FG urged to implement nutrition policy

A non governmental organisation, Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), has called on the federal and state governments to fully  implement the policy on food and nutrition. Beatrice Eluaka, project director of the organization made the call during a policy dialogue on aligning nutrition policies in the 2017 budget in Abuja. She also called […]

A non governmental organisation, Civil Society Scaling-up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), has called on the federal and state governments to fully  implement the policy on food and nutrition.
Beatrice Eluaka, project director of the organization made the call during a policy dialogue on aligning nutrition policies in the 2017 budget in Abuja.
She also called for the full implementation of the costed action plan for the National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition (NSPAN).
While calling for improved funding for nutrition in the 2017 budget, she called for the timely release of funds allocated for nutrition in the ministries of health, agriculture and education in the 2016 budgets.
She added that there was need to ensure increased accountability and management of released funds as well as strengthen monitoring and evaluation of nutrition activities.
A report on the policy analysis of the adoption and implementation of the 2014 to 2019 National Strategic Plan of Action for Nutrition done in the following states Kaduna, Nasarawa and Niger found that budgetary provision for the states on nutrition programmes was low.
CS-SUNN called on the states to increase funding to health sector and to make adequate provisions for the child and family health needs of the people in the 2017 budget.
The 2013 National Demographic  Health Survey (NDHS) revealed that about 2 in 5 children in Nigeria are stunted, with rates of stunting varying throughout the country ranging from 16 per cent in the South East and 55 per cent in the North West.
The survey showed that almost 30 per cent of Nigerian children are underweight. The percentage of children in Nigeria who are wasted has steadily increased over the last decade, rising from 11 per cent in 2003 to 18 per cent in 2013, the report said.
It also indicated that about 70 percent of children aged between 6 to 23 months are not receiving the minimum acceptable diet.