Farm what you eat, FG tells Nigerians

The Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning has urged Nigerians to grow the food they eat to help improve the food system in the country.

The advice was given at the “2021 Nigeria Nutrition week and sensitization of the Media and Information Officers of MDAs on the importance of Nutrition in Abuja”.

• Bandits murdered 80 people in a single night, Sokoto leaders write Buhari
• BREAKING: Bandits gun down worshippers inside another mosque in Niger

Speaking on behalf of the minister, head of Nutrition at the ministry, Chito Nelson, stated that engaging in household farming in gardens around residential areas would help individuals diversify their diet.

“There is an urgent need to diversify what we eat by planting vegetables and fruits in our gardens or backyard. A combination of rice with beans and vegetables has more nutrients than eating rice alone.

We can grow the vegetables in sacks, car tyres or house fences. Those living in highbrow areas have the resources to buy these commodities but they have resorted to planting them.”

Nelson stated that inculcating such culture would foster relationships as the commodities not consumed could be given out to prevent them from getting rotten.

She stated diversification of dietary intake is important as statistics indicated that there has not been changes in the rate of malnutrition and stunting of children under five years.

She, however, said the launch of farm settlement by state government would help curtail the menace stating that “the settlement will contain small scale farmers in a farm estate together with their families. This model will encourage all age groups to venture into farming as the federal government will provide adequate information on the techniques needed to make a modest income.”

A representative from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAINS), Joyce Apata, while calling on the media to increase the reportage on nutrition, emphasised the urgent need to stamp out hunger and malnutrition in the country.