Skip to main content

Table 2 Description, measurement and statistics of explanatory variables

From: Does smallholder farmers’ awareness of Sustainable Development Goal 2 improve household food security in the Northern Region of Ghana?

Description (variable)

Measurement

Meana

t-test

Aware (165)

Not aware (120)

Food Insecurity Experience Score (FIES)

0 = food secure; 1–3 = mild food insecurity; 4–6 = moderate food insecurity; 7–9 = severe food insecurity

2.55

3.98

4.26***

Farmer characteristics

 Age

Years

46.30

43.05

2.10**

 Sex

1 = male, 0 = female

0.93

0.68

5.48***

 Household size

Number of people in a household

14.04

14.38

0.31

 Education of household head

Years of education

2.46

1.75

1.38*

 Opinion leader

1 = opinion leader, 0 = otherwise

0.37

0.29

1.38*

 FBO membership

1 = member, 0 = otherwise

0.58

0.19

7.27***

 Engagement in off-farm

1 = engaged in off-farm activity, 0 = otherwise

0.68

0.58

1.64*

Information access variable

 Distance to district capital

Kilometres (km)

5.07

7.08

3.78***

 Distance to regional capital

Kilometres (km)

74.16

90.62

3.06***

 Training on animal production

1 = trained, 0 = not trained

0.15

0.08

1.81**

 Training on crop production

1 = trained, 0 = not trained

0.22

0.21

0.32

 Ownership of TV

1 = own TV, 0 = do not own TV

0.39

0.35

0.65

 Ownership of phone

1 = own phone, 0 = do not own phone

0.94

0.74

4.47***

 Ownership of radio

1 = own radio, 0 = do not own radio

0.82

0.63

3.73***

 E-extension contact

1 = yes, 0 = otherwise

0.51

0.18

6.18***

Wealth and welfare variables

 Animal diversity

Numbers of species of animal reared

3.04

1.83

6.75

 Crop diversity

Numbers of crops cultivated

3.01

2.42

3.50***

 Farm size

Acres

11.34

7.10

4.42***

Institutional and policy variables

 Number of contacts with agricultural extension

Numbers of contacts per year

1.57

0.94

2.80***

 Credit access

1 = access to credit, 0 = otherwise

0.48

0.23

4.75***

 Beneficiary of any NGO interventions

1 = yes, 0 = otherwise

0.48

0.19

4.42***

 Access to electronic extension

1 = yes, 0 = otherwise

0.51

0.18

6.18***

  1. aFor dummy variables, the values under the “mean” column describe the proportion of the respondents coded 1