Household-level food storage can help families save money, minimize food waste, and enhance food safety and security. Storing food within households may, however, be affected by domestic routines, like food shopping and cooking. Therefore, it is essential to evaluate how consumers’ attitudes and behaviors influence food storage at the household level. This study aimed to assess the determinants of household-level food storage, ascertain consumers’ behavior and perception towards food storage, and assess the effect of household-level food storage on food safety, wastage, food expenditure and security. Dzorwulu and Jamestown, both located in Accra, Ghana, served as the study’s primary sites. The study employed a survey and structural equation modeling to evaluate key determinants of household-level food storage practices and their impacts. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 400 food household heads, sampled using a systematic sampling procedure. The results showed that food shopping drives food storage. There was, however, significant negative association (p < 0.001) between food shopping and time of food storage. Although cooking impedes household-level food storage, there was significant positive association (p < 0.001) between frequency of cooking and storage period of food commodities. The findings also revealed that household-level food storage promotes food safety, reduces food expenditure and waste, and contributes to enhancing food security by 43%. To promote household-level food storage and ensure food safety and security, future study should concentrate on enhancing conventional household-level food storage practices that are efficient, cheaper and easily implementable.

IntroductionHousehold-level food storage can make food available to consumers, and promotes food security. Nevertheless, attention is mostly devoted to enhancing food storage at the farmer and national levels, neglecting the household level. It is therefore critical to assess food storage practices of households. This study examined food storage practices of households, evaluated expert opinions on household-level food storage, and assessed the effect household characteristics has on food storage and food security.MethodsDzorwulu and Jamestown communities in Accra, Ghana, were chosen as the study locations. The study consisted of a survey, expert interviews and structural equation modeling. For the survey, 400 food household heads selected using systematic sampling method responded to a semi-structured questionnaire. Seventeen (17) experts were also purposively sampled and interviewed.Results and DiscussionThe results showed that, most households stored foodstuffs they often consumed, with generally low storage of fruits and vegetables. Perishable foods such as cassava, tomato, yam, and banana were stored by 37.8, 42, 38.3 and 43.8% of households, respectively, for 1–3 days. Households often stored food within a period of 2 weeks, due to poor storage facilities and lack of food storage knowledge. About 85.8% of households had never received training on food storage. Most households used baskets, bowls, sacks and polyethylene bags to store food at home, and some used refrigerators and deep freezers. Regarding the link between food storage and food security, household heads’ income showed a significant positive moderating effect (p ≤ 0.01), households’ socioeconomic status had a positive effect, while household size indicated a significant negative moderating effect (p ≤ 0.01). The experts asserted that, household-level food storage enhances food security and food safety, and reduces food expenditure and food wastage. The limited food storage knowledge of households should be a basis for intervention to enhance proper food storage practices within households.