Nutrition
Fried rice
Ingredients
- 3 cups of cooked rice
- 2 tablespoonfuls of cooking oil
- Sausage (optional)
- Cooked chicken pieces
- 2 pieces of onions
- carrots
- Spring onions
- Green pepper
- Chilli powdered pepper
- 1 cup of frozen peas
- 2 tablespoonfuls of soy sauce
- Curry powder
- Salt
Preparation
- Wash onion, carrots, spring onions, and green pepper under running water then chop them into pieces.
- Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan under medium heat
- Add sausage and chicken pieces and fry. Stir until they turn golden brown then set aside
- Add chopped onions, carrots, green pepper, peas (if preferred) and spring onion to oil. Stir for 2-4 minutes until tender.
- Beat eggs then slide the cooked onion, carrots, green pepper, peas and spring onion to the side of skillet
- Pour the beaten eggs onto the other side then scramble eggs until cooked.
- Mix eggs with vegetables then add cooked rice, sausage and chicken pieces
- Add soy sauce, curry powder, powdered pepper and salt to taste then stir rice and vegetables together for 3-5 minutes
- Serve fried rice with chicken or fish or salad. Enjoy.
Abgeli Kaklo
Agbeli Kaklo is a Ghanaian snack made from cassava and eaten by the locals; the snack originated from the southern part of the Volta Region. It is very crunchy and mostly eaten with copra (hard coconut). The snack is named as such because it is derived from cassava.
Ingredients
-Cassava
-Water
-Onion
-Oil
-Coconut
-Salt
Method
-Peel, wash and grate cassava into form dough.
-Put dough into a basket to drain water.
-Put the dough in a clean sack and find a heavy stone or metal and wash thoroughly.
-Put the stone or metal on the sack to remove excess water for some hours or overnight.
-Rub the dough in a sieve to remove the chaff.
-Add salt and dry in the sun for some minutes.
-Grind onions and mix with the dough.
-Mould into small balls.
-Deep fry in hot oil until golden brown.
-Serve with toasted peanut and coconut.
Soya beans is a highly nutritious plant-based food with several health benefits:
-Rich source of protein
-Contains all nine essential amino acids, making it a complete protein.
-Helpful for vegetarians and vegans as an alternative to animal protein.
-Supports muscle growth and repair.
– Heart Health
-Helps lower cholesterol levels
-Contains healthy unsaturated fats and fibre that support cardiovascular health
-Can be part of a heart-friendly diet
-Bone health
-Provides calcium (in fortified soy products), magnesium, and protein
-Soy isoflavones may help maintain bone density, especially in postmenopausal women
– May help manage menopausal symptoms
-Contains natural compounds called isoflavones (phytoestrogens)
-Some women experience reduced hot flashes and other menopausal symptoms with soy consumption
-Supports weight management
-High protein and fibre content can increase fullness and reduce hunger
-May help with maintaining a healthy weight
-Good for blood sugar control
-Has a low glycemic index
-Protein and fibre can help stabilise blood sugar levels
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
