@article{Aryeetey:334022,
      recid = {334022},
      author = {Aryeetey, Richmond Nii Okai and Ramos, Ana Islas},
      title = {Process and lessons learned in the development of  food-based dietary guidelines in Ghana},
      journal = {African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and  Development},
      address = {2022},
      year = {2022},
      abstract = {Food-based dietary guidelines (FBDGs) are used, globally,  as a tool for promoting awareness of healthy diets and,  thereby, to improve dietary behaviour. It is also used as a  policy framework for creating a health-promoting food  environment. In sub-Saharan Africa, only a few countries  have developed FBDGs. In 2016, Ghana commenced the process  for developing a national FBDG. Four years down the line,  significant progress has been achieved towards developing  dietary guidelines for persons living in Ghana. The process  for developing Ghana's FBDGs has, generally, follow the  plan proposed by the 1998 FAO/WO consultative meeting on  development of FBDGs, but with minor deviations. These  deviations have been occasioned by the need to adapt the  process to accommodate context-relevant circumstances  relating to local capacity and financial resources  constraints. The first step in developing Ghana’s FBDGs was  to set up a national Multisectoral Technical Task Team  (MTTT) under the policy direction of the Ministry of Food  and Agriculture. Thereafter, an evidence review exercise  was carried out, involving systematic review of existing  literature, complemented by primary data collection, all  aimed at understanding the priority foods, nutrition and  health issues to be addressed by recommendations in the  FBDGs. The key issues identified in the evidence review  were validated by the MTTT and subsequently prioritized  using an online survey, as well as a prioritization  workshop that convened key stakeholders in nutrition and  health in Ghana. Subsequently, the priority issues served  as the basis for the crafting of technical recommendations.  The aim of this paper is to describe the processes, people,  data, and resources that have facilitated progress towards  development of Ghana’s FBDGs. The challenges, and  limitations of the process, as well as the solutions that  have been employed to overcome them, have also been  highlighted here. For the benefit of future FBDGs  development in Ghana and elsewhere, the key lessons that  have been learned in the development of Ghana’s FBDGs have  been presented, including lessons on political will,  planning and time management, resources, capacity  development, and multi-sectoral action.},
      url = {http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/334022},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.18697/ajfand.107.21830},
}