Nigeria funding malnutrition with $56b yearly- Bagudu

The Minister of Budget and Economic Planning Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu has decried the enormous economic cost of malnutrition on the Nigerian economy, which he said is estimated at $56 billion annually, equivalent to about 12.2 per cent of the country’s Gross National Income (GNI).

The Minister made this disclosure at a was ably represented at a high-level dialogue on the cost of inaction on malnutrition in Nigeria and Nutrition for Growth (N4G) commitment making held in Abuja.

Represented at the meeting by the Permanent Secretary of FMBEP, Dr. Emeka Vitalis Obi, Senator Bagudu called on all stakeholders to work together to ensure the elimination of malnutrition especially among children in the country.

At the end of the meeting, the stakeholders drawn from the office of the Vice President, relevant Ministries, representatives of the National Assembly, States, Nutrition International, Global Affairs Canada, UNICEF, GAIN, CS SUNN, GIZ, amongst others, reaffirmed commitments to advance nutrition in Nigeria in line with the N774 Initiative of the federal government of Nigeria.

The stakeholders in a communique issued at the end of the dialogue, highlighted a myriad of challenges in addressing malnutrition and improving nutrition outcomes in the country which include inadequate funding and budget implementation, weak food systems and poor diet diversity, climate change, social cultural and behavioral patterns, data gaps and monitoring challenges in addition to food insecurity.

They resolved to have a comprehensive alignment across all sectors in ensuring that food security and malnutrition policies, strategies, guidelines and tools synergistically address malnutrition in all its forms by 2026.

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The meeting agreed to establish and operationalize nutrition departments with dedicated budget lines across 12 Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) for improved management and coordination of nutrition actions at both national and sub national levels by 2028.

The stakeholders also resolved to establish and operationalize a transformative nutrition investment fund to catalyze nationwide implementation of nutrition actions towards universal health coverage for all Nigerians by 2028.

They decided to prioritize the implementation of the minimum package of nutrition services at the Primary Health Care (PHC) level as a component of the Sector Wide Approach (SWAP), driving tangible improvements in health and well- being.

They also resolved to expand access to social safety -net programmes, water and sanitation (WASH) programmes to empower vulnerable individuals and families in order to afford nutritionally diverse diets and end open defecation respectively among all Nigerians.

The meeting held discussions on the upcoming Nutrition for Growth (N4G) conference scheduled for March 2025 in Paris, France.

The high level dialogue was organized by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning (FMBEP) in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada and Nutrition International.