FG needs to stop talking and invest in nutrition – Finance minister

Finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, says Nigeria must stop talking and invest in nutrition. Speaking at the Nutrition in the Spotlight meeting at the spring meeting of World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, Adeosun said, "It’s not about narrative, it’s about action." Adeosun joined her Guatemalan counterpart, Julio Hector Estrada, and World Bank […]

Finance minister, Kemi Adeosun, says Nigeria must stop talking and invest in nutrition.

Speaking at the Nutrition in the Spotlight meeting at the spring meeting of World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, Adeosun said, "It’s not about narrative, it’s about action."

Adeosun joined her Guatemalan counterpart, Julio Hector Estrada, and World Bank Group president, Jim Yong Kim, alongside singer Yvonne Chaka Chaka in Washington at the weekend.

The World Bank, in line with recent investment in nutrition, estimates that malnutrition costs the global economy $3.5 trillion per year.

"There are no excuses for failing to invest in nutrition and we’re going to do everything we can to make neglect hurt for the powerful," said Jim.

One in three globally face malnutrition, including 156 million children worldwide too short for their age.

In Nigeria, 37% of under five children are too short for their age, 18 out every 100 are too thin for their age and 29% are underweight.

Nearly 20 out of every 100 newborns don’t get breast milk within the first hour of birth, and only 17 out of every 100 newborns are fed exclusively on breast milk for the first six months of life, according to the latest National Demographic Health Survey.

"The evidence is abundantly clear that the ties between nutrition and economic prosperity run deep, and the world (Nigeria inclusive) cannot afford to wait to increase investments in this area," said the Civil Society for Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, CS-SUNN, which took part in the meeting.

The UK’s Department for International Development, which supported the meeting, has pledged to match every $1 investment in nutrition with $3.

CS-SUNN project director, Beatrice Eluaka, says the Nigeria Government has the bulk of the role if malnutrition is to be addressed.

She urged government to develop and implement Strategic Plan of Action for the National Food and Nutrition Policy (NFNP-2016-2025), fully implement the National Strategic Plan of Action on Nutrition (NSPAN, 2014 -2019) at the National and all states in Nigeria, and create specific nutrition budget lines in all relevant departments and agencies across the federation.

CS-SUNN also wants timely release of allocated funds to nutrition in the 2017 budget.