Webinar: Eat Smart, Live Strong: The Conversation on Nutrition

The event had four main objectives. It officially launched the Nourish Ghana social media advocacy campaign — an initiative designed to raise public awareness about Ghana’s double burden of malnutrition, where both under-nutrition and over-nutrition coexist. It also aimed to generate national conversation on practical, community-led solutions, particularly in areas such as food systems, home gardening, and sustainable agriculture.

Beyond awareness creation, the engagement sought to strengthen stakeholder collaboration and position Nourish Ghana as a leading voice in nutrition advocacy and accountability.
Panel Presentations and Discussions

Nutrition Challenges in Ghana
Professor Francis Zotor opened the discussions with an overview of Ghana’s nutrition landscape, highlighting the prevalence of stunting, wasting, and micronutrient deficiencies among children. He noted that seasonal food insecurity continues to affect vulnerable populations and called for improved access to diverse and nutritious foods.
Dr. Laurene Boateng complemented this discussion by underscoring the vital role women play in household food decisions. She stressed the importance of empowering women with the right resources, information, and support systems to improve family nutrition outcomes.

Sustainable Food Security Strategies
Mr. Selom Odjo Anyomi emphasized that achieving food security begins at home. He encouraged the promotion of home gardening, not only in households but also in schools and communities, as a practical step toward improved nutrition. He further advocated for farmer cooperatives, particularly for women, to enhance knowledge-sharing, resource pooling, and collective marketing.

Mr. Anyomi also addressed the issue of post-harvest losses, calling for innovative approaches to reduce waste and increase food availability. He highlighted traditional Ghanaian foods such as baobab as nutritious, climate-resilient options that deserve more attention and promotion.

Leadership and Policy
Professor Zotor called for bold and visionary political leadership to elevate nutrition as a national development priority. He emphasized the need for stronger cross-sector collaboration among government agencies, institutional reforms, and increased investments in nutrition-sensitive food systems.

Adding to this, Dr. Boateng pointed out the cultural and economic barriers that continue to limit access to nutritious foods. She advocated for the creation of policy environments that support equitable access, particularly for low-income households, and urged leaders to make nutrition a governance issue, not just a health concern.

Promoting Traditional Foods
One of the recurring themes in the discussion was the need to promote traditional Ghanaian foods. Speakers encouraged a return to local meals as part of a broader national nutrition strategy. Schools, churches, and media platforms were identified as effective channels for reintroducing these meals to younger generations.

Participants also proposed culinary training for chefs and food vendors to make traditional meals more appealing and accessible, bridging the gap between cultural heritage and modern eating habits.

Malnutrition and Agriculture
The link between agriculture and nutrition was explored in detail, with speakers raising concerns about the increasing use of agricultural chemicals and their potential impact on food safety. Home gardening was highlighted once again as a safe and sustainable way for families to control what they consume.

There was also a call for clear policy guidelines and stricter standards governing the use of agrochemicals to ensure that food produced in Ghana is safe and nutritious.

Media and Community Engagement
The role of the media in sustaining nutrition advocacy was a key highlight of the engagement. Journalists called for better access to research findings and simplified data to make nutrition information more understandable to the public.

Participants emphasized the need to leverage both social and traditional media platforms to combat misinformation, amplify evidence-based messages, and sustain public engagement on nutrition. The media, it was agreed, has the power to shape perceptions, influence policy, and drive accountability across the nutrition landscape.