FG Unveils Youth-Focused Nutrition Plan

The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (FMAFS), Dr. Marcus Ogunbiyi on Sunday spotlighted Nigeria’s growing crisis of malnutrition and food insecurity, stressing the urgency of coordinated national interventions.

This comes as the Ministry, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and other development partners, flagged off the implementation of the “Nourishing Nigeria” project through a workshop held in Abuja.

Represented by the Director of Agriculture Lands and Climate Change Management Services, Mr. Oshadiya Olanipeku, the permanent secretary noted malnutrition as not just a lack of food but a deficiency in the quality and nutritional value of what people eat.

The deficiency is noted to manifest in three stages which include undernutrition (such as stunting, wasting, and being underweight), micronutrient deficiencies (like anaemia), and overnutrition (such as obesity).

Ogunbiyi highlighted that “approximately 79 per cent of Nigerian households experience food insecurity”.

The challenge of malnutrition in Nigeria is further compounded by disparities in access to nutritious foods, limited awareness of healthy diets, and the economic inability of many households to diversify their meals.

These challenges, Ogunbiyi noted, often force families to resort to less nutritious options, leading to serious health outcomes, especially for children, adolescents, women of reproductive age, and pregnant women.

He said, “This situation exacerbates malnutrition, including micronutrient deficiencies, with anaemia affecting 30.5 per cent of young children, 20.3 per cent of adolescent girls, 23.3 per cent of women of reproductive age, and 31.5 per cent of pregnant women”.

Despite the intentions of “Nourishing Nigeria,” some concerns have been raised over perceived bias in project’s implementation plan.

Criticism emerged that certain regions or stakeholders were being favoured, either in resource allocation or participation.

Although the report did not directly address the details of these accusations, the Ministry’s emphasis on inclusivity and technical alignment suggests an attempt to reassure the public of the project’s fairness and broad-based impact.

These concerns likely stemmed from previous efforts that lacked clear benchmarks for participation, leading to unequal outcomes across different states.

As a result, the Ministry and its partners have taken deliberate steps to redefine the project’s structure to avoid past pitfalls.

To benefit from the project, states are required to meet a set of criteria that include the “establishment of Junior Farmer Field and Business Schools to train young farmers, commitment to nutrition-sensitive agricultural practices, and the development of state-level policy and legal frameworks that support food and nutrition security”.

According to Ogunbiyi, “the efforts will align with Nigeria’s food systems transformation agenda which seeks to boost dietary diversity and sustainable food security, targeting significant reduction in malnutrition”.

The ministry subsequently encouraged homestead gardening and the distribution of nutrition input packs to vulnerable households to support self-sustained access to bio-fortified crops, fruits, and vegetables.

As part of a broader solution, the Director of Food and Nutrition Safety, Nuhu Adamu Kilishi, called for a “multifaceted approach” that brings together agriculture, health, and other sectors to comprehensively tackle the root causes of malnutrition.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the House Committee on Food and Nutrition, Hon. John Chike Okafor, lauded the initiative as timely, stating that it aligns with the legislature’s goal of supporting the executive arm in the fight against malnutrition and food insecurity.

FAO’s Country Representative, Dominique Koffy Kouacou represented by Programme Officer Tofiq Braimag, emphasized that the technical cooperation programme would integrate “nutrition-sensitive approaches into agricultural planning, implementation and policy.”

Representatives of UNICEF, the World Food Programme, state-level officials, and other development partners were present, signalling a strong multi-stakeholder commitment to addressing one of Nigeria’s most pressing public health challenges, the statement by the FMAFS Principal Information Officer Obe M. Mabel said.

FG Unveils Youth-Focused Nutrition Plan is first published on The Whistler Newspaper