The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition to enhance access to safe and nutritious diets in the country.
GAIN Nigeria Country Director, Dr. Michael Ojo, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
He explained that the MoU, which focuses on school children and vulnerable households, seeks to support the effective implementation of the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme initiated by the Federal Government.
Dr. Ojo noted that it would also support other efforts aimed at enhancing access to safe and nutritious diets among children of primary school age children and women from vulnerable households, generally classified as poor and vulnerable.
According to him, the partnership will foster an all-inclusive collaboration to address malnutrition and improve food safety in the country.
He said, “Affordability has been identified as a key factor that limits access to safe and nutritious diets, especially among vulnerable households and low-income consumers.
“Lack of healthier diets leads to increased malnutrition in all its forms, which imposes avoidable development consequences on the nation.
“It stretches the economy and places an additional burden on the individual, household and community safety nets.
“The prevalence of malnutrition in Nigeria goes beyond the ability to purchase food. It is ingrained in those structural, cultural and psychological predispositions that hinder Nigerians from considering nutrition as a priority in light of other challenges.
“With the increasing level of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria, it is expected that malnutrition at all levels will also rise.”
Dr. Ojo said the FG and GAIN are committed to working together to explore other viable opportunities for resources and inputs that would ensure the actualisation of the NHGSFP core objectives.
GAIN is a Swiss-based foundation, launched at the United Nations in 2022 to tackle human suffering caused by malnutrition.
(NAN)
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