Ghana, with a population of 21 million people, is among the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to have reached and even surpassed the 1996 World Food Summit goal of reducing by half the number of undernourished people by 2015. Between 1990-92 and 2001-2003, the number of hungry people fell from 5.8 to 2.4 million - a 59 percent reduction. But the government is working to reduce hunger even further.
Since 2005, the U.S. Alliance to End Hunger has worked with the Ghana Alliance Against Hunger to help them reach their goal of feeding 1.5 million school children by the year 2010.
Feeding Ghana’s School Children
The Ghana School Feeding Program is the country’s primary focus for reducing hunger. The program’s aim is to establish and expand school feeding programs and to increase school enrollment, attendance and performance while also promoting increased domestic food production, improved marketing and demand in rural food insecure areas.
The program is designed to provide one hot meal a day for pre-school and primary school children. The parents of students cook the food, ideally with locally produced and processed food. The purchase of locally produced food will support the livelihoods of area farmers, promote local food supply as well as provide diverse, fresh and nutritious food. Community involvement in the school feeding program is essential for accountability and effectiveness of the program.
There are currently more than 500 participating schools in each of the 10 regions of Ghana that are feeding approximately 500,000 students through the program. They plan to expand their operation to an additional 200,000 children by the end of 2007, and eventually feed 1.5 million children by 2010.
U.S. Alliance Members Help Ghana Feed Its Kids
Since 2005, the Alliance to End Hunger and its members have been working with the Ghana Alliance to help them reach their school feeding goals.
- Global FoodBanking Network. In February 2006, the U.S. Alliance sponsored a Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) delegation to Ghana to meet with various anti-hunger groups to assess the feasibility of establishing a food banking network. A memorandum of understanding was signed for the design and development of a pilot food banking project in Ghana. The representatives formed important connections with NGO members, Ghanaian officials and USAID representatives. GFN has sent other representatives to the country. A pilot project is now underway to assist farmers storing their crops and providing for their local school feeding program. With a grant from the U.S. based multinational corporation, Cargill Inc., they are “working toward connecting local producers and growers with the local representatives of the Ghana School Feeding Program and building structured food sourcing from multinational food companies.”
- Cargill. Cargill has begun building a cocoa processing plant in Tema, Ghana to increase the value of locally-grown cacao. Together with GFN, they are exploring the possibility of using warehouse space at their plant to assist the Ghana FoodBanking Network as it gets off the ground. As mentioned above, they provided an initial grant to GFN for their work in Ghana. They are also a member of the World Cocoa Foundation and involved in their work in Ghana and the region.
- CitiHope International. CitiHope International is a global Christian humanitarian relief and development service agency that delivers tangible help in the form of medicine, medical supplies and equipment, food for the hungry and training for healthcare providers worldwide. The U.S. Alliance sponsored an assessment mission last year that resulted in the development of a proposal to USAID. The program would provide additional meals both for the school feeding program and for patients in hospitals and health clinics. CitiHope has successfully run similar feeding programs with pre-packaged, fortified meals throughout the world.
- Stop Hunger Now. Stop Hunger Now is a non-profit, international relief organization committed to ending hunger worldwide. Stop Hunger Now leads ongoing efforts to feed the hungry around the world by providing direct emergency food and other life-saving aid in crisis areas. Through donations by Rotary International clubs in North Carolina and support by Rotary clubs in Accra, Ghana, Stop Hunger Now has shipped pre-packaged fortified meals that will feed 250,000 people. This will be used by the Ghana School Feeding Program to fill gaps in their supplies and ensure participating schools have enough food to meet their needs. Pending successful completion of this pilot project, more assistance could follow.
- World Cocoa Foundation. The World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) supports cocoa farmers and their families worldwide. WCF programs raise farmer incomes, encourage responsible, sustainable cocoa farming and strengthen communities. They are active in Ghana by supporting farmer field schools to increase farmers’ income and are working with the Government of Ghana and others to curb the worst aspects of child labor in the business. WCF brought a delegation of their corporate members to Ghana in 2007 to understand better the challenges facing small-scale famers and hunger and malnutrition in the country.
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