Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana Program schooled Agbogbloshie market traders on food safety

The Focal Person of the Ministry of Local Government in charge of the Modernizing Agriculture (MAG) Program in Ghana, Madam Irene Afriyie Agyeman has cautioned the Ghanaian public against the intake of unwholesome food items in order to always remain strong and healthy.

According to her, the consumption of such food items are inimical to good health and wellbeing and equally has the tendency to erode the gains the country has made so far towards the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 3.

“My advice is that let us always be mindful of what we eat in order to be strong and healthy”.

“There’s a saying which goes: “You’re what you eat, so if you eat junk, you’ll fall sick, so let’s endeavor to prioritize what we consume always”.

Madam Irene Ekua Agyeman made this remark in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a food safety awareness campaign conducted by her outfit at the Agbogbloshie market on Thursday December 2, 2021.

The exercise, she indicated, was aimed at raising awareness on the need to ensure cleanliness and proper handling of food within market places in the country.

At the Agbogbloshie market, a team of campaigners vigorously engaged various traders to create awareness on the need to always ensure a clean environment coupled with adherence to the food safety regulations within market places in the country.

Some campaigners, amidst playing jingles, paraded the entire market square with placards in their hands with inscriptions encapsulated education on food safety and health practices.

Some inscriptions read: “Safe food now for a healthy tomorrow”, “always use clean water for cooking” “Let’s keep our market clean”, “cover all foods to prevent contamination” and “Don’t eat moldy foods, they can be toxic” among others.

Addressing the traders, Mad. Irene Ekua Agyeman hinted that food safety is everybody’s business therefore they should all be concerned and insist that they comply strictly with food safety regulations and ensure others do the same.  

The campaign team led by the Mad. Agyeman also distributed educational flyers containing food safety fact sheets among the traders to always keep them informed and reminded about the benefits of maintaining good hygiene and food safety measures within the market places.

The event which came on the theme:”Safe food now for a healthy tommorrow” was crowned with a free health screening exercise which witnessed the market traders, shoppers including members of the general public trooping in their numbers to have their bodies screened of malaria and HIV/AIDS.

The Modernizing Agriculture in Ghana (MAG) Program is an initiative of the Ministry of Local Government under the Decentralization and Rural Development Department with the funding support from the Government of Canada.  

The project provides direct funding to the Government of Ghana to improve food security and make the agriculture sector more modern, equitable and sustainable.

Some other key stakeholders/partners whose contributions equally made the program successful include the Ghana Tourism Authority, Food and Drugs Authority, Ghana Private Road Transport Union, and the Agbogbloshie Market Women’s Associations among others.

 Source:Joseph Wemakor|electionsinghana.com