In recognition of the role of women in the Home-Grown School Feeding (HGSF) Programme and as part of celebrating the International Women’s Day on 8th March 2023, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), in collaboration with the Ghana School Feeding Programme (GSFP) Secretariat and the World Food Programme held a capacity building training for women in the HGSF Programme to equip them with innovative tools to build their digital capacity and promote their leadership skills.

The training, held on the land of the African Union Champion for Gender and Development Issues, H.E Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, President of the Republic of Ghana, provided an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of the women enrolled in the HGSF programme towards alleviating hunger, supporting school attendance and enrolment, reducing dropout rates, and ensuring that children learn and perform better in school. In addition, through the purchase and use of locally and domestically produced food, the training also demonstrated how the programme benefits local farmers, caterers, among other agents of the community to foster local economic growth and advance grassroot development.

Considering the theme of the International Women’s Day chosen by the United Nations “DigitALL: innovation and technology for Gender equality”, innovative technologies are needed and crucial to reinforce the school feeding programme in Africa. A country such as Ghana developed its school feeding programme as a strategy to improve education, boost local economies and smallholder agriculture, while also advancing attainment of the CAADP Malabo Commitments (2025), the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals SDGs (2030), and the African Union Agenda 2063.

Speaking at the event, on behalf of Mrs Nardos Bekele-Thomas, Chief Executive Officer of AUDA-NEPAD, Mrs Jessica Annor, Head of Gender, expressed her gratitude to the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, the Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat and all partners for supporting and empowering communities with innovative tools through the HGSF Programme. She emphasized the need to be on women’s side by supporting them, individualising them, discussing with them and Elevating our collective knowledge of the daily challenges they face in order to become true champions of gender equality.

The celebration also drew participation of the Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection of the Republic of Ghana, H.E. Francisca Oteng Mensah who encouraged Women to keep pushing [for the better] and use the skills women learnt from the event to enhance themselves and others. The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) represented by the Director for Women in Agricultural Development, Dr. Paulina Addy called attention to the need to provide food for children and prevent chronic undernutrition. Dr. Addy further urged the audience to take advantage of the abundance of food in season to preserve it for future utilisation. The Ghana School Feeding Programme Secretariat, represented by its Deputy National Coordinator Mr. Kojo Abbass Acquah, underscored the many successes that the HGSF Programme brings including educational and health and its contribution to improving domestic food production by creating a structured and stable market. HarvestPlus Nigeria represented by its Country Manager Mr. Yusuf Dollah Fou’ad stressed the importance of healthy diets to nourish the body and the need to produce bio-fortified crops that can help to alleviate hidden hunger whose effects are irreversible. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Day Organization (WEDO) represented by its West Africa Regional Ambassador Ms. Toyin Dania informed the audience of her ongoing work with vulnerable mothers and children, training them in vocational and entrepreneurial skills. Food4AllAfrica, a non-profit organisation represented by its Client Service Officer Ms. Randa Ekuban explained their work of supporting school feeding by distributing lunch boxes (hot meals) to school children, providing vocational training on safe and hygiene environments to teachers and caterers as well as renovating and building kitchens and installing kitchen equipment.

The women cooks and the caterers were trained in the use of the School Meal Planner (SMP) a digital tool aiming to improve the quality and nutritional value of school menus. The training included the use of local nutritious ingredients such as soya and biofortified cassava to meet the daily dietary intake of the school going children. Additionally, the use of handy measures tools was demonstrated to the cooks to allow for reduction of food waste by measuring the right quantity of food when preparing school meals.  These activities preceded the exchange of best practices on Home Grown School Feeding (HGSF) programme between the HGSF teams from Ghana and from Nigeria under the leadership of Mrs. Kefilwe Moalosi, Head of Nutrition, AUDA-NEPAD. Both teams shared their experiences and successful practices of designing and implementing a comprehensive HGSF programme.