Ten-year-old Eliana Akuka, a Class 5 pupil at Supreme Academy in Zebilla, Upper East Region, speaks with striking clarity about the relationship between nutrition and learning."If we do not eat well, we will be hungry and cannot pay attention or participate in class. Aside from eating, we need a balanced diet to grow better, healthier, and stronger. We are happy about the food the World Food Programme provides to us every day in school."Her words capture, with simple precision, the transformative power of school feeding, and the real, everyday difference it makes in the lives of children across Northern Ghana.Eliana is one of 60,000 learners benefiting from an integrated school feeding programme led by the World Food Programme (WFP) in partnership with the Government of Ghana and supported by the United States Government. Grounded in the principle that sustainable school meals represent a high-return on investment in children, education, and communities, the programme operates across 207 low-fee private schools in Northern Ghana, simultaneously improving nutritional outcomes and expanding access to quality education. The integrated model extends well beyond meal provision. By connecting nutrition, education, agriculture, and social protection, it is designed to deliver broader, long-term development impact,  strengthening food systems, supporting local economies, and improving educational outcomes in some of Ghana's most vulnerable communities.As the current programme cycle approaches its conclusion in June 2026, WFP led a three-day multi-stakeholder field mission to assess impact and explore opportunities for scaling up. The mission brought together representatives from the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the Ministry of Education, and other key partners, and was led by WFP Country Director Ms. Aurore Rusiga and Ghana School Feeding Programme National Coordinator Hajia Fati Forgor.The team conducted visits to six privately run schools across Tamale, Zebilla, and Gambaga, engaging directly with students, school authorities, caterers, and community members involved in programme implementation."We are here to listen to you," Ms. Rusiga remarked during one of the community engagements, underscoring WFP's commitment to local ownership as the programme enters a critical transition period. Across all locations visited, the evidence was consistent and compelling.Education OutcomesSchools reported measurable improvements in enrolment, attendance, and classroom participation. At Oxford Grammar Academy in Tamale, proprietress Madam Cheryl Anayah documented an increase in student enrolment from 175 to 445, a growth she attributes directly to the programme. She noted that parents who previously struggled to provide meals are now confident in sending their children to school, with many accompanying their children to class and thereby improving both attendance and safety.Madam Adisa Alhassan, proprietress of Adi Care Educational Complex in Zebilla, similarly reported significant enrolment growth since the programme's introduction.Health and NutritionThe programme has also produced tangible health benefits. David Aldra Saaka, proprietor of Harvest Community School in Tamale, noted that prior to the programme, cases of diarrhoea were common — a consequence of poorly stored food brought from home or purchased from unregulated vendors. Since the introduction of structured school feeding, such cases have declined significantly. Teachers and parents across all schools visited observed improvements in children's energy levels, general health, and overall wellbeing. Community and Economic BenefitsA consistent message emerged across every community visited: school feeding is easing the financial burden on families while strengthening community engagement with education. The programme's integration with local agriculture and food systems is also contributing to broader economic activity in the regions served.Prospects for Sustainability and ScaleWhile many schools expressed hope of being formally integrated into the mainstream Ghana School Feeding Programme, there are encouraging signs of local ownership and initiative. At Savior Academy in Gambaga, the proprietor, Charles Nyaba Adongo noted plans to convene parents and community leaders to discuss sustaining the programme beyond the current cycle, a reflection of the community-level commitment the programme has fostered.According to Hajia Fati Forgor, National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, the outcomes observed during the mission are encouraging and may contribute to policy considerations for extending school feeding to low-fee private schools at scale. She commended WFP for its sustained commitment to keeping nutrition high on the national development agenda. The Path ForwardThe field mission yielded valuable first-hand insights into the integrated model's performance in practice, highlighting both achievements and areas for continued improvement. It reinforced three critical enablers for impact at scale: sustained and predictable funding, strong multi-sector partnerships, and genuine community engagement. Looking ahead, there is a clear opportunity to embed this integrated model within broader nutrition-focused interventions across sectors, maximizing both impact and scale. The goal remains clear: to expand access so that more children, particularly in vulnerable communities, are consistently fed, healthier, able to learn more effectively, and supported to stay in school.Achieving that goal will require continued investment and strong political will to position school feeding not as a project, but as a core pillar of Ghana's human development agenda.

Along a roadside in Zebilla and Bunkpurugu, a plaque bearing the image of two clasped hands faces the morning traffic. It looks modest against the hills of upper and north-eastern Ghana. Hundreds of kilometres to the west, in Gwollu and Wechiau, a different monument stands in a public square, handed formally to the District Assemblies. Two symbols. Three regions. One commitment.For years, the districts of Bongo, Bawku West, Garu, Bunkpurugu-Nakpanduri, Yunyoo-Nasuan, Chereponi, Wa West and Sissala West lived under the weight of unfinished disputes. Quarrels over land ran on for seasons. Farmers and herders crossed the same fields with narrowed eyes. Women sat through meetings that decided the fate of their households without once being asked to speak. Young men, idle and unheard, gathered at junctions where rumour travelled faster than fact. The geography offered no shelter: these districts sit within a northern corridor exposed to cross-border insecurity, arms movement and the wider instability of the Sahel.Security responses came and went. Curfews were introduced and later eased. The calm that followed was real, but fragile. Something had to enter the story that the story could not produce on its own. In 2023, it did. Through the United Nations Secretary-General's Peacebuilding Fund, UNFPA partnered with UNDP to invest in the capacity of communities across the Upper East, Northeast and Upper West regions to prevent conflict in their own names. The project did not arrive after difficulty. It arrived before it, with training, dialogue platforms, and the steady architecture of early warning.The turning point lay in a single strategic choice. UNFPA ensured peacebuilding was gender-responsive, placing women and young people at the centre of prevention. Chiefs and Queen Mothers were supported as early-warning actors. The Chief of Siisireflected the shift, “We are deeply grateful for the work done over the past two years. We have not abandoned what we have learned and will continue to uphold it. Even though the project has ended, we are committed to living in peace, resolving any future conflicts among ourselves, and promoting unity, joy, and development”. He spoke.Young men, often the first drawn into disputes, were among the first consulted in preventing them. Citizens Complaints Dashboards and community scorecards opened local governance to a level of transparency these districts had not known.The results reached beyond the absence of conflict. A women's leader in Feo observed during the launch of the peace symbol; “Through PBF, women are now invited to participate in decision-making at the community and assembly levels. I would like to assure you that we will continue to live in peace in our communities.”In Bawku West, the District Chief Executive noted. “The peace symbol will continue to serve as a reminder of the importance of maintaining peace in our district."Between December 2025 and February 2026, the peace symbols were unveiled and formally handed to District Assemblies. This is how peace is built. Not through declarations, but through partnership. UNFPA, UNDP, the Peacebuilding Fund, the Regional Coordinating Councils of the Upper East, Northeast and Upper West, the District Assemblies, Youth Harvest Foundation Ghana, ProNet North, traditional authorities, women's groups and young people each carried a share of the work. No single actor could have produced what eight  districts now hold. The return on that partnership is measured in what did not happen: the disagreements that did not grow, the children who stayed in school, the families who were not displaced.Peace is strongest when it is built early, locally and with women and young people at the centre. It is built fastest when governments, UN agencies, donors, traditional institutions and communities invest together, before the headlines, not after them. Fund the partnerships that prevent. Back the coalitions that hold. Inclusion is the infrastructure of peace, and partnership is the architecture that delivers it.  

United Nations experts have raised concerns that Ghana’s current rural transformation efforts, while ambitious, risk sidelining peasants, smallholder farmers, pastoralists, and artisanal fishers, groups they describe as the backbone of the country’s food systems.Presenting their preliminary findings during a press conference held today at the end of a 10-day official visit, the Working Group on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas acknowledged Ghana’s strong human rights framework and its commitment to international conventions, including the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants (UNDROP). However, they noted a persistent gap between legal protections and their implementation on the ground.“Ghana has a robust human rights framework and has demonstrated genuine willingness to engage with its commitments,” the experts said. “However, there remains a significant disconnect between law and practice, with rural communities continuing to face poverty and exclusion.” The Working Group highlighted that current agricultural policies tend to prioritize mechanized, export-oriented models, which often benefit large-scale operations while marginalizing family-based farming systems. This, they warned, risks weakening the country’s food systems rather than strengthening them.Land insecurity also emerged as a major concern. According to the experts, Ghana’s dual land tenure system leaves many rural communities vulnerable to displacement, particularly where access to resources is already limited.Women, youth, and elderly farmers were identified as facing compounded challenges. Despite their critical contributions to agriculture and fisheries, they often lack secure access to land and are excluded from decision-making due to entrenched social norms.The experts further pointed to environmental threats, particularly the growing impact of illegal mining, or galamsey. Described as a rapidly expanding crisis, it is contributing to water pollution, farmland destruction, and widespread contamination that extends beyond mining areas.The Working Group called for stronger political will to bridge policy gaps, ensure inclusive rural development, and fully implement commitments under UNDROP. They emphasized that protecting the rights of rural populations is essential not only for equity, but also for sustainable development and national food security.The findings are expected to inform ongoing policy dialogue and advocacy efforts aimed at strengthening protections for rural communities and ensuring that Ghana’s development trajectory leaves no one behind.Read the full press release issued at the end of the mission's visit.

Efforts to address trafficking and exploitation in Ghana’s sports sector gained momentum through a National Forum on Trafficking in Sports convened by the Government of Ghana, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), on 16 April 2026 under the theme “Play It Safe: Choose the Right Path in Sports.”Bringing together government institutions, law enforcement agencies, sports authorities, development partners, IOM Goodwill Ambassadors and youth representatives, the forum aimed to strengthen coordinated responses to trafficking risks in the sports sector and promote safe, orderly and regular migration pathways for aspiring athletes. “Sports must remain a pathway to opportunity and development, not a channel for exploitation”, said Hon. Kofi Iddie Adams, Minister for Sports and Recreation. “Today is a clear call to action for all of us- government, sports institutions, and partners- to strengthen regulation, promote transparency, and ensure that young Ghanaians can pursue their ambitions safely and through regular pathways”. Human trafficking and exploitation remain significant global concerns, with increasing implications for the sports sector. In Ghana, rising youth interest in pursuing international sports careers, combined with limited access to formal recruitment pathways, has heightened vulnerability. A forthcoming study by IOM and the Ministry of Sports and Recreation found that over 95 per cent of young Ghanaians expressed interest in pursuing sports careers abroad, while more than 30 per cent reported exposure to deceptive offers that led to exploitative situations.The Forum opened discussions on emerging trends at the intersection between trafficking and sports, including the role of informal agents, unlicensed academies, and cyber-enabled recruitment scams linked to major global sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup. Participants highlighted how these evolving risks, combined with increased mobility and demand for opportunities, are creating new pathways for exploitation.As part of the initiative, a dedicated media training held ahead of the forum strengthened the capacity of sports journalists to report accurately, ethically and responsibly on trafficking in sports. The training emphasized survivor-centered reporting and the media’s role in raising awareness and preventing exploitation. In her remarks, Fatou Diallo Ndiaye, IOM Chief of Mission for Ghana highlighted the importance of strengthening trust in migration governance while expanding safe pathways for youth.“IOM is committed to protecting young people by expanding access to safe and regular migration pathways and addressing trafficking risks within emerging sectors such as sports”, she said. “By strengthening evidence, building institutional capacity, and supporting coordinated responses, we are helping ensure that young people can pursue opportunities safely and with dignity.”As global sporting events approach, including the FIFA World Cup 2026, embassies of the host nations in Ghana present at the forum also called for increased vigilance and proactive measures to address emerging risks, particularly cyber-enabled scams targeting aspiring athletes. The forum concluded with a renewed commitment to strengthen collaboration, translate dialogue into action, and reinforce national systems to prevent trafficking in sports, ensuring that the pursuit of opportunity does not come at the cost of dignity, safety, or human rights.The National Forum on Human Trafficking in Sports was supported through the IOM Development Fund project, “Addressing Human Trafficking in Sports in Ghana”.