Malnutrition: Agency urges increased investment in food production

The Kaduna State Agricultural Development Agency (KADA) on Thursday called for increased investment in the agricultural sector to address malnutrition.

The KADA General Manager, Dr Abubakar Bayero, made the call when the state’s committee on food and nutrition paid him an advocacy visit in his office.

Bayero, who was represented by the agency’s Director of Agriculture Services, Mrs Jummai Ambi, advised governments and development partners to increase investment in the sector.

According to him, increased investment will ensure food security and improve households’ access to adequate food supply that will improve health and nutrition.

“The millions being spent on treatment of malnourished children should be channeled to KADA to improve food production for households’ food security and livelihoods as preventive measures.

“Beyond increasing investment in the sector, families must be sensitised on backyard gardens and all-year-round agriculture to sustain households’ food supply,” the official said.

Earlier, Mrs Pricilla Dariya, Deputy Director, Development Aid Coordination, Planning and Budget Commission, Kaduna State, who led the delegation, said that the visit was to push for increased investment in nutrition.

Dariya said that the advocacy was supported by Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), UNICEF, Alive and Thrive, Accelerating Nutrition Result in Nigeria and Kaduna State Emergency Nutrition Action Plan (KADENAP).

She said that the state government was investing huge resources to fight malnutrition among women, children and adolescents.

She said that the interventions were being guided by the State Policy on Food and Nutrition and the State Multi-sectoral Strategic Plan of Action on Nutrition (KDMSPAN).

She said that, as a key player in the multi-sectoral intervention, KADA had a critical role to play, particularly on food security, to increase households’ access to quality food supply.

In his remarks, Technical Adviser to KADENAP on Nutrition, Mr Sani Hassan, said that the visit was to solicit for creation of a budget line for nutrition activities in the agency.

Hassan urged the management of KADA to ensure full implementation of nutrition programmes as outlined in KDMSPAN.

“We also want KADA to integrate nutrition messages in sensitisation and awareness creation activities, and create a crèche for working mothers to adequately breastfeed their children.

“We increased working synergy and partnership with KADA to enable the state to achieve the set targets in its food and nutrition policy,” Hassan said.

The Project Manager, KADENAP, Mr Umar Bambale, said that the visit would strengthen working relationship with KADA to facilitate households’ food security and promote good nutrition practice.

Bambale said that creation of a budget line in the agency would provide the needed financial resources to implement planned nutrition activities.

Mr Suleiman Ibrahim of the National Orientation Agency said that the agency would provide community structures across the 23 local government areas of the state to promote good agricultural practices.