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The World Food Programme (WFP), with funding support from the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), is improving women’s livelihoods and child nutrition in the Upper East Region through a rice fortification initiative.
The programme is being implemented in collaboration with the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP), Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Women in Agriculture Development (WIAD), supporting 42 women groups to produce fortified rice for schools, including those in the Bongo District.
In Bongo District alone, about 1,500 women are benefiting from the initiative, which is helping them increase income levels and better support their households and children’s education.
One of the beneficiary groups, the Asungtaaba Susu Group, has been producing fortified rice since receiving WFP support in 2023. Currently, 28 schools in the district are feeding on the fortified rice produced by the group.
Speaking to the media, General Manager of the Bawku, Bolgatanga and Navrongo Rice Production Cooperative, Priscilla Aberinga Alemiya, said the locally produced fortified rice contains essential nutrients that support good health compared to some rice on the Ghanaian market.
She appealed for additional financial support to enable the cooperatives to purchase larger quantities of rice for processing in order to meet growing demand.
A member of the Asungtaaba group, Agana Mavis, described the intervention as a “game-changer,” noting that the fortified rice is nutritious and beneficial to consumers.
The initiative has also been welcomed by beneficiary schools, with the Dining Hall Master of Our Lady of Lourdes Girls Senior High School, Patrick Din, calling for increased supply to sustain school feeding programmes in the region.
Source: Ghana/channel247online.com/IddrisuKassim
