33% of children under five years in North are malnourished – NGO

An international non-governmental organisation, Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, has

disclosed that 33 per cent of Nigerian children under five years are stunted.

The group said its research further indicated  that 50 per cent of children in the North-East and North-West are stunted and malnourished while 30 per cent are stunted in the southern part of the country.
GAIN Country Director, Dr. Michael Ojo, who said this in Abuja on Friday, explained that Ghana had the same figure of stunted children 10 years ago, but the situation had improved to about 18 per cent.
He stated that his organisation was assisting the Federal Government to design and deliver food-based policies and programmes to improve the consumption of safe and nutritious foods.
Ojo said the group was involved in food fortification, workplace nutrition initiatives, complimentary feeding, marketplace for nutritious foods, programmes to promote demand for healthy foods and post-harvest loss alliance for nutrition.
“An overview of Nigeria’s nutritional status shows that 33 per cent of children under five are stunted and eight per cent are wasted while 29 per cent of children are underweight. In the North, about 50 per cent and 30 per cent in the South are stunted; so, there is a need for specific intervention to address this problem,” he said.

He noted that many Nigerians were eating unfortified foods, adding that GAIN was working to change this through the creation of an environment that would allow business to thrive.
GAIN Executive Director, Lawrence Haddad, disclosed that the organisation supported the Federal Government to design the Agricultural Sector Food Security and Nutrition Strategy, 2016-2025.

He added that GAIN was also involved in providing solutions for post-harvest loss and waste in the country, adding that it was bringing together stakeholders to drive research and exchange of knowledge and technology to reduce post-harvest loss.