Less than five per cent of adult Ghanaians consume adequate amounts of fruits and vegetables, a study has revealed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends at least 400 grammes of fruits and vegetables per person daily, but the required amount also depends on one’s age and gender.
Study
A 2021 study of fruits and vegetables consumption rates in African countries by the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI) based in Basel, Switzerland, showed that Tunisia was the biggest consumer of vegetables per capita in Africa, consuming 250 kilogrammes (kg) of fruits and vegetables per individual per year, followed by Algeria with 193kg per individual per year, while Egypt stayed in third place with 157kg of fruit and vegetable consumption per individual per year.
Ghana, a country that abounds with natural fruits and vegetables, ranked lowest in West Africa in terms of fruit and vegetable consumption patterns among adolescents.
The study showed that only 27.1 per cent of the adolescent population in the country consumes the recommended number of fruits and vegetables per day, leaving Ghana in last place among five specific countries.
Kenya came first with 84 per cent fruit consumption among its adolescent populace, followed by Uganda with 87 per cent, Nigeria with 73 per cent, South Africa with 68 per cent, and Ghana in fifth place with a distant 27.1 per cent.
On the correlation between low fruit and vegetable consumption and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), the study showed that Ghana had 45 per cent of all deaths related to NCDs.
Kenya had 27 per cent of its deaths related to NCDs, Uganda had 27 per cent, Nigeria had 29 per cent, and South Africa had 17.6 per cent.
Consuming vegetables and fruits in acceptable quantities has been found to prevent NCDs such as heart diseases, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer and gastrointestinal infections, among others.
In September 2024, the WHO and Ghana’s Ministry of Health identified that unhealthy diets, characterised by the low intake of fruits and vegetables and the high consumption of processed foods, were increasingly contributing to NCDs in the country.
The World Bank in 2024 also reported that by 2030, nearly 46 per cent of all deaths globally for all ages will be due to NCDs, with 41 per cent accounting for deaths among all ages between 15 and 59 years.
Symposium
At a symposium by the Communication Initiatives for Change (CIC), Ghana, under its Meatless Monday initiative during the West African Food Festival (WAFEST) 2025, organised in Accra by the Chefs Association of Ghana, the Executive Director of CIC, Emmanuel Fiagbey, made all these known, saying NCDs remained a danger to health globally.
The festival brought together chefs from five African countries-- Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Eswatini-- with a plant-based cooking contest which saw Eswatini come first, followed by Ghana and then The Gambia.
According to him, NCDs remained the leading cause of deaths and disability globally, causing approximately 71 per cent of all deaths or deaths of 41 million people annually.
He called on people to adopt the Meatless Monday initiative, saying fruit and vegetable consumption was an important source of nutrients for healthy growth and development as well as a protective factor against NCDs.
He gave the five benefits of Meatless Monday as reduced heart disease and stroke, lower cancer risk, preventing diabetes, preventing obesity and reducing carbon footprint.
A nutritionist and dietician, Wise Letsa, who took the participants through “Practising Meatless Monday: Plant-based foods as appropriate alternatives for sustaining healthy eating”, called on the participants, who were mostly chefs, to ensure that they introduce plant-based diets into their menus for the benefit of their clients.
The National Secretary of the Chefs Association of Ghana, Peter Agbovi, who spoke on “Critical challenges to increased adoption and marketing of plant-based menus — the way forward”, called on the chefs to be innovative when introducing plant-based food on their menus for easy adoption by their consumers.
Writer’s email: rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh
