Experts proffer solutions to Nigeria’s malnutrition burden, call for action

Nestle recently had her annual Creating Shared Value (CSV) programme which had various professionals speak on nutrition, health, wellness, water and agriculture.

In his opening remarks, Dharnesh Gordhon, the managing director and CEO of Nestle, stated that companies are only sustainable and successful over the long term if they create value not just for their shareholders but also for the communities in which they operate.

“We call this ‘Creating Shared Value’ he said. In his words, “our commitment to Creating Shared Value (CSV) stands front and centre as we pursue our objective to be the leader in nutrition, health and wellness, and the industry reference for financial performance, trusted by all stakeholders.

“The primary way we create value is by offering consumers tasty nutritious products that contribute to their health and wellness. But we also create value for people and society across our value chain. We proactively identify opportunities to link our core business activities to action on related social and environmental issues.” He concludes.

Speaking on ‘Reducing the risk of under nutrition in Nigeria through micronutrient fortification’, Chris Osa Isokpunwu, head of nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, said that malnutrition and nutrition related diseases continue to be problems of public health in Nigeria.

He said it slows economic growth and perpetuates poverty through direct losses in productivity from poor physical status; indirect losses from poor cognitive function and deficits in schooling; and losses owing to increased health care costs.

According to Isokpunwu, “Nigeria is one of the 36 countries in the world that account for 90 percent of the world burden of malnutrition. Micronutrient malnutrition contributes substantially to the global burden of disease. Worldwide, the three most common forms of MNM are iron, vitamin A and iodine deficiency. Together, these affect at least one third of the world’s population, the majority of whom are in developing countries.”

Isokpunwu adds that “of the three, iron deficiency is the most prevalent. It is estimated that just over two billion people are anaemic, just under two billion have inadequate iodine nutrition and two hundred and fifty four million preschool-aged children are vitamin A deficient.

“Interventions to prevent and/or treat micronutrient malnutrition typically include: exclusive breastfeeding during the first six months of life, dietary diversification to include foods with highly absorbable vitamins and minerals, fortification of staple and complementary foods, control of parasitic infections and provision of nutritional supplements.”

Also, speaking on ‘Supporting Farming as a Business and Livelihood of Choice in Nigeria: the Agricultural Transformation Agenda of the Federal Government’, Olukayode Oyeleye, special assistant on media and strategy, Office of the Honourable Minister of Agriculture, said “agricultural value chains are long, providing opportunities for many more than in any other productive sector.

Value chains need effective communication therefore; information flow is important and central to transformation, mindset change, business and livelihood issues.” For Oyeleye, the transformation is needed for food security, job creation, entrenching processing, improved agric financing.

Others according to him include: national security highly dependent on food security, offering great business opportunities for stakeholders at various levels of involvement. He concludes saying “Nigeria can be a major player in the world based on this.”

Malnutrition is the greatest cause of child death worldwide. In Nigeria, malnutrition is an underlying cause of more than 54% of child deaths. According to a 2006 article in the ‘Independent’ that outlined the findings of a United Nations report, the article reported that ‘10 children die every minute as a result of malnutrition’.

Ngozi Nnam, a professor and president, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, buttressed the point on malnutrition when she spoke on the ‘Role of Nutrition in the first 1,000 days.’  Ngozi further revealed that the first 1,000 days – period from start of a woman’s pregnancy to her child’s second birthday- sets the future for the child, his future health, well being and success in life. She says it is the period when food habits are formed.

Kemi Ajumobi