Household food insecurity, living conditions, and individual sense of security among Burkina Faso refugees in Ghana: a cross-sectional survey using in-person data collection

Food insecurity and adequate nutrition is a major global challenge, especially in vulnerable groups such as refugee communities. In West Africa, due to conflict and instability in their home country, thousands of Burkina Faso refugees have crossed the border into northern Ghana. We conducted a cross-sectional study aimed at assessing household food insecurity, living conditions, and sense of security among Burkina Faso refugees currently residing in the upper east region of Ghana. Study data was collected from 19-29 October 2022 from 498 refugee households. Results revealed that almost 100% of households experienced food insecurity, with 80.3% experiencing severe food insecurity. Refugees from rural areas were more food secure compared to urban refugees. Refugees residing in host communities experienced lesser food insecurity than those in designated refugee camps. Further, refugees who were dissatisfied with the size of their accommodation were more likely to experience food insecurity. More than half of the refugees felt safe and welcomed by the host communities. The study underscores the critical need for targeted intervention to avert hunger and malnutrition among vulnerable groups such as children, pregnant women, and the aged in the refugee population. The study also emphasizes the importance of community support systems and social amenities for refugees’ well-being. Long-term measures should include improving logistics for food distribution, providing suitable accommodation, and strengthening healthcare services. Follow-up research, such as repeated community surveys, can track this evolving situation to continuously inform decision-making for refugee support. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement This project was funded by the Clinical Informatics Research Unit, at the University of Southampton. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: Ethical approval (UDS/RB/112/22) was obtained from the University for Development Sciences Research and Ethics Review. I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable. Yes The dataset is publicly available at