GAIN unveils plans to reduce malnutrition in Nigeria by 2020

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), in collaboration with Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network, has unveiled plans to reduce malnutrition, especially in children in Nigeria by year 2020.

Speaking at a workshop held in Ikeja, Lagos, Hannah Theobald, senior Associate, Programme Development, GAIN, said the organisation is targeting 125 million consumers, with the aim of improving their nutrition, which requires commitment of all stakeholders in the nutrition companies.

She said though 52 companies have made commitments to scaling up nutrition since the Nutrition for Growth Summit in June 2013, but more should be done to improve nutrition products.

“We have created one coordinated global platform for business commitments and membership is open to a range of companies in both food and non-food sectors. Through existing commitments, we have set a target of 99 companies for our global platform by the end of 2015.

“There is a lot the private sector can do to support Nigerian government to improve nutrition. Private sector is, ideally, the place to develop products and services to improve nutrition and make nutrition products affordable in the market place. The sector is unique, as there abound a lot of expertise in innovations, in terms of making the nutrition products desirable to consumers.

“The sector also has the capacity to make balanced diets available to family members, especially children, because they are the future of Nigeria. This would, in turn, has an impact on the Nigeria economy.”

Uduak Igbeka, Nigeria Coordinator, Scaling Up Nutrition Business Network, said the programme was to bring stakeholders in nutrition companies together, which include products developments, marketing, communications and others. This way, they can begin to look at how consumers’ research data can be used to influence the kind of products that would be developed, as well as, use key messages from consumers to scale up nutrition products.

She said: “We have an increase in public health issues in Nigeria, because people are not eating properly. It has, therefore, become very important for us to find a multi-approach to tackling malnutrition issues in Nigeria. Stunting and obesity are becoming more alarming in the country.