The Nutrition Component (NC) of the GROWING Project sought to achieve improved nutritional security by changing dietary behaviour and diet quality using locally available nutrient-dense and climate resilient crops. The component adapted a nine (9) module nutrition curriculum and nurtition innovations such as the Healthy Baby Toolkit (HBTK), adapted Goal Card, the Northern Start Diet card and a counseling card. The Healthy Baby Tool Kits (HBTK) includes a demarcated sizeable bowl with a slotted spoon and a counseling card designed to aid pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, and other caregivers, with limited literacy, improve infant and young child feeding practices. The Goal Card is a tool to facilitate GFC couples who attended the nutrition training session to make a joint decision making on which new behavior or practice they learnt from the training to try out when they get back home. Modules being linked to the Goal Card, the approach recognized the importance of engaging men in household dietary practices to enhance the impact on the health of their families. The Ghana Health Service four (4)-Star Diet card which was modified into the Northern Star Diet (NSD) card, with images of familiar crops mostly cultivated and livestock reared in northern Ghana, to guide beneficiary GFC couples on how to select ingredients to prepare a more diversified, balanced family diet. 

The nutrition component is implemented in a strong partnership with the Ghana Health Service (GHS) whereby the Community Health Officers (CHOs) and Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) led the recruitment of households with breastfeeding women with young children under 2 years old or pregnant women. These households are organized into groups of 30 per community to form the Growing Futures Clubs (GFCs). These GFCs receive monthly nutrition training on infant and young child feeding as well as household diet diversity practices using the adult learning approach. Trained CHOs who served as facilitators for the GFCs replicate these training events with GFCs being supported by the district nutrition officers.  

The Generating Revenues & Opportunities for Women to Improve Nutrition in Ghana (GROWING) project is a highly gender transformative project whereby the gender component tries to address the deep-rooted gender and social inequalities that limit women’s economic participation and nutrition outcomes in Northern Ghana. Therefore, the gender transformative approaches aim to: 

• Enhance women’s agency, access, and decision-making power in agriculture, nutrition, andmarket.
• Challenge and transform restrictive gender norms and practices that perpetuate inequality.
• Build inclusive,equitablecommunities where both women and men contribute to and benefit from sustainable livelihoods. 

Through the training of over 388 Gender Champions in 252 communities (194 communities reached so far, the gender dialogues are facilitated on 8 modules to  achieve positive social change. The project has trained and empowered over 1,358 Social Analysis and Action (SAA) committee members to lead gender transformation initiatives within their communities. Regional and district-level stakeholders including chiefs, queen mothers, assembly members, and landowners actively engaged in advocacy and policy dialogue to promote women’s land rights and leadership. Key Innovations and Interventions include the following.  

• Social Analysis and Action (SAA): Participatory, community-led approach enabling reflection and collective action to transform gender and social norms.
• Gender Dialogues: Structured spaces formen and womento discuss sensitive issues around workload sharing, decision-making, and land access for women leading to behavioral change. 
• Gender Champions and Advocates: LocalChampions/influencers promotingequitable practices and sustaining dialogue. 
• Engaging Men and Boys: Involving men and boys as allies in nutrition, climate-smart agriculture, and VSLA initiatives.
• Land Rights and Access Training: Capacity-building for traditional and local authorities to support women’sequitableaccess to productive resources. 
• Integration Across the Project Cycle: Gender mainstreamed in all technical components;agriculture, nutrition, andfinancial inclusion and market systems for synergy and sustainability. 

The Village Savings and Loan Association (VSLA) is a community-based financial model that enhances financial inclusion for rural women and youth who have limited access to formal banking systems. Through self-managed groups, members mobilize savings, access small loans, and manage a social fund to support household needs, enterprise start-ups, and emergencies. 

Aim and Objectives 

The VSLA component aims to strengthen the financial and social resilience of women and youth while improving their capacity to invest in climate-smart and nutrition-sensitive livelihoods. The specific objectives are to:

• Promote regular savings and access to affordable credit for rural households.
• Support women’s economic empowerment and decision-making in financial and household matters.
• Facilitate investment in diversified and sustainable income-generating activities.
• Strengthen the linkages between savings, agriculture, nutrition, and marketing interventions. 

Targets 

The intervention covers six districts across the Northern, Northeast, and Savannah regions of Ghana, with a minimum target of 200 groups. With a current group of 354 formed in 193 communities across the three (3) implementation cycles reaching a total membership of 13,550 individuals (female 8,671, male 4,871). Each VSLA comprises an average of 20–30 members, organized through existing Growing Future Clubs members made up of women’s and men’s groups and farmer associations to ensure ownership and sustainability. 

Key Innovations and Interventions 

• Training of Trainers (ToT): 15 Implementation partner (IP) including WIAD staff as  District officers and 193 Village Agents (VAs) were trained to facilitate VSLA formation, governance, and recordkeeping across project communities.
• Integrated Demonstration Approach: VSLA sessions are linked with nutrition education, financial literacy, and climate-smart agriculture training, reinforcing the project’s multi-sectoral approach.
• Gender-Transformative Facilitation: Group discussions and activities promote shared household responsibilities, equitable decision-making, and leadership opportunities for women. 

Theory of Change / Approach 

The VSLA component is grounded in the belief that financial empowerment drives sustainable improvements in livelihoods and nutrition outcomes. By improving access to savings and credit, women and youth can invest in productive assets, nutrition-sensitive enterprises, and climate-smart agricultural practices. As financial literacy and confidence grow, households become more resilient, food security improves, and communities build stronger social networks for collective action and local market engagement. 

ROWING project has an innovative market linkage design to promote the marketing of nutritious foods ultimately improving the nutritional and financial security. The project identified 12 urban and semi-urban markets that serve the six intervention districts, and the market linkage design was implemented. Therefore, 12 Healthy Food Connectors (HFCs) were recruited, trained and subsidized with Tricycles to link the remote communities with the appropriate markets. Moreover, 12 urban traders were identified and capacitated as Nutritious Food Corp Agents by decorating their workspace, and providing a branded apron, to promote the marketing of the prioritized nutritious crops, receiving products from the HFC to sell. The seven-module marketing training is provided to the GFCs and eventually transform them to Farmer-Based Organization for collective marketing of the nutritious crops. The project supports all the GFCs to be formally registered as FBOs. 

The agro-processing component of the GROWING Project aimed to create market demand for nutritious crops by strengthening Small and Medium-Scale agro-processing enterprises. Building on CIP’s previous experiences of OFSP-based Puree production for baked and fried products, the project undergone participatory puree-based product development. Accordingly, 11 recipes (E.g. bread, donats, koose, chapati, etc.) were successfully developed and tested for their acceptability. These products have improved nutritional value, particularly beta-carotene content, while generating income opportunities for producers, marketers, and processors. So far, 42 GFCs have been capacitated as small-scale agro-processors as they have been provided with manual Puree making and chip cutting machines to stimulate local level marketing of nutritious products. Moreover, 12 district level processors are trained to start processing of OFSP. Moreover, 2 medium-level agro-processors have been identified from Tamale, the major city in the North in a rigorous process. They were supported in the development of a business plan. Therefore, Shekinah Bakery PLC has been supported in the establishment of OFSP puree processing the majority being used for the supply of Golden bread (35% of wheat flour replaced) and the remaining to sell the puree itself. The second medium-scale agro-processor is B-Diet PLC which uses OFSP Puree for biscuits and granola both of which are FDA approved. The agro-processing interventions have increased the demand for OFSP.  

The Project Through community-based agro-processing programs, rural OFSP farmers have gained the skills to operate and manage small food businesses, processing local fried foods such as koose, bofrot, and donut enriched with OFSP. The component also supports medium-scale processing enterprises, providing technical guidance, improved processing tools, and access to consistent OFSP puree supply, enabling larger-scale production of nutritious products such as bread, biscuits, granola, and instant cereals. 

The GROWING project identified small livestock, Cavies (Guinea Pigs) and promoted to improve the household nutrition and women’s income. Cavies were introduced due to their docile nature, little space requirement for rearing, little medication with good hygiene and feeding and as an integration of crop livestock project to improve living standards of rural households. Cavies can provide a regular source of animal protein, Iron, and Vit B12 among others. This is achieved by training of 45 Growing Future Club (GFCs) that are residing in the six project intervention districts using nine training modules and supplying some of the household with cavies which they pass on to other households within their GFC.   

In collaboration with an expert from Cotonu University in Benin, the GROWING project livestock officer was trained on cavy rearing and initially 8 training modules were developed and used to train the district livestock officers and GFCs.  A total of 45 GFCs with total household population of 1362 benefited from the training using the  training modules. Out of the 1362 HHs 208 HHs have been directly benefited from the cavies, this is expected to raise up to 350 HHs by the end of 2025. Through the action research process, an appropriate housing design was developed and well accepted by the GFcs. Moreover, a cavy feed catalogue was developed upon assessment of the potential dry season and wet seasons feeds in Northern Ghana. Mortality has been reduced to less than 9% from the third quarter of 2024, resulting in cavies being acquired locally for redistribution to over 115 HHs in 2025. 100 more HHs are expected to benefit before the end of 2025. It is being widely popularized. The intervention has made cavy rearing as a complement to rural poultry which women can actively rear to improve HH nutrition and improve HH income levels.