Kano State Reveals Plans To Reduce Malnutrition

Kano State says the it will deploy multifaceted measures to reduce the burden of malnutrition.

The Permanent-Secretary, Ministry of Planning and Budget of the state, Auwal Sanda hinted this on the sidelines of the Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition (CS-SUNN) nutrition budget review meeting on Tuesday in Lagos. 

The meeting centred on allocation, releases and utilisation of nutrition budget with key stakeholders from the legislature and nutrition line at the Federal Ministries, Kano and Lagos State. 

Sanda said that the Kano State Government is addressing malnutrition as a health, social and economic issue through interventions from relevant ministries to enhance the nutritional status of its populace. 

He said that the state government had been responsive for advocacy of civil society groups on the need to increase its annual budget allocation to nutrition based programmes.

“In the North, beans are cultivated in large quantities but because people see it as a cash crop, they sell them instead of eating them.

“Also, the custom that if you give a child an egg, that child will steal must change.

"These beliefs prevent children from nutritious meals,” he said. 

He said that the government through constant engagement and education had debunked such claims, and also empowered more women through the Ministry of Women Affairs. 

Speaking also, acting Secretary, Board of Trustees, CS-SUNN, Dr Mbang Kooffreh-Ada, said that nutritional funding in Nigeria is suboptimal to the burden of the disease. 

Kooffreh-Ada appealed that budget allocation should be increased and bureaucracy that constrains timely release of funds be removed to drive effective implementation of nutrition programmes.