NIGERIA CAN'T ACHIEVE 30% REDUCTION IN MALNUTRITION BY 2025,SAY NUTRITIONISTS. (PHOTO).

 Nigeria can’t achieve 30% reduction in malnutrition by 2025, say nutritionists

Citing worsening poverty and food insecurity in the country, nutrition experts have said Nigeria will not be able to achieve the 2016 National Policy on Food and Nutrition target of reducing malnutrition by 30 percent in 2025, especially among children under five.

The nutritionists maintained that the country was not on the path to achieving the goals of the policy which would cease to exist after next year.

They lamented that since the first National Food and Nutrition Policy was launched in 2001, the government had continued to fail in achieving its goals of reducing the malnutrition burden in the country, especially among children under five.

With less than a year remaining before the expiration of the second nutrition policy, the experts cautioned that without increased funding and strong political will on the part of the government, the 2025 target would still be a mirage like the former.

Recall that the first National Food and Nutrition Policy in Nigeria introduced in 2001 and running through to 2016 but did not achieve its goal of reducing under-nutrition and malnutrition by 30 percent.

This shortfall led to the formulation of the second National Policy on Food and Nutrition in Nigeria in 2016.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, “the initial policy, crafted through a multi-stakeholder process by the National Planning Commission, had minimal impact due to inadequate implementation, poor funding, ineffective coordination, and insufficient monitoring of the policy’s execution.

“It failed to achieve a 30 percent reduction in under-nutrition and malnutrition rates among others.”

Then Minister of State for the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said the 2016 policy, developed by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning, seeks to provide a comprehensive framework to tackle food and nutrition insecurity at various levels—from individual to national.

“The policy is crucial for ensuring optimal nutritional status for all Nigerians. Reducing malnutrition is essential for development, as it not only impedes progress but also causes significant suffering and death,” Ahmed said.

The World Health Organisation reports that Nigeria faces severe nutritional challenges, including the second-highest rate of stunted children globally, with 32 percent of children under five affected. About two million Nigerian children suffer from acute malnutrition, with only two out of 10 receiving treatment and seven percent of women of childbearing age also experience acute malnutrition.

Speaking exclusively with PUNCH Healthwise in different interviews, the nutritionists noted that the policy failed due to a lack of commitment, implementation, funding, and awareness, leading to the second policy, National Food and Nutrition Policy 2016 which was supposed to end by the next year, 2025.