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.
Kaklo is the common street snack that turns overripe plantain into pure gold.
Kaklo is best eaten fresh off the fire. Crispy outside, soft and sweet inside, with a kick of ginger and pepper.
Mostly, found at bus stop from Accra.
Ingredients
– 4 ripped plantain
– 1 onion finely grated
– 1/2 tablespoonful of grated fresh ginger
– 1 tablespoonful dried powdered pepper
– ½ tablespoonful of fresh scotch bonnet, finely chopped
– Salt to taste
– ¼ cup corn flour
– Oil for deep frying
Preparation
-Peel the overripe plantains and place in a bowl.
– Mash thoroughly with a fork or your fingers until smooth.
– Add grated onion, ginger, pepper, and salt to the mashed plantain. Mix well.
-Sprinkle in the corn flour and stir until the batter holds together (It should be thick and scoopable, not watery. If too soft, add a little more flour).
-Pour oil into a deep pan or skillet to about 2 inches deep. Heat on medium until a small drop of batter sizzles and rises immediately. If using palm oil, don’t let it smoke.
– Using a tablespoon, scoop batter and gently drop into the hot oil. Don’t crowd the pan.
-Fry 2–3 minutes per side until deep golden brown and crisp.
– Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on paper or in a colander. Serve hot.
Cook’s Notes
– Plantain test: If it’s not sweet and soft enough, your kaklo will taste bland. The skin must be black and the flesh very soft.
– No blender: Traditionally, kaklo is mashed by hand. Blending makes it too smooth and it absorbs more oil.
– Serve with: Fresh ground pepper, shito, or a handful of roasted groundnuts. Perfect with a chilled bottle of sobolo or ice water.
By Theresa Tsetse
When nutrition challenges among Ghanaian women are discussed, anaemia and obesity often dominate the conversation.
These are real and serious concerns. But there are two other deficiencies, folate and vitamin B12, quietly causing harm to women and their unborn children. They are less visible, less talked about, and yet their impact begins early, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Some studies suggest that about 68 per cent of women may have low vitamin B12 levels, folate deficiency affects a significant share of women of childbearing age, and many women do not meet recommended dietary intake levels for these nutrients.
Diet plays a major role. In many households, meals are largely carbohydrate-based, with limited intake of animal-source foods and micronutrient-rich options. Over time, this can lead to multiple nutrient deficiencies including iron, folate, and vitamin B12, occurring together. Low intake of iron, vitamin B12, and folate together puts women at heightened risk of giving birth to low birth weight babies or, in the worst cases, stillbirths.
These gaps often go unnoticed because they do not always show immediate symptoms, but their consequences can be serious.
Folate is essential for the healthy formation of a baby’s neural tube, the structure that develops into the brain and spinal cord, in the very first weeks of pregnancy, often before a woman even knows she is pregnant. When folate levels are insufficient during this critical window, the risk of neural tube defects rises significantly. These are severe birth conditions, many of which are fatal or cause lifelong disability. Vitamin B12 deficiency compounds this risk further, as the two nutrients work together in the body’s most fundamental cell processes.
Despite their importance, folate and vitamin B12 deficiencies receive limited attention in public health messaging and programmes.
Women need to know about these nutrients before they become pregnant, not after. This requires preconception nutrition counselling, targeted supplementation programmes, fortification of staple foods, and education campaigns that reach women in communities, markets, and health facilities.
Ghana has had a mandatory wheat flour fortification policy with iron and folic acid since 2007, but enforcement and coverage remain inconsistent, and the policy does not address vitamin B12. Expanding fortification to include B12 and strengthening compliance monitoring would be important steps forward.
Leaders across health, education, and agriculture must place these ‘hidden’ deficiencies on the national nutrition agenda, because the damage they cause is anything but hidden to the families who experience it.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
