Millers in northern Ghana receive rice production boost from WFP

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, provided by the WFP with funding from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of UK, are worth over $80,000 and are expected to ensure that rice milled for schools under the Ghana School Feeding Programme are fortified with micronutrients, helping school children in the Upper West, Northern, North-East, Upper East, Ashanti, Greater Accra and Oti Regions have access to nutritious food and enabling them focus on their learning.

The WFP in collaboration with the Ghana School Feed Programme, is targeting 157,510 students in public schools, with 365 basic schools and 35 senior high schools selected for the pilot phase.

According to WFP "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." 

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% in less than one year.

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 rice kernels apart from the rice fortification machines to produce nutrients-rich rice for school children. WFP also provided experts from India who trained our staff on operating the machine effectively.

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 is tasty and healthy-beneficiary student

Enda Atirimbey, the Matron of Our Lady of Lourdes Girls' 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 and academic performance.

"Students love taking it, and it's made my job so much easier. Previously, we used to prepare other rice in the school, but since introducing the fortified rice, we've seen a significant improvement in the students' overall health and performance." She said