A one-day sensitization workshop on Food Systems dubbed “Beyond The Dialogue” has concluded in Accra, urging the public to take responsibility for their health and make informed dietary choices.
The workshop was on the theme, “Tracking Ghana’s Commitment to Transform its Food Systems” and organized by coordinators of “Beyond The Dialogue Project,” a three-year initiative being funded by the Canadian government.
The project is being undertaken by the University of Ghana in collaborative partnership with the institutions such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), Ghana Statistical Service, and the Coalition of Actors for Public Health Advocacy (CAPHA).
Its general objective was to implement a science–based tracking of Ghana’s commitments to transform its food systems and conduct a cost-benefit analysis to assess the economic efficiency, viability and societal impact of the commitments.
The workshop was also organized to sensitize food systems stakeholders, particularly the media fraternity who have not been meaningfully engaged to promote their sensitization and advocacy roles.
Professor Anna Lartey, a Co-Principal Investigator of the University of Ghana, who gave the advice said in simple terms, a healthy food was one with a diversity of fruits and vegetables, adding that, “About half of what we eat at a sitting should be vegetables as a general rule.”
in a presentation on an overview of Ghana’s United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) Commitments, she said over 160 United Nations member states and representatives of regional blocks delivered statements and commitments to transform their food systems at the 2021 UNFSS.
She said this was in response to global concerns about malnutrition, food insecurity, climate change, and environmental degradation.
Prof Lartey said through this initiative, Ghana developed a set of 17 commitments spanning five focus areas, representing its pledge to transform its food systems, while the project sought to develop indicators on these commitments that were made to track and measure its successful implementation.
She outlined two of the commitments Ghana made at the summit which included developing and implementing food-based dietary guidelines which defines what we should eat to remain healthy.
She also mentioned the commitment of increasing maternity leave to 14 weeks to be implemented across all sectors of the economy to encourage women to breastfeed their babies to derive the nutritional value.
Dr Kasim Abdulai, the Director of Operations of CAPHA In a remark, said the “Beyond The Dialogue Project” was not just about tracking progress but about creating a model of transparency and accountability that could inspire the entire continent.
“We are here to champion the cause for accountability by ensuring that the 17 commitments made by Ghana are not mere promises but are acted upon”, he said.
He said if government’s role was to commit, academia’s role was to measure, then the role of civil society was to be the conscience of the process, adding, “Our role is to ensure these commitments move from paperwork to practice, and from promises to tangible impact.”
Mr. Nii Odoi Odotei, a Principal Planning Analyst of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), in a speech read on his behalf said food systems transformation was not only about agriculture but about how we produce, distribute, process, market and store our foods.
“The NDPC has consistently over the years integrated food systems into the national development framework which would be sustained to create a positive impact on our food systems,” he indicated.
He said over the past years the Commission had ensured maximum integration of food systems into sectors and mid-term development plans.
“NDPC next priority was to ensure that integrated food systems are prioritized and at the core of national development agenda,” he stated.
Mr. Odotei said the Commission wished to work with all stakeholders while ensuring that the benefit reached all communities across the country.
Professor Amos Laar, a Project Principal and Head of Department, School of Public Health, University of Ghana in an interview said as part of the UN Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), countries participated in several dialogues, engaged food systems stakeholders and developed food systems transformation pathways.
He explained these actions resulted in a series of commitments that countries were supposed to implement to transform their food systems.
He said these pledges were made in September and December of 2021 and between 2021 and 2030, the commitment needs to be achieved while some needed to be achieved by 2022 to 2025.
“For some of the commitments, evidence that has been achieved but for others, the data being collected would determine whether they have been achieved or not,” he said.
He commended the government of Ghana to have made these bold commitments to transform its food systems, adding that food systems were crucial to the survival and existence.
He further said the indicators being used to track the commitments were in line with the Sustainable Development Goal indicators.
Source: Access Agric
