By Florence Afriyie Mensah, GNA
Kumasi, Oct. 06, GNA – The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has hosted a stakeholder workshop aimed at developing a comprehensive National Food Composition Database to help transform Ghana’s nutrition, health and food systems.
The one-day workshop was held under the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) on the theme: “Leading Ghana’s National Food Composition Database: From Sample to Data to Policy”.
Professor Kwadwo Mensah-Darkwa of the Department of Materials Engineering, KNUST, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, said Ghana’s existing food composition tables captured only a limited number of nutrients, with many values derived from foods grown in other countries and under different soil conditions.
“When data is thin or borrowed, standards rest on assumptions; dietary guidance becomes less precise, and producers struggle to prove the value of what they grow,” he said.
Prof Mensah-Darkwa said food quality was linked to how food was produced, explaining that the condition of the soil and environment influenced what ultimately ended up on the plate.
He said the PTFI was helping to bridge the data gap through its Centres of Excellence, where a network of African scientists, including researchers from KNUST, analysed African foods in greater depth.
He called on regulators and policymakers to define the evidence required for standards and reviews and urged the appropriate ministries to provide a national home, sustained policy support, and investment for the database.
He also tasked industry players to identify the data needed to support sourcing, formulation and labelling, while urging researchers to uphold the highest standards to ensure that Ghana’s data gained credibility beyond its borders.
Prof Mensah-Darkwa reaffirmed KNUST’s commitment to building capacity, training the next generation of food scientists and collaborating with relevant institutions to position Ghana as a continental leader in food composition data.
Professor Caleb Frimpong Kesse, Head of the Department of Biochemistry, said Africa was experiencing rapid changes in food systems, driven by population growth, urbanisation, climate change, environmental degradation, changing lifestyles and evolving patterns of food production and consumption.
He said while the changes presented challenges to nutrition and public health, they also offered opportunities for African scientists to generate evidence to support healthier, more sustainable and resilient food systems.
Prof Kesse described the PTFI as an innovative approach that systematically characterised the molecular composition of foods, moving beyond identifying what food was eaten to determining what it actually contained.
He said the approach had enormous potential for Africa because the continent had an exceptional diversity of crops, traditional foods, indigenous food systems and ecological environments that remained insufficiently characterised at the molecular level.
The biochemist called for interdisciplinary collaboration to address the complex relationship between food, health, and the planet.
Professor Charles Apprey, a Professor of Nutrition, emphasised the need for continental learning to develop an African solution to nutritional challenges.
He commended the PTFI Global team and its funders for their commitment to the initiative and belief in its vision.
GNA
Edited by Kwabia Owusu-Mensah/Lydia Kukua Asamoah
Reporter: Florence Afriyie Mensah
Email: [email protected]
06 October 2026
]