A report on training workshops to introduce fortification of cereal flours with micronutrients in twenty-seven communities in the three Northern Regions of Ghana

Abstract

This is a report on the fortification training for women groups as part of the phase three of the scale-up of the community-based milling and fortification project in Northern Ghana which is being implemented by the World Food programme as part of the "Tackling Malnutrition in Northern Ghana" project. This training was orgainized for twenty- seven women based groups in ten districts across the three northern regions of Ghana namely Northern, Upper East and Upper West Regions. The CSIR-Food Research Institute was contracted by WFP as part of this project to transfer the technology of flour fortification with micronutrient premix. The main objective of the project is to increase the access and consumption of fortified local cereals at community and household lebels in Ghana thereby promoting in the intake of micronutrients in the three Northern regions of Ghana. A participatory approach was adopted to help the beneficiaries understand and appreciate the intervention to tackle malnutrition in the communities. The following personnel; Community Health Nurses and volunteers, national service personels, officers from DHMTs and Nutrition Officers from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) were present at the training. Generally, the training sessions were successful. The materials and implements used for the fortification process included a hand operated portable batch mixer, a mixing protocol developed into a poster to explain the stepwise blending of micronutrient premix thoroughly into flour to ensure effective fortification. Accessories such as; a plastic basin, a plastic bucket, a wooden ladle, a "koko" bowl and two napkins each were used to help in the fortification