Nestle Ghana and the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to promote nutrition knowledge among Ghanaians.
The partnership, a special award category, has been instituted for the 2019 annual GJA awards where Nestle Ghana would give an amount of GH¢5, 000.00 as prize for best nutrition story.
As part of the agreement, journalists would also benefit from capacity building workshops in nutrition to spur their interest in reporting on nutrition related issues.
At the signing ceremony in Accra yesterday, Managing Director of Nestle Ghana, Philomena Tan, said nutrition played a pivotal role in the development and growth of economies as the health and well-being of people was a major contributory factor.
“It is important to acknowledge that the health and well-being of a people contribute strongly to growth and development of economies around the world. Through nutrition education, we can help to create a better future for our children,” she added.
She was of the conviction that through proper nutrition education, the future of children in Ghana would be more secure.
Ms Tan reiterated Nestle’s commitment to helping 50million children lead healthier lives by 2030 and cited the partnership with GJA as one of the company’s initiatives in that direction.
President of the GJA, Mr Affail Roland Monney, expressed gratitude to Nestle for the initiative and urged journalists to take advantage of the opportunity and do more compelling stories to encourage members of the public to eat well.
“Malnutrition is a contributor to most diseases in Ghana so let us advocate proper nutrition,” he advised.
He expressed worry about malnourishment, especially among children adding that “it does not take rocket science or a deep pocket to provide a balanced diet because there are relatively cheap sources of proteins and vitamins across the country.”
Mr Monney commended Nestle for championing nutrition education and prioritising the health needs of the public, especially children.
Eating nutritious food, he said improved health, promotes long life and saves money.
BY RAISSA SAMBOU
