The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Ajinomoto Company International have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to increase the nutritional well-being of children in Ghana during the weaning period.

Mr. Tamotsu Iwamoto, Corporate Senior Vice President of Ajinomoto, signed for Ajinnomoto, Mr. Ariel Pablo-Mendez, Assistant Administrator for Bureau for Global Health USAID, signed for USAID and Mr. Jiro signed for JICA.

This was contained in a statement issued on Friday and copied to the Ghana News Agency.

The MOU would also see the production of a new soya bean based nutritional food supplement under the brand name “koko plus” that is fortified with vitamins and essential amino acid (lysine) to increase the body’s ability to better absorb nutrient from food.

The MOU, which was the first partnership between JICA USAID and Ajinnomoto, would serve as a platform on which they would build future public/ private sector activities.

The statement said Ajinomoto, in collaboration with the University of Ghana and a private food company, would produce samples of the “koko plus.”

Ajinnomoto would also provide funding to test a public sector distribution model and evaluate its effectiveness in improving the nutritional status of children.

USAID would provide funding and technical expertise to implement private sector approach to the distribution of “koko plus”, as well as spearhead efforts to evaluate the model and expertise to conduct a study to establish a distribution model for promoting and increasing the usage of the “koko plus.”

According to the statement, JICA would also provide on-going assistance to develop a business model and a business plan for Ajinomoto’s nutritional supplements in Ghana.**