The government of Ghana implemented the Block Farm Program (BFP) as a policy response to high food insecurity among households. The program was implemented to increase smallholders’ income through increased crop production, and by extension improve household food security. The program supported beneficiary farmers to produce maize, rice, and soybeans, which are considered as food security and income generating crops. Despite the investment made into the program, not much is known about the extent to which the intervention achieved its objectives. The focus of this paper is to analyze the outcomes of the program on beneficiary households regarding income and food security status. Using the instrumental variable analytical method, our analysis showed that program participation significantly increased household farm income by 17%. Furthermore, results showed that program participation had a positive but insignificant impact on household food security. This result is attributed to fact that households in the study area prefer to use their extra income on socio-cultural activities instead of improving their diet quality. To improve household food security from such interventions, the study recommends implementation of public sensitization and education policy on need for quality diet alongside such interventions to nib food insecurity in the bud.

Keywords: Block Farm Program, Food Security, Instrumental Variables, Northern Ghana