Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), through The Third-Party Advocacy Campaign (TPAC), has called for legislative agenda to address food system challenges in the country.
The CSO made the call in Lagos on Thursday during the opening of its two-day Legislative Retreat on Food Fortification, Workforce Nutrition, and Food Systems Transformation in Nigeria.
The Executive Director, CISLAC, Mr Auwal Ibrahim Musa said that the discussions at the retreat aimed to identify concrete policy recommendations for actionable steps.
Musa called on the participants to leverage the collective ideas presented to shape a legislative agenda that will address the root causes of food system challenges and poor compliance with food fortification policies.
He added that it would also address workforce nutrition and deliver tangible improvements for all Nigerians.
“There is an urgent need to promote bio-fortification of staple crops like cassava and orange sweet potato with essential vitamins to address deficiencies directly in the food itself.
“Ensuring fortified staples remain culturally acceptable and affordable for low-income populations is crucial as well as requiring sensitivity to taste, price, and traditional food preparation methods.
“Effective quality control systems are needed to ensure consistent nutrient content and consumer safety, and these often require infrastructure and technical expertise ,that promotes adoption of climate-smart technologies, improved seeds, and sustainable practices to enhance productivity and resilience,” he said
According to him, large portion of food production and distribution occurs through informal markets, posing challenges in terms of regulation, food safety, and data collection.
“Women play a key role in agricultural production, processing, and marketing, requiring specific interventions to address their needs and empower them economically,” he added.
Musa appealed to members of the legislature to help, through their oversight and appropriation powers; facilitate the establishment of local premix (fortified blend) production facilities.
He also appealed to them to ensure their affordability and accessibility to food manufacturers.
On his part, the Senior Programme Officer, CISLAC, Mr Muhammed Murtala said that TPAC objectives of the intervention was to advocate budgetary allocation and fund releases for relevant government agencies to ensure efficient monitoring of food fortification by producers.
Murtala said that part of the intervention was to increase compliance to food fortification policy by food producers through improved legislative oversight and supervision of relevant agencies of government ,among others.
He said that expected outcomes would increase compliance to food fortification policy by food producers, improve legislative oversight on relevant agencies of government implementing food fortification policy ,among others.
He said that TPAC, through the advocacy efforts ,sought to contribute towards reduction in malnutrition and macronutrients deficiency,thereby contributing to the realisation of “1dollar economy “by 2026 in Nigeria.
Contributing, the Chairman, House Committee on Food and Drug Administration and Control, Mrs Regina Akume said there was need for food security through nutritional fortification action in order to improve the overall health and economic wellbeing of the Nigerian workforce.
Akume said the development of a robust legislative framework and policy on nutrition fortification of staple foods with essential micronutrients would give the advocacy for food fortification, workforce nutrition and food system transformation a legislative and legal backing.
She said that this would strengthen and ensure institutional and systemic compliance within the three concepts of food fortification, workforce nutrition and sustainable food system in the food industry.
NAN
