Malnutrition Cause Of Dropouts In Northern Schools

Mohammed Hashim Abdullah with participants at the launch in Mion District

The Regional Nutritional Officer, Hajia Azara, has indicated that dropout rates, repetition and poor learning outcomes are high in the Northern Region of Ghana due to malnutrition and stunted growth in most children.

Under-nutrition among children leads to high morbidity and mortality, as children become more prone to diseases and sicknesses.

She stressed the need for families to be particular about their nutritional needs and appealed for a nutritional assessment to be carried out in the operational areas of the project which could help regulate and access the nutritional impact of the project.

The Ghana Developing Communities Associations (GDCA), in collaboration with its Danish partners, Ghana Friends NGO, has launched a project-child hunger project dubbed 'Fighting Child Hunger, A Responsibility For All'.

The project seeks to address the chronic and hidden hunger suffered by children in the Northern Region due to poverty, lack of knowledge about nutritional needs and socio-cultural beliefs that prevent children from accessing certain types of food.

The Executive Director of GDCA, Alhaji Osman Adbul-Rahaman, explained that  as part of the food security and livelihood strategy, GDCA/CLIP and its Danish partners have been supporting women groups in producing foodstuffs that can enhance not only nutrition but also raise their income.

According to him, women groups have been supported to grow soya beans and moringa which have several nutritional and economic benefits.

“Significant among interventions are the establishment of soya bean and moringa processing equipment which add value to the crops produced which will increase the nutritional quality of the produce, as well as enhancing the market potentials of the produce,” Alhaji Adbul-Rahaman added.

He disclosed that GDCA and its partners see this as their modest contribution to the government's 'one district, one factory' initiative.

The launch which was held in the Mion District of the Northern Region attracted dignitaries from various portfolios in the district, including the regent of Sang, Naa Musah Alhassan, the DCE of the Mion District, Mohammed Hashim Abdullah, district health representatives, district representatives of education and some students.

The project is expected to last for two years and it would be operational in three districts, namely Karaga, Saboba and Mion.

Mohammed Hashim Abdullah assured the GDCA of the district's support and cooperation in the fight against child hunger.

He indicated that Ghana has approved the National Nutrition Policy (2014-2017) with the goal of increasing the coverage of high impact nutrition-specific interventions that would ensure optimal nutrition for all people living in Ghana throughout their lifecycle.

The policy delegates responsibilities for its implementation to all levels of government with the objective of repositioning nutrition as a multi-sectional development priority.

The DCE pledged his support for the project, and appealed to all hands and stakeholders to come on board to make this policy and project a reality.

FROM Eric Kombat, Mion