Gwiwa local government council chairman in Jigawa state Saleh Ahmad said there is a need for the increase of budgetary allocation to malnutrition in the Northern part of the country.
Zauma stated this while responding to questions from DAILY POST on the activities of Action Against Hunger (ACF) in Gwiwa local government.
He said malnutrition is a monster threatening the lives of children, especially in the Northern part of the country.
Zauma explained that poverty and lack of access to nutritious food are the major causes of Malnutrition.
” there is a need for a collaborative effort to end the deadly killer of malnourished children “.he stated.
He said working to improve nutrition in northern Nigerian (WINNN) program run by Action against Hunger, a DFID founded program has been carried out in three local government areas of Jigawa state, including; Gwiwa,Guri and Birnin Kudu local government area.
Zauma explained that the program had made significant impacts on the lives of children and women in the area.
He advised the Northern Governors to increase budgetary allocation on nutrition and extend the program to other local governments that are not benefiting with the action against hunger programs.
Gwiwa local government Nutrition focal person Hajiya Murjanatu Nasiru said through the WINNN program 90% of women in the area were attending antenatal care and are practicing exclusive breastfeeding.
She explained that in the program, children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were given medicine and Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food while women were also empowered.
“women in the area were facilitators with groundnut milling machines, seedlings, goats,paws, to become self-reliant,” she stated.
DAILY POST reported that, Jigawa state is among Northern states with highest malnutrition indices in Nigeria with 66% stunting, 13.8% wasting, 50.4% underweight rates of under-5, as reported by Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS).
Jigawa state government had launched Food & Nutrition and Social Protection Policies to bring the poorest and most vulnerable individuals and households into the mainstream of development process.
Jigawa State Governor, Muhammad Badaru Abubakar said the objectives and targets of the food and nutrition policy is to improve food security at the state, community and households levels, to reduce under nutrition among infants and children, adolescents and women of reproductive age, also to provide formal and non formal nutrition education to people especially women and children.
