The International Food Policy Program Research Institute (IFPRI) has expressed its excitement about the groundbreaking work of the Poyentanga Sub-District Committee on Nutrition at Poyentanga in the Wa West District.
IFPRI indicated that the group’s existence is a clear example that information sharing and targeted advocacy can bring people together to address any complex challenge; in this case, malnutrition.
IFPRI was however, quick to add that the formation of the committee is a great first step, having periodic meetings as a committee alone will not solve the problem of malnutrition in Poyentanga.
These came to light when GBC’s Mark Smith interacted with a Senior Programs Manager in the Poverty Health and Nutrition Division of IRPRI, Lucy Billings about a case study on local level multisector coordination on the Nutrition Committee in Poyentanga.
In December last year, the Ghana Trade and Livelihoods Coalition with support from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs through SNV under its Voice for Change Partnership (V4C) out-doored a 17-member committee to help address the alarming cases of severe and acute malnutrition among children in the Poyentanga Sub-district.
Part of the Committee’s mandate was to use a community based approach to encourage families to eat balanced meals while also advocating an increased budgetary allocation from the Wa West District Assembly to help address malnutrition.
IFRPRI and the Ghana Trade and Livelihood Coalition (GTLC) therefore co-authored a Case Study to document the work of the Committee from inception and allow for it to be replicated in other districts across the country.
A Senior Programs Manager in the Poverty Health and Nutrition Division of IRPRI, Miss Lucy Billings mentioned that her organization has been conducting research to influence food and agricultural policies and programs in Ghana for about three decades. Among these are: measuring the impact of Ghana’s School Feeding program and evaluating how women empowerment affects nutrition outcomes.
Miss Billings said the purpose of the case study was therefore to “support local Civil Society Organisations [in this case GTLC] to conduct evidence informed advocacy on a number of key development issues”. As a research partner on this initiative, IFPRI provides support with the delivery of relevant research to inform the partners’ advocacy agenda on the topics of addressing Post Harvest Losses and Sustainable Nutrition for all”.
The Senior Programs Manager in the Poverty Health and Nutrition Division of IRPRI said although nutrition is basically seen as a health issue, it has far reaching consequences on development thus the need to adopt policies and programs that effectively address malnutrition among children. Miss Billings called on the Committee to do more in addressing the problem of malnutrition.
“Through the case study, we learnt that most nutrition services in Poyentanga have been focused on the identification and treatment of severe and acute malnutrition which largely relates to the health sector. The Multi Sector composition of the committee offers a great opportunity to take a more preventative approach to addressing the underlying causes of malnutrition that are specific to this context,” she disclosed.
Miss Billings was quick to add that “the formation of the committee is only a first step. Meetings alone will not help malnourished children.”
A Policy Advisor with GTLC, Emmanuel Wullingdool in recounting the steps involved in setting up the committee mentioned that community engagement and advocacy were key. Mr Wullingdool intimated that nutrition is strongly linked with health, development and even agriculture.
“There is a strong connection between the two; seeing nutrition as a development issue and seeing nutrition as a health issue. In fact we can add a third issue, seeing nutrition as an agricultural issue,” he said.
Mr. Wullingdool explained that “one’s health can affect their uptake of nutrition from the food they eat. Again, a poor diet can make one fall sick. I am bringing in the agricultural element because food really is the key thing one talks about when talking about nutrition and you cannot talk about eating nutritious food without talking about its production”.
Mr. Wullingdool said there needs to be strong coordination among farmers, health professionals and food producers particularly those under the School Feeding Program in order reduce malnutrition among children in Ghana.
Story by Mark Smith
