Ahmed: FG Committed to Eradicating Malnutrition, Food Insecurity
The Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, has reiterated the federal government’s commitment to tackling food insecurity and malnutrition across Nigeria.
She also noted that the implementation of the National Food Summit Dialogue was critical to the achievement of the Medium-Term National Development Plan (MTNDP) and Nigeria’s Agenda 2050.
In her opening remarks at the dialogue on the United Nations’ (UN) food system summit held yesterday, she stated that the output of various food dialogues would form a critical component for the conclusion of the MTNDP and Nigeria Agenda 2050, and would, as well, contribute to the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Nigeria.
Speaking on the essence of the Nigeria National Food Systems Dialogues (NNFSD), Ahmed said: “The NNFSD is required to improve nutrition security, reduce hunger and prevalence of malnutrition in line with the national food and nutrition policy for Nigeria.
“It is envisioned to create more inclusive, healthier food systems and encourage a collaborative approach towards building a sustainable food system.
“In recent years, Nigeria has shown a clear commitment to the eradication of malnutrition. This is happening through the adoption and domestication of policies and strategic plans, which emphasise increased reliance on domestic funding; and a wellcoordinated multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholders approach (comprising government, CSOs, private sector and donors); backed by sustained highlevel political commitment,” she said.
She added: “These include the national strategic plan of action for nutrition, the national policy on food and nutrition, the innovative national social investment programme (which includes the home-grown school feeding programme), the basic health care provision fund, and the National Council on Nutrition, and the development of various food and nutrition sector plans.”