The Civil Society for Scaling – up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS – SUNN), has appealed to the Nasarawa State Ministry of Agriculture to provide fortified seedlings and cassava stems to farmers in the state to address malnutrition.
CS – SUNN Project Manager, Mr Sunday Okoronkwo, made the appeal in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday, in Lafia, on the sidelines of a five -day advocacy on nutrition.
Okoronkwo noted that the Ministry was critical in achieving food and nutrients security, hence the need to mainstream nutrition in all her programmes and policies in the state.
The manager said that in order to achieve the goals of the food and nutrition multi-sectoral strategic Action Plan in the state, the ministry needed to encourage farmers with nutrient fortified tubers such as yam, cassava and potatoes.
“If the Ministry ensures that every food produced in the state has nutrients mainstreamed into it, then it will not only be achieving food security, but also a means of achieving nutrient security.
“Vitamin A is critical for the growth and development of children, their eyes and brain development.
“If our children eat such tubers that are rich in nutrients, especially vitamin A, you don’t need to buy vitamin A supplements for them,” he said.
Okoronkwo, who also appealed to the state government to sustain support for the programme, to achieve sustainability, called for effective domestication of adequate funding for nutrition.
“We call on the ministry to prioritise funding for nutrition, ensure that nutrition is mainstreamed into all programmes and policies of agriculture.
“Investing in nutrition is investing in the future, according to the World bank, every dollar invested in nutrition brings 16 Dollars in return,” he said. (NAN)
