Chijioke Iremeka
Citing worsening poverty and food insecurity in the country, nutrition experts have said Nigeria will not be able to achieve the 2016 National Policy on Food and Nutrition target of reducing malnutrition by 30 percent in 2025, especially among children under five.
The nutritionists maintained that the country was not on the path to achieving the goals of the policy which would cease to exist after next year.
They lamented that since the first National Food and Nutrition Policy was launched in 2001, the government had continued to fail in achieving its goals of reducing the malnutrition burden in the country, especially among children under five.
With less than a year remaining before the expiration of the second nutrition policy, the experts cautioned that without increased funding and strong political will on the part of the government, the 2025 target would still be a mirage like the former.
Recall that the first National Food and Nutrition Policy in Nigeria introduced in 2001 and running through to 2016 but did not achieve its goal of reducing under-nutrition and malnutrition by 30 percent.
This shortfall led to the formulation of the second National Policy on Food and Nutrition in Nigeria in 2016.
According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, “the initial policy, crafted through a multi-stakeholder process by the National Planning Commission, had minimal impact due to inadequate implementation, poor funding, ineffective coordination, and insufficient monitoring of the policy’s execution.
“It failed to achieve a 30 percent reduction in under-nutrition and malnutrition rates among others.”
Then Minister of State for the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the 2016 policy, developed by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, seeks to provide a comprehensive framework to tackle food and nutrition insecurity at various levels—from individual to national.
“The policy is crucial for ensuring optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians. Reducing malnutrition is essential for development, as it not only impedes progress but also causes significant suffering and death,” Ahmed said.
The World Health Organisation reports that Nigeria faces severe nutritional challenges, including the second-highest rate of stunted children globally, with 32 percent of children under five affected. About two million Nigerian children suffer from acute malnutrition, with only two out of 10 receiving treatment and seven percent of women of childbearing age also experience acute malnutrition.
Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, the nutritionists noted that the policy failed due to a lack of commitment, implementation, funding, and awareness, leading to the second policy, National Food and Nutrition Policy 2016 which was supposed to end by the next year, 2025.
Professor Ignatius Onimawo
A Professor of Public Health Nutrition, Ignatius Onimawo, said that going by what obtains now in the country, Nigeria is not on the path to achieving the 2016 Food and Nutrition Policy by 2025.
Onimawo, who is the Vice-Chancellor of Ave Maria University, Abuja, said the issue with Nigeria not meeting these policies lies in Nigeria’s tendency to develop strong policies that were not always implemented comprehensively, which hampers achieving the desired outcomes.
He, however, said that while the country failed to meet the targets, there were also some commendable improvements, which also fell short of the goals.
Onimawo, a former Vice-Chancellor of Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma, Edo State, also said “We must also consider the value of money and the role naira inflation played in this failure. These things have an impact on the success and failure of the programmes.
He said, “It is not all failure as some progress was made. For example, in the area of exclusive breastfeeding, we increased breastfeeding rates from 17 percent to 25 percent. While this represents progress, it falls short of the 30 percent target.
“Although achieving 25 percent would signify significant progress, we have not yet reached this goal. That’s why I said it’s not all failures; we have seen successes in some areas while falling short in others.
“Having said that, there has been progress since 2016, but based on current conditions, we likely won’t meet our goals by 2025. We might need more time to achieve this if we continue with our current approach. With this better results lie in the future, though not necessarily achieving the targets by next year.
“For meaningful progress, the government needs to embrace national policies fully and act on the information provided. The state governments must key into these policies and view them as their own rather than seeing it solely as federal initiatives.”
He noted that if the states actively participate and implement these policies, it would attract the desired impact.
Regarding acute malnutrition, Onimawo said that there has been some improvement, but conditions in the North East and Central regions have not improved significantly, blaming the state governments for not fulfilling their responsibilities.
He continued: “While we are not on track to meet our goals, it is not a complete failure. For instance, we now have a food nutrition survey, a key component of the policy. This survey has been completed, providing us with crucial data.
“It shows that malnutrition remains a significant problem in the northern part of the country, so while the survey is an achievement, challenges persist.
“But when the former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo took office, he successfully drew President Muhammadu Buhari’s attention to nutrition issues, leading to improvements such as food fortification initiatives.
“We now have dedicated nutrition departments in every ministry, a significant improvement from the past when we only had nutrition units managed by medical doctors or other professionals with limited focus. This shift has brought in specialised nutritionists to oversee these departments.
“The Ministry of Budget and National Planning, which is crucial for these initiatives, has also begun to engage more actively. Although the ministry was one of the last to establish its nutrition department and initially showed reluctance, progress is being made.”
He further added, “For us to achieve our goals, continued awareness and consistent efforts are essential. There is still much work to be done in increasing public awareness, training educators, and ensuring that they are well informed and updated on best practices.
“If a woman who does not believe in exclusive breastfeeding is given a role to educate mothers during antenatal care, she would struggle to effectively communicate this information due to her lack of awareness and belief.
“This highlights the need for thorough education, training, and retraining of those involved in educating antenatal and lactating mothers. There are significant gaps in knowledge that need to be addressed.
Corroborating his statement, the Director of Nutrition Services and Health Education at the Osun State Primary Health Care Development Board, James Oloyede, while acknowledging some progress in the 2016 policy, said that Nigeria is unlikely to meet its 2025 target.
Oloyede emphasising the need for all hands to be on deck, said increased funding, awareness, and commitment were needed to reduce the issues of malnutrition in the country, insisting that without these critical components, achieving the policy’s objectives may be deferred to a later date.
He also added that “Comprehensive monitoring and funding of the policy will achieve this in the long run. Some people do not know what nutrition is and we need to create that awareness through antenatal services for expectant mothers. Governments at all levels should be part of this, not only the federal.
“Also, corporate bodies and non-governmental organisations can play a crucial role here.”
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