**As ESOs move to unlock Healthier future

Determined to transform the country’s food systems and improve nutrition outcomes, Nigeria hosted the 2024 Enterprise Support Organisations(ESOs) for Nutrition Convening, a groundbreaking event that brought together innovators and stakeholders in the nutrition and agrifood sectors.

The convening, the first of its kind in Nigeria and possibly Africa, hosted at the Yaradua Center on Thursday in Abuja is aimed to catalyse innovations in nutrition and empower Enterprise Support Organizations (ESOs) to drive positive change in food systems.

According to the Programme Lead for Nutrition Enterprise Development, Aime Kwizera, the event was designed to harness collective expertise to address nutrition challenges.
“We work collaboratively with governments, businesses, civil society, and all interested stakeholders in food systems,” Kwizera said.

She explained that the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) partnered with local organizations to host the event, which featured panel discussions, workshops, and networking sessions.
She listrd participants to include ESOs, government officials, business leaders, and civil society representatives.

The convening according to her sought to identify solutions to transform food systems and improve nutrition outcomes in Nigeria, where nutrition challenges remain prevalent.
By working together, she observed that the stakeholders will create a more sustainable and equitable food system that benefits all Nigerians.
Representative of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), Dr. Michael Ojo, indicated that to transform Nigeria’s food systems and ensure nutritious food is accessible to all, Enterprise Support Organisations (ESOs) are playing a vital role,
Addressing a gathering of stakeholders, Dr. Ojo highlighted the critical challenges faced by micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in the food sector, including limited access to finance, markets, and technical knowledge.

ESOs are bridging these gaps by providing targeted support to MSMEs, enabling them to build capacity, innovate, and grow. By doing so, ESOs are contributing to a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food system in Nigeria.

Dr. Ojo emphasized the importance of collaboration among governments, development partners, the private sector, and civil society to amplify the impact of ESOs.
“With collective efforts, Nigeria can achieve a healthier future where nutritious food is accessible to all.
“GAIN’s mission to improve access to nutritious food for 1.5 billion people by 2027 is a testament to the potential of ESOs in driving positive change in Nigeria’s food systems.”

***FG promises to restock food reserve system

Stakeholders have again expressed their commitment to putting in place a comprehensive approach to strengthening nutrition outcomes for sustainable healthy diets in Nigeria.

At the Launch of the 2024 Global Food Policy Report Jointly Organized by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and the Globa Aliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) with the theme”improving food system for healthy diets and nutrition in Nigeria.

The Co- Convener and the Country Director of GAIN, Dr Michael Ojo said the conference was designed to advance nutrition outcomes in improving the consumption of safe food for every Nigerians.

Also, the Senior Director food and nutrition policy, International Food Policy Research Institute, IFPRI. Purnima Menon, noted that the poor status of protein consumption globally remained the leading cause of protein deficiency.

She promised the Institute support to the Nigerian government towards explores policy solutions to improve diet and nutrition in the country
While unavailing the policy report, the Minister of state for Agriculture and food security, Dr. Aliyu Abdullahi reaffirmed the renewed hope agenda of president Bola Tinubu commitments to addressing food security concerns in the country and driving down the cost of living for the citizens.
He announced the Federal Governments plans to restock the National Strategic Food Reserve System to address food insecurity and stabilise food prices in the country.
The United Nations predicted that 82 million Nigerians, about 64 per cent of the country’s population, may go hungry by 2030, as it called on the government to tackle climate change, pest infestations, and other threats to agricultural productivity.
It also noted that “in Nigeria, 37 per cent of children, or 6 million children, are stunted (chronically malnourished or low height for age), more than half of them severely. In addition, 18 per cent of children suffer from wasting (acutely malnourished or low weight for height).”
Abdullahi stated that the government is working hard to ramp up food production, particularly for major staples like rice, maize, and cassava, to calm down the current food situation.
He noted that the country’s production is not only for local consumption but also for the West African region.
“The idea of the National Strategic Food Reserve is for us to be able to keep stock so that when prices of food are getting high, we release from the stock so that we stabilise the price,” Abdullahi explained.
The minister acknowledged that the reserve system was affected by the floods in 2021, but the government is now working to restock it starting from this year’s harvest.
He also mentioned that the government is distributing fertiliser and agrocphemicals to farmers to boost production.
Abdullahi called on Nigerians to support the government’s efforts to address food insecurity and stabilize food prices.
“We are working very hard to make sure that when the time comes, we can get more food into our reserves because that will help us to stabilise the production,” he said.
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Abdullahi thanked the participants and called on Nigerians to work together to address the food insecurity challenge.
“We are aware that, honestly, what we produce in Nigeria, we are more or less producing for West Africa. People are aware of this. You go to the border markets, you see the kind of food that is leaving. So we are working very hard to make sure that when the time comes, we can get more food into our reserves because that will help us to stabilize the production”, he said.
Also speaking at the launch, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Production Services and Rural Development, Dr. Kingsley Uzoma indicated that the committee will support the initiatives aimed at addressing food insecurity and malnutrition in the country.
The chairman said, “Anything that has to do with food insecurity, food malnutrition, it is something that we must all contribute and put our hands on the deck.”
He emphasized the importance of ensuring that farmers enjoy the benefits of their harvest, saying, “After a harvest, you want to come back home to see that you get the benefits of whatever you live off of.”
The chairman also highlighted the need for quality harvests, stating, “We are now talking of the quality of the harvest. And that is the only thing that can give us a healthy nation.”
He commended the organizers of the event and expressed the committee’s willingness to collaborate with them, saying, “Whatever we can pick from here and collaborate with you, we will make sure we have our part.”
The chairman also emphasised the importance of partnership, saying, “We look forward to partnering with you in areas where we believe our legislative role will enhance your efficiency.”
In his closing remark, the Country Director, GAIN, Nigeria, Michael Ojo who had earlier made a presentation on the importance of data for evidence-based policymaking and targeted interventions to address malnutrition and promote healthy diets, noted that urgent efforts are needed to support governments and other stakeholders at all levels—from global to local—in leveraging the Nigeria Subnational Food Systems Dashboard and other data sources.
“This will guide national nutrition plans, identify effective entry points for improving diets, set realistic goals for transforming food systems, and navigate trade-offs to combat malnutrition and foster healthier diets,” he noted.

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu on Monday reiterated the commitment of the Federal Government to addressing the challenge of malnutrition in the country by leveraging on data from the National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey(NFCMS) report.

He spoke in a remark during the launch of the 2021 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey report in Abuja.

Bagudu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Nebolisa Anako, stressed that adequate and proper nutrition was indispensable for human capital development for all ages whether at embryo stage in the mother’s womb, infants, adolescents and adults.

He said the objective of the survey was to enable the country to have a reliable database for food consumption patterns that would serve as source of information for addressing issues of chronic-non-communicable diseases and to improve the food systems to deliver healthy diets to Nigerians.

“Nutrition data plays a crucial role in programme planning across various sectors, including health, education, agriculture, water, information and social welfare among others”, he said.

According to the National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey, 2021, the prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children under 5 are 33.3%, 11.6% and 25.3% respectively.

In his goodwill message, the Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Dr Ifeanyi Chukwunonso Okeke said the launch of the 2021 National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey Report marks a significant milestone in the collective efforts to ensure the well-being and health of the citizens.

He said malnutrition has been a major concern to impairment of health due to inadequate or imbalance of one or more nutrients in foods with its far reaching consequences for human capital, economic productivity and national development.

“The findings of this survey will provide valuable insights into the nutritional status of our population, enabling us to develop targeted interventions and policies to address any deficiencies and promote healthy eating habits.

“As the regulatory body responsible for standardization, quality assurance in Nigeria, SON is committed to ensuring that all mandatory food vehicles are fortified with essential nutrients in compliance with the Nigerian Industrial Standards on food fortification”, he said.

Representatives of the WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and other development partners in their separate goodwill messages said the insights provided by the survey will drive the collective effort towards scaling up food fortification programmes across the country.

The National Food Consumption and Micronutrient Survey
(NFCMS) was jointly coordinated by the Federal Ministries of Budget and Economic Planning; Health and Agriculture in collaboration with relevant nutrition stakeholders, development partners as well as the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) that served as the principal investigator for the survey.