The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN) has created the GAIN-IPAN Certificate Course in Laboratory Analysis of Food Micronutrients (LAoFM) with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
The course, aimed at tackling malnutrition and the associated stunted growth, will equip candidates with a comprehensive understanding of the theory, principles, and applications of physicochemical and instrumental techniques applicable to the analysis of micronutrients in food.
According to UNICEF, Nigeria has the second highest burden of stunted children in the world, with a national prevalence rate of 32 per cent of children under five. An estimated two million children in Nigeria suffer from severe acute malnutrition (SAM), but only two out of every 10 children affected are currently reached with treatment. Seven per cent of women of childbearing age also suffer from acute malnutrition.
The Country Director of GAIN in Nigeria, Dr. Michael Ojo, said the programme would provide opportunities for food manufacturers, laboratories, and laboratory analysts, in addition to the social benefit of improving Nigeria’s nutrition profile.
GAIN is a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations (UN) in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition. Working with governments, businesses, and civil society, it aims to transform food systems to deliver more nutritious food for all people, especially the most vulnerable.
