Federal government and the Civil Society Scaling-Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN) have stressed the need for more investment in nutrition saying the alarming rate of malnutrition poses a barrier to unlocking the nation’s human capital potential.
Executive secretary of CS-SUNN, Mr Sunday Okoronkwo, noted that malnutrition does not only undermine investments in health and education but also perpetuates a cycle of poverty and underdevelopment.
Okoronkwo, who spoke at a media roundtable on Investing in Nutrition for Human Capital Development In Nigeria, Organised by CS-SUNN, in Abuja, emphasised the need for increased domestic funding and strategic resource mobilisation approaches and sustained investments.
This, he said can help Nigeria realise its human capital development goals.
“Nutrition plays a vital role in Human Capital Development (HCD), serving as the cornerstone for the physical and mental well-being of individuals.
“The 2020 Human Capital Index (HCI) of Nigeria according to the assessment by World Bank is currently 0.36; ranking 2 out of 157 countries, reflecting the urgent need for concerted action to address this. In addition, budgetary allocations for nutrition remain insufficient, and release rates are dismally low.
“Deficiencies in essential nutrients result in malnutrition, adversely impacting both the health and productivity of individuals. It is therefore important to recognise that malnutrition not only undermines an individual’s health but also exerts a profound toll on economic prosperity, hindering the nation’s progress towards achieving its Human Capital Development goals,” Okoronkwo stated.
Earlier, the assistant director, Food and Nutrition, Technology and Science education Department of theFederal Ministry of Education, Margaret Umoh, noted that nutrition is multi-sectoral and therefore, requires collaboration to bridge existing gaps.
She said to achieve its mandate of mainstreaming nutrition into the education sector, the Ministry of Education has been carrying out activities and programmes towards reducing malnutrition among children, and stressed the need for more investment in nutrition.