Ghana’s fight against malnutri­tion is undermined not by a lack of knowledge, but by lack of accountability.

Nutrition experts and policymak­ers alike know what works: exclusive breastfeeding, micronutrient supple­mentation, food fortification, school feeding programs, and nutrition-sen­sitive agriculture.

Yet, programs stall, targets are missed, and resources are under­funded with little consequence for those responsible.

Who is responsible when exclu­sive breastfeeding stagnates below global targets? Who answers for the fact that nearly half of Ghanaian women suffer from anaemia despite repeated pledges to improve ma­ternal nutrition? Who explains why stunting rates remain at 18 percent when the target was 15percent by 2025? Who ensures that Nutrition for Growth (N4G) commitments made at the international stage are translat­ed into local budgets and services? Who accounts for nutrition budgets that fall short of the 2-3 percent al­location recommended for effective programming? Etc.

Accountability must be made non-negotiable. Parliament must de­mand annual nutrition accountability reports from the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Agriculture, and the National Development Planning Com­mission (NDPC), tracking not only policy promises but also tangible outcomes.

The NDPC, as the apex planning body, must take the lead in mon­itoring nutrition indicators across all sectors and ensuring that dis­trict-level plans integrate nutrition targets.

Civil society must step up, using evidence and data to spotlight the gaps between rhetoric and reality. Tools such as nutrition scorecards and citizen report cards can empow­er communities to track progress and demand answers. Media outlets must treat nutrition as a governance issue, not just a health story buried in lifestyle pages.

District assemblies, as the front­line implementers of nutrition pro­grammes, must be held accountable for translating national policies into community-level action. They should report regularly on the status of school feeding programmes, com­munity-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) services and local food security initiatives.

The public also has a role to play. Citizens must demand better inter­ventions that addresses their nutri­tional needs, by asking their repre­sentatives what concrete steps have been taken to improve nutrition in their communities. Communities can use vox pops, community radio, and grassroots dialogues to hold lead­ers accountable. The Food Systems Transformation and Nutrition Secu­rity (FSTNS) Cross-Sectoral Planning Group (CSPG), led by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), which serves as Multi-Sec­toral Platform for Food Security and Nutrition should serve as a coordina­tion hub where stakeholders review progress and identify bottlenecks in real time.

International partners must not shy away from asking tough ques­tions about financing gaps and delayed reforms. Accountability should have teeth, public hearings for nutrition budget performance, independent audits of feeding pro­grammes and performance-based funding mechanisms that reward results, not just promises.

Countries like Rwanda have shown that strong political commitment backed by rigorous accountability mechanisms can dramatically reduce malnutrition rates. Ghana can learn from such examples, adapting suc­cessful models to our own context.

Without accountability, nutrition will remain a political talking point instead of a development reality. Ghana cannot afford empty commit­ments. Our children deserve measur­able results, and our leaders must be held responsible for delivering them.

Feature Article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition Project

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