Evaluation of an intervention limiting food industry influence on public food policy processes in Ghana

Abstract

This study evaluates the immediate effect of an educational intervention implemented among key policy actors in Ghana. The intervention focused on creating awareness and increasing competencies for countering food industry public food policy dilution strategies. The intervention was evaluated using a before-and-after design, collecting self-reported awareness, appropriateness, competencies, and skill level rating, and using frequencies, percentages, and non-parametric testing (Wilcoxon rank-sum test, with alpha set at 0.05) to report results. Thirty policy actors attended the workshop, but 23 and 17 participated in the evaluation (pre- and post-workshop, respectively). Most (82%) were health experts, with about 48% reporting two decades or more of professional experience. Before the intervention, policy actors reported receiving job offers, promotional material, and sponsored travel from the food industry. After the workshop, policy actors' overall mean appropriateness level rating of such strategies decreased (from 2.60 ± 0.87 to 1.95 ± 0.81; P = 0.013). Policy actors' overall awareness level rating of food industry using such strategies to influence public food policies increased after the workshop (from 4.27 ± 0.55 to 4.38 ± 0.59; P = 0.657). Similarly, their overall mean competencies and skill level rating for recognizing and countering public food policy dilution strategies increased (from 2.70 ± 0.54 to 3.13 ± 0.41; P = 0.012). The findings show the potential of an educational workshop serving as a preemptive intervention to protect public food policies from industry influence, and for such interventions to be incorporated into national food policy development processes.

Keywords: Ghana; awareness raising; conflict of interest; corporate political activity; policy bundle.

Figure 1.

WHO process for risk assessment and decision-making tool. Source: Kraak (2021). Adapted from the WHO’s Risk-Assessment Tool for States to Guide Engagement with Non-State Actors to Address Malnutrition in All Forms.