Japan and WFP support public-private partnership for better health and nutrition in Ghana
Accra – The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) welcomes a contribution from the Japanese government of JPY 499 million (US $ 4.5 million) to a public-private partnership project that aims to provide quality food and nutrition to 250,000 people in Ghana To provide healthcare services.
Working with the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service, WFP will partner with three Japanese private companies, the Ajinomoto Foundation (TAF) / KOKO Plus Foundation (KPF), the NEC Corporation and the Sysmex Corporation to produce nutritious foods and micronutrient supplements and to provide nutritional education for the most vulnerable women, children and adolescent girls in rural areas of the country where food insecurity is not guaranteed.
“Partnership is the key to meeting food and nutrition needs and ultimately to achieving zero hunger,” said Anna Mukiibi-Bunnya, WFP ad interim representative in Ghana. “Thanks to the continued generosity of the Japanese people, we will increasingly work with partners from the public and private sectors to develop innovative solutions to hunger in Ghana.”
In a district in the northern region, 7,500 vulnerable pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers, children and adolescent girls receive nutrition education and advice as well as nutritious foods. The women will also take part in activities that will allow them to make more money and continue to buy locally produced nutritious food when the project ends. In addition, 250,000 people in 90 districts are continuously informed and advised about good nutritional practices as part of a widespread communication component for social and behavioral changes.
“This project is in line with the priority of the Japanese government in universal health care and the Africa Health and Wellbeing Initiative (AfHWiN) as presented in TICAD VII,” said Tsutomu Himeno, Japanese ambassador to Ghana, during the project’s signing ceremony . “The Japanese government will continue to support such collaborations to tackle the strain of malnutrition in Ghana as a whole. And it is the desire of the people and the government of Japan that this project make a valuable contribution to nutrition and health care in Ghana. “
Overall, WFP in Ghana supports the government in implementing innovative hunger solutions, including an e-commerce project for smallholders, social protection programs such as school meals, and livelihood programs for people with HIV and recipients of food interventions.
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