Report on workshops to introduce fortification of cereal flours with micronutrients in twelve communities in the three Northern Regions of Ghana

Abstract

This is a report on twelve workshops held in twelve communities in the Upper East, Upper West and Northern Regions of Ghana to transfer the technology of flour fortification with micronutrient premix. The workshops were held as part of WFP/UNICEF joint project on Tackling Malnutrition in Northern Ghana using fortification/enrichment of flours with vitamin-mineral concentrate as a means of addressing the low intake of micronutrients through consumption of indigenous foods such as tuo zaafi with the prospects for increased utilization in other foods. To facilitate the distribution of micronutrients through good mixing, a hand operated portable batch mixer commissioned by WFP and designed and fabricated at the CSIR-Food Research Institute was employed. The communities that benefited from the technology were drawn from twelve districts of the three Northern Regions. They included Gorogo, Zorko Goo, Tangasia, Chuchuliga Namosa in the Upper East Region, Woribogu-Kukuo, Yilonanili, Gortani, Yankazia,Nansoni in the Northern Region and Lam-Uollo, Ketuo and Dahile-Kpanagaan in the Upper West Region. The workshops were also facilitated by the use of a mixing protocol developed into a poster to explain the stepwise blending of micronutrient premix thoroughly into flour to ensure effective fortification. A participatory approach was adopted to help the beneficiaries understand and appreciate the intervention to tackle malnutrition in the communities. The WFP Project Support Officer at Tamale, four Community Health Nurses and seven Nutrition Officers from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in the twelve districts were in attendance. They are expected to monitor the adoption and sustained patronage of the fortified flours and income generation by the women groups. In all twelve (12) women based groups, four Community Health Nurses, Nutrition Officers, opinion leaders and mill operators were introduced to the technology