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.
Egg stew is a traditional dish from Ghana. It is very healthy and easy to prepare. The dish is traditionally served with rice, plantain and any other meal of one’s choice.
Ingredients
-1 litre of vegetable oil
-2 fresh salmon
-10 large tomatoes
-5 large onions
– 6 eggs
-3 tablespoonful of pepper
-1 tablespoonful of powdered garlic and ginger
-1 tin of mackerel
– I large green pepper
-3 tablespoonful of tomatoes paste
Preparation
-Wash tomatoes, onion, green pepper and blend
-Put oil on fire and add onion and powdered pepper to it
-When onions turn golden brown, add blended tomatoes and tomato paste to it. (Allow it to cook for 3 minutes.)
-Add eggs and salmon to stew and leave it for a minute before stirring.
– Add seasoning to the stew and serve.
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
Every baby deserves a healthy start. But in Ghana, too many children are being born already behind, too small, too fragile, and at far greater risk than their peers. Low birth weight, defined as weighing less than 2.5 kilograms at birth, affects an estimated one in seven newborns in this country.
That is a significant proportion of children beginning life at a disadvantage, often due to preventable causes.
Children born with low birth weight face a steeply uphill journey from their very first breath. They are more susceptible to birth asphyxia, infections, hypothermia, and respiratory complications.
They are more likely to die in their first month of life. Those who survive face higher risks of stunting, impaired cognitive development, and a greater likelihood of developing non-communicable diseases including type two diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease later in life.
Low birth weight does not just harm the child today. It shapes their health for decades.
The most powerful determinant of a baby’s birth weight is what the mother eats, and how healthy she is before and during pregnancy. Research in Ghana has consistently shown that maternal anaemia, poor dietary diversity, and inadequate antenatal care are all strongly linked to low birth weight.
A study in Cape Coast found that mothers with low dietary diversity during pregnancy were significantly more likely to deliver low birth weight babies. In Northern Ghana, maternal anaemia in both the first and third trimesters of pregnancy increased the risk of low birth weight. What a woman eats is what her baby weighs.
Education matters too. Mothers with secondary or higher education have been found to be less likely to deliver a low-birth-weight baby, a difference attributed to better nutrition knowledge, improved antenatal care attendance, and healthier health-seeking behaviour overall.
This points clearly to the need for a whole-of-society response, not just a clinical one.
Ghana has made some progress on low birth weight, but the burden remains unacceptably high and in some parts of the country, it is worsening. Other important risk factors must not be overlooked.
Adolescent pregnancy, which remains prevalent in several regions, is strongly associated with low birth weight because young mothers are often still growing and competing with the fetus for nutrients.
Malaria infection during pregnancy, particularly in endemic areas of Ghana, damages the placenta and restricts nutrient transfer, further increasing the likelihood of a low-birth-weight baby.
These risk factors compound the effects of poor maternal nutrition and limited antenatal care. Leaders in government, health facilities, and communities must prioritise maternal nutrition before, during, and after pregnancy.
Reducing low birth weight is not complicated. It requires feeding mothers well, supporting them through antenatal care, ensuring access to iron-folic acid supplementation and malaria prevention during pregnancy, and treating their health as a national priority, not an afterthought.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
