The Kaduna State Committee on Food and Nutrition (SCFN) says it will push for higher allocation for Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) in the 2025 budget.
The Chairman of the SCFN, Mr Bashir Muhammad, said this while speaking to newsmen at a two-day second-quarter review and coordination meeting of the committee at the state’s Planning and Budget Commission (PBC) in Kaduna.
The second quarter review and coordination meeting was supported by ‘Alive & Thrive’, a global nutrition initiative for improving the health and well-being of women, children and adolescents.
Muhammad who is also the Permanent Secretary of the PBC, said after the second quarter review meeting, members would look at the challenges.
He said that some MDAs in the state do not have budgetary provisions for nutrition activities.
“We will make those provisions in the nutrition line for MDAs so that for 2025 they can address malnutrition using their budget,” he said.
The chairman said the quarterly meeting focused on updates on MDAs’ nutrition interventions, orienting stakeholders on Multi-Micronutrient Supplements (MMS) and their importance, and fostering partnerships for coordinated scaling-up of nutrition initiatives and reviewing performance management appraisal.
He noted that the committee meets on a quarterly basis with all the stakeholders in Kaduna state to discuss the menace of malnutrition.
He also noted the urgency of addressing malnutrition in the state.
”It is the committee’s collective responsibility to ensure that every citizen, especially vulnerable populations has access to nutritious food and essential healthcare.
Muhammad explained that when the stakeholders meet, they make presentations on the status and implementation of the measures for combating nutrition issues in the state.
He mentioned the issues surrounding malnutrition in the state to include stunting and wasting, among others.
He also explained that when the stakeholders make their presentations, the committee would look into the success stories of achieving targets aimed at reducing malnutrition in the state and then discover the challenges.
Speaking further, he said that the committee would expand its membership to incorporate additional MDAs like the Livestock Regulatory Commission to bolster nutrition efforts.
“When you look at the nutrition space holistically, you will find out that there are other agencies that need to be onboard so that the committee will know what they are doing”.
Muhammad said the committee needs to bring onboard the Livestock Regulatory Commission to tell the committee what they are doing in the state and how each and every agency in the SCFN can collaborate with them to reduce the menace of food and nutrition in the state.
Also speaking, the State Team Lead of Alive & Thrive, Mrs Sarah Kwasu, encouraged citizens to take Multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS).
Kwasu said a single tablet of the MMS contains 11-15 vitamins and minerals that would prevent anaemia for pregnant women and their children.
In a goodwill message, the State Coordinator of Civil Society Scaling up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), Ms Jessica Bartholomew, said the NGO has been supporting the SCFN to conduct advocacies for nutrition financing.
Bartholomew also said that every advocacy on MMS is handled by the CS-SUNN.
She equally said that CS-SUNN engaged with legislators on how they can get support for investment in nutrition.
“CS-SUNN also supported the development of the Kaduna State Multi-Sectoral Development Plan, we are hoping for support to validate it,” she said.
Members of the SCFN include the state’s Ministry of Health, Justice, Human Services and Social Development, agriculture, local government, media, NOA, NAFDAC, state emergency management agency, and the state’s agricultural development agency, among others.
Others are development partners and NGOs which include; Alive & Thrive, CS-SUNN, Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigerian (ANRiN) project, UNICEF, Research for Development, and Muslim World League, among others who were present at the meeting.
The meeting demonstrates Kaduna State’s unwavering commitment to improving nutrition through collaborative efforts, strategic planning, and targeted investments.
NAN
