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.
In March 2025, world leaders gathered in Paris for the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit, the most important global gathering on malnutrition of the decade. Over $30 billion in new financial commitments were pledged globally by more than 170 actors from 82 countries. Ghana was there. Ghana made commitments. The question now is: are those commitments enough, and will they be delivered?
Ghana made 10 commitments at the 2025 N4G Summit. One of the most significant is a pledge to spend at least $6 million annually from 2026 for the procurement of essential nutrition commodities including ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), iron-folic acid tablets, vitamin A supplements, and anthropometric equipment for measuring child growth.
This financial commitment is meaningful. For years, Ghana’s nutrition programmes have depended heavily on donor funding, leaving services vulnerable to aid cuts and supply disruptions. A domestic budget line for nutrition commodities signals a shift toward ownership and sustainability. It also directly supports Ghana’s Nutrition for Growth commitments from the 2021 Tokyo Summit, several of which remain off track.
The Bigger Picture
The 2025 N4G Summit was about more than funding. It called for systemic change: embedding nutrition in food systems, health coverage, climate resilience, and gender equality. Every dollar invested in nutrition is estimated to return $16 to the local economy. Yet malnutrition still costs Ghana an estimated 6.4 per cent of its GDP annually. That is not a public health statistic. It is an economic emergency.
The National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) has acknowledged that converting summit outcomes into actionable change requires transparent policy dialogue and locally driven solutions.
Commitments made in Paris must be tracked, funded, and implemented in Ghana’s communities. Programmes must move from pilot scale to national coverage. That will not happen without sustained political will, dedicated domestic financing, and public accountability.
Commitments made on global stages matter. But they only become meaningful when they translate into services in communities. The question is not what Ghana promised in Paris. It is what Ghana delivers at home.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
Cabbage is very rich in fibre, the main supplier of roughage. This helps the body retain water and it maintains the bulkiness of the food as it moves through the bowels.
Thus, it is a good remedy for constipation and other digestion-related problems.
Ingredients
-1 large cabbage
– 4 large fresh tomatoes
– 1 large onion
– Pepper
-Garlic
-2 large salmon
-1 tin of mackerel
-2 large green pepper
-Salt to taste
Preparation
-Chop cabbage roughly and wash in a large pot of water
-Pour vinegar on it and wait until you make other preparations. Then drain.
-Heat coconut oil in a saucepan over medium heat
-Cook and stir onion in hot oil until onion turns dark brown.
-Blend tomatoes, green pepper, garlic and onion and add to the oil
-Add tomato paste, mackerel and salmon to stew
-Add cabbage, stir and cover to cook for 7 – 10 minutes
-Allow to simmer when it is soft and serve with rice, yam etc.
