The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is making significant strides in improving child nutrition and learning outcomes by introducing fortified rice into Ghana’s school feeding system.
The intervention is also boosting livelihoods in rural communities in the Upper East Region (UER).
The initiative, being implemented in collaboration with the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Ghana Health Service (GHS), among others, targets both public and low-fee private schools across six regions.
The Initiative
The pilot project, with funding support from the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), has been rolled out in the Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Ashanti, Oti and Greater Accra regions.
It aims to tackle micronutrient deficiencies among school-aged children who rely heavily on rice as a staple food.
In total, 157,510 students, comprising 111,247 basic school pupils and 46,263 senior high school students, are being targeted under the fortified rice intervention.
As of date, 58,991 pupils have been reached under the private schools, resulting in a 7.9 per cent increase in enrolment across participating schools.
To support sustainability and local ownership, the WFP invested in local rice fortification capacity by delivering rice fortification equipment valued at over $80,000 to selected millers, including the women-led Bolgatanga, Bawku and Navrongo (BBN) Farmers’ Cooperative Union Limited in the Upper East Region.
The WFP also supplied fortified rice kernels worth over $91,000 to ensure smooth production and distribution to the pilot schools.
With the support, BBN Cooperative in the Upper East Region and Ko Franco Farms in the Ashanti Region supplied 170 tonnes of fortified rice and 61.7 tonnes of parboiled unpolished rice in 2025 to nine selected senior high schools in the Upper East, Northern and Ashanti regions.
Beyond schools, the fortified rice initiative is strengthening local food systems and rural livelihoods by providing a ready market for paddy rice farmers and parboilers, while empowering them with best practices to preserve rice’s nutritional value for consumers’ benefit.
Impact
Addressing the media during a visit to a processing facility at Bongo, the General Manager of BBN Cooperative, Priscilla Aberinga Alemiya, said the cooperative, with over 1,256 members, had emerged as a model in the rice value chain, following immense support from WFP.
She said WFP’s intervention came at a critical time, not only reviving the cooperative but also sustaining jobs that would otherwise have been lost, placing a heavy burden on workers’ dependents.
“Due to the fall in rice prices, the cooperative could not compete in the market or survive in business.
If not for the WFP project, the cooperative might have folded,” she noted.
Ms Alemiya explained that the fortification support, coupled with access to stable school markets, helped the cooperative to increase production capacity from 315 tonnes to 485 tonnes, earn a profit of around GH¢400,000 and sustain jobs.
Increase production
The leader of the Bongo Lelingo Asongtaaba Parboilers Group, Stella Nyaaba, said the WFP intervention had enabled her to increase production and achieve higher profits.
“Unlike before, when we struggled on market days and were burdened with transportation costs just to sell one bag of parboiled rice, WFP has lifted that burden.
“Even if we have 20 or 30 bags, BBN buys everything at once and pays us in bulk, enabling us to save and support our families,” she said.
Testimony
The Matron of Our Lady of Lourdes (OLL) Girls Senior High School, Navrongo, Edna Atiirimbey, told journalists that the introduction of the fortified rice had made her work easier.
“Anytime I prepare it, the students eat everything. It is tasty, meets high-quality standards, has higher nutritional value compared to others, and even the staff enjoys it.
I am always eager to come to work because there are fewer complaints compared to other varieties we used in the past,” she said.
Source:
www.graphic.com.gh