CS-SUNN ADVOCATES FOR THE CREATION OF NUTRITION DEPARTMENT IN NASARAWA STATE MDA’s.

By Mary Ojiji.

The Civil Society-Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria (CS-SUNN), has advocated for the creation of Nutrition departments in Nasarawa state Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s).

Nasarawa state has been at the forefront of fighting malnutrition, over the years, a lot of investments have been put into Nutrition, even at that, the stunting rate as at 2018 stands at 37% which has not really improved at the National level, also, in as much as exclusive breastfeeding is around 29%, we cannot say we have made good improvement this area, this is according to the national council on Nutrition.

The ministry of finance, budget and planning led the members of CS-SUNN, on a four day advocacy visit which started from Monday,  5^th to Thursday, 8^th June, 2023 to various in line Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s) urging them to create Nutrition department and to increase the three (3) months paid maternity leave for working mothers to six (6) months also to get commitments from the key stakeholders in the state on these issues.

Permanent secretary at the Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning who doubles as the Chairman, Nasarawa state committee on Food and Nutrition, Mr. Emmanuel Mamman Alidzi, welcomed the members of CS-SUNN to the state as he appreciated their long standing relationship in the area of making sure the message and activities concerning nutrition is heard and felt, he said malnutrition in the state had continued to rise and needed proactive approach to stem the tide.

Tuesday, at the advocacy meeting on the creation of Nutrition Departments in Nasarawa state, organised by Nasarawa state Committee on food and Nutrition in the ministry of Finance, budget and planning in collaboration with Civil Society Scaling Up Nutrition in Nigeria, brought together Permanent secretaries from Nutrition Line Ministries, Departments and Agencies at Nasarawa Luxury hotel, Lafia, the state capital.

Dr Goodness Chidi Anyanwu, Programs Manager of CS-SUNN in her presentation on the advocacy brief said, Nutrition is a developmental issue and getting the right people to manage such position, overtime there won’t be capacity gaps. She requested for the creation of Nutrition Departments in the line ministries, increased allocation with prompt release. When these funds are released on time, effective utilization is possible and for the extension of maternity leave, the Permanent Secretaries should see to it that in their ministries, this particular ask is established for working mothers.

Nasarawa state Head of Civil Service, Ms Abigail Waya said, malnutrition is an issue that affects everybody, there are persons who may have food but do not have the proper Nutrition, she added that the state is fully committed to tackling malnutrition and they will do everything possible to set up the Nutrition unit and departments, they will work together with the civil service commission to ensure that the right experts are placed in this department because everybody needs to understand that there is proper nutrition, on the issue of increasing maternity leave from 3 months to 6 months in the state, Waya said, immediately they get the council of establishment to increase the number of months for maternity leave, they will implement it in Nasarawa state.

In continuation of the advocacy visit, on Wednesday, at the Ministry of Agriculture, Dr Goodness Chidi Anyanwu stressed that the ministry plays an important role in the aspect of food availability and Nutrition should have a strong base in the ministry, they need to build the capacity of individuals on the consumption of food they produce and to also have a nutrition department.

Responding, Mr Julius Kigbu, Permanent Secretary at the ministry of Agriculture and water resources said, they are ahead as the ministry already has a Nutrition Department, all that is needed is to expand it and perhaps it will form the basis of the memo they need to work with the head of service to ensure that other ministries take a cue from what they have done.

On her part, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Health, Dr Janet Angbazo said Nutrition is valuable to everyone and the ministry is fully committed, she appreciated Gov. Abdullahi Sule for his concern on the state and to make sure that quality service is ensured to the populace and CS-SUNN for their commitment and support in making the people aware of the value of nutrition and their support to Nasarawa state committee on food and Nutrition.

Similarly, at the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dr Anyanwu said there is already a lot the ministry of Education is doing, globally adolescent nutrition is taking the center stage just like for women and girls. In the aspect of Science, Technology and Innovation, researches can be made, they can start small and scale up.

Mrs Atinuke Shama, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation said Nutrition department will be created and the right persons would be employed to man the position.

Similarly, Dr. Anyanwu craved the support of the Permanent Secretary at the ministry of women affairs and social development, Mr Hussaini Baba Usman to make recommendations to the head of service in Nasarawa state, to see that the order to create Nutrition department is implemented, since there is already one in the ministry, also for paid maternity leave to be increased to 6 months for working mothers to enable them practice exclusive breastfeeding.

At the Ministry of information, culture and tourism, CS-SUNN said the Ministry is a key player in the creation of Nutrition Departments in the state due to the importance of the media in information dissemination and agenda setting, they are relied upon to report information concerning nutrition advocacy.

In their separate response, Mr. Hussaini Usman said the Ministry of women affairs has a direct contact with women, young girls and the vulnerable, he advocated for 4months maternity leave as against the 6 months being asked for. Meanwhile, Barr. Yusuf Musa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of information, culture and tourism promised to collaborate with CS-SUNN to rid the state of Malnutrition as he has a commitment of creating Nutrition department in the ministry next week.

At other MDA’s visited, CS-SUNN reiterated that it has been working with Nasarawa state for a long time now in terms of advocacy, and as such, Nasarawa Agricultural Development Program (NADP), plays a crucial role in Nutrition in terms of livelihood support as they are closer to those in the grassroot.

Mr Emmanuel Manasseh of NADP, Barr. Zakari Zamani Allumaga of NASEMA and Dr. Mohammed Usman Adis of NSPHCDA, pledged their support and commitment to see that the department is created.