On September 7, SPRING/Ghana hosted a Learning and Sharing Event to reflect on the life of the project. Staff shared project successes, lessons learned, and recommendations for moving forward with USAID, Ghanaian officials, and local NGOs.
Read more about the event in our news item.
SPRING developed the District Assessment Tool for Anemia (DATA) to assist countries in strengthening anemia programming at the district level. DATA helps districts determine factors contributing to anemia in their specific setting, identifies enablers and barriers to addressing anemia, and offers guidance for prioritizing interventions and actions to strengthen anemia-related programming.
The first 1,000 days, the period from pregnancy to two years of age, are critical for early childhood development.
SPRING’s work in Ghana (2014–2017) aimed to improve the health of 1,000-day households with pregnant women and/or children under 2 years of age. Using evidence-based practices, SPRING developed a multi-sectoral program to reduce stunting and anemia in 15 districts of the Upper East and Northern regions of Ghana. The project linked the sectors of nutrition, WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene), and agriculture, and employed social and behavior change communication approaches at household, community, and facility levels.
Since 2015, SPRING has worked in Ghana to reduce stunting and anemia among children under 5 and women of reproductive age. We cover 15 districts, 405 communities, and 280 health facilities in the Northern and Upper East Regions of Ghana.
Anemia is a critical health problem in Ghana, affecting 66 percent of children under five and 42 percent of women of reproductive age (GSS, GHS, and ICF International 2014). It has significant adverse effects on the country’s health and economic development. High rates of anemia contribute to increased morbidity and mortality among infants, young children, and women (SPRING and GHS 2016).
On August 21, SPRING/Ghana participated in an event in Kumasi celebrating the launch of new groundnut roasting equipment. SPRING procured this equipment as part of a public-private partnership between USAID and Hershey to help Project Peanut Butter in its work to provide safe, nutritious foods to the children of Ghana.
Read more about the event in our news item.
On August 21, 2017, SPRING participated in an event commemorating the launch of nut roasting equipment in Kumasi, Ghana. This equipment was purchased through SPRING as part of the public-private partnership between USAID and Hershey, to be used by Project Peanut Butter in their work to provide safe, nutritious foods to children in Ghana. The use of the groundnut roasting equipment will contribute to the groundnut value chain in Ghana, help increase the incomes of Ghanaian groundnut farmers, and open a new market for Ghana to export high-quality raw groundnuts.
