MP calls for public support to end hunger

Mr Kwabena Appiah Pinkrah, a legislator in Ghana’s Parliament on Wednesday reiterated an urgent need for stronger bodies of public support to end hunger and malnutrition.

He said the task to end hunger and malnutrition must be sustained by more determined political leaders to realise vision at the national level.

He added that stronger bodies for public support would help remove obstacles that slowed progress towards a hunger free and well-nourished society.

It would also serve as vital ingredient in getting the necessary political commitment to fight malnutrition in Ghana.

Mr Pinkrah, who is Co-chair of the Ghana Parliamentarians against Hunger and Malnutrition, made the call at the first civil society forum on Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN), organised by the Ghana Health Service, the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), Development Partners, and the Amen Amen Institute, in Accra.

On the theme: “Nutrition for Growth: Examining Ghana’s Preparedness to Scale Up Nutrition”, the forum sought to provide room for incubating new ideas to enrich the process of Ghana’s Nutrition Policy, which is being prepared.

Mr Pinkrah observed that the absence of political will would make a miserable loss of the battle against nutrition, hence the formation of the parliamentary caucus against malnutrition and hunger.

He referred to the achievement of Ghana being rated as one of the few Sub-Saharan African countries which had remained on track on the Millennium Development Goal One- to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty- and said greater emphasis should be made to consolidate the gains if Ghana should be successful.

Mr Pinkrah, who is also the Member of Parliament for Akrofoum Constituency in the Ashanti Region, decried the devastating consequences of malnutrition and stressed the need for decisive action to save the vast majority of infants and young children to premature death.

According to the lawmaker, 23 per cent of children in Ghana were suffering from the retarded growth condition called stunting, caused by chronic under nutrition, and the condition bights the lives of some 165 million children around the world.

“Let’s all join hands together to make our dream to build a well-nourished society a reality,” Mr Pinkrah said.