Nutrition
Power in Every Bite: How food fortification is strengthening Ghana’s health
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Did you know that a simple bowl of gari or salt on your table might already be helping fight malnutrition?
Across Ghana, everyday foods are being fortified with essential nutrients quietly and powerfully supporting the health of millions. This behind-the-scenes strategy, known as food fortification, is one of the most effective tools in the country’s fight against malnutrition.
While some children suffer from undernutrition, evident in stunting, wasting, and anaemia, others, especially adults, are grappling with obesity and diet-related illnesses. These issues not only affect public health but also hinder productivity and economic growth. In response, the government is strengthening its approach through food-based solutions that reach people where it matters most: their plates.
Understanding food fortification
Food fortification is the process of adding vital vitamins and minerals to commonly consumed foods to address nutrient deficiencies. In Ghana, staples like flour, salt, oil, and cereals are increasingly being fortified with iron, iodine, vitamin A, and folic acid. These enhancements target key health risks such as anaemia in women, birth defects in babies, and impaired growth in children.
The beauty of this intervention is its simplicity. People do not need to change their eating habits to benefit. By consuming fortified foods that are already part of the Ghanaian diet, families across the country can access better nutrition without added cost or effort.
Government’s role and broader goals
Government policies and partnerships have played a central role in advancing this effort. Through the enforcement of fortification standards and collaborations with local food producers, regulatory bodies like the Ghana Standards Authority and the Food and Drugs Authority are ensuring that fortified products meet safety and quality requirements. At the same time, health and agriculture ministries are working together to expand access to these foods and educate the public about their benefits.
Food fortification is also aligned with Ghana’s broader nutrition goals, including reducing child stunting and addressing anaemia among adolescent girls and pregnant women. It complements other strategies such as promoting exclusive breastfeeding, home gardening, and traditional food preservation methods.
With continued government leadership, regulatory support, and community awareness, fortified foods can become a silent but steady force in building a healthier, stronger Ghana, one meal at a time.
Feature Article by Women, Media and Change on its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition Project.
Ingredients
-Cocoyam leaves (Nkontomire)
-Palm oil
-Ripped Plantain
-2 Large smoked salmon
-1 cowhide (wele)
-1 cup of Egusi
– Momoni
-3 fresh eggs
-2 large onions
-2 large tomatoes
-Pepper
-Ginger
-Garlic
Method
-Wash cocoyam leaves thoroughly under running water
-Cut cocoyam leaves into stripes and wash for the second time
-Blend tomatoes, onion, pepper, ginger, and garlic together
-Put sauce pan on fire and heat palm oil
-Add blended ingredients and allow to cook for about 5 minutes
– Wash salmon, wele and cut into cubes and add to stew
-Add salt
-Add eggs to egusi in a bowl to form paste and add it to stew
-Add to stew and allow to simmer for seven minutes
-Add cocoyam leaves to stew and allow it to cook for sometime
-Wash, peel plantain and cut into shapes
-Cook for some time (Pour water out and serve with stew)
By Linda Abrefi Wadie
Every year, Ghana produces thousands of tonnes of nutritious food but a significant share of it never reaches a plate. Fruit spoils before it’s sold. Vegetables rot in transit. Grains are ruined by poor storage. Conversations about nutrition often focus on growing more food but reducing what’s lost or wasted after harvest may be one of the fastest ways to improve food security and nutrition, without farming a single extra acre.
The cost of losing nutritious food
Fresh fruit and vegetables spoil the fastest, and without adequate storage, cooling, or transport, farmers are often forced to sell at rock-bottom prices or watch their harvest go to waste. That squeezes farmers’ incomes and shrinks the supply of nutritious food reaching local markets. As supply falls, prices rise, pushing healthy food further out of reach for the low-income households that need it most.
Nutrition begins beyond the farm gate
Cutting post-harvest losses means more nutritious food reaches families without needing more farmland or higher yields. When tomatoes, mangoes, and leafy greens are preserved through better storage, drying, or processing, they stay available and affordable for longer. Better handling also protects nutritional quality itself, so the vitamins and minerals in food aren’t lost before it ever reaches a consumer.
Supporting farmers supports nutrition
Many farmers still lack access to storage facilities, cold chains, processing equipment, and reliable transport. Strengthening these systems is a win on both ends: farmers earn more from what they grow, and households gain more affordable access to nutritious food. Local processing, such as turning surplus fruit into juices, dried fruit, or purees, can extend shelf life and cut waste even further.
What needs to change?
Reducing food loss takes coordinated action:
• Government: invest in rural roads, storage infrastructure, irrigation, and agricultural extension services.
• Private sector: expand cold storage, food processing, and distribution networks.
• Research institutions: keep developing better post-harvest preservation technology.
• Consumers: plan meals, store food properly, and make safe use of leftovers.
Looking ahead
As Ghana works to tackle malnutrition in all its forms, cutting food loss deserves a place at the top of the agenda. Growing more food matters, but making sure the food already grown actually reaches families, safely and affordably, matters just as much.
Every basket of tomatoes saved, every crate of mangoes preserved, and every bag of grain protected from spoilage adds up to better nutrition, stronger livelihoods, and a more resilient food system for the future.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
