The Ajinomoto Foundation, with support from Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, CARE and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) – with certification through the World Food Programme (WFP) – initiated the Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project (GNIP) to improve nutrition through KOKO Plus. This programme began in 2009, and is now in its third phase which will include scaling up.
KOKO Plus is a supplement that uses locally grown soybean, combined with protein, amino acid (lysine), sugar, fats and micronutrients, and was co‐developed with local partners. In February 2018, WFP officially registered KOKO Plus as a “Nutritious powder” in its food basket. In this partnership, CARE trains rural mothers as salespeople for KOKO Plus, helping to promote women’s social and economic independence, and GHS nurses recommend the product while educating mothers on nutrition. To make purchasing KOKO Plus convenient for mothers, a market development strategy was employed to ensure that the product was available in shops and kiosks nearby these health facilities. See the programme summary and the KOKO Plus Facebook page for more information.
GNIP was presented at the G20 Ministerial Meeting on Trade and Digital Economy, which was held on 9 June in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan, ahead of the G20 Osaka Summit (see page 61 here: Business and Policy Examples for Sustainable and Inclusive Growth through Trade and Investment).