Nutrition

Healthy eating doesn’t have to be expensive

Published

3 weeks ago

August 8, 2026

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One of the most persistent myths about nutrition is that eating well is a luxury reserved for higher incomes. That healthy means imported, packaged, and pricey. The reality in Ghana tells a very different story.

Good nutrition starts with local food

Ghana is rich in nutrient-dense foods that are grown here and sold in markets every day: beans, cowpeas, groundnuts, kontonmire, alefu, okra, garden eggs, tomatoes, oranges, mangoes, pawpaw, millet, sorghum, yam, cocoyam, and small fish. Together, they supply the protein, vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, and fibre the body needs to grow, stay strong, and fend off chronic disease.

Many traditional Ghanaian meals are already nutritionally balanced by design. Beans with ripe plantain. Kontomire stew with boiled yam. Tuo zaafi with ayoyo and beans. Meal for meal, these often outperform processed convenience food and cost less doing it. Healthy eating rarely requires exotic ingredients; it starts with foods that have always been part of the culture.

So why does healthy eating still feel expensive?

Rising food prices, transport costs, and post-harvest losses all chip away at affordability. Fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, and eggs can get pricier at certain times of year, while heavily marketed processed foods stay cheap and everywhere. Busy schedules push people toward packaged convenience food that’s quick to prepare but often loaded with salt, sugar, and unhealthy fat. The lesson here: healthy eating isn’t only a personal choice. It is shaped by the food environment people live in.

Small changes, real savings

Families don’t need a diet overhaul overnight. A few consistent habits go a long way:

Plan meals before shopping to buy only what’s needed and cut food waste.
Buy fruits and vegetables in season, when prices are lowest.
Add beans or other legumes to meals a few times a week as an affordable protein source.
Swap sugary drinks for water and fresh fruit offering better nutrition at no extra cost.

A shared responsibility

Households can only do so much on their own. Governments, local authorities, and the private sector need to make the healthy choice the easy choice, too. That means investing in irrigation, storage, and transport to stabilise prices; supporting farmers to keep fresh produce flowing year-round; and building nutrition education and healthier food options into schools, workplaces, and public institutions.

Good nutrition should never be treated as a luxury. It’s the foundation of good health, learning, and productivity. When nutritious local food is within reach of every household, Ghana moves closer to a healthier, more productive future for everyone.

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

Nutrition

Can Ghana feed its people well? Building a nutrition-sensitive food system

Published

16 hours ago

August 29, 2026

WeeklySpectator

When we talk about nutrition in Ghana, the conversation often focuses on individual choices: eat more vegetables, reduce sugar and salt, drink more water and exercise regularly.

These messages are important, but they tell only part of the story. Good nutrition is not just a personal responsibility; it is also a food-system issue.

What Ghanaians eat is influenced by what farmers produce, what food costs, how it is processed and marketed, what is served in schools, and what information consumers receive.

Ghana has the agricultural capacity to produce a wide variety of nutritious foods, including vegetables, fruits, legumes, fish, eggs, roots and tubers. Yet production alone is not enough. Poor storage, transportation challenges and weak market access mean that an estimated 30 per cent of food in Ghana can spoil before reaching consumers or retailers, according to a 2025 study by the International Growth Centre. The losses are particularly significant for fruits and vegetables, reducing both farmers’ incomes and the availability of nutritious foods. This is where policy becomes important.

Agricultural policies should consider not only how much food Ghana produces, but also whether that food contributes to healthy diets. Greater support for diverse crops, local vegetables, fruits and legumes could strengthen both agriculture and nutrition.

The food-processing industry has a role as well. Processing can reduce food waste, improve convenience and create new markets for local produce. But greater attention should be paid to the nutritional quality of processed foods, particularly those high in salt, added sugar and unhealthy fats.

Public education must also become more practical. Telling people to “eat healthy” is not enough when nutritious foods may be unaffordable or unavailable. Consumers need information, but they also need a food environment that makes healthier choices realistic.

Good nutrition begins on the farm, continues through the market and food industry, reaches the school and household, and ultimately ends on the plate.

What is needed is greater coordination.

A successful nutrition strategy should connect agricultural production with health objectives, school feeding with local agriculture, food processing with nutritional quality, and public education with the realities of household income and food prices.

The ultimate goal is not simply to produce more food.

It is to ensure that Ghanaians have reliable access to safe, affordable and nutritious food throughout their lives.

Feature Article by Women, Media and Change

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