Nutrition
Tuo Zaafi
Tuo Zaafi
Ingredients
● Ayoyo leaves
● Saltpetre (Potassium nitrate)
● 3 tablespoonfuls of powdered fish
● Half cup of powdered okro
● Dawadawa
● Pepper
● Two large onions
● Two tablespoonfuls of fish seasoning
● Three tablespoonfuls of all-purpose
spices
●One kilogram of meat (Beef)
● Palm oil
● 3 large tomatoes
● Two large salmon
● Herrings
● One cup of cassava flour
● Two cups of corn flour
Preparation
-Chop the ayoyo leaves into smaller sizes.
-Boil water, add chopped onion, powdered
fish, powdered okro and dawadawa
-After five minutes, add ayoyo leaves and
saltpeter.
-Don’t cover, stir continuously until ingredients become soft.
-Add salt and seasoning. Allow to simmer for three minutes and soup is ready.
-Cut meat into desirable sizes. Wash and put meat in big saucepan over moderate heat.
-Blend onion, ginger, garlic and add to meat.
-Add salt and seasoning and cover meat to steam for five- 10 minutes.
-Heat pan over medium high heat until hot and then add olive oil.
-Add the chicken.
-Fry until browned and flip.
-Add chopped onion and garlic and sauce until tender and start to turn brown.
-Add grinded pepper, tomato puree and stir intermittently.
-Wash salmon, herrings and add to stew.
-After 6-10 minutes, add spices and allow to cook.
-Taste for salt and add some chopped onions.
-Finally add fried meat and allow to simmer for three minutes.
-Fetch some corn flour and add cold water. Mix thoroughly to form a solution.
-Boil enough water and add corn flour to cook for five-10 minutes.
-Fetch some of the solution into a separate bowl.
-Mix dry corn dough and cassava dough and add mixture bit by bit to the boiling corn dough and stir thoroughly to prevent any lumps.
-Add the corn dough solution you fetched aside to the Tuo Zaafi to make it soft and stir.
-After 15-20 minutes of stirring the Tuo Zaafi, you turn off the heat.
-Serve Tuo Zaafi with stew and soup.
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
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