BREAKING: FG takes step in addressing malnutrition at grassroot level
The Federal Government has commenced a drastic measures towards eradicate malnutrition of children and women in particular at the grassroot level.
The Special Assistant to the Vice President on Public Health, Uju Rochas-Anwukah made the disclosure during an interview with Newsmen at the National Council on Nutrition (NCN) N774 Standard Operating Procedure Validation Meeting held in Abuja on Friday.
The SA expressed that this Nutrition 774 initiative is a government-led, multi-sectoral effort which is targeted at strengthening governance, improving financing and fostering political commitment toward nutrition across Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.
She said “It seeks to scale up evidence-based interventions across sectors such as health, education, agriculture, social protection, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH).”
Rochas-Anwukah explained that this approach recognizes that nutrition is a collective responsibility, not limited to one ministry or sector.
“Endorsed by the National Economic Council, Nutrition 774 is now positioned as a national priority in the administration’s agenda which is a major milestone that led to the creation of House Committee on Food and Nutrition at both federal and state levels to ensure sustained political commitment and legislative support for nutrition-related policies and budgets.”
While recognizing Nigeria’s cultural diversity, Rochas-Anwukah stated that the initiative would be driven by local solutions tailored to the specific needs of each region where local government will be involved to work with nutritional officers in each council.
She maintained that the framework encourages ownership at the state and local government levels, using centralization mechanisms to reward progress.
According to her the initiative will leverage existing structures rather than create new ones to ensure faster and more sustainable results.
The SA expressed gratitude to Vice President Kashim Shettima for his leadership as Chair of the National Council on Nutrition and appreciated the contributions of various ministries, development partners, donor organizations, and private sector stakeholders.
She urged all stakeholders to move from planning to action, emphasizing that the initiative is not just about protocols but about unlocking the potential of every Nigerian child and family.
The Chairman, House Committee on Nutrition and Food Security, Hon. Moses Essien pointed out that the initiative organized by the ministry of Budget and Economic planning is a wonderful framework to standardize the operational system to implement decisions on foods security implementation in Nigeria but cannot be successfully carried out without the input of the national assembly.
He said “the amended 1999 constitution has given enormous powers to state House of Assemblies to make laws for smooth governance so the implementation of the national network on nutrition and food security on state actors.
” My present today as a critical stakeholder is to contribute my quota to the operational framework procedures inyo the implementation of N774 initiative and we believe that the involvement of states actors like House of Assembly will give us an opportunity to make contribution in terms of the structure of the standard procedure in Nigeria.
The Country Director of Nutritional International, Dr. Osita Okonkwo summoned that the N774 initiative is an opportunity for Nigeria government to come up with a process to address mulnutrition challenges starting from the grassroot.
He said ” all the participants coming from the different parts of the country are speaking one voice to get the people involves in addressing malnutrition issues. It shouldn’t be left for the government and partners alone but the entire community should participate in addressing it.
” What we are doing is support the government in this direction to come up with actionable plans that can be used to ensure that this program is effectively implemented. We are providing technical assistance in terms of data management, monitoring and evaluation and policies development to help the government to prepare this initiative for easy implementation and it’s scalable across all the local government areas.
Dr. Okonkwo stressed that their intentions is to drive local resources mobilization to have partnership with the local government areas.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Emeka Vitalis who spoke virtually emphasized the need for holistic implementation and accountability in Nigeria’s nutrition interventions, highlighting the critical role of nutrition in fostering economic resilience and achieving key Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) such as good health and well-being.
“The Nutrition 774 Initiative, a flagship program of the administration led by Vice President Senator Kashim Shettima, focuses on delivering sustainable nutrition interventions across all 774 local government areas (LGAs) in Nigeria”.
Nigerian NewsDirect gathered that the commencement of the initiative will be done in few months when all the necessary stakeholders are keyed in.
