The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) to enhance access to safe and nutritious diets in the country.
Dr Michael Ojo, GAIN Nigeria Country Director, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja.
He said 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 (NHGSFP) of the Federal Government.
Ojo added that it would also support other efforts aimed at enhancing access to safe and nutritious diets among 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 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 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 the light of other challenges.
“With the increasing level of multidimensional poverty in Nigeria, it is expected that malnutrition at all levels will also rise.”
Ojo added that the Federal Government and GAIN are committed to working together to explore other viable opportunities for resources and inputs that would ensure actualization 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.
