The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has revealed that 90 per cent of the Nigerian population are malnourished as they do not have access to a healthy diet.
This shows that out of the 223,804,632 Nigerian population, only 22,380,463 persons have access to healthy diet.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) had said malnutrition is a direct cause of 45 per cent of all deaths of under-five children in Nigeria.
Dr. Micheal Ojo the Country Director, GAIN, during a visit to the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari in Abuja on Friday said there is a need to make nutrition accessible to Nigerians.
“Food and Nutrition is a significant challenge for every Nigerian, as over 90 per cent of the population can’t afford a healthy diet which results in malnutrition and sometimes loss of lives,” he said.
Ojo noted that GAIN aimed to work and deliver a healthy diet to over 25 per cent of the population around the world of which Nigeria was included, adding that the organization intended to collaborate with the Ministry to achieve this.
“We will collaborate with the ministry in the area of food value chains such as maize, rice, and cassava among others” Ojo said adding that it will help transform the country’s food system.
Reacting, the Agric Minister, Kyari said the ministry is ready to partner in tackling food and nutrition security, and post-harvest losses among others, noting that agriculture and food security was one priority of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s agenda which focuses on good nutrition.
Admitting that the current state of food security was threatened by issues of availability and affordability, Kyari said, “Malnutrition and rates of food inflation required that we work all year round to ensure increased food production while putting in place, measures to make food available, accessible, affordable and of the right nutrition on a sustainable basis.”
