Bukola Afeni
The Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) and the Nutrition Society of Nigeria (NSN) is calling for the establishment of Nutrition Department for the Coordinating Ministry for Nutrition in Nigeria, which is Ministry of Budget and Planning.
The group made the disclosure at a media roundtable on Establishment of Nutrition Department and its impact on Nutrition Coordination, Funding and Policy Implementation.
The Stakeholders also called for urgent fast tracking of the establishment of Nutrition Department for effective coordination of nutrition program in the country.
“The President should direct the National Council on Nutrition to strengthen Nutrition Governance at all Levels from the Federal to the Sub-national Levels including the implementation of the Presidential Directives on the setting up of Nutrition Departments in all relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies in the country.”
CS-SUNN Steering Committee Co- Chair Mrs. Aji Robinson while representing
CS-SUNN Executive Secretary, Sunday Okoronkwo and Nutrition Society of Nigeria(NSN) President Prof. Wasiu Afolabi , she urged President Tinubu to urgently address malnutrition crisis in the country.
“We want the President to mandate the National Council on Nutrition which is reinaugurated by the Vice President Kashim Shettima , to bring together relevant MDAs and subnational governments to urgently respond to the crisis with appropriate short- and long-term measures.
“They should put in place relevant governance structures for planning, monitoring and oversight.
They should direct the National Council on Nutrition which is the highest decision-making body on Food and Nutrition in the country to properly address the challenges of Food and Nutrition insecurity in the country as is obtainable in other Developing Countries like Nigeria, where a lot of progress has been made in improving nutrition indices”.
The group also called for the recruitment of nutritionist at the different ministries in the country.
While also supporting Nutrition financing Initiatives and also the setting up of a Nutrition Investment Trust Fund.
“We need to sustain emergency food assistance, health and protection assistance to those in most critical need, particularly during the lean season, including new arrivals from hard-to-reach areas, IDPs in camps, and affected host communities”, she said.
Prof Kola Anigo a Lecturer at the University of Abuja also called for timely release of Government allocation for nutrition funding.
In the same vein he added that government should collaborate with private sector to improve nutrition outcomes in the country.
“ The government should not only rely on development partners to address the issue of malnutrition in the country.They should not be afraid to bring the private sector on board, they are very critical to the advancement of the nutrition sector”, he said.
The Project Director of ANRIN Dr Ojuolape Solanke emphasized the need for recruitment and capacity building of nutritionist at different MDAs in the country.
“Capacity development is important in the establishment of MDAs on Nutrition. We need to build the capacity of workers at the middle and upper level through webinars, on the job training and mentoring.