The Chairman of the House Committee on Food and Nutrition, Hon Chike Okafor, on Wednesday raised concern that malnutrition in Nigeria is costing the country about $1.5 billion annually.
This came as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Mrs Uju Anwukah, revealed that Nigeria currently ranks second globally and first in Africa on the malnutrition index.
The two officials made the disclosures in Abuja during the ongoing National Summit on Nutrition and Food Security organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Food and Nutrition.
Speaking at the event, Hon Okafor said the summit was convened to proffer solutions to the growing concern over the impact of malnutrition and inadequate food access on Nigerians.
He noted that beyond health consequences such as stunting, low birth weight, and anaemia among children, adolescent girls, and women, malnutrition has severe economic implications.
According to him, “The cost of inaction on these parameters on Nigeria’s economy is aggregated to about 12.2% of the country’s Gross National Income, about $56 billion, based on data from Nutrition International and the World Bank.”
He added that food insecurity has been worsened by post-harvest losses, which the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) estimates at $2 billion annually. He said, “This colossal loss alone is more than the nutrition budget of the Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Education and Women Affairs put together.”
Describing the situation as both unacceptable and unsustainable, especially in the current economic climate, Okafor said his committee is working with stakeholders across Nigeria’s 36 states to change the narrative.
“First of all, we are undertaking strategic capacity building sessions to have a better understanding of the root and dynamics of current nutrition and food security challenges in Nigeria. A wise man once said that once you are not informed, you are deformed,” he said.
He explained that the committee hopes to institutionalise these sessions in partnership with the National Institute of Democratic and Legislative Studies, with the support of development partners.
“This will put us in a better pedestal to provide strategic oversight to all nutrition and food-related interventions and implementing partners, including but not limited to the UN family, the World Bank, international and national NGOs, and of course the government at federal, state, and local levels. By so doing, we will not only have more money for nutrition, but also more nutrition for the available money,” he said.
Also speaking, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Health, Mrs Uju Anwukah, said Nigeria is currently ranked second globally and first in Africa on the scale of malnutrition.
Mrs Anwukah, who spoke on the topic “Strengthening Nutrition Coordination in Nigeria through the N-774 Initiative,” said the Federal Government is taking urgent steps to address the alarming trend.
According to her, the country signed up for the N-774 Initiative as a means of addressing malnutrition from the grassroots level.
She explained that the initiative has already been endorsed by the National Council on Food Security and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for full implementation.
