UN Food Summit: Ghana to commit to equitable food system

Ghana is set to participate in the United Nations Food (UN) Systems Summit to be convened by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres on September 23, 2021, in New York.

The summit is seen as part of urgent efforts by governments to realize the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

At the summit, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo is expected to make a commitment statement affirming Ghana’s pathways to realizing a transformed, resilient and equitable food system.

A press statement issued by the National Development Planning Commission said the President's commitment "stems from months of dialogues facilitated by the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and the Ministry for Food and Agriculture (MoFA), national co-conveners of Ghana’s food systems dialogues, working in close collaboration with key stakeholders in the Food systems value chain at the community, regional and national level".

The dialogues were held under the theme ‘Developing a Resilient and Equitable Food System for Improved Food and Nutrition Security’ and planned around six action tracks, namely: ensuring access to safe and nutritious food for all; shifting to sustainable consumption patterns; boosting nature-positive production at scale; advancing equitable livelihoods; building resilience to vulnerabilities, shocks and stresses; and making nutrition integral to Universal Health Coverage.

The dialogues provided an opportunity to harness collective ideas and actions to transform Ghana’s Food Systems into a sustainable one, delivering nutritious and healthy diets for all.

More than 130 UN member countries are expected to announce ambitious commitments that will transform the national and global food systems.

The summit which is open to public participation will take place virtually due to the extraordinary circumstances imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.