Head of Nutrition at the World Food Programme (WFP), Patience Asiedu, has encouraged school feeding caterers to work within the GH¢1.20 daily amount per child to prepare locally available nutritious foods for school children.
She made this statement during a workshop that was held to disseminate the landscape analysis report on rice fortification.
“This is an opportunity to improve the nutrient value of meals. Another thing is to use locally available nutritious foods. So, I am encouraging school caterers to work within the GHS1.20 pesewas transfer to use fresh tomatoes, more vegetables, and fruits as much as possible,” she stated.
Ms. Asiedu said they had tools that would help caterers effectively use ingredients within the budgeted amount.
“We also have tools that we use to support these caterers optimize their choices in terms of the selection of ingredients that will still work within the GHS1.20 pesewas to improve the nutrient quality of school meals.”
Again, Ms. Asiedu said the initiative would help to reduce malnutrition among Ghanaian school children.
“We really want to support the government to explore fortifying parboiled brown rice instead of the white polished rice that we normally consume because research has shown that for parboiled brown rice, its micronutrients are about seven times higher than the white polished rice.”
“If we are able to fortify parboiled brown rice here in Ghana for our school-aged children, they are going to be better able to meet their nutrient needs far more than they would have been able to do alone,” she stated.
Meanwhile, caterers under the School Feeding Programme have rejected the proposed GH¢1.20 increment put forth by the Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu.
According to the caterers, the increase was insufficient and unacceptable.
Since the reopening of schools, the caterers have withdrawn their services and are demanding that the government raise the daily amount per child and settle outstanding arrears.
Dorothy Ofori Sarpong, the spokesperson for the caterers in the Ashanti Region, expressed dissatisfaction with the Minister’s response to their concerns.
“We are not going to cook, we are still on strike, though the Minister has spoken. What she came to say wasn’t to our satisfaction. The arrears that she claimed has been cleared with the exception of the 2022 third term are not so. There are arrears as far back as 2019, 2020, and 2021. So, if she is saying all arrears have been paid, it is not so.
“With the amount of GH¢1.20 proposal, we are not going to agree. We cannot use this to cook any better food for the children, and so we pray that she goes back and comes and tells us something better.
