Nutrition
Ghana’s bold nutrition for growth commitment: From promises to action
At the 2025 Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris, Ghana made bold and ambitious commitments to improve the nutritional well-being of its citizens, particularly women and children. These targets if fully implemented have the potential to transform health outcomes, reduce preventable deaths, and unlock national development gains.
Among the commitments announced, Ghana pledged to:
Halve the rate of stunting among children under five.
Reduce anemia in women of reproductive age by 50 per cent.
Cut low birth weight cases by 30 per cent.
Increase exclusive breastfeeding rates to 70 per cent.
Integrate multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS) into antenatal care.
These goals are in line with World Health Assembly nutrition targets and represent a significant step toward addressing the country’s persistent burden of malnutrition. Currently, one in five Ghanaian children is stunted, and nearly half of women of reproductive age suffer from anemia; a situation that weakens productivity, undermines child development, and strains the health system.
Why these commitments matter
Nutrition is not only a health issue; it is an economic and development imperative. Studies have shown that countries lose up to 3 per cent of GDP annually due to malnutrition, while every cedi invested in nutrition generates multiple returns through improved productivity, education, and reduced healthcare costs.
By committing to these targets, Ghana is signaling political will. But political will must translate into action. Civil society organizations (CSOs), the media, and communities all have a role to play in holding government accountable and ensuring that nutrition remains a national priority.
Turning commitments into reality
While the commitments are commendable, the real test lies in implementation. To move from promises to results, Ghana must:
Back commitments with financing. Nutrition interventions must be prioritized in the national budget, with clear allocations and accountability mechanisms.
Strengthen health systems. Integrating micronutrient supplementation and scaling up antenatal care services will require capacity building and supply chain improvements.
Engage parliament and policymakers. Sustained advocacy is needed to ensure nutrition commitments do not get lost in competing political priorities.
Mobilize communities and the media. Public awareness and behavioral change campaigns through churches, schools, and radio can drive adoption of healthy practices such as exclusive breastfeeding.
Track progress transparently. Independent monitoring of stunting, anemia, and low birth weight rates is crucial for evaluating impact.
The commitments made in Paris are not just statistics, they represent brighter futures for Ghanaian children, healthier mothers, and a stronger, more productive nation. Now is the time to turn words into action.
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Ghana has nutrition policies. Ghana has nutrition targets. Ghana has nutrition programmes spread across multiple ministries and dozens of implementing partners.
What Ghana does not have is a single, empowered body responsible for leading, coordinating, and holding all this together. That is the gap a National Nutrition Council would fill, and stakeholders are calling for one now.
The case for a council
At a stakeholder engagement convened under the Nourish Ghana project in 2025, participants proposed the establishment of a National Nutrition Council to provide effective leadership and a governance framework for addressing malnutrition in Ghana. The meeting, which brought together policymakers, development partners, civil society organisations, and the media, highlighted a fundamental problem: nutrition responsibilities are fragmented across various ministries. Without a dedicated coordination body, efforts are duplicated, accountability is diffuse, and nutrition consistently loses out when budgets are tight.
The proposal echoes a model used in several countries that have made the fastest progress against malnutrition. Nigeria’s National Council on Nutrition, for example, recently pledged $107 million at the 2025 N4G Summit, a level of coordinated ambition that Ghana has struggled to match.
Ghana does have existing coordination structures worth acknowledging. The Scaling Up Nutrition Cross-Sectoral Planning Group (CSPG), established in 2012, was set up to harmonise planning, implementation, and monitoring of nutrition actions across sectors. It has produced real gains. But the challenge has been institutionalising those gains beyond project cycles, and analysts have called for an elevated national coordination body with presidential oversight to ensure genuine cross-sector accountability. A National Nutrition Council would go further, providing the dedicated financing and convening authority that the CSPG, as currently structured, does not have.
What a Council would do
A National Nutrition Council would provide political oversight and coordination across all sectors involved in nutrition, health, agriculture, education, social protection, and finance. It would track Ghana’s nutrition commitments, hold ministries accountable for delivery, and ensure that nutrition budgets are protected and spent effectively. Most importantly, it would give nutrition a permanent seat at the table where national development decisions are made.
The Time Is Now
Ghana made 10 commitments at the 2025 N4G Paris Summit. Translating those commitments into results requires a governance structure that does not currently exist. Establishing a National Nutrition Council is not a bureaucratic exercise. It is the institutional foundation without which Ghana’s nutrition ambitions will remain promises on paper. Leaders must act on this proposal without delay.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
