Ghana is ranked one hundred and thirty in the 2020 World Bank Human Capital Index.

The country made little gains in the index which has been extended to cover 174 countries.

According to the report, the government used data to effectively re-target school feeding efforts under the Ghana School Feeding Program (GSFP) after it found that the targeted population was not being reached. 

However, more need to be done to improve its rankings.

The nation fared better than South Africa and Nigeria.

Data from the national poverty statistics and food security and vulnerability analysis were combined to improve targeting and reduce leakages.

The country’s progress in decreasing impediments has also been largely due to the multi-sectoral approach taken by policy makers.

For example, the Ghana School Feeding Programme links school feeding programmes with agriculture development, especially smallholder production, therefore helping to create new markets for locally grown food. The programme spans three different sectors—agriculture, education, and health.

Also, the report revealed that initiatives aimed at improving water, sanitation and hygiene in schools have helped to increase access to water and sanitation, which is a proven factor in improving health and education indicators.

The Human Capital Index index captures the size of the income gains when today’s better-educated and healthier children become tomorrow’s more productive workers.

An economy in which a child born today can expect to achieve complete education and full health will score a value of 1 on the index.

Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Canada were the top five ranked countries in the Human Capital Index.

Seychelles was the highest ranked country on the African continent.