Experts yesterday in Abuja called for multi-sectoral collaboration among relevant federal ministries, departments and agencies as well as development partners to address gaps in financing nutrition in Nigeria.
They made the call at a stakeholders’ engagement meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, in collaboration with Results for Development (R4D).
Country Director, R4D, Hope Uweja, noted that nutrition accounts for over 45 percent of the morbidity of children under five.
He said, “If you do not know how nutrition is being financed, it’s difficult to mobilize resources for it. So, this project, which is being funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is to determine the quantum of finance whether by government, development partners or by the private sectors.”
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Olusola Idowu, represented by Director, Social Development, Sanjo Faniran, said the government had taken steps such as prioritisation of the National Multisectoral Plan of Action for Food and Nutrition (NMPFAN 2021-2025) in the National Development Plan (NDP 2021-2030) to improve funding for nutrition.
Dr Lekan Olubajo, Lead Nutrition Resource Tracking study, said there was poor attention to optimum nutrition in children in Nigeria.
