No abstract

Indigenous vegetables (IVs) are rich sources of essential nutrients, particularly vitamins and minerals, and other non-nutritive phytochemicals. IVs play a critical role in the food culture of the Ghanaian people. Despite their importance, they have over the years been mostly associated with the resource-poor. In this study, the types of IVs, preparation preferences, frequency of consumption and some perceived benefits ascribed by some Ghanaian consumers (n = 1393) were investigated in a cross-sectional survey. Descriptive analysis and a chi-square test of independence were conducted to summarise and determine the relationship between gender, age and consumption frequency of the IVs. The study identified okra (Abelmoschus esculentus), cocoyam (Xanthosoma sagittifolium) leaves, jute mallow (Corchorus olitorius) and garden egg (Solanum melongena) as the popular IVs consumed by respondents. Among these, about 13.3% of women and 15.3% of men indicated they consume okra. Eight per cent of the women respondents and 6.7% of the men consumed jute mallow. Almost 57% of the respondents said the IVs were used to prepare stew and soup. More than a third (39%) of the respondents indicated that they consumed the IVs either daily or more than once a week. Women respondents’ frequency of IVs consumption was significantly different [X2 (4, n = 1393) = 30.11, p = 0.000] from the men. The frequency of consumption of IVs for the elderly was significantly higher [X2 (12, n = 1393) = 30.53, p = 0.002] as compared to the younger respondents. The main perceived benefits of IVs were nutrition- and health-related. The major barriers to the consumption of IVs were cost, non-availability, palatability and cultural. The IVs were largely wet-cooked and consumed as stews or sauces and soups. These findings form good bases for further empirical studies on the nutritional and other health-benefiting attributes of the specific IVs found in this study for sustainable promotion and utilisation in Ghana.

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This study looks into national nutrition-related policy documents and A4NH publications considering Nigeria and Bangladesh from a food systems perspective. Its aim is to identify the most important policy topics identified in current p[policies related to nutrition and healthier diets at the national level.The key questions addressed were: 1) What are the critical topics from a food system's [perspective, highlighted in national policies, to be addressed in order to improve food system's outcomes and healthier diets? 2) How do food system related topics relate to the current agendas of existing platform initiatives?The analysis serves to demonstrate which domains of the food system have the emphasis of policy in both countries. For Bangladesh, the study concluded that the documents tend to focus on the food production side as well as the consumer side, alongside market connectivity, improving market infrastructure and reducing price volatility, while the transportation, shortage, processing, and retail functions of a food value chain tend to receive less attention. For Nigeria, the study concluded that there is a clear production issue: insufficient food is produced for national consumption and high postharvest losses are high. This in combination with a growing population and rapid urbanization leads to inequalities between rural and urban areas, between the North and South of the country and between women and men, and the risk of conflict situations put the food system under pressure. The triple burden of nutrition is well recognised, as well as food safety issues. The findings show that in Nigeria the emphasis is on interventions at storage, distribution, processing, retail and marketing level and with interventions directed at the consumer.Finally, the results are compared to the results of the A4NH P4HD Platforms Identification study from 2017, to see how the goals of the platforms identified align with the most important themes at national level. The findings of this study in relation to the Platform identification study indicate that platforms may be more focused on the day-to-day practice and build on historically grown consensus what to address, and not necessarily adopt forward looking current policies.

On the 1st of October 2019 GAIN, jointly with WFP and WCDI, organised a one day workshop for the Sun Business Network in Bangladesh to i) to promote deeper and shared understanding of the pathways for improving nutrition and healthier diets through adopting a food systems lens and to contribute to environmental and social responsibility, and ii) to strengthen the capacity of SBN Bangladesh to understand, strategize and steer action to improve nutrition outcomes through adopting a food systems lens. This report summarizes the results of the presentations provided by GAIN, WFP, Light Castle Partners and WCDI, and the outputs of the group work on food system mapping.