From R – L: Eléonore Caroit, Deputy of the French National Assembly, Simon Barquera, Director of the Nutrition and Health Research Center at the National Institute of Public Health, Mexico, Ana Maria Suarez Franco, Secretary General, FIAN International , and Amos Laar, Professor of Public Health Nutrition at the University of Ghana.
At the prestigious Nutrition for Growth (N4G) Summit in Paris, Professor Amos Laar of the University of Ghana’s School of Public Health presented Ghana’s innovative approach to reforming food policies, transforming food environments, and addressing the growing burden of obesity and diet-related non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Invited by the Government of France and UNICEF, Professor Laar contributed to three high-level events.
Thus, the Transforming Food Environments for Children, co-hosted by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and French parliamentarians at the Assemblée Nationale (French National Assembly), The N4G Scientific Conference, hosted by CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) and the French Development Agency (AFD) and A Roundtable on Enabling Environments for NCD Prevention, organized by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and WHO.
In each forum, Professor Laar highlighted Ghana’s existing Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax and its bold pursuit of healthier food environments through a suite of double-duty food-based policies. These include front-of-pack nutrition labelling, marketing restrictions, public food procurement standards, and fiscal measures promoting healthy diets.
These policies are anchored by the Ghana Double-Duty Nutrient Profiling System, an initiative spearheaded by the Healthier Diets for Healthy Lives (HD4HL) Project, which he leads.
“The Ghana experience reflects both the promise and complexity of food policy reform. The SSB tax, for example, resulted from years of evidence generation, stakeholder engagement, and coalition advocacy,” Professor Laar noted. “It marks a shift from individual responsibility to structural accountability – recognizing the state’s ethical duty to foster healthier environments.”
He emphasized the pivotal role of civil society coalitions, particularly the Advocacy for Health (A4H) Coalition, which includes the Coalition of Actors for Public Health Advocacy (CAPHA), Ghana NCD Alliance, Ghana Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (GAND), Ghana Public Health Association (GPHA), and the Ghana Medical Association. These groups countered industry narratives and shaped public discourse, with strong political will and partnerships driving policy progress.
Also at the summit, Ghana unveiled its 2025 N4G Commitments – 10 ambitious goals to strengthen climate resilience, food security, nutrition, and public investment. Professor Laar, was commissioned by the Government of Ghana to facilitate the development of the Commitments.
Reflecting on Ghana’s journey, and the role of academics in national policy development, he said:
“This has been a long journey. In 2012, we faced a rude awakening that data poverty and policy inertia needed to be addressed. We spent tens of thousands of hours generating, curating, and strategically sharing evidence. That evidence now informs the current food policy initiatives.
However, he warned of the increasing threat of commercial interference in policy spaces:
“Corporate influence is not just a barrier – it is a structural threat to healthy policy progress. Policy spaces must be protected – not just occupied.