Malnutrition affects children by stunting their growth
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Malnutrition causes anaemia in 68 per cent of pregnant women and stunts the growth of 34 per cent of children under the age of five in Nigeria, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (FMARD) has disclosed.
“We are making good progress towards food security in Nigeria, but when it comes to malnutrition the indices are quite appalling when we have about 34 per cent of our children under age of five being stunted. And about 68 per cent of pregnant Nigerian women are anaemic,” FMARD Director Abdullahi Abubakar said.
“More so that we have about nine per cent of our children under the age of five wasting. That is why to join other partners, FMARD is adopting food-based approach towards tackling malnutrition.”
Abubakar spoke at the launch of “Reducing post harvest loss across vitamin A maize and cassava value chain in the states of Kano, Oyo, Niger, Kaduna, Cross River, Osun, Anambra and Imo” in Abuja, represented by FMARD Head Nutrition Oyeleke Rasaq.
He said FMARD will continue to collaborate with stakeholders and partners to see that local food products are safe for consumption to ensure the lifting of the ban on some of Nigeria’s food exports.
FMARD in providing more resources to reduce post-harvest loss and “we are ready to collaborate with all relevant stakeholders with a view to making sure that the investments are coordinated to have results,” Abubakar added.
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Harvest loss reduces farmers’ income
International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Head of Station Lateef Sanni said post-harvest losses in cassava and maize in both quantity and quality deprive farmers of the full benefits of their labour, according to reporting by Vanguard.
His words: “The project Reducing post-harvest losses across Vitamin A Cassava (VAC) & Vitamin A Maize (VAM) value chains in the states of Kano, Oyo, Niger, Kaduna, Cross River, Osun, Anambra and Imo is designed in response to post-harvest losses faced by these crops.
“The overall objective of the project is to improve the adoption of post-harvest loss reduction practices across the VAC and VAM value chains in Nigeria, with further emphasis on aflatoxin awareness and mitigation strategies for VAM, amongst key value chain actors (i.e., farmer, input dealers, aggregators, transporters, food processors) in eight states.”
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, (GAIN) Country Director Michael Ojo said: “GAIN and HarvestPlus realise that actions towards addressing post-harvest loss and aflatoxin build up along Provitamin A Cassava and Provitamin A maize value chains are key inputs in unlocking commercial values for these food commodities.
“Post-harvest losses decrease profit margin of actors across the value chain and food availability for consumers, while aflatoxin contamination makes the food unsafe for consumers.”
The project is co-led by IITA, GAIN, HarvestPlus and CGIAR, with funding from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, The Netherlands.