The Planting for Food and Jobs programme was initiated in 2017 as a strategy to create jobs, promote food production and enhance food security in Ghana, especially among smallholder farmers. This research applies mixed research approach to explore the robustness of policy trust and food security risk on smallholder participation in the programme. Using multistage sampling, a total of 164 respondents were selected for the study. Food availability and income enhancement have been identified as the most important reason for participating in the programme. The results also show that policy trust and vulnerability to food security risk increase probability of participation by at least 10.2% and 11.2%, respectively. Moreover, the findings are robust to varying estimation assumptions. It is therefore recommended for the programme to deepen trust with vulnerable individuals to enhance participation.

Keywords: Food security, policy trust, planting for food and jobs