) | 345 (66.1) |
*Other activities | 50 (44.2) | 87 (32.1) | 40 (29.0) | 177 (33.9) |
Income (GH¢) | ||||
<100 | 87 (77.0) | 135 (49.8) | 117 (84.8) | 339 (64.9) |
101–300 | 23 (20.4) | 91 (33.6) | 19 (13.8) | 133 (25.5) |
301–500 | 2 (1.8) | 20 (7.4) | 0 (0.0) | 22 (4.2) |
>500 | 1 (0.9) | 25 (9.2) | 2 (1.4) | 28 (5.2) |
Meal frequency in a day | 109 | 267 | 130 | 506 |
Once | 4 (3.5) | 7 (2.6) | 12 (8.7) | 23 (4.4) |
Twice | 2 (1.8) | 75 (27.7) | 67 (48.6) | 144 (27.6) |
Thrice | 101 (89.4) | 184 (67.9) | 58 (42.0) | 343 (65.7) |
Four times | 6 (5.3) | 5 (1.8) | 1 (0.7) | 12 (2.3) |
Primary source of food | ||||
Own production | 81 (71.7) | 144 (53.1) | 80 (58.0) | 305 (58.4) |
Purchases | 3 (2.7) | 22 (8.1) | 9 (6.5) | 34 (6.5) |
Borrowed/battered | 1 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.7) | 2 (0.4) |
Food aid | 0 (0.0) | 1 (0.4) | 1 (0.7) | 2 (0.4) |
Own production + purchases | 28 (24.8) | 104 (38.4) | 47 (34.1) | 179 (34.3) |