Growing Healthy Food & Healthy Children in Ghana

Elizabeth, a mother of two from the village of Beposo in southern Ghana, joined Self-Help's “Growing Healthy Food, Growing Healthy Children (GHFGHC)” maternal-child nutrition program when it first launched in 2018. Although she knew it was for children under the age of two and that her 18-month-old son, Derrick, would soon age out of the program, she was committed to learning as much as she could about proper nutrition to ensure a healthy diet for her children.

“I was very determined to improve both my life and the life of my kids,” Elizabeth shared, reflecting on the reason she became involved with the GHFGHC program.

By participating regularly in weekly training sessions, Elizabeth learned from Self-Help's trainers about the importance of Vitamin A in children’s diets, and during the minor rainy season, July - mid-October, she observed other mothers in the program growing orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP). The vines were in short supply, so she was among the second group to be able to access the vines to grow OFSP on her own farm.

Difficult First Steps

Elizabeth received her vines at the start of the dry season and was not be able to rely on rain water to grow her crops; instead, she had to transport water from a local river or stream by walking two-thirds of a mile each way from her farm to the river and carrying the heavy load of water back to her farm. Because of the difficulties transporting water, Elizabeth did not initially intend to plant any crops during the dry season; but after learning about the benefits of OFSP and receiving starter vines from Self-Help, she decided she would take on the challenge.

“Self-Help taught us mothers how to cultivate OFSP and supplied us with the vines to begin growing it. I was not sure this new crop was going to do well,” Elizabeth said. “We were told it needed water, especially during the first two weeks after cultivation. It was nearly the end of the rainy season when we learned this, and the rains had almost stopped coming in Beposo. I decided to give it a try anyway, and I dedicated time to watering my crop.”

Luckily, Elizabeth’s tireless efforts paid off.

“My dedication was not in vain because I have reaped the fruits of my labour. The crop did very well, and I started harvesting late December 2018,” Elizabeth said.

The Importance of Education

Providing education to increase knowledge is central to all of the programs at Self-Help International. Self-Help is constantly seeking ways to equip clients and partners with accurate and relevant information to help them make sound decisions to improve their lives. It is vital that the new information is able to be integrated in to the daily lives of Self-Help participants.

“Self-Help also taught us some OFSP recipes as hands-on practical training, so I already knew how to use the tubers before the crop was even ready for harvest,” Elizabeth shared. “My family really loves all the dishes prepared from OFSP, and  my little boy really loves the chips and the OFSP leaves sauce.”

Reaping the Benefits

Elizabeth’s vines have continued to grow and are even extending into neighboring farms. She plans to cut some of her vines and share them with other mothers in the program and community members so they can also grow OFSP. She is continuing to share the benefits of her education and the OFSP itself.

“I am not the only one enjoying this harvest,” Elizabeth said. “I have given some to the other mothers who are part of the GHFGHC program to cook for their families.”

“As the popular saying goes ‘sharing is caring,’ and I strongly believe this is the reason why Self-Help supporters are also sharing with us: to make it possible for us to live a life with dignity. A very big thank you to all of Self-Help’s supporters. Your gifts are really going a long way to help us and our children,” Elizabeth added.

Elizabeth is an exemplary leader, both as a farmer and as a mother concerned with her children's health. While her son, Derrick, has now aged out of the intensive first 1,000 days intervention, Elizabeth and Derrick still regularly attend training sessions, which are free to all of the community, so she can continue to learn about new ways to support her two children at home.

From April 8-12, GlobalGiving will match donations of up to $50 to Self-Help's projects at 50%! That means that by making a donation of $40 today, GlobalGiving will give an additional $20, so you can sponsor three months of nutrition intervention for a mother and her baby! Read complete terms and conditions here.

Links:

• About the GHFGHC program
• Update on GHFGHC

It is often sad to see malnourished women and their children in our rural communities. The question that comes to mind is: why are these communities that produce food for people in the urban areas malnourished? Could this be attributed to inadequate knowledge about food preparation methods or food distribution in the households?

This is the situation in the village of Beposo, Ghana and Akosua, a 20-year-old mother of one, told Self-Help staff in Ghana how she’s starting to address this issue.  Akosua joined the Growing Healthy Food, Growing Healthy Children (GHFGHC) program last year.

“I got pregnant again when Lapope, my daughter, was 12 months old, and this compelled me to stop breastfeeding her. I realized my daughter was losing weight, but I didn’t know what to do because accessing food had always been a challenge for my family,” Akosua said.  “‘Diversified meal’ was not in our dictionary - the only food in our diet was akple, a dish made from corn flour and grinded pepper, and sometimes ayoyo, a green leafy vegetable soup. Any leftover akple would be mashed with sugar for breakfast and sometimes lunch.”

“My family depended on this for survival for many years until, one day, a friend told me about Self-Help International and its program,” Akosua said.  “Although I registered with the program as an expectant mother, I attended meetings with my 19-month-old daughter. The moment the nutrition officer saw my girl, he noticed she was malnourished and registered her into the program as well.

“My girl and I were supplied with a food supplement called Tom Brown, which is a mixture of Quality Protein Maize (QPM), ground nuts, and water. Upon further nutritional analysis of my girl and me, we were given eggs to help improve both our macro and micro nutrient status”.

Lapope was further supplied with Ready to Use Therapeutic Foods (RUTF) by Self-Help to help her catch up with her growth, after she had been confirmed by a medical officer that she had no medical condition.

Akosua told Self-Help, “With these food supplements, my girl is now growing well and I can confidently say my unborn child will be born healthy.  I cannot say my household is completely food secure, but one thing I know is: the headache of not knowing what to eat for breakfast is now a thing of the past.  Many women from Beposo have benefited from this program - my family and I have been saved by this program”.

More importantly, Akosua and 69 other women from Beposo and surrounding areas have received the knowledge and skills to grow QPM, a vital component in the Tom Brown supplement.  With the onset of rains in March 2019, they are going to receive fertilizers, seeds, and herbicides to grow their own QPM and other nutritious crops such as orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) to feed their family and ensure a healthy community full of strong and energetic children to help realize the dreams of Ghana.

Links:

• Progress Report: Growing Healthy Food, Growing Healthy Children
• No More Stunting in Beposo