Some Stakeholders in the nation’s nutrition circle on Thursday advocated increased investment in the country’s nutrition structure to pave the way for its growth.
The stakeholders made the call in Abuja, at the Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) media roundtable on RESET nutrition for Human Capital Development (HCD) in Nigeria.
They said there was the need to drive the goal of RESET to ensure that Nigeria is placed among the countries of the world with HCD advantages.
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The Executive Secretary of CS-SUNN, Mr Sunday Okoronkwo, said that Nigeria is ranked as the second highest in the world with the number of stunted growth children, saying we need to change the narrative.
Represented by Mrs Lilian Okafor, the Communication Officer for CS-SUNN, the Okoronkwo said that Nigeria is not doing enough in the exclusive breast feeding agenda.
“We are not yet where we want to be. We are aiming to move Nigeria towards HCD age, if a child is deficient in nutrition, it will have negative contribution to HCD.
“CS-SUNN, therefore, calls for the need to bring about change in the Nigeria’s nutrition structure.
“We call for more investment in this sector as well as more funding to enable the country meet up with the target of HCD advantages”, Okoronkwo said.
In her goodwill message, Mrs Elizabeth Ugoh, Deputy Director, WASH Tracking and Documentation Department, Ministry of Water Resources, appreciated CS-SUNN for organising the round table.
She said that in recognition of the correlation among water, food and nutrition, the ministry established policies that sought to improve safe water availability and promote sanitation and hygiene.
According to her, this is exemplified by the national WASH action plan, the ongoing Clean Nigeria: Use the Toilet and the campaign against open defecation among and other initiatives.
“These are intended to contribute to good nutrition and improve human capital development. Some of these initiatives are embedded in the multi-sector plan for nutrition which feeds into the government’s broader policy
“It is aimed at improving the well-being of our citizens and invariably the socio-economic capacity of the nation.
“In undertaking these initiatives, the ministry recognised the value of collaboration and coordination and has partnered Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, which coordinates the nutrition sector.
Ugoh, therefore, challenged the media partners to avail themselves of the opportunity to ensure better understanding of the sector and see themselves as important partners in the realisation nutrition policy.
Dr Binyerem Ukaire, Director and Head, Nutrition Division, Federal Ministry of Health, represented by Dr Temidayo Odebunmi, a senior medical officer in the ministry, urged the media to do more for nutrition.
Mr Lawal Babafemi, Assistant Director, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, said the ministry would continue to do its best make available bio fortified food for the nation.
Mrs Chito Nelson, who represented the the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning at the event urged the media to drive the advocacy by placing nutrition issue in the front burner.
She said that government had made a lot of commitment to resolve issues around malnutrition.
“The plan is there for implementation. We will not relent on what we are doing. There is room for improvement, the RESET project is important to national development,” she said. (NAN)
