School authorities and students benefiting from the World Food Programme’s (WFP) fortified rice programme in the Ashanti Region say the intervention has recorded impressive results, prompting calls for fortified rice to be adopted as the main type of rice supplied under the school feeding programme due to its nutritional value.
The rice fortification initiative, introduced by the United Nations World Food Programme in both public and private schools, is aimed at tackling persistent micronutrient deficiencies among populations that depend heavily on rice as a staple.
The fortification process involves enriching locally produced Ghanaian rice with essential vitamins and minerals, either during milling or through heat extrusion methods.
The programme is being carried out with financial support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and dsm-firmenich, in partnership with key government institutions such as the Ghana School Feeding Programme under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Ghana Education Service, the Ghana Health Service, and Women in Agriculture Development.
At Ejisu Senior High/Technical School in the Ashanti Region, Headmistress Grace Asamani praised the nutritional benefits of the fortified local rice, explaining that early resistance from students was gradually resolved through sustained sensitisation.
She said students were initially reluctant because the rice was locally produced, but consistent education on its health benefits led to full acceptance. Madam Asamani recalled that when the school was responsible for procuring its own food items, it purchased fortified local rice from a WFP-accredited supplier.
She noted, however, that with the introduction of centralised government supply of rice, the school no longer controls its procurement.
Madam Asamani stressed that the school would prefer fortified rice over the regular rice currently supplied, describing it as nutritionally superior to ordinary rice, which lacks essential micronutrients.
According to her, “Our local rice has a lot of benefits so I would say that if we adopt it will help us because if you look at the nutritional value and other things that are related to it I think it will help especially with regards to the nutrition of students so it’s a good thing for us to eat what we grow in Ghana.”
Students Owusu Edna Beauty and Adjei Kwame Christian also endorsed the initiative, noting that eating fortified rice helps them stay healthy and concentrate better on their academic work.
Speaking on the regional impact of the programme, the Ashanti Regional School Health Education Coordinator, Reverend Emmanuel Addo, said many schools across the region had benefited, with noticeable improvements in student health.
He revealed that since the introduction of fortified rice, diet-related anaemia among students had significantly declined, with no recent cases recorded in beneficiary schools.
Reverend Addo added that the gains of the programme were being reinforced by other nutrition-friendly activities, including designated days for fruit and vegetable consumption, which have further enhanced overall nutrition in schools.
According to Rev Addo, “cases of anaemia among students have reduced since the programme began, and nutrition-friendly activities have been introduced in schools. Government should fortify and polish local rice supplied to schools to ensure students receive the nutrients they need while promoting what Ghana produces.”
He therefore called on the government to fully incorporate food fortification into its supply interventions under the Ghana School Feeding Programme.
At the national level, the World Food Programme indicated that the fortified rice initiative targets 157,510 students in public schools, comprising over 111,000 pupils in basic schools and more than 46,000 students in senior high schools.
During the pilot phase, WFP worked with the Ghana Education Service and the Ghana School Feeding Programme to select 365 basic schools and 35 senior high schools across 12 districts in six regions, namely Ashanti, Upper East, Upper West, Northern, Oti and Greater Accra.
To promote sustainability and strengthen local production, WFP invested in rice fortification capacity by supplying and installing fortification equipment worth more than 80,000 US dollars for rice millers, including Franco Food Processing and Farms in the Ashanti Region.
The programme also provided over 60 metric tonnes of fortified rice kernels to support production for school feeding.
In 2025, rice millers in the Ashanti and Upper East Regions supplied more than 170 metric tonnes of fortified rice to selected senior high schools, with additional production ongoing for private schools and vulnerable groups such as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The initiative has further been extended to low-fee-paying private schools in deprived communities, reaching close to 59,000 pupils and contributing to increased school enrolment.
While stakeholders continue to promote the consumption of locally produced fortified rice, they have appealed to local rice processors and farmers to improve processing standards, particularly in removing stones and husks, which remain a major challenge.
The World Food Programme and its partners say the fortified rice initiative demonstrates strong potential to improve child nutrition, boost learning outcomes and strengthen local food systems, as discussions continue on expanding the programme and making fortified rice a standard component of school feeding nationwide.
Source: CNR
