WFP officials inspecting one of the rice mills in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region
Correspondence from Northern Region
The World Food Programme (WFP) has delivered rice fortification equipment to rice millers in four regions of the country as part of an initiative to address micronutrient deficiencies among Ghanaian School Children.
The fortification equipment, worth over $80,000, is expected to ensure that rice milled for schools under the Ghana School Feeding Programme are fortified with micronutrients, helping school children access to nutritious food and enabling them focus on their education.
The WFP says in collaboration with the Ghana School Feed Programme, it is targeting 157,510 students in public schools, with 365 basic schools and 35 senior high schools selected for the pilot phase.
“Large scale rice fortification in most countries has proven to be an effective intervention to address micronutrient deficiencies in populations dependent on rice as a staple food. Our goal is to ensure that every child in Ghana has access to nutritious food, enabling them to focus on their education and reach their full potential,” a WFP representative told journalists after inspecting some of the beneficiary rice mills in Bolgatanga in the Upper East Region on Wednesday.
The WFP has supplied 123 metric tons of fortified rice to 208 private schools, reaching nearly 59,000 pupils and increasing enrolment in participating private schools by 7.9%.
Priscilla Aberinga Alemiya, General Manager of the Upper East BBN Farmers’ Co-operative Union (BBN Coop), a women-led co-operative union and one of the beneficiary millers said the union has received fortified kernels apart from the rice fortification machine to produce nutrition-rich rice for school children and also provided Indian expertise to train staff on operating the machine.
She espoused the quality of the rice they produce, saying “We’re proud of the quality of our products, from parboiling to final packaging, our products undergo strict quality control measures and traceability processes to ensure food security and safety.”
It tasty and healthy-beneficiary students
Enda Atirimbey, the Matron Oll Technical Senior High School in the Upper East Region, one of the beneficiary schools told GhanaWeb the fortified rice initiative is a game-changer, noting that as school authorities, they have noticed significant improvement in students’ health.
“Students love taking it, and it’s made my job so much easier. Previously, we used to prepare rice in the school, but since introducing fortified rice, we’ve seen a significant improvement in the students’ overall health and performance.” She said.
Source:
www.ghanaweb.com
