President of the Paediatric Society of Ghana, Dr. Hilda Mantebea Boye, has urged Ghanaians to brand and market local foods, in order to improve the country's food security and promote healthy eating habits amongst children.

According to her, promoting local foods is not only important for improving food security and encouraging healthy eating habits but also for boosting the economy.

She suggested that local foods should be branded and marketed in a way that makes them more appealing to children.

“We need to actively try and project our local foods because they are healthy. We have all the vegetables, we have all the fruits. It doesn’t have to be something imported before it is good enough for the children.”

Speaking on JoyNews, Dr. Boye pointed out the need to preserve fruits and vegetables when they are in season, to prevent food waste.

She stated that strong leadership is crucial for driving these changes and ensuring that children have access to healthy, local foods.

“Every year we have so much tomatoes, some going rotten. We have so much pineapple. You know that fruits come in season. Out there, they will be thinking about how to preserve these to be able to be available all year round.”

Dr. Boye mentioned that, if children are well nourished, they are able to build their immunity and less likely to die from infections.