Public Agenda (Accra)
16 March 2009
Accra — The Network of Associations of Registered NGOs in Ghana, has called on government to develop a national diet plan to regulate food consumption in the country.
It also asked government to include the use of moringa products in the School Feeding Programme to provide the needed food supplements that would forestall malnutrition in children.
Mr Kofi Lucas, President of the Network, made the call in Accra at a seminar organized by the Network in collaboration with North Kaneshie
Assemblies of God Church to educate churches, schools and the general public on the benefits of the moringa plant.
He said as practiced in other countries, there was the need for Ghana to have a diet plan that would state what and how food should be grown, prepared and served both in homes and public places without compromising their nutritional value.
Mr Lucas said the open system the country was operating was therefore not encouraging and expressed the hope that discussions with the Ministry of Health and Education would yield positive results, to have the plan ready by the end of the year.
Touching on the benefits of the moringa plant, Mr Benedict Kyei, Moringa Consultant for the United Methodist on Committee and Relief said the moringa leaves prevented over 300 diseases and had high nutritional values.
He said the plant which was first introduced in Ghana by missionaries in the Volta Region, had seven times the value of vitamin C in oranges, four times vitamin A in carrots, four times the calcium in milk, three times the potassium in banana and contained very high protein.
Mr Kyei said it was unfortunate that only the moringa leaves had been promoted as containing all the medicinal potency, although every part of the plant had equally good benefits.
He noted that the Moringa Association of Ghana was also very unhappy with the way the plant was being processed and sold in the market and pointed out that it looses its potency when exposed to sunshine, boiled for longer period or not processed well.
He advised the public to use the moringa plant to prevent chronic conditions such as high and low blood pressure, diabetes, migraines and asthma. GNA
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